Planing Bit?

[mzettl]

I'm thinking of getting a large planing bit to plane hardwood that is too wide for my planer. Does anyone have any experience with the Amana RC-2252 Insert Spoilboard Surfacing Bit? This bit has 4 insert cutters, two of which provide a low angle upshear cut. This bit is also a little over 3" diameter, which would certainly speed up the process. The other bit I'm considering is the Hersaf 2 1/2 in surfacing bit.

My main objective is the quality of the planed surface, so as to minimize sanding. Any experience or advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt


4943

[knight_toolworks]

I just got one in a nice trade so it saved me some bucks. it works great when I flattened some cutting boards. not super smooth on endgrain but I doubt any bit would be real smooth.
but on regular grain it works great and you can hog with it (goofed and did 1/2" in a single pass) but .125 at 4ips works great. I use 4" for ramping.

[knight_toolworks]

I meant I have the 2.5" bit. as you can see a perfect surface.

4944

[mzettl]

Steve, that really looks great. Is the bit you have the one that has 2 inserts? On Amana's website it appears that the RC-2252 which has 4 inserts is only available in a 3.25 inch diameter. Also, it has a 3/4" shaft. From what I'm seeing in your photo the additional two inserts may not provide any appreciable advantage.

I can't tell in the photo, but was there any tearout in the curly maple? The other woods look like purpleheart, maybe padauk, mahogany, sapele or makore, and they look perfect as far as I can tell.

Thanks for taking the time to post the photo.

-Matt

[knight_toolworks]

right it is the 2.5" bit. no tearout in any of the wood. but I got that with a 1.75" straight amana bit too so it seems tearout is not a problem for the most part.

[Gary Campbell]

Matt..
We use the Amana RC-2257 It works well for hardwoods, plastics and mdf surfacing the spoilboard. I wanted the RC-2252, for the features, but it has a 3/4" shaft and it wont fit into an ER25 collet machine (or a router either).
Gary

[mzettl]

Gary,

Yeh, I've found out that the largest ER 25 collet is 5/8", so that leaves out the RC-2252 for me as well. I'm glad to hear that the 2257 works well, so that is what I'll most likely go with. No one seems to know much about the HerSaf, which is cheaper, but I'm not going to spend upwards of $150 - $250 on a bit without having some independent opinions on how well they work.

Thanks for the input.

-Matt

[Gary Campbell]

Matt.
They are expensive, but only in the beginning. I would guess that we have 5 times the planing on the 1st side of the 1st set of inserts that we got out of the OEM 1 1/4" bit. They still seem sharp. You will have to pay attention to getting your Z axis exactly perpendicular to the table surface as the larger diameter bit will exagerate any error vs. a smaller diameter bit. On the upside, you can look forward to .050 cuts at 3-4 ips.@ 2" stepover without a problem. I have found that being able to evacuate the chips/dust is more of a limitation that the cutter itself. Good Luck.
Gary

[claude12345]

hi guys im a newbie at this, one more week machine going to arrive ive been surfin the internet for info found a 3/4 er25 collet if your interested check Htt//pdscolumbo.com their 32.00 us

[mzettl]

Claude,

That's some good information. I noticed that on the page where the ER-25 collets are listed, the heading says they are available in sizes 1/8" - 5/8", yet they have a 3/4" listed further down on the page. I may give them a call to see if this is bona fide, or a mistake. If it is truly available, then the Amana RC-2252 becomes a viable option.

Thanks for posting that.

-Matt

[dubliner]

I notice they also caution against using the 3/4 for extended periods. In that case would HSD or Colombo warranty come under scrutiny for using a collet that allowed you to spin such a large bit?

[mzettl]

Neville,

That's a pretty vague disclaimer on their website. What it actually says is, "Precision Drive Systems does not recommend that the ER 25 3/4 inch Collet be used in a frequently used application."

What that means is a mystery to me. I guess the best thing to do is call them and tell them what your use of the collet would be, and get their opinion. I wonder if their concern is the ability of the spindle to use a large bit for extended or frequent applications, or the ability of the collet to stand up to heavy use. Having a really large bit com out during use wouldn't be pretty, but damaging the spindle itself is a whole different issue.

-Matt

[mrdovey]

I'm interested - does anyone have a phone number for Precision Drive Systems?

[mzettl]

Morris,

Their number is 704-922-1206.

-Matt

[mrdovey]

Matt...

Thanks! I just talked with the sales guy at PDS and he told me that there were no restrictions on use of the ER25 3/4" collet. I've got one on order and I'm looking foreward to giving it a whirl [pun intentional].

...Morris

[don]

Morris,
I'm curious about the ER25 3/4" collet.
Does the standard shank fit snug.
Any information would be great.
As I'm getting ready to have a custom tool made and don't wish to have the shank ground to 5/8"

[bws]

Hi, just my 2 cents worth. I didn't know the ER25 would take a 3/4" bit. I have several sizes, but never seen one this big. Here is a link to a store that sells these at really reasonable prices.

http://www.maritool.com/Collets-ER-SERIES-COLLETS-ER25-INDIVIDUAL-SIZES/c21_56_63/index.html?page=1

Good luck,

Jim

[mjindustry]

Hey Guys,

I'm definitely looking at getting some planer bits.

Anyone have experience with these Magnate planer bits?
http://magnate.net/index.cfm?event=showProductGroup&theID=136

I see they have one 1/4" shank with a 3/4" cutting diameter. This one should work good for me...it's only $14.

[applik]

Jason,
We use the 1/2" shank 1.25 and 1.5 diameter from magnate. They work great. With only .75 it's gonna take a little l-o-n-g-e-r to plane your project or table.
Shari

[beacon14]

I would stay away from the 1/4" shank. If this is for surfacing your spoilboard, for an extra few bucks the 1 1/2" or even the 2" will make you much happier in the long run.

For pocketing out areas within a job the 3/4" bit would probably work just fine.

[mzettl]

Jason,

I started this thread almost a year ago, and have since obtained the Magnate 2 3/4 in planer bit. I am very happy with it, and in fact have a couple of other Magnate bits that I am also very happy with. I use the planer bit on some really hard wood like jatoba (Brazilian cherry), bubinga, and others. It can easily take 1/8" in single pass, with a feed rate of 240 in/min. It leaves a very good surface, although sanding is required to get it to the point of what I consider a finished surface.

Primarily, I use it for "jointing" the face of boards that are too wide for my 8" jointer. If the board is less than 12", I can then do the other side in my planer, but if it's wider than that, I'll just flip it over to do the other side.

I also use it to surface my spoilboard, and it makes very quick work of that. I use the "Buchsbaum/Paco" surfacing routine posted on these forums, customized to my personal needs, and it works extremely well.

To sum up, I have had nothing but good experiences with Magnate. The bits are excellent quality, the prices are extremely reasonable, and they ship quickly.

Matt