Howdy All - longtime lurker first-time poster ( in a coupla years )
I was recently lucky enough to get a refurbished ( from Pete C i think ) Skil 100 ( 5.5 Amp, 115 V ) bought over from the States. I’m in Cape Town, Soiuth Africa. Our electricity standard voltage is 230 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz. which obviously differs from US power soI went out and got a 1000 Watt step-up / step-down converter which converts 230 V into 110V and vice versa ( and 50Hz into 60Hz apparently ).
Sharpened the blades to razor sharp, set the blades, switched it on and started taking down a blank and noticed a LOT of chipping, WAY more than happens with my home-modded Hitachi. I’ve set and reset the blades a few times, but unless I’m moving really slowly it’s chupping the foam something fierce.
What I know about electricity and motors is dangerous - but it almost feels like the planer is running at low rpm’s - could this be a result of the convertor? ( which the electrician at the shop swears isn’t the case )
Did you use the feeler gauge that usually comes with Skil Planers to set the blades? I am assuming your blades are HHS Steel? If they are; Are there any chips? Nice and straight edge? If they are Carbide, they should not be sharpened. South African foam such as Safari is usually harder than American Foams. The few timesI have used my Skil on Aussie Foams(Surfblanks and Bennet) there was tearing and I had to slow way down. I don’t think slower RPMs will cause tearing. The effect might be just the opposite. I’m no expert though. My thoughts are just based on my limited experience and the University of Casica Tech.
Low RPM’s can cause chipping. Get a rpm tester, they’re pretty cheap, or take it to someone who has one and go from there. Best to troubleshoot armed with all the facts.
Brochures say 13,500 and 15,000 RPM. I don’t know what they regularly test at though. I think that the first step of troubleshooting would be to check it and see if it falls in that range.
Hi Doc, it’s been a million years; glad you back and hopefully OK. I’ve sent you a PM with my current contact info.
Anyhow for Magicfeet: Like Gene says the only real way to see what the motor is clocking is with a digital tachometer (about $20 on Amazon). The Skil’s I’ve measured over the years are around 16K rpm (plus/minus 500 rpm) regardless of motor current rating, and I check every one I do. On converters, the minimum I recommend is 1500 watts but you have to be careful on the frequency spec’s. Skil motors run at 100 vac, 60 Hz. Most international frequencies are 50 Hz. Some converters only do voltage not frequency (I did see the box printing, but this may not hold true on certain motors). And, like Doc says the voltage may not be really 110 v. Frequency is the timing of the AC sine-wave, and 50 Hz is considerably slower than 60, so you would see about 12K rpm at this frequency on a Skil instead of 16K. On modern motors, some can run at either frequency without an rpm change; this may be why the Hitachi runs better. This issue is very apparent if you try and use an older US 220 vac 60 Hz tool in a country that has 220-230 vac 50 Hz. There are some US Skil 220 vac planers out there (were used mainly with generators).
My records show this Skil measured 15.5K rpm and 2.9 amps when it was here but keep in mind that the motor is from the 1950’s. Try it on another converter (larger one if possible) and see what happens. I can confirm that non-US Makita planers are limited to 12K rpm for international safety reasons but they will still cut without much tearing, but obviously not as good as one turning 16K as US models do. This safety feature has to do with tool vibration on the hands BTW.
Yew! Thanks chaps - this has been MASSIVELY helpful. I’m still going to try bring in one of Jesse’s fancy cutters, but first thing tomorrow I’m going to test a transformer with a higher ( 1500 - 2000 ) wattage and see if I’m still getting chipping. Appreciate it!
Higher power output won’t do trick. Try a generator where you can check and alter the Frequency and test your planer. The 50 Hz is most probably the cause.
Causes problem on welding machines and a lot of other tools too.
