damaged allen screws removal

I like the idea of using a 6mm bolt with pilot hole in it to centre the drill if drilling out.

Use the best drill bit you can find - I have not found better than Dormer... get a new one just for this.

Hey Larry where abouts are you ? If your not to far off I will dig out the spark eroder ! It will make holes in any conductive material, the party piece is to put a hole in a carbite tip so it can be screwed to a holder - with a bit of copper. A hex electrode would even make a new key hole. Noel.

Hammering anything into the grub screw head is only going to tighten the grip of the thread, so likely not a good idea.

As a last resort, the blade, which is held precisely in position by those grub screws (I’ve changed and set blades many times in a much larger planer than this one) would be to grind/mill away the (likely HSS) blade(s) and remove the grub screw(s) afterwards. These rotors turn at very high speed (maybe 5000rpm?), so drilling new holes is likely to upset the balance, which may even end up with an imperfect finish on any decent hardwood timber.

The screws are possibly not on a chord (most certainly not a tangent🙂 ), because they need to trap the blade securely at right angles to the blade to avoid any movement when finally securing the blade, after setting it level across the rotor. I can’t remember, after 30 years, if the blades were fitted radially, but suspect they were.

Good morning all,

Yes I did attack it with a thin cutting disc and managed to remove both blades.

Both very rusty but can be saved. Still one screw close to the end of the block where the cutting disc cannot reach. this will be more difficult, but at this stage I am not going to give up. The rest of the machine is in fairly good condition, just needs a motor and a new stand [it was part of a bigger unit, saw ect ] Could be a nice little item when/if finished !

My thanks to everyone.