Powermatic PM209HH versus Grizzly G0454Z

[Travis Porter]

I currently have the Powermatic PM209HH 20" planer that I bought used from RTR services.

At the moment, I can say I hate it. The reason I hate it is that it has not been working correctly. It has around 3 inches of snipe on each end and the boards don't feed straight.

Sooooo, I start taking it apart.

I have pulled the top off of it and I have pulled out the dial indicator with a stand..

After reviewing the manual extensively, I initially thought it was pretty good, but now am of the opinion it sucks. It really is the pits. It contradicts itself as to the proper height of the infeed roller, chip breaker, pressure bar, and outfeed roller in relation to the planer head. One page and picture shows them all set at .02 inches below the planer head, and the next page has instructions for each component and what to set them.

I figure this thing is the same planer as the Grizzly, so I pull the manual for thre Grizzly thinking it will be the same thing.:gar-Bi How smart am I?

Not very.:nah: Grizzly's settings for their identical version of this planer is even more different.

Here is what I have:

Component----------PM page 16---------PM page 17-------Grizzly
Infeed Roller---------.020 in-------------.004 in------------.040 in
Chip Breaker---------.020 in-------------.004 in------------.040 in
Pressure bar---------.020 in-------------.008 in------------.008 in
Outfeed Roller-------.020 in-------------.020 in-------------.020 in

I can match the settings for the Pressure bar and outfeed roller. The infeed roller and chip breaker are a different store. There is a big difference .004 and .040.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

Here are a couple of pics. The shelix head is in the middle. The orange part is the chip breaker (notice the locked allen screws for adjustment) and the red part is the pressure bar (it too has allen screws for adjustment).

 

[WoodWrangler]

Don't put up with it. Sell it for $500. I can have cash to you tonight.

 

[Bas]

I found this post on SMC:

Closer inspection of the sniping may have revealed the cause. I can actually feel a bit of slop in the table, i.e. I can physically cause it to shift by lifting on one end or the other, I suspect that the table is see-sawing as the stock feeds in/out, there is no accommodation for taking up slack in the acme nuts attached to the table. All rollers are properly adjusted. If some of you are running this machine with NO snipe, you must have gotten better parts off the line. Snipe can be reduced by cranking on the column clamps, but the knobs provided do not allow for much torque, they may get replaced with ratchet handles (or a cam mechanism). On a related note, the bushings that clamp the columns were just wedges, so had very little surface area actually clamping the post. I ground and spindle sanded those bushings to the profile of the posts which has improved the clamping efficiency.

Not sure if it helps, but at least you're not alone...

(I know this is like a programmer reading the manual, but have you called WMH?)

 

[Travis Porter]

I adjusted the chip breaker and pressure bar to Powermatic's numbers and put it back together last night. I did adjust the bed rollers to be a thousandth or so above the tables as well. So far, feeding is better, but I still have around 3" of snipe on each end on a board say 30" long. I would think on boards that short that I should not have any snipe whatsoever. Not sure if that is realistic or not though.

Bas, I pulled up thread you linked and when I get back home I will try locking the bed to see if that makes a difference. Maybe the table is see sawing or flexing. Hard to believe, but after leaning over a dial caliper and messing with it for 2 hours, I can believe anything.

 

[Travis Porter]

I found this post on SMC:

Not sure if it helps, but at least you're not alone...

(I know this is like a programmer reading the manual, but have you called WMH?)

No, I haven't, and yes I will.....

 

[WoodWrangler]

Travis ... Another thing worth trying that helped on mine was adding an axillary bed board. Ideally this would be done out of something super smooth like phenolic plastic, but I made mine simply out of 3/4 MDF topped with SlickSaw (www.slicksaw.com) and it helped tremendously with the snipe (though I sometimes do get a little, it's a lot less than before).

So along with the other proper setup, this might help by letting the board not stick.

 

[Travis Porter]

OK, I broke down and called them. My standard expectation is to be on hold for an hour.

I got answered in less than 5 minutes!!!

Turns out the manual is wrong. There are multiple errors in some cases, none of which are right.

The infeed rollers should be set at .04 (like Grizzly), and the chip breaker he said to set at around 1/16" which is .06. As for the snipe, he thinks too much pressure on the springs (they are torqued down pretty far) could be causing some of the snipe issues as well.

I will give this a shot and see what happens.

Oh Jeremy, as to your offer, I very well may take you up on it, but it will be in small pieces because I will have DESTROYED IT!!!! ;-)

 

[cpowell]

OK, I broke down and called them. My standard expectation is to be on hold for an hour.

I got answered in less than 5 minutes!!!

Turns out the manual is wrong. There are multiple errors in some cases, none of which are right.

The infeed rollers should be set at .04 (like Grizzly), and the chip breaker he said to set at around 1/16" which is .06. As for the snipe, he thinks too much pressure on the springs (they are torqued down pretty far) could be causing some of the snipe issues as well.

I will give this a shot and see what happens.

Oh Jeremy, as to your offer, I very well may take you up on it, but it will be in small pieces because I will have DESTROYED IT!!!! ;-)

Don't destroy it. Jeremy is being a cheapskate...I'll offer 750 dollars. I can pick it up tomorrow. :eusa_danc

Seriously - I hope the PM recommendations work out. That's a nice machine, you'll get it done. :icon_thum


Chuck

 

[NCPete]

It's all caused by that fancy head you have in there.... I'll take it off your hands, and offer you the 4-knife head from my Yorkie in even exchange!

 

[Travis Porter]

Pete! Where you been? You have been missing quite a bit lately!

Right, swap a shelix for a 4 knifer. ;-)

Is your machine the same style as mine?

 

[Travis Porter]

Adjusted the infeed roller to .04 from .02, adjusted the chip breaker from .02 to .06 and loosened the tension on the outfeed and infeed springs Saturday night. Unfortunately, the filter form my dust collector decided it wanted to separate so I had to use some of that new fangled epoxy from PSI to reglue it.

I fired it up last night and the snipe is better. Not where I want it yet, but much better. The board I fed did pull to the left as it started coming out. So, I get to disassemble the thing again, check my adjustments again, and see what happens. Oh, and I am going to move the bed rollers back to being perfectly flush first and see if that helps

 

[FredP]

Adjusted the infeed roller to .04 from .02, adjusted the chip breaker from .02 to .06 and loosened the tension on the outfeed and infeed springs Saturday night. Unfortunately, the filter form my dust collector decided it wanted to separate so I had to use some of that new fangled epoxy from PSI to reglue it.

I fired it up last night and the snipe is better. Not where I want it yet, but much better. The board I fed did pull to the left as it started coming out. So, I get to disassemble the thing again, check my adjustments again, and see what happens. Oh, and I am going to move the bed rollers back to being perfectly flush first and see if that helps

uneven bed rollers or a skewed infeed roller wil make it track to the side. when you check it use a perfectly flat piece of stock. that removes some of the variables.