Ridges from thicknesser

[of_sunshine]

Hi,
I am running a few pieces of oak through my new thicknesser (it's a small Fox F22-564) and getting little ridges from it. I have used a larger (size may have it's benefits) thicknesser at local community college and it gave a very good finish. I could sand them but it's going to take a lot of effort and will probably end up with the pieces different thicknesses again.

Is it down to the size of the thicknesser, or are there any cunning tips out there to get rid of ridges?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Welcome to the forum.

Do you mean ridges across the board or ridges down the length?

If across, then this is due to the small cutterhead size and high feed rate. Not much you can do about it other than buying a 3-knife machine. £££££££££. It might be worth checking that both blades are set at exactly the same height though. If one is higher than the other, only that one will cut and the finish will be twice a coarse as when the blades are doing an equal amount of cutting.

If down the length then this is due to the blades being nicked slightly, they need sharpening.
££


Cheers
Steve

 

[of_sunshine]

Thanks for the welcome. And thanks for the reply.

The ridges are indeed across the board.

I'll check the blade heights, thanks.

 

[OPJ]

I wouldn't honestly worry about it too much unless you're producing joinery items... :? For furniture making, it's always worth spending time after any prep-work to carefully hand-plane, scrape and sand all surfaces prior to finishing. The only I thing I ask of a planer thicknesser is accurate dimensioning - not a final finish.

Welcome to the forums, by the way. :wink:

 

[ProShop]

You'll also get the ridging effect if the blades are not sharp enough.
Just because it's a new machine don't assume they will be.

You don't mention how much you're planning off in a single pass, which on small machines can make a difference.

It is true bigger diameter cutterheads take a bigger slice so much less ridging, it doesn't always follow that more knives give less ridging, as a lot depends on the cutterhead design & feed speed rates etc.


Hope this helps

 

[Woodwould]

I had a three-blade thicknesser with a set feed rate and if I took the maximum cut (4mm), it would leave a corrugated finish on the board.

I found a very fine final pass reduced the corrugations and therefore the time required to hand-plane and sand.

 

[Argus]

.


On a two-blade machine, and in my experience, an aggressively deep cut can add frictional resistance to the feed table, making the feed irregular and lead to what you describe.

As has already been said, you may consider taking more, but finer passes; I also find that an occasional rub of lubricating wax on the feed table helps reduce friction.

It doesn’t stain the wood as you plane off the surface as you go.

.

 

[Chems]

The only I thing I ask of a planer thicknesser is accurate dimensioning - not a final finish.

I'm sure we have the same model in different guises OPJ and since using mine Ive got a perfect finish straight from the Thicknesser, I'm very impressed with it. The only marks I have to remove from my wood is where Ive whacked it with other things.

 

[OPJ]

I wouldn't be so sure, Chems! :shock: I used to own one identical to yours in all but its model name and colour. I can confidently say that my AW106PT offers a whole lot more for the extra money. Not that I'm implying you should not be happy with your mode. If you're happy with it then that's all that counts. I just don't think it compares to the one I have now. :wink:

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

Is it continuous all the way along the board or just at the start or end?
Could well just be snipe, from when the cutters first engage into the wood or the last few cm.
As long as the blades are parallel to the table and of an equal distance out it should produce an acceptable finish.
I think alot of it comes down to what you find an acceptable finish

 

[of_sunshine]

Hi,
Thanks for all the comments.

There is some snipe on a couple of the pieces, but in general ridging is continuous along the length. The blades as far as I can measure are adjusted the same (I don't have a depth meter or anything more fancy than a set square, so may still be a difference significant to cause the effect).

I had tried final passes with minimum cutting depth but didn't apparently make a difference.

Perhaps my expectations are too high, and will just have to scrape, sand and plane. I was expecting to have to finish, but was disappointed with results out of the thicknesser.

I haven't really done much scraping, did some on a long case clock, but that was pretty much trail and error. Any advice, any special cabinet scraprs required ?

 

[Chems]

I wouldn't be so sure, Chems! :shock: I used to own one identical to yours in all but its model name and colour. I can confidently say that my AW106PT offers a whole lot more for the extra money. Not that I'm implying you should not be happy with your mode. If you're happy with it then that's all that counts. I just don't think it compares to the one I have now. :wink:

I may have to find a way to have a go on one like yours. I'd really like separate machines now, the Axminster Planer looks amazing I'd really like to get that at some point and perhaps just use my machine as a dedicate PT.

 

[Rich]

After the final cut, turn the workpiece around and run it through again, this should give you a reasonable finish before sanding.

Rich.

 

[joiner_sim]

Where I work we used to have a really big Wadkin Bursgreen Thicknesser. Big machine it was, so I imagine it had a good cutting block in it too. It always used to give the ridge/ ripple effect.

We now have a Robinson 5 headed cutter machine, that doesn't ever caused any planer marks. Cost about £40,000 though so a little bit out of the price range! :?

 

[gidon]

Guess it depends on your machine, but I don't get any ridges from my Scheppach. Personally I wouldn't be too happy if I did. I know with planing you can get those ridges from the wood "bouncing" over the cutter block. Accurate setting of the cutter block with reference to the outfeed table is the key and the setting will depend on ther hardness of the wood you plane. But not sure what to try for thicknessing apart from what's already been suggested - perhaps speak to Fox and see what they say?
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Gary S]

For furniture making, it's always worth spending time after any prep-work to carefully hand-plane, scrape and sand all surfaces prior to finishing.

Yeuchk - that means having to use HAND TOOLS?!?!?! If I can't plug it in, I don't use it! :lol:

 

[wizer]

oh dear, there's someone who's going to freefall down the slope one day, just like I recently did.

Smoothing timber is a revelation. Addictive isn't the word :shock:

 

[Digit]

Steady Garry, now sit down, deep breaths, it will pass I promise :lol:

Roy.