BoleynWorkshop

 Coronet Capitol planer

I received an email from a chap called Sam Browning who quite rightly felt that pictures of his Capitol planer should be available to make my readers and site visitors envious.   So here it is.  "Jealous much?" as they say these days.  I know I am.  Below is Sams's Coronet history in his own words.

About 14 years ago I got into canoeing and so had to start making canoes. At that time I was teaching and had full access to a workshop with saws, planer, thicknesser etc.  Since then I have built and repaired quite a few more canoes but also stopped teaching so cannot access the workshop.  The need for a circular saw was greatest and I bought a Minor (Jun ‘72 on the saw fence) just for the saw. It has the larger table and has a proper guard and riving knife. It only has one shaft on the motor and I’ve set it up permanently in saw mode. I’ve never really got on with turning, but it has the long bar, slides and tool rests and tail stock, a 5” face plate but no centres or chucks.  The next need was for a planer. I bought a second hand small modern one and it was rubbish so earlier this year I replaced it with another Minor (cheap off ebay).  This has the shorter bar and again came with tail stock with centre, slides and tool rests, a ½” chuck for milling bits and a combination table. It has the smaller saw table with a side mounted guard (but I’m missing the block it fits into) and no riving knife. It has a planer attachment but unfortunately no thicknesser. It needs new pulleys on the planer side as they are both damaged. A previous owner has had a right go at them! This one is dated April 62 on the planer although a range of paint colours suggest it’s a bit of a mish-mash. Keeping my eye out for a thicknesser   I put a bid in on a Coronet planer and won at £33 – a bargain! The picture showed a rebate table and extension tables, a thicknesser attachment also, which meant I’d be able to get rid of the second Minor. When I got it home I saw that the ‘spring plate thingy’ on the thicknesser had the aluminium plate broken but I can make up a new one of those and rivet the old springs to it. It looks just like the planer on the ‘International Woodworker’ page.  It turns out that the thicknesser isn’t off the Capitol. It won’t fit as the table is far too wide but it will fit the little planer on the Minor – so it looks like I’ll have to keep that for now too. Perhaps I’ll run the saw and planer from the double ended motor and sell on the second Minor with the single ended motor.  I’m now looking for 2x pulleys for the planer side of the Minor or better still – a thicknessing attachment which fits the big beastie. (Which he now has- Pete Site Admin)

See pictures below of Sam's Coronet Capitol.

 Sam has a few Coronet machines in his workshop and thoughtfully recognized the need for a comparison with a standard planing attachment from his Minor in this case and his classic beast of a Capitol.  Top fella.

Thanks for taking the time to send the pictures in, they're a great addition to the site.  Sam also has a Coronet Imp and a Minor which I shall stick up on the relevant pages soon.  All in all a quality workshop for his canoe building.  In January '17 I heard from Sam that he had acquired the thicknesser for his machine so see the photos below for the complete classic machine.