Popular Woodworking 2002-06 № 128, страница 33
Endurance Test Jet's Planer/Moulder This machine is a substantial upgrade from a portable planer with extremely versatile moulding-making capabilities built right in. If there's a flaw in Jet Tools' combination thickness planer and moulder, it's that just about the time you want to plane some stock you realize the cutterhead has moulding profile knives installed. Of course, this really isn't a flaw at all, but it does make me envious of those disposable knives in portable planers that rest on indexing pins that you can change in the dark. But I look on the sunny side and realize my knife-setting skills have advanced markedly since I bought this handy machine nearly five years ago. Since that time I have probably run as many lineal feet of moulding as I have lumber through the 13"-wide planer, and it has performed admirably at both tasks. Much of the moulding has been a relatively wide 3 Vs" picture frame profile that requires a pretty heavy cut. I've cut this profile in maple, ash and poplar, and the 11/2-horsepower motor hasn't bogged down yet. Plus, with a two-speed gear box, this means that just a light sanding is necessary when a final pass is made in the 10-feet-per-minute mode. (The faster speed is 20 feet per minute.) Changing speeds is a bit of a mess, however. You have to remove a piece of the side cover and swap the position of a couple grease-covered gears. In spite of the inevitable greasy fingers, the variable speed is one of my favorite features of the machine. Though the slow speed is intended for moulding operations, I switch over to the slow speed when working with highly figured woods, and it really makes a difference. Curly maple and oak are much less likely to tear out at the slower speed. And if you wet the board a minute or so before planing it, you can eliminate even more tear-out in these woods. I also have a predilection for wide lumber, and running 13"-wide boards through the planer hasn't presented any problems, either. This is in spite of the fact that the machine does not have lower bed rollers.The guts of the machine come from a l^hp motor that sits beneath the machine. It comes wired for 110-volt operation, but easily can be switched to 220-volt operation. The twin pulleys and belts ef- $ ficiently transf er power from the motor * to the cutterhead. The belts are ten-sioned by the position of the motor. It's a good idea to check the tension of these belts every year or so. Taking up any slack is a simple task and improves the planer's performance. The large 27/8"-diameter cutterhead is a full inch larger than ones typically used in portable planers. The three-knife cutterhead also has knife-jacking screws that aid in knife-setting. When used as a moulder, the moulding profile knives are set in the cutterhead as the planing knives are. Most moulding knives less than 2" in width can be installed in the cutterhead without removing the planing knives - a nice feature. In addition to installing cutterhead knives for moulding and removing the chip deflector, it also is necessary to adjust the height of the top-mounted, rubber-coated infeed and outfeed rollers. The pressure of the feed rollers is adjusted on the top of the machine by loosening a jam nut and turning a threaded bushing. Start with the settings recommended by the Jet manual, but don't be afraid to adjust them up and down a bit if your work seems to struggle under the cutterhead, especially in the planing mode. These minor chores require only a few minutes time. The cutterhead is just one example of what makes this a solidly built machine. The bottom, bed and top of the machine are substantial castings. With an open stand the JPM-13 weighs in at more than 200 pounds. The enclosed base option (the JPM-13CS) takes the weight up to 242 pounds. Both models come with locking casters. Aside from the motor and the cast-iron SPECIFICATIONS JET JPM-13 Street price: $850 (closed-stand version available for $900) Motor: 1V2 horsepower induction motor RPM: 4,500 Max planing width: 13" Max planing thickness: 61/8" Max cut (full width): V16" Number of knives: 3 Weight: 202 pounds Nice features: A heavy-duty planer that also cuts mouldings. Recommended modifications: We wish the feed speed and the knives were easier to change. Available at: Jet dealers nationwide. Contact Jet at 800-274-6848 or www.jet-tools.com ABOUT OUR ENDURANCE TESTS Every tool featured in our Endurance Test column has survived at least two years of heavy use in our shop here at Popular Woodworking. construction, the other major differences between the Jet and portable machines include the ability to easily adjust things such as the chip deflectors, the position of the feed rollers and the feed speed of the planer. These make the Jet more flexible for a wide variety of planing situations. PW — Steve Shanesy 31 |
