Record PT260 Planer thicknesser spare parts and thoughts

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Arutha

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I have a planer/thicknesser of a noname brand, clone of the Record PT260, MetaboHC260, Electra Beckum, etc.

The machine works quite well, in most respects.

I've had to fix the fence (I have permanently adjusted it to 90 degrees, which took at least an hour - replaced the adjusting lever with a locking nut and put some paper shims between the fence and the fence holder to make it 90 degrees everywhere).

I've also made a replacement dust extractor hood which never clogs - unlike the original one.

With those things fixed, the machine actually works quite well. But there is one problem. When thicknessing, it doesn't feed that well. It gets worse and worse when the blades start to get dull. But they don't have to be particularly dull by the time you need to push or pull to help it feed the board through. Wide boards are really bad. You don't need to go to the gym after thicknessing for an hour.

My previous machine, a Scheppach hm0-solo was much better in this regard. There was never a problem with the feeding.

I have been troubleshooting many times, and have found that the problem is that the flat belt that drives the feed mechanism is slipping.The belt has also come off the tire a few times.

I'm now thinking that the belt might be stretched out so it does not sit as tight at it should be. So I thought I'd just buy a new one.

But here's a problem. The manual says that the dimension of the flat belt is 168 x 3.2 x 1.8. I'm not sure what that really means. I've measured the belt, and it's 18 mm wide, 3 mm thick and 625 mm long. But my belt is quite old and there are small cracks showing, so I guess it's a bit longer now, than it was originally.

I contacted Metabo and asked them about the flat belt to their machine. According to them, it's 168 mm long and 18 mm wide. It costs about £40. That's a bit expensive.

The strange thing is that both my manual and Metabo say that the belt should be 168 mm long. But it would be impossible to stretch a belt from 168 mm to over 600 mm if it isn't _really_ stretchy.

I wonder if 168 mm is actually the diameter, which would mean 168 * pi = 527.8 mm. If this is correct, the belt should be quite tight to get on the wheel.

Does anyone else have the dimensions of a fresh flat belt for these machines?


I'm also thinking about getting the Metabo conversion kit to make it possible to use re-sharpenable knives. I'm getting tired of buying disposable knives. They get dull quickly sometimes, and suddenly I don't have any sharp blades available. And now I can't get new blades locally, as the shop I bought the machine at stopped selling these.

But I'll do this only if I decide to keep the machine.

I have been thinking of getting a new machine instead. Maybe a Hammer, or a JET JPT 260. But my workshop is not that big, so my current machine actually fits quite well in the shop. It's on wheels, and with the outfeed table removed, it does not take up that much space. So I need to think about this..

I recently bought the Hammer N4400 bandsaw, and I am really happy with this machine. Which makes me think I should go with the Hammer planer as well. But it takes up more of my precious space. So I don't know.
 
Have you waxed the thicknesser table. Can make a huge difference to the material passing freely. If the material is sticking it may possibly be helping the belt to slip.
Just a thought :idea:
 
Your belt numbers do not make sense. Even if the new belt is specified by its diameter (never heard of this and i've been involved with mechanical engineering all my life) then 168*PI is no where near 625mm as you say.

I would use a piece of string to measure the required length of belt for tight fit. Then look for toothed belts of the right length looking at both metric and imperial types to get nearest size. Also consider poly vee belts, a J6 profile will possibly be about the right width and you can cut them down easily enough. The profile of either belt type (poly vee or toothed) is irrelevant as you run them on their backs.

They will be very much cheaper than the metabo spares.

You could also fit an idler tension wheel to your existing belt.
 
i'm with Myfordman your quoted measurements are very odd.

Drive belts may stretch but they are not rubber bands, you dont rely on excessive amounts of stretch to maintain tension. 168mm would barely fit round 2 x 35mm diameter pulleys with only a few mm between them. and at 3.2 x 1.8mm something is wrong i those measurements.

Are you certain this is the measurement for the correct belt?
 
Myfordman":ndvdadgz said:
Your belt numbers do not make sense. Even if the new belt is specified by its diameter (never heard of this and i've been involved with mechanical engineering all my life) then 168*PI is no where near 625mm as you say.

I would use a piece of string to measure the required length of belt for tight fit. Then look for toothed belts of the right length looking at both metric and imperial types to get nearest size. Also consider poly vee belts, a J6 profile will possibly be about the right width and you can cut them down easily enough. The profile of either belt type (poly vee or toothed) is irrelevant as you run them on their backs.

They will be very much cheaper than the metabo spares.

You could also fit an idler tension wheel to your existing belt.

Thanks! I'll try this tomorrow.
 
Not sure if it is much help but my EB 260 has a rubber feed belt 555x18x3 the 555 dimension is a pretty accurate internal dimension. It is quite new but unfortunately there are no markings
 
Removed the belt from my machine this morning, to gauge the amount of stretch required. When the belt is loose fitted on the large plastic crowned pulley the belt needs to be stretched approximately 50mm to reach the plain shaft of the cutter block.

First impression is that it will never fit but placing it on small shaft of the cutter block shaft first then feeding it on the large plastic crowned wheel its easy.
 
Hemsby":2lrdqcl2 said:
Removed the belt from my machine this morning, to gauge the amount of stretch required. When the belt is loose fitted on the large plastic crowned pulley the belt needs to be stretched approximately 50mm to reach the plain shaft of the cutter block.

First impression is that it will never fit but placing it on small shaft of the cutter block shaft first then feeding it on the large plastic crowned wheel its easy.

Ok. So it should be quite tight. My belts is very easy to slip on. It's much larger than the large plastic wheel. That's probably what's causing my problems.
 
Yes under tension.

As a rough guide the plastic pulley is 160mm O/D and the belt is 175mm I/D

With the old belt fitted I could turn the large pulley and the belt would slip intermittently on the cutter block shaft although the thicknesses did still work, well sort of.

When the new one is fitted, turning the large pulley the cutter block shaft turns without any slip.
 
I am sure the only type of belt that will work with the existing configuration is the flat rubber version.
As the large pulley (approx 165mm diameter) is smooth plastic and is crowned and the ground shaft location for the belt on the cutter block is only 17mm diameter the ratio between the two means the actual contact surface area of the belt on the ground shaft is very small.

The rubber belt drive is ultimately responsible for the constant drive to both the infeed and outfeed rollers though gears, sprockets and a chain so any loss of contact of the belt with either the plastic pulley or cutter block shaft will immediately affect both the feed rollers.

Hope this makes sense of the E/B setup
 
Hemsby":l5pts6v0 said:
Yes under tension.

As a rough guide the plastic pulley is 160mm O/D and the belt is 175mm I/D

With the old belt fitted I could turn the large pulley and the belt would slip intermittently on the cutter block shaft although the thicknesses did still work, well sort of.

When the new one is fitted, turning the large pulley the cutter block shaft turns without any slip.

Quite a difference to mine then. Turning the large pulley by hand never makes the cutter block turn. Turning the cutter block makes the large pulley turn though.
 
In operation obviously the cutter block shaft drives the large pulley.

Whether you turn the large pulley or the cutter block shaft the other should turn. The fact that when you do turn the large pulley it does not turn the shaft (belt slipping) shows there is not enough tension on the belt.

If while turning the cutter block shaft you apply resistance to the large pulley (this will be emulate the rollers pushing timber through the thicknesser) you will probably find the belt will slip on the cutter block shaft.

When I suspected problems with my machine I left the cover off, had the blade guard covering the cutter block (for safety) and ran the machine while watching the belt in action. Then repeated while running timber through the machine again watching the belt.

Not suggesting you do this but it proved where the problem was.

Obviously goes without saying I kept my hands fingers etc well away.
 
Sorry i haven't read all the threads but what do you want to know ? the size of the belt on a record power pt 260 planer thicknesser ?? If so i will have a look at my belt tomorrow if i am on the wrong subject sorry
Alan
 
mock":2uhfa9o3 said:
Sorry i haven't read all the threads but what do you want to know ? the size of the belt on a record power pt 260 planer thicknesser ?? If so i will have a look at my belt tomorrow if i am on the wrong subject sorry
Alan

Thanks. I already got enough info for me to decide that my belt is far too stretched out. I decided to order a new belt from Metabo.

Just to show the length of the belt, I took a photo where I've taken the belt is off the large plastic wheel. You can see that it's almost the size without any tension on the belt. That's why it slips as soon as there is a resistance when thicknessing a piece of wood.
IMG_6248s.JPG
 

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Very much the same as the record i remember on one occasion i was giving the thicknesser a good clean and a little wd 40 anyway when i put everything back together the belt was slipping and burning .Yes some oil went on the shaft and the belt just kept slipping until someone told me to put chalk all over the shaft and wheel plus the belt and after a while away she went happy days
Alan
 
I received the new belt today. It's much smaller than the old belt. I'll upload a photo tomorrow.

The new belt is thinner and more of a rubber-band than the old one. The old one is longer, a bit thicker, and not nearly as stretchy as the new one. Though it might have gotten stretched out and stiff with time, I now believe the previous owner of the machine replaced the belt with the wrong belt when the original belt broke.

However, I do have some new measurements that are printed on the bag:
Flat Belt LI 547x2,0x18. I'm not sure if 547 is the inner or outer dimension. Maybe the inner, as it measured more like 555 mm when I did a quick measurement of it.

The bag also says 87232017354, which I guess is the part number. Not the same number that I found in the Metabo manual, but it's probably a replacement.
 
Here you see both the new and the old belt:
IMG_6249s.JPG
 

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Hemsby":1rf45h93 said:
How is the thicknesser now with the new belt :?:

Now it is actually feeding like it has never done before (as long as I have had the machine). I'm really happy with the machine now.
 

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