Old Delta planer model

There seems to be a design issue with the DC-33 (13") planers in that the only way to adjust for consistent thickness is to play with the sprockets underneath that raise/lower the planer head casting. The cutterhead bearing bores are in the main head casting, so there is no way to shim them as can be done with the 15" planer. Shifting the chain one sprocket tooth changes the height by 0.016" so it is not exactly a precise adjustment. The best I could do with mine was within about 0.010" comparing across the bearing bores.

With cutter knives you could potentially set them higher on one side to compensate. There would not be a way to do this with the Shelix or similar insert heads on the DC-33.

I am looking at broaching additional keyways in one of the sprockets to provide for finer height adjustment; will see how it goes. For the short term I am sticking with knives, but would like to see if it could be more accurate.
 
That is quite true. The "fine adjustment" is done with knife setting and would be lost with a Shelix. In much woodworking .010 is within spec so they probably didn't worry much about it. I suppose an alternate would be to re-engineer and lose the chains and sprockets altogether and replace with some sort of shaft / bevel gear arrangement. I chose to not go any deeper into mine (Shelix or otherwise) because I'd be investing a grand into a machine that's worth at most $500 (and probably not even that). When sharp, the straight knives cut very well. My biggest complaint with the machine is the sniping. It can be minimized with sacrificial lead and follow sticks, but it is still there. The bed roller adjustments are important to minimize this issue.
 
I got the correct (5mm) broach and (15mm) bushing, and added 3 additional keyways, 81 degrees apart on the cog wheel under the handle. That should allow for adjustments within 0.002" (with some chain tooth shifting). I got lucky and managed 0.0015" acoss the bearing bores, which are about 18" apart, so should be somewhat less (0.0012") within the 13" knife area.
 

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machPete99 said:
I got the correct (5mm) broach and (15mm) bushing, and added 3 additional keyways, 81 degrees apart on the cog wheel under the handle. That should allow for adjustments within 0.002" (with some chain tooth shifting). I got lucky and managed 0.0015" acoss the bearing bores, which are about 18" apart, so should be somewhat less (0.0012") within the 13" knife area.
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Wow. Nicely done! Now you've got me thinking about mine... must go lie down until the urge goes away...
 
Once this is done you can consider spending the big bux for the Shelix head ;)
 
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