I was impressed with the heft and obvious quality of each component as I unpacked it. The came with a DVD that explained setup, operation and maintenance of the machine. Although the DVD is slightly outdated and the machine has been updated since it was made, there are only slight differences between the model featured in the video and the current model, so the video proved to be quite helpful as reference.
Initial setup took about two hours, which was quicker than I expected. Much of that time was spent tipping the machine, installing casters, and propping the pound machine back up. Everything is easily accessible, and has obvious purpose.
Overall Design. My only reservation was around the multi-purpose design of the machine. My anxiety centered around the fear that the requirements of so many functions would force complexity into the machine. For me, complexity is the enemy. I was relieved, and in fact delighted, as I took the cover off the machine to find one of the simplest designs of any tool in my shop.
There are surprisingly few parts, and the purpose of each seems pretty obvious. Kudos to the brilliant inventor s who seemed to share my love of the K. Cutterhead Motor. I went with an upgraded farm grade motor which can withstand continuous use.
This is probably overkill for my needs, but I have always been a fan upgraded motors. High Quality Machined Steel. All of the steel components, such as planer heads, molder head, accessory shaft, etc. Morse Tapered Shafts and Pivoting Bearings.
The easy changeover process is enabled by two clever design points. First, the planer head attaches to shafts that include a Morse taper design at the inward end, providing wiggle room when aligning the planer head for mounting.
Additional flexibility is a provided by the use of pivoting bearings that support the tapered shafts as well as the accessory shaft. Each bearing is mounted onto a beefy piece of cast iron which holds the bearing solidly into an aligned position and dampens vibration during operation. Chain-driven Bed Adjustment. Bed height adjustments are made via threaded shafts powered by a gear driven heavy duty chain.
This delivers solid slop free adjustments that do not seem to be effected by vibration from motor operation and lumber milling. Nice mechanism. Heavy Cast Iron Bed. This dead flat durable platform is critical for maintaining high quality surfaces during all milling operations. Steel Enclosure. The enclosure is made of heavy gauge steel, which is massive enough to minimize vibration, but light enough to remove for occasional function swap-outs.
If I find myself having to remove it frequently, I may opt to add the hinge kit which allows the enclosure to pivot out of the way without having to lift it. Feed Roller. The standard soft rubber feed rollers are unusual for a planer, and strike me as being more necessary for molding applications where there is not as much surface area to grip after the initial pass when some of the material has been removed. The soft rubber grabs well sort of like high performance car tires so they are great at feeding stock, but I anticipate having to replace them at some point.
If excessive roller wear during planing ever becomes a problem, Woodmaster sells a serrated steel infeed roller for just this purpose, but I doubt it will ever become an issue for me. Thickness Gauge. The machine comes with a simple scale that is magnetic so it can be easily adjusted when different bases are used.
It is easy to read, but it can be inadvertently moved, so if I find myself needing more precision in calibrating thickness of cut I will probably add the digital readout at some point. Crank handle can sometimes bump dust hood. Once I got the hang of it I was able to minimize this from happening much, but it feels like a minor design oversight.
Variable Feed Rate. One of the differentiating characteristics of this machine is the fully variable feed rate with a standard machine configuration this is FPM , which is powered by a dedicated feed motor and switch. This is critical for using the same machine to perform all of the functions that the offers, as each of these functions can be optimized at a different feed rate, and further refinement can be performed within each function based upon wood species, figure, character, etc.
The machine shipped with the standard 3-knife cutterhead so I tested that configuration first. Not only did it remove the material, but the motor barely indicated any load, and the sound level was only modest whereas I had anticipated scaring the entire neighborhood with such an aggressive cut. The little snipe that remains can be easily removed with a random orbital sander for finished projects, and when using it for surfacing rough planks I normally cut a bit from each end anyway so it becomes a moot point.
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Woodmaster owners know Woodmaster machinery better than anybody. Save Big Now. I got interested in woodworking when I was younger and it got in my blood. I recently built myself a 30 x 46 shop. Half of it is set up for woodworking.
We built a home with a 1, square foot work area and we spend our winters doing woodworking. We build all kinds of things.
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