Thread: A gripe about spare parts for my Hitachi planer

I know you posted this in 2004, but I have owned a Hitachi F1000a since I bought it new in 1981. It has performed flawlessly for the little that I use it for in my home woodworking shop. I was able to buy new planer blades this year (2020) and just recently caused a problem with it requiring new planer blade holders and new blades (don't ask!). I was able to find them available new online, even though 90% of the f1000a parts on that site were discontinued. I also found a Canadian site that provides a replacement planer blade "shaft" that uses carbide rotary knives. You only need make a minor modification to the f1000a casting to get the new planer head to slide in and use the original bearings. I'm planning on looking into that seriously, as I'm very happy with the machine overall.

Ian, before you make the order to Uncle Sam, try one of the "saw doctors". Peacock Saws would be a likely candidate in your neck of the woods. They would have the ability to "make them to order" for you if they don't have them in stock. I have a TOWA Electric Plane.....yep TOWA before Ryobi TOWA and well before Ryobi. I came across preplacement blades from a Saw Sharpening service at Kirrawee (Sydney Suburb) and they weren't very dear
As things have turned out I was given a second TOWA plane that needed new bearings (Motor and Spindle). Not bad for power tools that are 48 years old! Both are still doing what they do very well. They design of them puts your hands in a position that is more like a hand plane which makes guiding them a whole lot better than the newer ones with the handle "on top" of the machine

Ummm... thread date 10th Aug 2004?

Hmmm, this thread is resurrecting the dead in more ways than one. I've long since put the F1000 out to pasture. It was a bit of a nuisance because it is a 110V model I brought back from Canada so had to be used with a transformer, but that was tolerable. I went through a phase of needing to plane a lot of wider boards (250 & 300mm) & the 6 inch buzzer became a real bind, so I went out & bought a 305 over-under machine (didn't put enough thought into it & quickly regretted my choice, but that's another story!).

The F1000 is still sitting forlornly at the back of the shed waiting for me to do something with it. It's still in working order (or it was when I wheeled it into the corner a dozen years or so ago), and has a spare set of barely-used blades. The bearings on the buzzer shaft were replaced not long before it was pensioned off. It's free to a good home, the only provisos being you'll need a husky helper to get it into your vehicle. It should fit comfortably in the back of a largish 4WD, the buzzer table extensions drop down & make it reasonably compact. I would also have the transformer checked over by a 'lectrician. It was made up in Canada to Canadian specs, but may not pass local codes. And warn your neighbors - the universal motor screams like a banshee with a sore toe.....

I agree they are (were) a good machine, the blade-levelling system is a purler, simple, effectve & quick.

Cheers,

Ian,

Great to see you're still active on this forum after all this time. I just registered yesterday.

If you lived ANYWHERE in the U.S. I would snap up your offer for your retired F1000a to use for spare parts for mine, still very much in use. I don't think I could get it back in my luggage if I flew to tour your beautiful country, which is on my bucket list.

I never realized this machine was louder than others, since I've never used anything else, but I DO always don very good sound reducing earcovers whenever I use it, which works fine. In the U.S. our electricity is provided at both 110v and 220V in the same room, as-needed, so I don't have your conversion issue to deal with.

We recently retired and moved across the country to a more moderate climate after living in Minnesota our whole lives. We moved to the high desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico. No properties had shops, so we bought a property with a great house and had the shop built a year later. In Minnesota, I would have had what we call a metal covered pole building constructed, with a concrete floor, insulation, heating and AC, maybe for about $70,000USD. Here, construction costs are much more, and our Home Owners Association requires Santa Fe style construction, including stucco-covered walls. This raised the costs for my 770 square foot shop to $133,000USD! Hard to swallow that, but I'm extremely happy to have the new shop with 9.5 foot ceilings after having my shop in my basement for 35 years, with 7.5 foot ceilings!

Later,
Merle

Originally Posted by polarwood

Ian,

Great to see you're still active on this forum after all this time. I just registered yesterday.

We recently retired and moved across the country to a more moderate climate after living in Minnesota our whole lives. We moved to the high desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico. No properties had shops, so we bought a property with a great house and had the shop built a year later. In Minnesota, I would have had what we call a metal covered pole building constructed, with a concrete floor, insulation, heating and AC, maybe for about $70,000USD. Here, construction costs are much more, and our Home Owners Association requires Santa Fe style construction, including stucco-covered walls. This raised the costs for my 770 square foot shop to $133,000USD! Hard to swallow that, but I'm extremely happy to have the new shop with 9.5 foot ceilings after having my shop in my basement for 35 years, with 7.5 foot ceilings!

Later,
Merle

Hi Merle, welcome to the Forum. I lived in Belen in the mid 80s, beautiful part of the world. Much nicer climate than Minnesota.
Wow that is an expensive building, I hope you planned it all well and it serves you well.
Now how can I get back to Albuquerque, best Mexican food I have ever had.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Ian or others any chance you still have your Hitachi? I would like to find one of the aluminium flip up extension tables for the jointer. A long shot question but what the heck. I'd take the motor too as a spare. Thanks

Pete

Pete, the F1000 is still sitting in my garden-tractor shed waiting for me to decide what to do with it. It's still in pretty good order, I think, except for the no-load switch which played up occasionally after the plastic cover disintegrated & dust got in. It hasn't been fired up for at least a dozen years & will probably end up at a scrapyard. If we weren't separated by a few miles of ocean, I'd say hop in your pickup & come & collect it.....

Cheers,

Ian believe me if I could come for it I would. If you do decide to scrap it I would be happy to get the flip ups. They don't weigh a lot and I would pay for them to be mailed. We can talk more if that day ever comes.

Having just said that I want parts from your machine I have a solution for the switch even though it may mean it lives on. A very long time ago (1980s) the switch on mine died. It was an older one without a plastic cover. I replaced it with a couple industrial switches, momentary contact type. They control the relay under the outfield table like the old one did. I got them from a local electrical supplier at the time. The off button was a mushroom head type until I banged it swinging a large board last year and it disintegrated. I found a slightly different new version (old ones were superseded) at a supplier locally for under $20 and replaced it.

Pete