Clark 2003 Model Foam Planer, User Manual

Page 1: ...CLARK FOAM PLANER 2003 MODEL SAFETY AND OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS Version 1 2003 ...

Page 2: ...ly Historically faulty wiring has caused most shaping room combustion Serious fires have been caused by poor housekeeping or fuel buildup combined with faulty wiring Always keep the planer cord plug and all drop cords used in and around shaping in top condition and use adequate size wire Do not try to repair damaged or worn wire and parts with tape or other methods but replace them with new parts ...

Page 3: ...CING THE DEPTH ADJUSTMENT SCREW 11 SERVICING THE FOAM FILTER 11 ADJUSTING THE MAXIMUM CUTTING DEPTH 12 INDEXING THE BASE PLATES AND START OF CUT 12 FRONT END ASSEMBLY DIAGRAM 12 DEPTH ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM ASSEMBLYAND ADJUSTMENT 14 DUST EXHAUST OUTLET 15 VACUUM SYSTEMS 15 MAINTAINING THE BRUSHES 16 MAINTAINING THE TRIGGER 16 POWER CORD MAINTENANCE AND ADJUSTMENT 17 BEARING MAINTENANCE 17 REPLACING ...

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Page 5: ...l shapers a lot of frustration and a significant loss of productivity Therefore we have put a lot of thought into this document and have tried to cover each sub ject in great detail The depth adjustment mechanism on this planer is especially difficult to set up and under stand A new 2003 Model planer should be properly set up and work well out of the box If you choose to customize the depth adjust...

Page 6: ...r to the eye The base plates are modified for shaping surfboards The rear plate is wider than earlier models and the front plate is tapered so the planer will slide over glue and obstructions rather than plowing them into the foam The planer is very short This is an advantage for all but perfectly flat surfaces Each planer comes with an exhaust deflector that can either attach to a vacuum hose or ...

Page 7: ...irst rule is no fuel no fire Keep a clean shop Also if you burn down it hurts every one building surfboards Fire Marshals read statistics and newspapers You will not be very popular Wiring is the number one cause of surfboard factory fires Maintain good wiring and use common sense Poor housekeeping is the second most common cause of fires CUSTOM PLANERS While developing the 2003 Model we identifie...

Page 8: ...ifornia 92677 The blades are sharpened at the Clark Foam Factory using a state of the art automatic sharp ening machine The blades are indexed on the blade holder using the same jig that comes with each planer Our quality control is excellent We also sharpen blades from other hand and power planers IMPORTANT BLADE CHANGING INSTRUCTIONS There is a very important indexing adjustment when changing bl...

Page 9: ...t is inserted between the rear base plate and the plastic housing This makes the indexing of the blades exactly the same on all 2003 Model planers POWER CORD ADJUSTMENT When using a vacuum system simply attach the cord to the vacuum hose Without a vacuum system it is important to loop the cord forward then back around and then cable tie or tape the cord to the top of the handle When using the plan...

Page 10: ...len Wrench a small knob several 3 16 pins and a packet of glue You can rotate the DOUGHNUT s position relative to the depth screw as long as the large knob has not come unscrewed Simply loosen the Allen screw and rotate the DOUGHNUT Note that if the large knob loosens during this process you must reassemble the depth ad justment mechanism This procedure is explained in a later section of this Manu...

Page 11: ... or a solvent and compressed air to clean the screw mechanism This may take several applications or soaking When clean carefully dry the unit Due to Teflon coating normally no lubrication is required If you feel lubrication is required we recommend a light coat of Triflow lubricant Experience has shown that a heavy oil or grease will turn into a solid in the presence of foam dust If you feel there...

Page 12: ...tarts cutting Other shapers use the far left position of the depth adjustment indicator as a refer ence point so they want the planer to begin cutting just as the indicator is moved off the far left position This setting is made using shim washers between the top of the depth adjustment screw and the bottom of the main housing Each planer has its own set of shims as the molded plastic housings var...

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Page 14: ...e plate side Less shim will raise the front base plate More shim will lower it Extra shims are available from Clark Foam 3 Carefully put the front base plate in position Make sure everything is perfectly aligned Set the back base plate of the planer on a flat surface 4 Put the Teflon washer in position and place the DOUGHNUT in position 5 Turn the depth adjustment stud coming through the planer co...

Page 15: ...acuum To utilize this position all 3 screws must be re moved and the outer gasket as well as the exhaust pipe must be removed from the planer Next remove the 1 2 long piece of 1 8 steel keystock from the inner gasket which serves as the stop for the exhaust pipe Now reassemble the unit following the reverse method The dust exhaust pipe assembly can be completely remove and replaced with the stock ...

Page 16: ...e brushes are a well known wear part on the planer They are located on the right side of the planer There are two on the planer located opposite of each other They are easy to check and easy to replace using a medium size screwdriver If a brush is worn to the point that the motor will no longer run there could be serious damage to the main motor Therefore it is wise to periodically check one of th...

Page 17: ...ings clean will insulate the bearings causing over heating and premature failure of the main cutter bearings This problem can cause severe overheating causing the plastic housings to melt A melted main plastic housing is pretty much the end of the planer Fire could also be a problem We also believe a hot bearing will melt foam causing a buildup of polyurethane on the bearing Never run the planer w...

Page 18: ...it would be very very easy to pass up an opportunity to improve productivity From novice to expert the best possible tip is to watch what other shapers are doing The angle of the rear handle of the 2003 Model planer requires that the blank and lights be higher than when using other planers This is normally an advantage to the shaper If the work is too low the hand gripping the rear planer handle m...

Page 19: ...Model but the Skil 100 is a lot heavier The weight of the Skil 100 helps hold the planer down on the blank The result will be that the 2003 Model will tend to lift up on its own and fail to cut to full depth Therefore the shaper will have to learn to exert more downward pressure when using the 2003 Model The downward pres sure must also be properly focused A vacuum will increase the downward press...

Page 20: ...ont of the rear base plate In this position the ends of the planer are not touching anything Therefore the overall length of the planer is irrel evant A long planer and a short planer work exactly the same The above holds true only when the base plates and blades are perfectly indexed SKIL 100 PLANER COMPARISON TO THE 2003 MODEL When switching from one planer to another it is helpful to know the d...

Page 21: ...icantly easier to tell cutting depth by the sound of the planer because it makes more noise It appears the rear handle position of the Skil 100 is excellent and we did our best to copy this position with the 2003 Model We could not copy it without incurring a significant expense or we would have copied it The Model 2003 body width is slightly greater than the Skil 100 There are several Skil 100 mo...

Page 22: ... 30 would be the best substitute for the Skil 100 We began modifying the F 30 At the last minute we included a modified Hitachi F 20 as a beginners planer or small board planer Much to our surprise the F 20 outsold the F 30 by a huge margin Modifying the F 30 was almost a waste of our time Hitachi made the decision for us when they discontinued the F 30 in the early 1990 s Looking back we attribut...

Page 23: ...s a first step we again looked at all planers available in the United States We now have a very contemporary planer collection at our factory The Bosch 1594 clearly won the overall design power and RPM award for an out of the box small planer Our analysis showed the Bosch 1594 would be difficult to convert to a surfboard planer so we stuck with the P 20SB In our opinion it is still the easiest pla...

Page 24: ...the blade holder For an instruction Manual contact Clark Foam An Allen Wrench for the DOUGHNUT under the big knob A depth of cut spacer ring that can be installed to decrease the maximum cutting depth The ring can be modified A kit for modifying the indexing mechanism in a separate plastic bag ...