Hi all,
I inherited the 12†planer and it was working fine. Now the drive is inconsistent. It seems like the tensioner on the chain drive is not doing its job, though that’s only my impression. The wood will feed then stop, feed, stop, etc. It “kicks” even when there’s is no wood being fed; as if the chain is skipping a tooth. I opened the side case, cleaned and lubed the chain, but no difference. I also reversed the blades getting fresh, sharp edges to work with.
Another problem I’ve always had, even when it planed properly, was that I needed to push and pull the lumber through the machine, as it would otherwise slip or not drive through at all. I expect this is typical and do to the 10†red oak size and hardness.
Please let me know if anyone has had similar problems or possible solutions.
Thanks,
Dave
Replies
I had the same problem.
Makita replaced the rollers for me after I had used them for a few years. The tech explained that the rollers are a rubber-like material, and they lose some of their suppleness over time. So as they get harder, they don't grip as well, and just slip on the wood surface. No adjustment possible.
You can take a lighter pass. Make sure the board is well supported in-feed and out-feed. I haven't tried it, but a silicone oil treatment was suggested to me by a photocopy repair guy (their rollers always have the same problem. It's also whya lot of older computer printers keep getting bunged up). Some rubber products are softened by silicone based oils, kinda like the effect Armourall has on your upholstery. Worth a try?
I've given up on mine, and replacement planer I made sure it had a toothed infeed roller.. Most of the portables use friction rollers like Makita does.
Don't use anything containing silicone anyway near wood. It really screws up finishing a piece because of "fisheyes".
The rollers sound like they are glazed or worn out. You can take the sludge off a roller with lacquer thinner. Did i mention you don't want silicone anywhere near this?
Also, wax the bed of your planer with paste wax. This will make a HUGE difference in how well the wood feeds. I keep a Scotchbrite pad in my paste wax can and whip it out to swipe my Makita planer bed frequently. The paste wax won't mess up your finish.
My rollers are original to this machine, bought in 1983, and i've run many, many thousands of board feet through it.
That sounds like a good way to help the board to glide through the planer, but I still have the choppy driver problem, as if the chain is skipping, even when there's no board running through. Is there anyone with a good connection to a Makita tech rep?
I"m assuming you inspected the chain and sprockets. If you need new parts or tech advice, you can let Google's fingers do the walking:http://www.ereplacementparts.com/makita-2012-planer-parts-c-97_156_420.html?osCsid=04c767dfb7d72a940267c975d843df53
You mention "choppy driver problem". Could it be a flat spot on the roller rather than a drive chain issue?Karl
I really doubt it's a roller problem since I can still hear the "skipping" when there is no lumber being fed into the machine.
Here's a review that might interest you.
Thanks for passing on that review! "Internal gearing mechanism" sure sound like my problem.
I went back to the parts list and the gears don't look cheap. Once you get it apart, you might take the gears to a place that deals in such things and see if they are standard sizes. I bought bearings for my Makita planer much cheaper at a bearing distributor than i could get them from Makita.
I have had good luck using citrus solvent to clean the rollers. It does a good job removing pitch from pine and other sappy species. I then give the rollers a good rubdown with isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol revives old rubber and cleans off any leftover residue of the solvent. I wouldn't use lacquer thinner. It may dissolve the rubber. Every few passes I might rub the clean table with wax paper to grease things along.
<<I wouldn't use lacquer thinner. It may dissolve the rubber.>> The rollers aren't soaked in lacquer thinner, so they don't dissolve. I've never used citrus cleaners on them, but many citrus products say not to use them on rubber, and are recommended for removal of tire marks. I expect citrus cleaner would work to removed gum from rollers, however, possibly as well as lacquer thinner works. It's hard to argue with a quarter-century of success. <G>It would be interesting if Davey posted pics of his sprockets. I'm thinking bad brushes might also manifest like a drive problem. I keep replacement brushes in a drawer just bec i've had to replace them rather frequently compared to what you might expect. Same with my 4x24 Makita sanders. Don't get me started on the switches they use...
Alcohol is good
As we know from cleaning our pitch-blackened hands, alcohol is also good for cleaning wood pitch from planer rollers, and should not cause any problems with the plastic. It seems to work just fine in my experience.
Makita 2012NB slipping? Skipping?
I had the same problem, the slipping or "skipping" (every so often to continuously) as some call it. It was getting progressively worse. I checked the primary drive belt, and the secondary drive gears and chain, and they all look perfect. With the sides off, I could see that all parts were functioning perfectly, but the rollers still slipped. They looked clean, but I cleaned them anyway, with EtOH... to no effect. So then, having read that the rollers might be glazed, I cleaned them again, this time with EtOH and steel wool (about 00). I also heard that waxing the platen with paste wax might help a lot, so I did that, too.
The upshot is that it worked! I've planed several 12' boards today, 6-8 passes each, and it didn't skip or slip once, in fact, it's suddenly working almost like new. I think that drag from the platten, which has a certain amount of wear, may have contributed to the problem, but I think the rollers were the main culprets, that glaze causing them to slip, and my steel wool removing some of the glaze. I'm not sure if steel wool is the ideal treatment, but it seems to barely make a dent in them, and it does the job. I think that a new blade (I replaced it fairly recently, but have planed a lot of dirty, rough-cut lumber, and my chips have turned to dust), which I will install as soon as one rolls in, would also help to tune 'er up.
Considering how reliable this planer has been, I don't feel any need to complain. This fix was free. Hope it works for you.