Richard, I can¡¯t add anything to what Paul has said... it¡¯s spot on!
Cleanliness and light lubrication helps make them float better but Paul is right they do get cracked up with dust etc! Only two other things that I¡¯ve found help and they¡¯re the obvious really. Keep the serrated drive roller clear of resins and dust... sets like glue an make sure they¡¯ve got sharpish edges! And the one that gets all newcomers is keep the rise and fall table spotless, polish with a light sand paper, you¡¯ll be suprised how much your going to find that needs flatting/cleaning then wax it and polish it back. Dragging on the table will overcome the best drive roller as the machine is pushing it down onto it!
You¡¯ve tackled one of the most boring jobs.... the anti cickback system!
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On 13 Jan 2021, at 14:12, richard_markham@... via groups.io <richard_markham@...> wrote:
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Thanks Paul,
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It may be a combination of my inexperience with the machine and it¡¯s lack of use¡
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I¡¯ve run a few bits of timber through it and its working pretty good now. No marks or snipe.
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Given that the machine was outside under a tarp for a year or so, it¡¯s taking a while for everything to free up a bit.
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I was also being a bit over cautious feeding the timber into the first roller!
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I think my rollers are about 3mm below the cutter blades so they are in the right ballpark.
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Amazing how nice an old bit of sawn carcassing timber comes out!
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Thanks again!
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Cheers,
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Richard.
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My springs for the infeed and out feed rollers only have about 7-8mm of compression in them, therefore the rollers should sit between 3 and 4mm below the block,
?this helps to ensure that any slightly undersized or tapering pieces do not come back at you and the anti kick back fingers.
With the limited compression of the springs this also limits the maximum cut the you can try to take? before the infeed roller wont allow the timber to actually go through the machine.
As to setting the pressure, check under the threaded plug that retains the spring on the top to make sure there are no shims or washers in there, its some thing people have done to compensate for worn or damaged springs in the past.
Also make sure that the springs and other parts are not choked with dust especially on the internal side of the machine as it is not sealed from the rest.
It is also useful to check that the springs are also the same height when out of the machine, or at the very least the pairs are the same height.
The lower bolts control the height and level of the roller in relation to the cutting circle of the cutter block.
Correctly set the top of the spring should be lightly in contact with the top plug not much more than 1/2 turn.
What the correct pressure is largely depends on what you are using the machine for, stating the obvious if all you are running is small sections in softwood then a lighter pressure will be appropriate, conversely if you are putting 12" wide hard wood through heavier pressures are needed.
The only real adjustment for pressure is to raise or lower the whole roller, you can try packing the springs with shims if you want lower rollers and higher pressure.
But bear in mind the table is centre column mounted so at some point the pressure can be enough to deflect the table.
Correctly set I would expect to have to take 1.5mm off a 50mm wide piece of softwood to clear the infeed roller marks and between .5 and .7 of a mm on a similar width piece of European oak and that is about the best guidance I can give.
All in all it's another balancing act especially if you are using a wide range of timbers.
Me again! Checking out the planer thicknesser.
I'm finding that the feed rollers might need adjustment as they are a good way lower than the cutter knives and I think they are over clamping the timber.
Needless to say, no mention of this in the manual...
I can see there is a large recessed nut on top the roller bearings, I assume this retains the springs.
On the underside, through the rectangluar access hole, I can see a bolt and nut.
What is the recommended setting for the rollers and how are they adjusted?
Cheers!
