Woodmaster 718 Changeover Process

I recently added a Woodmaster 718 to my shop. And that machine is a combination tool that does planing, sanding, rip sawing and production molding. I've been thrilled with the machine so far. I wrote an in depth review on each of the four capabilities. I posted that on the WoodWorkers Guild of America website. But I also wanted to walk you through one of the basic things that you're gonna need to do with this machine. And that's change it over from one function to the other. That was one of the concerns that I had in general about combination machines and so I wanted to make sure that this particular machine was straightforward, and easy enough to do without a manual. And after the first time I did it, it definitely is. It takes me in general about ten minutes or so maybe a little bit less than that to change it from one function to the next. And I'm gonna just walk through the core set of steps to do that. I've already removed the housing. I've removed the drive belt. So mainly what I'm gonna focus on is showing you the mechanics around removing the accessory shaft, removing the drum, and I'm gonna install a spiral cutter head for planing. So, first I've unplugged the machine which is what you want to do before digging under the hood of any power tool. Them I'm going to loosen the sanding drum. Yeah, this has to actually come out a little ways because it has to clear as it slides out. Okay, so then we're going to remove the collars that lock the shaft into position. Okay. Slide that off, we're gonna use those in a little bit as well. Okay, I'm gonna raise this up just a bit to hold that drum into position as I slide the accessory shaft out. Okay. Don't need that. I'll need this collar. And we'll remove the sanding drum. And now I'll set the planer head into position, and this is a spiral cutter head. Has over a hundred carbide inserts in it that you can turn if they become dull or if they are nicked so it's a really nice upgrade to this machine. It also runs a bit quieter than the standard cutter head. Okay, so I've got that into position, now I'm going to put these morse taper shafts, spindles into place that lock the cutter head into position. So this is a nice design because with that taper, they slide in pretty easily, give you a nice bit of wiggle room as I slide that in and engage the cutter head. So then I'm gonna just start tightening that down a bit. Okay. Just get it finger tight for now. Okay, and then we've got spindle on the other side. Slide that one into position. All right. So it's standard threads on the right side of the machine. And reverse threads on the left side. So you have to develop a little trick to keep that straight. All right, so that's locked in and solid. All right, lefty tighty on the right side. All right so that's ready to go. Then, you're gonna just slide this, get it more or less centered on the machine. Lower it a bit. All right. That looks good. All right, and then I'm going to just lock these collars on. Spin that into position. There we go. That's it, and then you would just put the double belt onto the planer head which would take another minute or so, and you're all set. Put the cover on, hook up dust collection and you're ready to go. So pretty quick change over. That was probably well under 10 minutes probably less than 5 minutes. So all in all, maybe I can do it now in 6 or 7 minutes. Including all the steps. So, very much exceeded my expectations in terms of simplicity, ease of change over. This is a great aspect to a tool that I have really grown fond of in a very short period of time. That's the Woodmaster 718.