Sedgwick PT Planer /Thicknesser

[d dickerson]

I am struggling to remove the cutterblock to either weld or buy new front casting due to a crack caused by loose knife holding screws .I have stripped down to the two castings and cutterblock ,having removed both grub screws and removed the collar on the end of the cutterblock drive side The cutterblock is holding both front and back castings together ,I only really need to remove the front casting but will give the cutterblock a good overhaul when out.
Anyone any ideas what might be holding it all together .I ought to mention this is the first time the machine has been stripped down since new 20 years ago!
Thanks
DD

 

[ndbrown]

The grub screws only position the bearings and block in the two side castings and provide retention for alignment. You won't like the answer but I imagine you will still have the infeed table stay fitted, re-fit the bolts in the bottom of each side panel and the left hand outfeed table and tighten all of the bolts. Put some penetrating oil (Not WD40) in the grub screw holes and leave for a couple of hours or overnight if possible. You should be able to tap the cutter block from either side, perhaps the side without damage is the best side to tackle, the additional parts you have refitted provides some bracing of the castings, see my strip down and rebuild article here:
sedgwick-pt255-strip-down-and-rebuild-t66864.html
As a last resort if it still does not move, carefully apply some heat
Nigel

 

[d dickerson]

Thanks for your reply Nigel ,you are right I had removed the bolts from both front and back castings ,likewise the outfeed table.
I had put penetrating oil in both grub screw holes.Re tapping out from either side there is a plate over the end of the cutterblock front end which I cannot remove as slightly recessed and no apparent method of holding except as an interference fit and tapped in .Could I use a bearing puller on the back end to pull off the rear casting which would leave the cutterblock and front casting in situ .Would it be then poss to pull out the cutterblock without damaging the bearings?
Also will heat damage the bearings which appear to be ok as although quite old the machine has had very little use compared to normal .
I certainly agree the machine is very well made but the spares I'm looking at are well over half the price I paid for the machine new .
Thanks for any more help you might be able to give ,I had looked at your article before I posted this request for help

 

[ndbrown]

It's often quoted that these machines are a great buy because spares are still available but spares are not cheap to buy, nothing against Sedgwick as I still think they are great machines. The front capping piece is used with the other grub screw to align the cutter block side to side. So with all grub screws removed, (I can't remember if some of them have a double grub screw, one on top of the other) and then with all the parts fitted I suggested, I would pull the rear pulley off with a hub puller then gently start to tap the block from the rear - this should slide the block to the front and then pop the front blind cap out of the front plate enough for you to grab it. Only once I had the cutter block sliding like this would I start to dismantle the front and back plates. If the thicknessing table is still in place you should prop up the block with some wood under the cutter block to help support it. You have got to be careful of the cast iron bearing housings as the cast iron sections are thinner here and you don't want to end up putting too much strain on them. Agree, heat is a last resort, but if you get the block out you can get both bearings from a bearing factor if you feel you need them.
Hope this help.
Nigel

 

[d dickerson]

Hi Nigel.
Thanks very much for your reply ,
I have now managed to get the cutterblock out ,others may find this useful:
I made hardwood wedges with a cut outs to fit over the end of the cutterblock and tapped the wedges with a hammer and the bearings and cutterblock came away after a couple of taps.I did support the cutterblock whilst doing this ,very relieved now ,just a case of should I get the front casting welded or bite the bullet and buy a new casting from Sedgwick.
should the new bearings be inserted on the ends of the cutterblocK or in the housings?
Thanks very much once again ,much appreciated .
David

 

[ndbrown]

Hi David, thats really good news. The bearings should be pressed onto the cutter block then inserted into the housings. I would try and have it welded as a first pass as you have nothing to loose, can you post a photo of the cracked side?
Also, on mine at least, the outfeed table was shimmed to achieve the correct alignment. I would have thought that you might have to shim the new frame as well to get the table alignment required. With the PT series, the alignment of the cutter block to the thicknessing table is all achieved by the relative size (height) of the front and rear frames and relative position of the bearing bores. I am sure that Sedgwick will have much more knowledge than I have about aligning all of this but they seem to achieve really good accuracy on the assembly of EACH machine, not sure how repeatable it is from machine to machine, maybe they machine these front and rear frames in pairs.
Nigel

 

[d dickerson]

Hi Nigel ,
I have taken a photo front and back ,we have a friendly blacksmith who says he will be able to tell me whether he can do it or not by looking at it .I am a bit worried about welding it back in exactly the same place as it was before .
Anyway 2 photos attached.
Have tried to attach two photos but a text came up saying file too big so just sending the front view.
P.S. Can't send even one ,the jpg is 5.3 MB and the max size allowed is 256KiB
Thanks once again,
Best regards,
David