Hello,
I’ve been watching the PC 126 power planers on Ebay, and realize that in my price range, I will have to get one that may need some help.
My questions are:
1) if I buy one with a cutter that is worn and nicked, can it be sharpened, by me or by a professional sharpening service?
2) How hard is it to align the bed and bevel, if I buy one that is outta whack?
I remember using this tool quite a few years ago when I had the pleasure of working for a true craftsman, since then, I haven’t seen one on a jobsite, and only rarely for sale second hand. Since that time, I’ve had to use the Makita 3 1/4″ for my own projects, and it’s ok, but limited. I’ve demoed the Festool, and it is nice, but still doesn’t compare to the pc. I want to get one soon, as I am doing more and more custom door work and door retrofits.
Thanks
David
Replies
I just got one from a guy here, doodabug
I had my sharp shop do the cutter and I had got a spare as well.
Setting it up is a cinch. just set the bed like a jointer, even with the cutter. The nose is for setting depth of cut and 1/8" I think is max.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
I got the Rockwell version offa Ebay a coupla years back. Have only experimented with it, and not sure if I'm using it correctly. Are you supposed to start the cut with only the nose part, resting flat on the workpiece? What do you do at the end of the cut when there is no more workpiece to register off of? Or do I just have it all wrong?
Just like any other plane, powered or not. The nose is the "Infeed" and the rear sole the outfeed. So IF you want a fullpass ( Not a taper) you rev it up and start with the nose pressed down, the cutter engages, and you follow thru till the cutter passes the end. Violin, yer done.
If you want a taper, just start at the FAR end and work say 1 ft..next pass, 2 ft, next 3 ft. till the taper is what you want, cutting an 1/8 deep, and 3 passes as I described would give you 3/8th over 3'.
Pretty basic machine, just a spinning plane.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
Thanks, Duane.
I hold mine like a router, kind of. I also have an old Stanley that the motor comes out, and is a router. Anyway, I lay a door on horses, grab the motor, just like you would a laminate trimmer, with one hand and the handle with the other. Seems a lot more stable. Start with weight pushing the front sole flat on the door edge and also with some downward weight on the fence, end with weight keeping the the back sole flat on the door edge.http://www.tvwsolar.com
Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home"
Very easy to sharpen the blades of a small planer on a belt sander. Remove any nicks on the belt sander (keep it cool), finish off on a stone.
These are spiral cutters, like an old Boston brand pencil sharpener. They have a grinder attach. for them, but I don't own one.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
Sweet tool! Track one down and buy it!
No realistic jobsite fix for a dull cutter, though -- I think the sharpening attachment only works on HSS, carbide is the only way to go, and you're not going to carry the attachment with you in your truck. But you just might pack a spare cutter.
So track down a spare cutter.
The most common problem goes like this: you want to take an even 1/16" off, so you set the depth at 2/32". You start at one end with the front sole pressed tight to the work, but by the end of the cut, you're taking zero off.
Don't worry about adjustments. 9 times out of 10, this is caused by a slightly dull cutter pounding the work away just a bit as you go along. Switch to a sharp cutter, and the problem should go away.
Good luck.
AitchKay
New cutter I found was a C-note, lucky DougU here had one. They be gettin rare I think.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
I think. But I was paying around $75 back in the early 80s.I guess that means they're cheaper now. (?!?)AitchKay
C-note is 100.00$..Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
"C-note is 100.00$.."And took most, or all, of a day to earn back then!Aitchkay
Found a dollar-value calculator online, and it said:"Current data is only available till 2007. $188.77 in the year 2007 has the same "purchase power" as $75 in the year 1980."I would have guessed about double, but I'da been low!AitchKay
Wow. Wait'll 2012.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
Exactly why I hesitate to buy a cheaper one on ebay that has shown some use.
Ask the vendor if the cutter's damaged or worn. Ask for some close-up pics. 10 years ago, I bought mine used for 75 bucks, and bought a spare, new cutter for $60... I've never put the new cutter on.One thing I did to it though, was add a pc of laminate to the fence, stopped it from leaving black streaks on the doors.http://www.tvwsolar.com
Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home"
Got one off Ebay last night for 190.00 Been trying for a couple of weeks, and they always go at least that high. Usually more for the really clean ones.
We'll see, I need to use it as soon as it arrives, so I am hoping for the best. The pics showed a cutter in good shape. I'll be looking for a new spare cutter now.
Wish I hadn't passed up the flea market find 8 yrs ago for $80.00.
It oughta be fine, it's a pretty basic piece of machinery. Get a case? I didn't... made one out of plastic HD tool box and a piece of foam...$4.99http://www.tvwsolar.com
Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home"
Did get a metal case with it. Some of em had the newer plastic cases. As it seems this tool is from a bygone era, I kinda would feel cheated if it came with the newer plastic case.
I am itchin' to make a buncha boxes for some of my homeless tools, using nice wood and box joint corners, fancy hinges, and all that jazz. But My gotta do list is so long, it ain't likely hapenin this decade.
I too, have a lot of plastic boxes from the Orange Store, and chunks of foam. Works great.
Probably best to have a case to protect the cutter, altho the 126 planer is built like a total tank.By the way, I have heard a lot of folks talk about another great old PC power planer, the 653. A big 3" spiral cutter, they also go for good $$$ on Ebay. Alas, another benchmark Porter Cable tool gone out of production.
Edited 12/28/2008 8:43 pm by kenhill3
The PC 653:
View Image
that PC 653 looks like a nice tool. The downside to the 126 that most people don't take into consideration is that it is actually NOT a plane!Rather, it is a jointer. That 653 looks like a plane. The difference being that the 126 is direct drive and so half the motor hangs down past the sole. You can't actually plane a wide surface with it.This never concerned me until recently when I had a need to plane some 8x8 barn beams. Apparently you can't pay a miller enough to send barnwood through their planers. I have a Ridgid planer but it only goes up to 6". So I pulled out the 126 and instantly realized it's limitation that I never realized before. So I actually had to go out and buy my first power plane. Having used several brands of power plane before, I settled on the cheapest [Ryobi] the HD sold (knowing that I would either kill it or would rarely ever use it again). It did the job, sort of, although much time was needed to belt sand out the tracks.I also thought about buying a cheap used benchtop planer then disassembling it, and after some modification, just using the upper half as a wide planer. Anyone ever done this? If I ever have to plane a bunch of beams again, this is surely what I will do. In my research I found that I can easily pick up a used 12" Delta planer on CL for less than $50. In comparison a Makita 12" plane is about $1600....A ridiculous price for a pretty basic tool.DC
Have you considered the Makita 6 -3/4" power planer?
They're only $500.00 plus shipping.
You should get two of 'em.
(joking)
yeah, I suppose I could get two of them and duct tape them together...now where to find $100 a roll duct tape.I could get a small 6" jointer for less than $500 and use it upside down.I can't even understand why timbersmiths would pay that much for their tools. I have a Mayfel catalog and the prices are all at least 2-3 times what anything costs normally. Then get into the specialty tools and you are talking huge money. It's as if you can't even think about getting into timbersmithing unless you have $100K to invest.Not one of those tools I couldn't make or improvise.But what do I know, I'm just a hack carpenter.DC
The 126 is a door power plane, and I haven't hung a door it wouldn't handle. As far as a jointer, in a pinch, I have rigged it up side down, locked the trigger, and jointed away. Sketchy safetywise, but does a nice job.http://www.tvwsolar.com
Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home"
I find it interesting that the old Rockwell door planers and similar devices from the 50's to the 70's are regarded in much the same way as the old Stanley hand planes made before WW2 are regarded. In both cases a great American company made a great product for the tradesman, then cheapened it.To say more would be a hijack. If I get the urge I'll start a fresh thread. Happy New Year!Bill
There has been a freshly tuned, sharpened and polished rockwell power plane on ebay with a buy it now for $250.00. If I had the extra $100.00 to spend, I would have pounced on that right away. It is a classy looking power tool, built to last.
Well, if you want to get technical, actually they're ALL jointers, not planes.A jointer, guided by its front sole, takes an adjustable cut from the wood. As soon as the cutter has smoothed enough wood, the back (outfeed) sole takes over guiding the straightness of the cut. Theoretically, one pass is all it takes to joint a board.A plane, however, has its whole bed in the same plane (I know you're not supposed to use a word in its own definition, but...!). And when I say plane, I’m talking about a hand plane, like a Stanley #8, not a power plane.Planing, therefore, is a statistical operation:The blade hits only the highest spots as it passes over the board. It takes more and more wood off with each pass, until finally it takes a full-length shaving.The more passes, the better, to the point of gradually diminishing returns -- a statistical operation. The blade hangs down below the sole by such an insignificant amount that, in practice, we can get straight edges.But back to what you were saying, that #653 is sweet, isn't it?Aitchkay
Edited 12/30/2008 8:32 pm ET by AitchKay
"And planing, therefore, is a statistical operation, especially with a long plane like a #8 jointer."
I'm getting confused. How then can a plane also be a jointer? :o)
Busted! (But I had to read it about three times before I caught where you busted me!)I should have said, “And as opposed to a power plane, I’m talking about a hand plane, like a Stanley #8.â€So I'm going back to edit, and get rid of the evidence!Aitchkay
THERE! ARE YA HAPPY? :)Aitchkay
"THERE! ARE YA HAPPY? :) "Yup. You may have cleaned up your original post, but I have the evidence there in MY post, and you're not allowed in there, so we all still get to chuckle at your post. Thanks! LOL ;o)
"No realistic jobsite fix for a dull cutter, though -- I think the sharpening attachment only works on HSS, carbide is the only way to go, and you're not going to carry the attachment with you in your truck. But you just might pack a spare cutter."
I have the 126 by Rockwell and the sharpener and metal case. The sharpener is small and fits in a special bracket in the metal case. Sharpening is easy and only takes about 10 minutes or so. You are only supposed to use the sharpener on HSS but I would think that with the right stone, you could tune up a carbide cutter also.
Here's my set-up.....
View Image
That's the sharpener to the right of the case.
DC
You’ve got one of the old polished ones, like mine. Pre-1975 or so! The old Porter-Cables (50s), and the early Rockwells (60s and early 70s) were polished. Some time in the early-mid 70s they went over to the painted finish.I got mine as part of their Door Hanging Kit, along with the hinge templates and a felt-lined shelf for a model 100 router (NIC). No sharpening jig, though. Pretty cool setup, but the case was about the size of a large microwave, and I ended up giving it away. But that plane is on my “Cold, Dead Fingers†list!AitchKay