Metabo hc260 thickness mode issue, please help

[Weandalker]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and to be fair new to woodworking. So please go easy on me.

I have just bought a second hand Metabo hc260 thickness planer and I am having an issue with the thicknessing mode. When I send a piece of timber through, the feed roller doesnt pull it in with conviction and the cutting blade does not touch the piece of timber, I have looked underneath and it seems like the 2 rollers are lower than the cutting blade itself. do you have any idea what could be causing the problem? I have attached a photo however it was hard to get a good angle to see that the ruler doesnt touch the blade.

Thanks all hope you can help!

Dean.

 

[sams93]

I am not proclaiming to be an expert as I am still fairly new to these machines, however I have just restored a similar ish model and i'll give my 2 pence.

It is correct for the feed rollers to be lower than the cutter block & blade (as shown in your picture) - when you pass a piece of wood through they will be displaced upwards by the wood, and the resulting pressure from this (due to the springs you can see in your photos) will keep the wood firmly pressed against the thicknessing table.

The rollers should grab the piece firmly, have you tried raising the table slightly? I have found with my previous machine that there is a very small window between 'table too high' (Where the wood couldn't fit into the opening for the planer or would get stuck on the machine body itself) and 'table too low' (where the rollers wouldn't convincingly take and feed the piece). I would work in half of quarter clockwise turns of the table height adjustment wheel to get to the right height (and continue with the same when you do find the right height).

Is the thicknesser table smooth/lubricated. It seems like a minor thing but sometimes it is as simple as that. Rub some paste wax or equivalent into the table to make sure it is sufficiently low in friction to allow the rollers to feed the piece through easily. Don't use silicone spray as it messes up wood and is a nuisance to remove.

Have you checked that the blades are set properly. It isn't easy to tell from pictures but it appears that they are set in a reasonable position. Obviously the sharp blade edges need to protrude from the cutterblock sufficiently to take a cut. If it is working fine in planer mode (using the top tables of the machine) then it is probably not this that is your issue.

Lastly - The feed roller pressure on the wood is determined by the tension in the springs at each end of the rollers. This can be adjusted by turning the nuts at the bottom of the springs. In your photos it appears that these are set at the loosest setting, so you could try compressing the springs slightly by 5mm or so to see if that helps them grab the pieces better. It would be a very simple adjustment to make to see if that helps.


There is plenty of excellent experience on this forum so people who know far more about these machines will no doubt have more to say.

When you discover the solution to your problem do post what it was so that others in your situation in future can learn from your experience.

 

[MikeK]

Welcome to the UKW!

The rollers look good to me, and I think @sams93 is correct on all points.

As I learned on my machines, as you raise the thicknesser table closer to the knives, the infeed roller (the metal roller with the teeth) will contact the wood and feed it through the machine. If the thicknesser table is not raised high enough for the knives to fully engage the wood, you will see the infeed roller teeth marks on the wood as it exits the machine.

Continue raising the thicknesser table in small amounts until the knives are taking off all of the teeth marks from the infeed roller.

 

[RobinBHM]

Ive got one of these machines, it will take off between about 0.5mm to 3mm

I would start by setting the thicknesser to about 1mm smaller than the smallest thickness of the piece you are feeding through - try that, see if it cuts ok

 

[Londoner100]

As said before cleaning and waxing the bed can make a massive difference.