Ryobi Planer

[Quetzalsailor]

I've got an 'old' Ryobi AP10 planer. Bought at the WoodenBoat Show in Newport in about 1983. Very nice tool, easy to change blades, etc.

It has over the last 10 years or so developed a fault. The thickness adjustment does not stay fixed where I put it. I can watch the crank rotate and the set thickness increase (better than the alternative but annoying). I cope by feeding the work with one hand, if possible, or by clamping a stick to the crank and clamping that to a prop. Tacky, but works.

Surely someone knows how to fix this! Nothing in the instructions; no obvious place to add drag to the mechanism. I was making new parting beads for an antique window and remembered that I have good folks to ask.

[Tim]

I have the same problem with my el-cheapo (and overworked and underloved yet still effective enough for what it is) Delta 12" planer. It's an annoying problem to say the least, but Ive just been dealing with it the same way you have: whatever it takes to hold the handle in place. It doesn't rattle out of position all the time, but often enough that I have to keep an eye on it.

I don't use the planer much, and need a better one anyway. So I have lived with the annoyance pending the day when I decide to upgrade.

I realize this doesn't help whatsoever, but misery loves company.

[One Way David]

No pics so I'm talking blind. Maybe fab up your own drag. A screw and a heavy rubber band (our 1953 Ford NAA tractor has a spring my Grandad put to work this way to hold the throtle, like a 1950s cruise control) fixed around the shaft that is moving. Anchor the rubber band or spring so it can't move with light torque but can with your hand adjustment. Or fab up a steel right angle with a threaded rod that when tightened abutts the guilty shaft. Attach a heavy C-clamp to the handle after setting the position, maybe the added weight would prevent movement. Sell it and buy a 1940 Oliver 30x12" planer http://owwm.com/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=1563 affectionately known as old arn, oops wrong forum.

[Quetzalsailor]

Ooooh! I want it!

No space, though. That's why I do not have a table saw, either.

Speaking of tons of unwanted iron, I will have to sell my dad's 1940s South Bend lathe. It's a huge 13" x 5' bed w/o much tooling. In Delaware, accessible by poor access road around the back of his house.

[Tim]

Admin deleted a post here that failed to comply with rule #3.

[One Way David]

Quetzalsailor, that lathe should be easy to sell. They are quite popular if in good condition. Moving it may require some TLC. I acquired an 1900 era lathe that my great great GF used in the first Ford dealership west of theMissouri River, or so I'm told. I bought it at auction in about 2004 and it was still being used with the overhead flat belts.I think its something like 17"x7'.