A wood planing machine comprising:
- a machine base having opposite mounting sides spaced apart from each other in a transverse direction, and feed-in and take-out sides disposed apart from each other in a longitudinal direction;
- left and right pairs of upstanding posts extending upward from said machine base at said mounting sides;
- a cutter carriage disposed above said machine base, and having opposite end portions mounted movably on said upstanding posts for sliding movement of said cutter carriage along said upstanding posts;
- moving means for moving said cutter carriage along said upstanding posts and for adjusting a height of said cutter carriage relative to said machine base;
- and
- a carriage locking mechanism for locking said cutter carriage at a desired height relative to said machine base, said carriage locking mechanism including
- a pair of post embracing members disposed above said cutter carriage, each having an elongate plate portion that extends in the longitudinal direction at one side of a respective one of said left and right pairs of upstanding posts, and two post embracing portions that are connected to opposite ends of said elongate plate portion for embracing a respective one of said upstanding posts, each of said post embracing members being anchored on said cutter carriage,
- a pair of axially aligned tubular sockets that are threaded internally in different directions, each of said sockets having one end mounted securely on said elongate plate portion of a respective one of said post embracing members and extending in the transverse direction between a respective one of said left and right pairs of upstanding posts, and
- a regulating rod disposed above said cutter carriage in the transverse direction and having opposite end portions that are threaded externally in different directions for threaded engagement with said sockets, respectively,
- axial rotation of said regulating rod in a first direction resulting in movement of said sockets toward each other such that said elongate plate portions of said post embracing members are forced toward the respective one of said left and right pairs of upstanding posts to lock said cutter carriage on said upstanding posts and arrest movement of said cutter carriage along said upstanding posts,
- axial rotation of said regulating rod in a second direction opposite to the first direction resulting in movement of said sockets away from each other such that said elongate plate portions of said post embracing members are forced away from the respective one of said left and right pairs of upstanding posts to unlock said cutter carriage from said upstanding posts and permit movement of said cutter carriage along said upstanding posts.