Elektra Beckum 260M Planer/Thicknesser

[Mike.C]

I have owned the above planer/thicknesser for a number of years now, it's the one with their old green paint job, just before they changed to blue.

Then a couple of years ago i wanted a longer bed, so i went for the Jet 54A Planer from Axminster, and rather then buy a separate thicknesser, i kept the EB, which would not only act as a thicknesser, but would be ideal if i needed to plane anything bigger than 160mm.

This was ideal until the following happened,

When i use it as a thicknesser it is faultless, but now when i try to use it in the planer mode, i cannot get it to cut square.
It seems that the in feed and the out feed are not square to each other and i cannot get the knives square to the out feed bed no matter how much i try.
I have tried using the tool (the one with the notch cut out of it) that came with the machine to set the knives, and i have tried the trick of the two marks on a piece of wood, but nothing works.

When i raise and lower the in feed table, to set the amount that is cut off a piece of timber, it either cuts miles to much, or nothing at all.

I also tried adjusting the grub screws on the infeed table, which i believe you are only meant to move a fraction at a time, or it will be a nightmare to get back to normal, but this did not work either.

I am now at my wits end ](*,) and i have no idea what to try next. So i am hopeing that someone may be able to come up with something else i can try [-o<

Cheers

Mike

 

[mailee]

Mike hasthis one got the cast alloy tables? If so mine is the same, they have warped! I am in the process of having them looked at? to see if they can be skimmed back to flat.

 

[jasonB]

Another thing that can happen to the fingers of alloy tables is that they can get bent upwards if you rip out knots while thicknessing. Put a straight edge on the outfeed table and check that it is flat.

Jason

 

[Mike.C]

Mailee, Jason, i had an idea that it maybe something bad which may cost a lot to put right.
On the other hand if it is something to do with the tables, the thicknesser will not be effected.

Mailee, yes it is the one with cast alloy beds.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

Has anyone had this sort of problem on a machine from another manufacturer? If so how did you cure it?

Cheers

Mike

 

[Mike.C]

I have checked both the beds and the fingers themselves, but both seem to be ok.

Is there any thing else i can check or do which will lead to a cure?

Jason and Mailee, thankyou for trying.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Mike.C]

This is driving me around the bend. I have tried everything i can think of, but i am no where near finding or curing the problem than i was in the beginning.

Is there anyone else who can even make a guess at how to cure the problem?

Cheers

Mike

 

[Colin C]

Hi MikeC
I had a problem like this with my Elu 1161.
For me it was the tables that were not flat all the way cross the two of them.
Try putting you infeed table on 0 and putting a strauight edge along the two tops and see if you can se any light under them, mine where high at the ends.
I took me two atemps to get it right but if you take it slowly it can be done if that is your problem.
If it is you will have to ajust your tables by hand

 

[Der_Goalie]

Have you tried contacting Metabo and speaking to someone in their technical department?

 

[RogerS]

Mike

I don't know if this helps..and may not even be relevant to the way a P/T is built but....I stupidly used my infeed and outfeed table to re-position my planer and pulled the tables out of position.

Intuitively (and following the Korean-Taiwan-Chinese-Anglish manual) I tried adjusting by turning the grub screws etc but couldn't get it level. In the end I slackened them off completely and manually moved the tables into alignment (one at a time) and then tightened up the grub screws and various other screws and that sorted out my problem ..

This does come with a health warning as your machine might not be built excatly as mine.

 

[Mike.C]

At last i have found the problem. As i said above i checked to see if the alloy tables were warped, and i thought that they weren't, but after Colin's post, i checked them again, and this time i found that the outfeed table is in fact warped, right near the fence.

So what do i do next? Do I, as in Mailee's case try to get it skimmed, or would it be better buying a new outfeed table?

Mailee, if its the former what sort of company is doing yours?

I know that the obvious choice would be to go to Metabo, but in the past i have found that going to the manufacturers is usually the most expensive option.

Cheers

Mike