Skil 100 planers?

Ive been searching for one for a while now at flea markets. I know of one guy that got one for a ridiculous price at colingswood. Something like $25 I think. besides checking places like that and having a **** load of good luck I've seen a lot of them on ebay for a minimum of $400. If you do find one theres a guy in monmouth county who can fix them but i dont know his name, call greenlight surf shop they'll know who he is.

 

ebay. and fix yourself. parts online also.or you can http://accuratewaterman.com/

 

Just pony up the dough and get one in decent shape. I have had 4 skils and they are definitely an amazing tool. You can get them for around $400 which is a good deal for that tool. Otherwise used clark foams come up every once and awhile for around $250-300.

 

Got mine off ebay for $300, but it needed work... new brushes, depth adjustment tune-up, blades sharpened... as long as the armature and motor are good, the rest can be addressed. The guy in MoCo who does good work is Power Tool Co. in Bradly (Neptune). The guys at Greenlight have all had theirs worked on there, and they also had them powder coated. Comes out real nice. I just hit my belt cover with emery cloth, primed and painted it, and gave the chassis a once-over with a scotchbrite pad.

 

you can find them on ebay and craigslist usually... $200-$1000 buy a nicer one if you dont want to work on it. Hey LBCrew when are you going to bring the planer over and show it off to us?

 

I also checked some flea markets already but I haven't found what I have been looking for. I will additionally check ebay now. Whenever I need a power tool I actually always used power rental until now which is very convenient but now I am looking for my own Skil planers. Hopefully I will find a cheap offer soon.

 

I have two (and a half) right now, a full length Skil 190 and a modified Skil 100, pretty easy to work on and find parts for but you don't need to pay the ebay prices for the parts. I have rebuilt 3 of them so far. Good luck finding one!

 

Unless you're really set on that particular planer due to nostalgic reasons, need the extra weight, or you are cutting through a ton of foam on a regular basis its not worth it in my opinion. I know that some of you guys love 'em (Andrew ;-)), but with the type of close tolerance blanks that we have now not sure if they are worth the investment. Clark type is way lighter and with the right technique a viable substitute (nt., I have two an original '08 clark with a shaping barrel and the newer model with regular blades). As well no need to make a vacuum system attachment as you would with the skill...already set up (nt., below).
I tried the skil (both a full length and a modified base) and the weight is just not worth it...felt a bit dead in my hands. I know...I know...more horsepower, etc. but the thing is a bit too heavy for my taste! As well...$400 for the clark new with a box...food for thought as opposed to a similar price for a fixer upper. Also, I would attempt to get the 190 as well...not as much of a market compared to the 100...good luck.

 

Agreed with live4truth.

Bought my Skil 7 years ago for $400 on ebay from a guy up in north Jersey so I could I inspect before I paid. It was mint. It now sits in it's box while I use my Clark. For production shaping the Clark is the better tool for me. I like the lighter weight. I do all my cutting from one side of the board and reaching across with the Skil is a workout. Also, you would be suprised how little foam you can remove with a well tuned planer. So having a light weight tool can be an advantage when trying to take out little bumps.

Honestly, unless you plan to shape a lot of boards, you don't need a Skil or a Clark. You can buy a Bosch 1594k for $130 with a far superior motor than the Hitachi P20SBK (Clark). Making depth adjustment while cutting rail bands and rocker (the only reason to use a Skil or Clark) is a technique that takes many boards to learn to do well and a LOT of boards to do it consistently well. Unless you plan on shaping a lot of boards, you will do fine with a much cheaper Bosch that will actually cut cleaner than the Clark. You will just cut in steps rather than adjusting depth on the fly. My 2 cents.

And for what it's worth, the Accurate blows the doors off the Skil. They had some quality issues early on, but they are incredible machines. If I wanted a heavy planer I would go that route rather than spend hundreds on a 30 year old tool.

 

i have a skil 100, which i got for free basically just bartered my time sanding and compounding and polishing a friends boards since he hates sanding, but ever since i got a Rockwell versa plane last x-mas from Tom Mahady i love it, 10 amp beast! just rips foam weighs about double the skil, just a great machine. The Skil is awesome to dont get me wrong, i just need to get some new blades and i think a powder coat on it soon. but once you dial in a planer it is almost to good to stop using it. i thank Tom everytime i talk to him for giving it to me. (Skill 100 5.5 amp wish it was the 7 amp) (rockwell) modified dust chute and grinded down front handle

 

The skil removes a lot of meat fast. That's where it's at for me. The Accurate's out of my reach in terms of $$$.

The Bosch was my planer of choice for years. I never really liked the Hitachi's.

My first planer, back in high school (around '79 or '80) was a Craftsman. It was actually close to the Skil, and a great tool. Wish I still had it.

 

Got my Skil 100 a while ago from someone who posts here. I adjusted the action, took out the clicker to make it super loose and had it cleaned up and powder coated. By far the best investment I've made when it comes to shaping.



I actually like the extra weight--no need to apply downward pressure on the blank, you just let the tool do the work. Easy depth adjustment on the fly, and clean, consistent cutting. I've used the Clark Mod Hitachi pretty extensively as well, and although it is no doubt a good tool, it's like driving a Toyota Supra vs a good old American muscle car. It's light, compact and a bit whiny compared to the solid all metal body and rumble of the Skil.

Bottom line: any planer will get the job done (I started on and still have a Bosch from HD), but if you plan on shaping a lot of boards, go with the Hitachi, or better yet, the Skil.

Just my .02

 

Haha Tom!

No words need be said here.

 

Tom Mahady's idea but too cool to ignore. Tom had an orange powder coated SKil100 he kindly donated to Terry Martin's fund auction. Heard it captured a pretty penny, some lucky shaper in Cali now owns it. I'm keepin mine for a while though!



~Brian
www.greenlightsurfsupply.com
Shape Your Surfing Experience

 

Aahhh you beat me to it!

~Brian
www.greenlightsurfsupply.com
Shape Your Surfing Experience

 

Hey Andrew...found a 7.5 for ya...http://www.revolutionsurfer.com/skil-100-planer-type-4-7-5-amp/

 

I thought there are quite a few shapers who use the Porter-Cable 126 as well. You can get those for a great deal right now.

BTW: Porter-Cable makes/made the Rockwell

 

It is impossible to shape a board with a Porter-Cable 126 due to the mounting of the motor, which is made to hang off the side when planing doors. I remember a guy posted on Sways so excited that he scored one on ebay only to realize it wouldn't work.

I have used/owned almost every planer you can shape with and must say that i am down to the Skil 100 & the clark foam. Rider i believe you have one of my old skil's haha! As to the discussion above buying a skil that is ready to go is a lot better than buying one that needs work. I have owned 4 skil planers both 5.5 & 7.5 amp and must say that although you can find some parts out there it is more of a headache than needed.

If you are doing mostly shortboards & such than go with a Clark Foam, they pop up on sways for around $250 to $300 used. It is a great little tool and I use it a lot when i make my smaller boards. The Skil is a great tool for doing longboards or boards where a lot of foam needs to be taken off. The weight of the skil helps to make nice even cuts down the length of the board. But if you are only doing a couple boards here an there a stock planer will work fine. Balsa Bill shapes all his boards with just a Black & Decker planer and it works fine for him!