Reduce Damage To Knives; Preparing The Work; Carriage Lock; Carriage Lock Adjustment - RIDGID TP1300 Manual Del Usuario

Basic Thickness Planer Operations (continued)

Reduce Damage To Knives

The thickness planer is a precision wood working
machine and should be used on quality lumber.
Do not plane dirty boards, dirt and small stones are abra-
sive and will wear the blade.
Remove nails and staples. The planer should only cut wood.

Preparing the Work

The thickness planer works best when the lumber has at
least one flat surface.
Use a hand plane or jointer to define a flat surface.
Twisted or severely warped boards can jam the planer,
rip lumber in half to reduce the magnitude of the warp.
The work should be fed with the grain, sometimes the
grain will switch directions in the middle of the cut. If pos-
sible, cut the board in the middle before planing so the
grain direction is correct.
CAUTION: Do not plane a board which is less than
12" long, the force of the cut could split the board
and cause a kickback.

Carriage Lock

The carriage lock (see "Getting To Know Your Thickness
Planer" section) helps to minimize "snipe" by locking the
cutter head position. Snipe is a change in thickness at
either end of the board, caused by an uneven force on
the cutter head when work is entering or leaving the
planer.
Pushing the carriage lock to the left will release the cutter
head assembly. Set planer to the correct thickness (see
below) and then push the carriage lock to the right. This
will lock the cutter head assembly in place and help to
minimize snipe.
A snipe may occur when boards are not supported prop-
erly (see "Extension Assembly Alignment" section).
In a few instances it is impossible to eliminate "snipe". A
slight snipe may still be noticed. Snipe is more apparent
when deeper cuts are being taken.

Carriage Lock Adjustment

The carriage lock is preadjusted at the factory. If the car-
riage lock lever does not tighten when moved to the lock
position, follow the steps below to adjust.
1. Remove the switch key and unplug the unit from the
wall outlet.
2. Remove the top cover for visibility.
3. Use the hex wrench provided and remove the screw in
the center of the handwheel. Note the position of the
carriage lock lever.
4. Pull the carriage lock lever straight out. This will disen-
gage the carriage lock lever from the mating lock nut.
5. Slightly rotate the carriage lock lever counterclockwise
Avoid Knots. Heavy cross grain makes the knots hard,
also, they can come loose and jam the blade.
CAUTION: Any particle that may encounter the
planer knives may be thrown from the planer creat-
ing the risk of severe injury.
To avoid snipe when planing more than one board of the
same thickness, butt the boards together end to end so
they follow each other closely through the planer.
and reengage the carriage lock lever teeth onto the
lock nut.
Example: If your carriage lock is at a 2 o'clock position
before adjustment, move the lever counterclockwise to
a 1 o'clock position.
6. Turn the lock lever clockwise to the lock position to
assure it is tightening (force to the push the lever is
increasing). Then turn the lever counterclockwise to
the unlock position to assure it becomes very loose in
the unlocked position. If the lock lever is not tightening
in the lock position then repeat steps 5 & 6.
7. Replace the handwheel, secure the screw with the hex
wrench and reinstall the top cover.
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