PLANING MACHINES.—W0011. In considering the subject of planing machinery, we may include therein machines which give to sawed timber proper dimensions. dressing it on all four sides at once, as well as those which merely give it a true surface; and as very many of those machines which dress it on from two to tour surfaces, and give it its finished width. make a tongue upon one edge and a groove in the other—matching, as it is called— we must, while studying and describing some types at least of planing machines, study and describe the matching machine also, It may be well to call attention to the fact that as regards the tools which work upon the wood, they may be held either in cylinders or in disks ; the disks being represented by merely their radii and the cylinders by mere lengthwise lines upon their periphery, parallel to their axis. Cylinder machines make cuts which are practically straight and at right angles to the length of the stick and to its direction of passage through the machine. The disk or arm machines make cuts which are practically circular arcs bounded by the edges of the stick. In the first class we consider the Woodworth and similar cylinder planers ; in the second, the Daniells. Both of these are illustrated and described in a former volume of this work.
The Modern Danielle planer is built entirely of iron and steel, except the face of the table, which is made of yellow pine. This gives the machine great strength, and especially adapts it to the use of railway, bridge, and car builders, who require to take large lumber or timber cut out of wind or to reduce it to square dimensions. As made by J. A. Fay & Co., the iron frame machine, Fig. 1, has its sides cast in sections, according to the length of machine wanted. The ways on which the table moves are cast with the sides and planed to fit the slides of the table, which are continuous, and form a good bearing at all points. The table is made to travel in either direction under the cutters by a self-acting motion, and it will plane forwards and backwards. The carriage has a dog or tail-screw let into the back end of the platen, so as to come below the surface, and is operated by a crank wheel. The main spindle is properly of steel, of large diameter, and running in long bear ings ; the arm should be of wrought or malleable iron. The material is held down by dead weights or guide plates. The carriage has side clamps for edging up. The levers for start ing, reversing, or stopping the motion of the table, with the hand wheel for raising and low ering the cutters, are all within easy reach of the operator, and the table can be moved by a hand wheel when the machine is not in operation. The feed works have three changes of
feed, admitting of planing while the table moves in either direction. The rack being beneath the table, with a vertical pinion, there is no danger of lodging of shavings. nor tendency to raise the table by the force required to move it. The main driving belt is not a quarter-twist, as in the old makes ; the countershaft being attached over the machine to the building and parallel to the main shaft, thus giving a straight belt ; and the driving belt for the cutter head acts at a right angle to the countershaft. This does away with the old vertical countershaft, and the annoyance of quarter-twist belts, and the tendency of the main belt to draw the machine out of line.
A machine by the same makers, which is a combination of the Danielis and the Wood worth planing machines. is of great utility. It is shown in Fig. 2. There is a wooden frame with iron housings or uprights for carrying the cylinder and frame. The planing cylinder is horizontal, and lipped with steel, carrying three knives and running in long bearings. It is supported in its frame upon two heavy iron standards having planed surfaces, upon which it is gibbed and moved vertically, and at an angle, to retain the driving belts at the same tension. There are on each side of the cylinder adjustable pressure rollers to hold the lum ber firmly to the platen ; these rollers also being arranged that they may be lifted up so that there will be no pressure when planing dimension stuff or taking lumber out of wind. The feed rollers when not in use may be moved out of the way ou planed slides. They are con nected by expansion gearing, and will take in lumber up to 4 in. thick. When used for sur face planing the table is placed with its end under the cylinder and pressure rollers, and the feed rollers moved into position. The platen or carriage for using the machine as a Daniells planer has friction feed works, with changes of speed, and is arranged to plane while the the belt. The upper cylinder has a pulley at each end to enable two belts to he used ; and each cylinder carries two knives. The pressure bars on each side of the upper cylinder are self-acting, the end in front rising and falling with the feeding-in rollers, and always retain ing the same relative position, yet allowing the roller to yield to any variation in the surface of the material ; the bar controlling the pressure after the cut of the upper cylinder being adjustable. The bar following the cut of the lower cylinder is adjustable to meet the cut that is taken.