Planer problem

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Keith Smith

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1 Mar 2004
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Out in the sticks in rural Shropshire
I am having a problem with a planer and just can't figure it out; wondered if anyone here has any ideas?

The promlem is when I feed timber along the planer it initially starts to cut, but as the wood is fed along the cut gets less and less, until after about 200mm it stops cutting. Creates a wedge shaped piece of wood?

Outfeed table slopes down you think but no........... :shock:

The infeed and outfeed tables are flat with one another, the infeed rises and lowers evenly, blades are sharp and set properly to the correct height. I am using flat and square softwood.

And the tables don't flex as I feed the timber through.

I've been working on this all afternoon and has got me beat, so any ideas gratefully received.

Thanks

Keith
 
Keith ,
Sounds like the outfeed table is too high, compared to the top of the blades. Re-check the height of the blades-they should be slightly higher than the outfeed table.
Hope this helps
Philly :D
 
sounds like the table is been forced downwards as the wood goes in, thereby giving you a wedge.Try it again, but this time stick some masking tape by the tables front and rear edges.Mark the start position, then feed the timber through all the way.Once done, mark the tables new postion and measure.
If this proves to be the problem, then the locking mechanism, is DUFF or the chain sprokets for raising/lowering the table need looking at.
Let me know if this IS or NOT the problem,
interested in this problem -HS in a cold Amsterdam still :cry:
 
Philly, that was one of my first thoughts too so I have checked that several times :( . Normally if the outfeed table is too high then you get a check as the wood hits the outfeed table edge, so you get snipe followed by a taper but this is a flat but tapered edge. It should be caused by the outfeed table sloping away but not this time. Got me beat, guess I'm in for a sleepless night.

Houtslager, it's the planer that's the problem otherwise like you say that would be a likely culprit.

Cold in Amsterdam, well at least the beer is erm.. cold too :wink:

Thanks for the replies.

Keith
 
Keith..

is this happening regularly, or with just the one board...?? I canna see how it could be happening if the table geometry is fine unless you're working with a board that has some reaction wood in it; as you break the surface of the board, the differences in surface tension in the board cause it to flex. Diagnostics with a straight edge.

Re the jointer, the only check I can think of is... outfeed level with the top of the cutter head, infeed slightly lower but parallel with the infeed.

Apologies if this bears any resemblance re sucking eggs....
 
Keith,

It sounds a really weird problem! For the machine to stop cutting, the blades have NOT to be touching the board. Unless one or both tables are rising as you cut so that the board bridges the cutter, then the cutter block or cutters themselves must be sinking.

Unlikely as this sounds I guess it is some thing worth checking. First the block and cutters - by pressing with scrap wood - does anything move?

Secondly before and after one of your attempts to plane a board, a suitably supported dial gauge or feeler gauges might inform you about the relative heights of tables and cutters - possibly something is shifting as a consequence of vibration?
 
Thanks Chris and Midnight for the replies and the ideas for a few more things to check. The problem is constant, I have been using 2x1 softwood PSE battens to test it.

If I don't find anything loose I'm thinking of running a 4ft piece of 3x2 across the planer but keeping the weight firmly on the infeed table, when it gets half way I'll stop. If I then clamp it down to the infeed it should show any discrepancy in the outfeed table.

I'm having a day off today, so it's something for me to look forward to doing next week.

See, reviewing tools is a rotten job :lol: .

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

Keith
 
KeithS":216htofr said:
See, reviewing tools is a rotten job :lol: .
S'funny how few people believe that.
rolleyes.gif


Cheers, Alf

Who has no practical suggestion to make - sorry.
 
Just wondering if the wood you are using is bowed?
If you run it through, concave side down, then it may stop planing as there is less and less wood to bring level at the middle.
Are you carrying on the cut right through to the end of the timber after it stops cutting?
Does it pick up the cut again at the end?

The concept of tapers on a jointer is just not relevant. It doesn't machine wood to any other reference than itself. It's only trying to give you a straight edge over the average distortion of what is touching the beds at any one time - this has no relevance to the upper edge/face.

So, is the finished "tapered" edge actually straight? If so then the jointer has done it's job properly- over to the thicknesser to take care of the other edge.
If it isn't straight - is it leaving the wood consistantly convex or concave?
 
Alf wrote;
S'funny how few people believe that.

It really is true, reviewing tools is not a nice job, unless everything you get is perfect and works wonderfully well. Otherwise how harsh should you be? Readers could waste their money, the manufacturer could go out of business..oh the pressure :roll: Alf and I obviously have a very hard time.

Just had 3 bench planes to test against one another; more dilemas as, at first look, the design of one seems to be fundamentally flawed.

Anyway back to Aragorn's point, the wood I am using starts perfectly square but develps a deeper and longer taper the more times I feed it through, it doesn't pick up the cut at the end.

I get your point about the tapering but tapering does matter if you feed a perfectly straight square edge piece of timber across and it ends up tapered. But this is not tapering the whole length; unless I repeatedly feed it across the machine.

It must be the tables out of square and in practice a tiny amount must make a big difference. I need to try tipping up the outfeed very slightly; trouble is the machine needs stripping down to adjust it.

I'll let you know how I get on

Thanks again

Keith
 
Been out this morning and had another look, I can't fathom it but the setting of the blade in relation to the planer surface is different than I left it Friday night. Only thing I can think is that as it was transported on Friday and obviously got shook about, the machine is now sort of "settling in" bearing in mind we are only talking about 0.1mm or so. Also it is very cold in the workshop this morning so may affect it.

So I reset the blades and tried again, now the timber is catching on the front edge of the outfeed table. Ha Ha I think, table is set too high, and this would cause the problem; so I get the instructions out to change it. They state outfeed table should be set 1.2mm higher than the knife shaft which I check and it is spot on, then further on in the instructions "maximum protrusion of knife blade 1.1mm" ??? Spot the problem?

This is bizarre though because on Friday I set the blades up in relation to the outfeed table with the little tool I got with the Scheppach p/t and it still didn't work then either?

Can't see how this is ever going to work so I'm leaving it, spent too much time on it anyway.

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice.

Keith
 
Could of been worse Keith-you could of PAID for this hassle......... :lol:
commiserations
Philly :D
(can you name the offending article?)
 
KeithS":2ya25who said:
I never did get it sorted, I phoned the importer the next day and they decided to take the machine back and cancel the review.
Is it just me sitting here speculating which machine it was...?
ermmm.gif
wink.gif


Cheers, Alf
 
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