I've either got a bargain, or a lemon.

[Monkey Mark]

Well, I've just won an auction and I've either got a bargain or bought a complete lemon.

An Axminster thicknesser. Stripped down as a belt had snapped (replacements in with it) and the motor is sparking which hopefully is just the brushes.
It has a part missing described as a blade clamp but the rest is there.

It's local so I'll have it to assess soon. Fingers crossed. :?

 

[John933]

Best of luck.
John933

 

[Frank S]

If this is the portable model, it`s a great little machine. I have had mine for a number of years and it has never(touch wood) let me down. One word of warning, as the years go by it tends to get heavier when it is moved.Hope it works out well for you.
Frank.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Well i picked it up today.
Needs a good clean (seen a decent bit of use I'd say) but looks like it could be good.

Two parts appear to be missing. One of the knife locking bars (and screws to go with it) and the dust hood.
Could also do with new brushes as very worn.

I'll get in touch with Axi regarding the parts.

There was also 8 spare belts (apparently £150 worth) and two sets of knives, both looked new.

As its been stripped I'll have to check how to get the bed & cutter head parallel once put back together.

So far, I'm pleased and it could well be a bargain.

 

[marcros]

what model is it?

I have the ct330, and had to buy a new blade locking bar- i dont recall the price but it wasnt too bad, and was in stock. I have never used the dust hood on mine- it is easier to sweep up the chips afterwards if they fall to the floor, and on my model, if you fit the hood, the outfeed (i think) table wont fold, so it is a pain to store.

a set of knives is about £40 I think, so are worth having.

i bought a planer thicknesser, but still use this axi as my thicknesser. it just swallows jobs up.

 

[Monkey Mark]

what model is it?

I have the ct330, and had to buy a new blade locking bar- i dont recall the price but it wasnt too bad, and was in stock. I have never used the dust hood on mine- it is easier to sweep up the chips afterwards if they fall to the floor, and on my model, if you fit the hood, the outfeed (i think) table wont fold, so it is a pain to store.

a set of knives is about £40 I think, so are worth having.

i bought a planer thicknesser, but still use this axi as my thicknesser. it just swallows jobs up.

I'll check tomorrow but I believe that is the model i have.
I did notice that the hood would get in the way.
I wish the Axi site would make it easier to locate spare parts, i don't always want to mess about on the phone.

 

[david123]

If this is the portable model, it`s a great little machine. I have had mine for a number of years and it has never(touch wood) let me down. One word of warning, as the years go by it tends to get heavier when it is moved.Hope it works out well for you.
Frank.

Got mine on lockable wheels...problem solved.

 

[paulrockliffe]

I saw that planer and would have bought it if I hadn't already got one, it was very cheap for what it is I thought!

 

[Monkey Mark]

I saw that planer and would have bought it if I hadn't already got one, it was very cheap for what it is I thought!

I see you are also in Durham, so yes it most likely was the same one.

Currently giving it a clean and seeing what's what.

It may not seem much to most, but as a hobbyist on a VERY tight budget i never thought I'd actually own a thicknesser. So for me, it's quite a big deal.

 

[Monkey Mark]

A question for anyone that's worked on these.

I took the plastic cover off that houses the chain and sprockets. The inside of the cover shows marks where the chain has contacted it. There is an idler wheel for tension but doesn't seem to do much.

Is this common on these?
Thinking new chain/tensioner may be required.

Edit:
Never mind, found out what the issue is, or rather the two issues which may be why it was sold still stripped

The idler arm was jammed. Removed freed up and now works fine.
However, the motor has had a dodgy repair. The casing has been cracked, perhaps when the belt snapped. But that's not the issue. To split the casing someone has removed the drive wheel which is presumably a friction fit with key-way. But it looks like they have split/refit using a hammer. The drive wheel no longer runs true which may have caused the chain wobble. The motor does run but turning by hand shows it's not very free, bearing damaged perhaps. But the way it has been put back together means I don't think I'll get it apart again.
So, I may have to live with it the way it is for now.

More investigation needed.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Chances are nobody is interested, but a little update anyway :lol:

The motor pulley is a left hand thread, came off quite easy, shame someone has hit it previously probably not realising this.
The end of the motor casing has been damaged and repaired in the past. The problem being that it has been glued back on slightly off center. This includes the bearing holder meaning the rotor & stator have been touching, only just, causing friction and probably an awful lot of noise.
The motor seems ok. Bearing are shot.
I'll likely get the bearing from eBay as they will most likely be considerably cheaper.
Same for the brushes if I can find the right one (these are so warn the numbers can't be read).

Trying to get Axminster to give me prices for the correct parts is like pulling teeth. The latest reply I got, when asking for a price for the motor housing, was £549. I didn't want the full machine! :?

 

[graduate_owner]

I recently bought motor bearings from Quality Bearings Online. Very reasonably priced, quality brands (I chose SKF), extremely helpful and knowledgeable gentleman on the chat line. I would use these again withouf hesitation.

Can you get a different motor / motor housing or does it have to be the original Axminster type? I bought a Kity spindle moulder some while ago but it had no motor. I asked Kity and the cost of a motor was hundreds of pounds (can't remember exactly now) and I only paid £30 for the moulder in the first place. The solution was to mount the Kity on a stand and just clamp a motor ( with pulley turned up from layers of ply). Once everything was working I replaced clamps with bolts for a permanent arrangement, and to get my G clamps back!!. Total cost using existing motor hanging around the workshop was £0. The plywood eventually started to wear and become a bit loose where the key engaged, so I welded a steel plate onto a section of steel tubing which I bored out to suit the motor spindle ( luckily I have a metal lathe) and used set screws instead of a key. The ply pulley was screwed on to this arrangement and trued up. So again, zero cost

I know this won't be applicable in your case but you just mighf be able to get away with going down an alternative route.

K

 

[Monkey Mark]

Small update.

Bearings and bushes have been ordered along with what Axminster called the blade bar. Blade bar being a mere £9! I was expecting more than that

As I'm a cheap skate and there is an 8 week delivery for the blade bar, I decided against buying a replacement motor housing at £34 for a bit of plastic. Seems as there is an 8 week wait anyway I figured I would use this time to fix it myself and along the way teach myself how to use a metal working lathe.
I will be making a new bearing holder that will also centralise the motor shaft. I only get the chance to use the lathe occasionally so at the moment it is half way done but will be finished soon enough. I'll be interested to see how my fist attempt on a lathe turns out. (hammer)

 

[doubleb]

Just read this, I also picked up a cheapo (£30) but mine seems to be in better condition than yours. Only used mine a few times and very, very pleased. Pity you are the other end of the Country, if you were close you could of used mine for any immediate work.
The only fault I have found is the locking lever will not lock down, it has to be held down when timber runs through. If you find a magic answer to that during your repair it would be very much appreciated. Very interesting post for me so thanks....bb

 

[Monkey Mark]

Well it's been longer than I anticipated but it's been a busy time.

Apologies if these pics come out large, I don't know how to resize them.

This was how it was when I got it.
The case had obviously been damaged and repaired.... sort of.

This is with the top bit, made out of ... I have no idea? removed. There was an alloy ring that must have been attached before and it had all been stuck back together with what looked like epoxy and lots of CA glue.

And from the inside showing the beautiful cack handed craftsmanship.

The main problem was that none of this was in the center. Close, but not close enough. This caused the rotor to rub on one end of the stator causing a horrible noise.

So, after cleaning it up and filling some of the cracks with CA I had to think of how to sort it. The only bit I could measure was the bearing outer diameter. The rest was pretty much guess work.

I decided to make a bearing holder that would sit between the carbon brush holders, this would keep it centralised. So I made this....

This is the first item I have made on a lathe. It needs a little adjustment which should take 10 minutes tomorrow, but I'm happy with it and it works well.

 

[RickN]

Looks like it's shaping up nicely Mark, look forward to hearing how you get on.

 

[Wizard9999]

When I use a lathe for the first time I hope it turns out looking half a s well executed as that part you have made!

Terry.

 

[Monkey Mark]

When I use a lathe for the first time I hope it turns out looking half a s well executed as that part you have made!

Terry.

Thank you.

 

[n0legs]

I decided to make a bearing holder that would sit between the carbon brush holders, this would keep it centralised. So I made this....

Seriously Mark, if that's your first time on a lathe you've done freaking ace mate =D>
You gotta' be happy with that

 

[shed9]

Seriously Mark, if that's your first time on a lathe you've done freaking ace mate =D>
You gotta' be happy with that

What he said ^. I buried my first attempt on a metal lathe.