Powermatic Planer -- What is this part? - RESOLVED for now

[R Clark]

I have a new-to-me Powermatic Model 15 planer with conventional 3-knife cutter head.

I have been cleaning it up and getting ready to do my first test cuts.  The machine is in pretty good shape; cleanup has been mostly been cleaning out old lube, cleaning the posts that guide the table up and down, and cleaning the jack screws for that table raising mechanism.

The previous owner included the part pictured below.  I don't see anything like it mentioned in the manual, and it does not appear in the parts diagrams.  The manual mentions a knife setting jig, but the one (poor) drawing that shows the setting jig shows something that doesn't look like this part.

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The curvature seen on the ends appears to be a somewhat smaller radius than the cutter head.  The part is entirely made from cast iron.  Thus, it doesn't seem like a knife setting jig, but I suppose it could be and I just haven't figured it out.

[toolmiser]

Consider this a bump, I'm only taking a guess, but I think it is a knife setting gauge. The two "ground" edges on the wings set on the cutterhead, and the center ground area is the height the knives need to be set to. I have a similar gauge for a Rockwell planer but it would be the equivalent to one end of your piece.

[Ray Newman]

How about E-mailing Powermatic with the planer model and serial number, any markings/oart numbers of the part, etc.,  and include a picture of the mystery part?

[iclark]

If you rotate the cutter head so that a blade is nominally at top-dead-center, and place that part on the cutter head,
would the gap between the head and the part be roughly correct for how far the blade should extend?

[R Clark]

I have the top cover of the machine off, and will remove the chip deflector to get at the cutter head.  That will have to wait until later today.

I don't want to mess with the knives until I run some test passes and see what kind of shape the installed knives are in.  Previous owner gave me a new-in-box set of blades that he kept as a spare.  I'm almost ready to do the test run, but I need to resolve an issue with the mobile base, and finish cleaning some grime off the machine.

As I mentioned above, it does "look" like a jig that one would use to set the knives.  I'm having a hard time accepting that a knife-setting jig would need to be solid cast iron.  The piece weighs a couple of pounds.  Stranger things have been done, I suppose.

If I can't figure it out, I'll contact PM and see if they can tell me anything about it.

[kurt18947]

How about E-mailing Powermatic with the planer model and serial number, any markings/oart numbers of the part, etc.,  and include a picture of the mystery part?

I hope Powermatic's tech support is better with older machines than Delta's. Maybe post on OWWM.org if Powermatic is not able to help.

[R Clark]

I hope Powermatic's tech support is better with older machines than Delta's. Maybe post on OWWM.org if Powermatic is not able to help.

I used the "Contact us" button on their web site; we'll see what happens.  I'm not overly optimistic based on how the contact submission form works.

I am a member over at OWWM, and occasionally I use the site to research stuff.  Unfortunately, this is a Taiwan-made machine.

[jteneyck]

Yes, that's the knife setting jig.  I have one just like it for my MiniMax J/P.  The knives need to sit on springs for it to work, unless perhaps the jig has magnets in it to pull the knife up to it.  Anyway, set the knife in the slot with the gib bolts set loosely.  Place the knife setting jig over the top of the knife so the knife hits the jig in the center, push down so the jig it's sitting on the head, then start snugging up the gib bolts a little at a time, until all the bolts are snug but not tight.  Do the other knives in the same way, then go back and tighten all the bolts.  Rotate the head a few times by hand again just to be sure there's no clearance problems.

John

[R Clark]

Yes, that's the knife setting jig.  I have one just like it for my MiniMax J/P.  The knives need to sit on springs for it to work, unless perhaps the jig has magnets in it to pull the knife up to it.  Anyway, set the knife in the slot with the gib bolts set loosely.  Place the knife setting jig over the top of the knife so the knife hits the jig in the center, push down so the jig it's sitting on the head, then start snugging up the gib bolts a little at a time, until all the bolts are snug but not tight.  Do the other knives in the same way, then go back and tighten all the bolts.  Rotate the head a few times by hand again just to be sure there's no clearance problems.

John

Thanks, John.  I'll give it a try.  My outside work took longer than I planned today, so I'll work on this either this evening or tomorrow as the weather closes in.

I'm not really keen about having the sharp blade up against a cast iron surface for the setting operation.

I am looking forward to putting this planer into service.  However, I'm kind of disappointed in the low quality owner's manual for this machine.  The drawing for the knife setting jig shows a jig that is differently shaped than this piece of iron.  There's no mention of the knife setting jig in the parts diagrams.  There are other aspects of the manual that miss the mark as well.

[Admiral]

  The drawing for the knife setting jig shows a jig that is differently shaped than this piece of iron.  There's no mention of the knife setting jig in the parts diagrams. 

It may very well be a third party design, aftermarket jig.  Most planers come with the rod and two machined triangles type jig.