Plane and Fancy

One of the first things that happens when boards come into the shop destined to become the project at hand is to plane those boards down to the desired thickness. So it was with some disappointment a few days ago that turning on the planer resulted in an uncomfortable silence in what is usually a very noisy machine. How could this be? That machine is only 25 years old or so. Truth is, we've been operating on borrowed time for a while now. After checking out the incoming voltage and connections, my son Jonathan and I figured the old motor had just given up. It began to look like the 200 board feet or so of lumber we hoped to have ready for next weekend would not get even the first step on their way to being the wall paneling we hoped to install.

Removing the motor was pretty straight forward although, weighing in at about 100 pounds, it was challenge enough. In the mean time, a great friend offered us the use of a smaller planer that he had in his shop. Today, Jonathan and I ran the boards through the generously loaned machine noting that though plenty wide enough, the amount the machine could remove in a single pass was considerably less than it's disabled big, motorless brother. After two passes through the borrowed machine, I checked my phone and the message from the motor repair shop was just what I wanted to hear. Just a bit over 48 hours after dropping the motor off, it was repaired and ready to be picked up. You better believe, I'll talk that repair shop up.

The planer is back in business and that loud noise it makes is somehow not nearly as annoying as it seemed to be. If it's possible for a siren-like 90 decibel noise to sound like music, that's what's happening now. Barring any other breakdown, we should be on schedule to have our material ready for the weekend. We will move forward assuming that will be the case. One thing that has been present in the whole situation is an attitude, on my part, of understanding that all our circumstances are under God's control. He wanted us to experience a slowdown and acceptance that all our plans must somehow fit into His grand plan. I'm grateful to be able to use the planer again and just as with His presence, I appreciate it a bit more.