Just rang NMA agencies (for kITY parts) and they sell the 6mm, 8mm and 10mm LH mortising bits for the mortising attachment (at £12, £12, and £13 respectively, +VAT +carr) which I thought was good news, and a fair price, considering.
Kity 439 Advice
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Eric The Viking
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I've had a lot of issues with the feed rollers on my 439 - gumming up and imprinting whatever is stuck on them onto the stock - if it's softwood (but not so bad with hardwoods). The end of session routine now includes a severe wire brushing, with heavy gloves on in case.
On the DX, I still have the oval port. It was a right PITA until I noticed there was a four inch nail welded vertically across the middle of the port - long shavings wold wrap round it. It was painted green-ish so I don't know if it was an original fitment or not.
Anyway, getting rid of that and the grid on my DX's inlet seemed to fix the clogging issues, mostly, but I try to have as few bends and kinks in the port as possible. I support it from the roof of the shop, which is quite low, so it comes out fairly horizontally, and only turns up into the DX (inlet port points downwards) at the last minute, in a slow bend.
I have to say it surprised me when I got it: It's quite low tech and like the 419 tablesaw, I was unimpressed by the engineering (I stripped it and thoroughly cleaned and fettled it). But it performs quite well (I do get thicknesser snipe, which I put down to technique mostly - I can avoid it). I know the lifting table sort are slow to switch over (the 439 is pretty quick), but they have the big advantage that you can thoroughly clean everything. Getting at those rollers - awkward!
I did one useful mod, fitting a 16A inlet instead of the mains cable. It is much happier on the 16A circuit than domestic mains, and there's no trailing lead when you move it about. The plug fitting is bolted to the side of the blocky motor cover, where it's well out of the way.
I've also replaced the square blade clamping bolts with hex headed ones (same grade of steel and length - very important). They are easier to spanner, I have spares, and overall nicer. Two things are very important though: you need to slightly dome the heads and get rid of any raised lettering, AND they all need to weigh the same (as close as you can measure them), so the block stays balanced. I spun mine in a drill press (I have no lathe), against a file and wet+dry. I did enquire about the original bolts (a previous owner mangled them), but they were some silly price.
Finally, the thicknesser table's chain drive was seriously blocked with shavings when I got the machine. You can't clean there unless you take it off the legs and tip it over. So I've blocked the holes in the corners of the thicknesser opening (and two more in the middle under the table), to minimise how much sawdust gets down there. So far, the rise and fall has been great. Don't forget: if you take off the chain that the four sprockets are indexed - mark them with tippex or paint or tape, so they go back exactly the same - otherwise the table won't be parallel to the cutter block, or worse, twisted diagonally!
I made a trolley for it a few weeks ago, which makes moving it around much easier. It's also a better height - I find the thicknesser particularly is too low for my back! But overall I am fond of it - small but very useful.
To the OP: I use roller stands outboard of the thicknesser, for long stock They are a pain to set up but they work well once they are at the right height - use a long straightedge to get them spot on and level. I have some non-castoring wheels left over from the trolley project, so I'm thinking about using those instead of the wide rollers (two sets of four - I binged on Lidl castor sets!).
E.
PS: for cleaning it would be really helpful to be able to use the cutter block to inch the feed rollers (no power anywhere near, obviously!). IIRC, the morticer attachment is a 10mm left-hand thread (or similar), so hard to find, but a suitable fullnut and MIG welding a bent bar onto it would make a tool to do this. Then all you need is a small LED light and a bit of mirror as wide as the thicknesser platen to see what you're doing more easily...
On the DX, I still have the oval port. It was a right PITA until I noticed there was a four inch nail welded vertically across the middle of the port - long shavings wold wrap round it. It was painted green-ish so I don't know if it was an original fitment or not.
Anyway, getting rid of that and the grid on my DX's inlet seemed to fix the clogging issues, mostly, but I try to have as few bends and kinks in the port as possible. I support it from the roof of the shop, which is quite low, so it comes out fairly horizontally, and only turns up into the DX (inlet port points downwards) at the last minute, in a slow bend.
I have to say it surprised me when I got it: It's quite low tech and like the 419 tablesaw, I was unimpressed by the engineering (I stripped it and thoroughly cleaned and fettled it). But it performs quite well (I do get thicknesser snipe, which I put down to technique mostly - I can avoid it). I know the lifting table sort are slow to switch over (the 439 is pretty quick), but they have the big advantage that you can thoroughly clean everything. Getting at those rollers - awkward!
I did one useful mod, fitting a 16A inlet instead of the mains cable. It is much happier on the 16A circuit than domestic mains, and there's no trailing lead when you move it about. The plug fitting is bolted to the side of the blocky motor cover, where it's well out of the way.
I've also replaced the square blade clamping bolts with hex headed ones (same grade of steel and length - very important). They are easier to spanner, I have spares, and overall nicer. Two things are very important though: you need to slightly dome the heads and get rid of any raised lettering, AND they all need to weigh the same (as close as you can measure them), so the block stays balanced. I spun mine in a drill press (I have no lathe), against a file and wet+dry. I did enquire about the original bolts (a previous owner mangled them), but they were some silly price.
Finally, the thicknesser table's chain drive was seriously blocked with shavings when I got the machine. You can't clean there unless you take it off the legs and tip it over. So I've blocked the holes in the corners of the thicknesser opening (and two more in the middle under the table), to minimise how much sawdust gets down there. So far, the rise and fall has been great. Don't forget: if you take off the chain that the four sprockets are indexed - mark them with tippex or paint or tape, so they go back exactly the same - otherwise the table won't be parallel to the cutter block, or worse, twisted diagonally!
I made a trolley for it a few weeks ago, which makes moving it around much easier. It's also a better height - I find the thicknesser particularly is too low for my back! But overall I am fond of it - small but very useful.
To the OP: I use roller stands outboard of the thicknesser, for long stock They are a pain to set up but they work well once they are at the right height - use a long straightedge to get them spot on and level. I have some non-castoring wheels left over from the trolley project, so I'm thinking about using those instead of the wide rollers (two sets of four - I binged on Lidl castor sets!).
E.
PS: for cleaning it would be really helpful to be able to use the cutter block to inch the feed rollers (no power anywhere near, obviously!). IIRC, the morticer attachment is a 10mm left-hand thread (or similar), so hard to find, but a suitable fullnut and MIG welding a bent bar onto it would make a tool to do this. Then all you need is a small LED light and a bit of mirror as wide as the thicknesser platen to see what you're doing more easily...
Obi Wan Kenobi
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Johnbb99, the oval outlet with that steel rod definitely makes the chip extraction harder. I'm in the process of fabricating a shroud to replace the original so I'll post something up if it works (hammer)
Eric, I've thought about making some sort of variable height platform for this, as I don't have any rollers, but not got round to it yet. I'll only do this when I have it all set up correctly and can see if I still need one :wink:
OWK
ccasion5:
Eric, I've thought about making some sort of variable height platform for this, as I don't have any rollers, but not got round to it yet. I'll only do this when I have it all set up correctly and can see if I still need one :wink:
OWK
ccasion5:Eric, v interesting post, thanks.
Regarding < hex headed ones (same grade of steel and length - very important).> I can measure the length, but I've no idea about steel grade. How can I tell, or do you remember?
When I was adjusting the blade height recently, I found as I slackened the bolt it would suddenly jump up. Do you have any grease in there, or polish the rubbing surfaces, or don't you find the same problem?
I don't find the inlet to the extractor clogs much, but maybe it's time to take a hacksaw to it - and, perhaps, the 'nail' on the outgoing. (I don't believe the oval shape is any worse than circular, but maybe nobody's claiming that...)
Re making things mobile, I'm lucky in that locally to me here in Lampeter there's a greengrocer which sells castoring, braked 4 or 5" wheels from maybe hospital trolleys or something similar. They are usually £1 each. He also has whole wheeled frames you could build onto.
I could ask how he gets hold of them, in case you can do the same near you.
Regarding < hex headed ones (same grade of steel and length - very important).> I can measure the length, but I've no idea about steel grade. How can I tell, or do you remember?
When I was adjusting the blade height recently, I found as I slackened the bolt
I don't find the inlet to the extractor clogs much, but maybe it's time to take a hacksaw to it - and, perhaps, the 'nail' on the outgoing. (I don't believe the oval shape is any worse than circular, but maybe nobody's claiming that...)
Re making things mobile, I'm lucky in that locally to me here in Lampeter there's a greengrocer which sells castoring, braked 4 or 5" wheels from maybe hospital trolleys or something similar. They are usually £1 each.
He also has whole wheeled frames you could build onto.I could ask how he gets hold of them, in case you can do the same near you.
Fitting the mortising attachment to the 439:-
I set about this yesterday. When you go to fit the chuck, the instructions say to "hold the shaft using a 6mm hexagonal spanner at the pulley end" .
Well there's nothing that is 6mm, even though I did look for a 6mm hex recess (Allen key) which seemed most likely as a 6mm nut is pretty puny.,
In the end I placed a small spanner in the gap between the blade slot in the shaft and the planer bed, which was crude, but worked well enough to allow me to undo the [left-hand threaded] 19mm nut on the end and then thread on the chuck.
I wonder if there are different versions of the 439, or the best combi machines are different , and have 6mm 'somethings' on the shaft...?
I set about this yesterday. When you go to fit the chuck, the instructions say to "hold the shaft using a 6mm hexagonal spanner at the pulley end" .
Well there's nothing that is 6mm, even though I did look for a 6mm hex recess (Allen key) which seemed most likely as a 6mm nut is pretty puny.,
In the end I placed a small spanner in the gap between the blade slot in the shaft and the planer bed, which was crude, but worked well enough to allow me to undo the [left-hand threaded] 19mm nut on the end and then thread on the chuck.
I wonder if there are different versions of the 439, or the best combi machines are different , and have 6mm 'somethings' on the shaft...?
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Eric The Viking
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I don't remember exactly, but I got them from an excellent nut & bolt factor in Bristol (I took them the originals and explained). I think they are just blued, high tensile steel or slightly hardened (not technical terms!). They're actually not under huge stress, but they probably do need to be slightly harder than the block itself (which I doubt has been hardened).johnbb99":2oborq1k said:
I have had in the past. I'd rather not risk lubrication, but I did carefully take the springs out and clean the block thoroughly. with clean springs (a tiny bit of WD40 to keep rust away) and a clean block the blade movement tended to be smoother.
I agree about the shape - I don't think it's very significant. My DX is an old Delta, built like a tank but not too powerful. Its inlet is pressed steel, and there were simply four quadrants stamped out of it leaving a rather wide cross with sharp edges that shavings easily caught on. It was a safety thing - if shavings got further in they were macerated by thick steel fan blades, and I think the idea was to minimise fingers getting in too. Anyway the "X" is now ex and it works well. I haven't had a serious clog since I removed it.
Sounds like good fun, but I'm covered now - thanks.Re making things mobile, I'm lucky in that locally to me here in Lampeter there's a greengrocer which sells castoring, braked 4 or 5" wheels from maybe hospital trolleys or something similar. They are usually £1 each.
I could ask how he gets hold of them, in case you can do the same near you.
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