2003 Clark-Hitachi Modified Planer

"I forgot to mention, there is a soft foam pad added between the moving platen and the plastic housing on the front of the planer. It keeps foam dust out of the inner workings of the planer, and keeps the up/down adjustment from accumulating foam inside of the front handle area. ````It is visible on the right side (front) of the planer, between the aluminum platen and the green plastic. The foam cells squeeze closed as the platen takes a bigger bite of the foam, and I assume that over time, it may need to be replaced if it sees too much sunlight, but overall it is a nice addiion. ````The vac attachment/chip deflector used to be an additional cost add-on that went for $20 or $30 extra, and you had to install it yourself. It comes standard on this unit, which is nice because when I installed mine, I had to do a little shaving and trimming of the parts to get a perfect fit."

"cool.``and it looked to me like the key improvement is the new layout of the motor housing.``now, when you take a pass more than 3/16"" deep, the thing will actually stay staight !!``the ""old"" model will start to dive on the left, as the motor housing rides up on the right side, and keeps the blades from cutting evenly when you go deep at all.``know what i mean ?``to me this new one looks nice, and makes me also wish i had not bought the 2002, DOH !!!``also, a key feature looks to be the ability to actually make passes in BOTH directions now :))``not that i posess the skill for that yet--````what's the verdict from anyone who's tried the 2003's ??"

"I modified mine to cut 1/4""max.(my oldschool Hit. cuts at 3/16""max.) and added a hi-output motor,and M-16 pistol grip.If the old style Hit.I have is as good as a Skill, my new 03 planer is 1000% better than one.```` next? carbides for it,just as my older sb-20 has."

"I personally have never used any other planer being im a bit new to the world of shaping, but I do own a 03 hitatchi from clark, and I would say I found learning planer control to be easier than I expected if this is any consulation a performance review. On another note the vacuum attachment point makes an excellent directional blower for clearing foam dust off of your work and not just blowing it everywhere.``-jim"

I have never used planer.

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