| Author | Message | ||
| Dal Farnworth (Dallas)
Registered Member Username: Dallas Post Number: 648 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 67.141.66.40  Rating: N/A |
Every darned thing is going good and you buy something you really need/want... and another item lunches it's innards? A couple of weeks ago we had some extra money and "The Wife" gave me permission to look for a thickness planer. I searched, researched and re-researched and found one that met my needs. I purchased a Porter-Cable PC305TP 12 1/2" planer. I was in porcine nirvana! I planed and flattened wood that didn't need it, some that did need it, and some I just wanted to see if the little machine would work as advertised... Everything came out smooth enough to be used without much more than a light touch up with some 400 grit sand paper. Then the crap made contact with the impeller! I was cutting off some 14" 1X2 white pine and the table saw decided to go mammaries skyward! Such a clatter and vibration arose from the machine that I did my best to emulate Star Trek and transport myself out of there. The motor finally tripped the overheat protection, and I let it cool off for a few hours. I figured the rear bearing was toast, so I dismantled the saw into component parts until I could get the motor out, (Did you know there are over 30 bolts and screws on a Ryobi RT30 that have to be taken out in a certain order just to remove the motor?), and sure enough the rear bearing was mangled into a bunch of tiny little pieces. I gathered all the pieces I could find and finally got a part number for the bearing, (Ryobi doesn't give you that helpful information, seemingly for a very good reason... as you shall see)! Once I got the part number, which for those of you who are interested, was 6001zz made by KML. I thought it looked familiar, but did a search for the bearing in my books and online. It turns out that the bearing was made for inline roller skates, and had a rating of ABEC 1... which means it was built to turn no faster than 3600 RPM and only had a single plastic shield on the outer side. I happened to have some spare bearings laying around from a project I did building sliders for battery banks. Funny enough... a couple of them were the right part and had an ABEC 3 rating and were dual shield. I put the new bearing in, after fighting to pull the old bearing from the motor shaft, (it was siezed on), and put everything back together. The motor ran about 2 minutes on a test run, and blew out mounds of black dust and particles of what looked like varnish, then quit. I took it apart again, and looked at the armature. It had numerous gouges in it and the commutator and when checked with a DMM, was showing a dead short. Ryobi wants $270 for a new motor, but the whole saw, new from the Big Orange box is only $299. Bummer.... now I'll have to sweet talk the dear wife into letting me have enough to buy a new saw! Figures.. Get one new toy, umm, I mean tool, and another one goes to Helena handbasket! It strikes me as a bit strange that Ryobi would put a bearing in that isn't even rated for any more than the speed of the motor and isn't even of particularly good quality. | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 1215 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 74.33.48.167 Rating: N/A |
Dallas, I have a Dewalt that I had for years never 1 problem with it has been used on miles of boards but nails are hell on the blades they leave a nice little raised seam looks neat but don't have much use on a cabinet door lol.You can do some neat stuff with a planer I make 1/4 round with mine good luck | ||
| Dal Farnworth (Dallas)
Registered Member Username: Dallas Post Number: 649 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 67.141.66.40 Rating: N/A |
Yeah Clifford, I use to use a really nice FOX shaper/planer at my ex-father in law's shop. We made custom moulding for a lot of antique buildings in Southern Indiana. I have been wanting a good planer for a long time, but I'm happy with the one I've got, LOL. I can use my router table for any little bit of moulding I need to make and I can actually lift this planer, although it does take two hands. | ||
| Len Silva (Lsilva)
Registered Member Username: Lsilva Post Number: 488 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 72.187.35.208  Rating: N/A |
Never been a big fan of Ryobi. When we moved back to the city and I had to give up my beloved Powermatic table saw, my wife bought me a Rigid folding saw as a consolation prize. http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/R4510-Table-Saw/EN/index.htm Now, it certainly is not the same thing as a fixed, heavy duty saw, but I am quite impressed with the quality. It may be too big and heavy for your purposes. | ||
| Austin Scott Davis (Zimtok)
Registered Member Username: Zimtok Post Number: 471 Registered: 9-2006 Posted From: 173.166.209.1  Rating: N/A |
I have a Delta 10" table saw that has been put through its paces for many years. It finally had a motor brush go bad and took out the armature with it. New motor - $85 Order it online and had it within 3 days... I had it installed within an hour as I only had 4 bolts holding it on and a couple ties to hold the wiring. . (Message edited by zimtok on August 01, 2011) | ||
| Dan Clishe (Cody)
Registered Member Username: Cody Post Number: 173 Registered: 1-2008 Posted From: 206.51.117.126 Rating: N/A |
I think I have a planer somewhere in the shop, maybe 2 or so, I'm kinda partial to the old oliver, it's kinda heavy and old but it sure doesn't stop for a knot, as long as the engine has kerosene and the oil cups are full it just seems to keep going. Speed is changed by throwing out the clutch lever and changing gears and then easing it up to speed with the clutch lever again, kinda old but works. | ||
| Patrick levenson (Zubzub)
Registered Member Username: Zubzub Post Number: 296 Registered: 5-2007 Posted From: 174.91.217.104  Rating: N/A |
the cheap small contractors saws are really pretty awful. I don't generally like Dewalt but their C saw is really nice, smooth fence action and a bunch of nice features, my buddy has been running one hard for a few years.... no problems. I like having really light C saws for modding trim so I have gone through quite a few, they all vibrate aprt, losing nuts and bolts all over before the motors seize....I by em cheap, used on Clist. I have a cast iron topped 10" Delta C saw that is very nice but too heavy to bother bringing to a jobs less than a week long or so...unless it is a very T saw intensive job. BTW cheap planers same thing not really made to work too hard. | ||
| Dal Farnworth (Dallas)
Registered Member Username: Dallas Post Number: 651 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 67.141.74.177 Rating: N/A |
"BTW cheap planers same thing not really made to work too hard." Patrick, You have hit on the crux of the matter.... I'm like the cheap planers.. I'm not really meant to work too hard anymore either. My reasoning for a light table saw and planer is to be able to stash it in the bus, (or in a niche on a trailer), sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. Other than doing my own interior on a bus, I only plan on using the equipment at festivals and flea markets and maybe for building the occasional bird house or jewelry box. Nothing large and heavy, even for the band saw. At most I'll be re-sawing small cut timber and pre-cut lumber, or changing the blade and using it for design and scroll work. |