# Sedgwick MB Planer Thicknesser Full Refurbishment



## deema (11 Mar 2022)

The next project Sideways and I are going to get are teeth into is a Sedgwick MB planer thicknesser. This is the 12” wide model, which sits in the middle of their range. The largest they make is the CP at 16” and the smallest the PT at 10” wide planning capacity. This machine is one of the older vintage, original green hammered paint. We really like these older machines, the quality of the castings is excellent, and the overall thickness of the castings and the fabricated base is in our opinion more substantial the later Sedgwick machines. This makes them better machines, stiffer and heavier which will reduce vibration and give and better finish. The really nice thing about the Sedgwick MB and CP (old and new, I can’t comment on the very latest redesign they brought out) is that the spindle and feed rollers are powered by two separate motors that use a very simple system. The 10”PT has a different mechanism using only one motor. For me, the simpler and more robust the engineering the better. I bought this machine off a fellow member of this forum a while ago, it was working, but he advised that it needed some attention to get it back to its former glory. The machine had the two planer tables removed to aid transport / moving it. I haven’t bothered to put them back on for the initial photos. However, the machine had clearly been kept in a dry environment with little if any rust visible.

We will strip it down, every nut and bolt will be removed. The paint will be removed and then spray painted in the new livery of Sedgwick, Blue and White. All the bearings will be gone through, set back up to perform like it did originally. We will then be selling it, as neither of us need a PT. My own machine is a Sedgwick CP Planer Thicknesser which I really like, Sideways has a Sedgwick PT ……so we are both fans of these machines and will hence have a little biase!

So first off, what did it look like when we got it.



















One of the many things I value about the Sedgwick machines is that that everything involved with doing the work is supported by cast iron. The frame holding the thicknesser bed as well as the planning tables consists of three substantial cast iron blocks bolted together. The planer tables, thicknesser table and the fence are again all proper good quality cast iron. Nothing will bend, twist or move when it’s setup.


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## Doug71 (11 Mar 2022)

Excellent, have been looking forwards to this since you said you would be doing it 

I have the same machine so would be grateful if you let us know what grease etc you use (and where) when you get to that stage as I must admit to being a bit slack when it comes to machine maintenance.

I have been meaning to ask you a question about the V belt on my MB but will start a new thread to save littering up this one.


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## Inspector (11 Mar 2022)

What is the diameter of the cutter head and the number of knives? It's a little hard to tell from the pictures but I'm guessing 4"+/- with 3 knives. I'm curious that's all and it subscribes me to the thread. 

Pete


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## Sideways (11 Mar 2022)

Photo dump.
When you don't have a manual, it can be handy to take pictures during disassembly...


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## Sideways (11 Mar 2022)

Feed roller detail


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## Sideways (11 Mar 2022)

Thickness table





Below you see the helical gears that convert rotation of the handwheel to rotation of the rise and fall leadscrew. In this case, the gears were massively over lubricated with thick bearing grease.
The casting is impressive !





Top of the thickness table's column. This is attached by 4 bolts to the bottom of the thickness table. Shims are inserted to get the thickness table parallel with the cutter block.
We'll measure and re shim this on reassembly.







Feed motor with attached gearbox + bottom of the column where a cast end plate has a thread cut into it. The adjacent threaded rod rotates and pulls the column up and down.


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## Sideways (11 Mar 2022)

Sheet steel cabinet base





Handwheel is secured by specific grubscrew and has a washer behind










Badly worn sprockets


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## scholar (13 Mar 2022)

@deema @Sideways i am enjoying your restorations and looking forward to seeing this develop.

Incidentally, seeing your detail of the rise and fall gearing, reminded me that I have never shared my modification to my own planer/thicknesser to motorise the rise and fall with use of a cordless drill that I did as part of a complete overhaul - every machine will be different, of course, but if there is a way of adding this, the payback in future usability of the machine is very rewarding.

I’ll show a few details below:
I basically dipped into the parts diagram for an additional shaft with bevelled gear plus a bracket - the gear was turned to face the other way and the bracket modified such that the gear could be mounted at 90degrees to the manual shaft, with a suitable hole and mounting to the front of the case - a 13mm hex was filed on the end of the shaft to take a socket that I run on a little right angle cordless drill, that I just keep handy. 

Two pictures and a little video to show it in action:











Your browser is not able to display this video.














This has been going strong for about 10 years now, so I am sure I have now saved more tedious time winding than it took to install!

I have added a corresponding mechanism to my drill press (using different stuff of course).

Anyway, it occurs to me that many P/T’s could be adapted in this way….

Cheers


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## deema (13 Mar 2022)

@scholar That’s a very neat idea.


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## deema (13 Mar 2022)

Help, does anyone have a copy of the manual for this vintage of the Sedgwick MB They could let us have a copy of?

Richard at Sedgwick who is always very helpful has informed us that unfortunately they keep manuals for the PT dating back to this machine. The machines have changed very little over the years, it would be nice to supply the exact manual for this vintage of machine to the new owner as well as checking that nothing has changed over the years that we weren’t aware of.


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## deema (14 Mar 2022)

Tomorrow, Hopefully all of these parts will be off to get stripped. A disassembled machine takes up a fair bit of for space.














The motor that drives the in-feed and out-feed rollers is attached to a reduction gear box. In order to exchange the motor bearings it’s necessary to remove the gear box. However, it’s important to clean it as much as possible before separating the two. The gear box is designed to be in one orientation otherwise it will leak oil. We will be replacing the oil on the gearbox as it’s probably the first oil change it’s had since it was made,





Inside the gear box.




The two motors are completely apart, we have noted the bearing numbers and will be getting new ones ordered. We put the armature back into the motor just to keep things together and clean.


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## deema (25 Mar 2022)

We’ve decided to have the shot blast guys powder coat the parts as well as strip off the old paint. We’ve not had them do this before for us so it’s a bit of an experiment. Powder coating is a more durable finish.

Most of the replacement parts have now arrived, just need to organise for new sprockets. The bearinsg will be a mixture of FAG and SKF. We are replacing the infeed and outfeed bushes with new Oilite bushes. The spindle bearings are upgraded to sealed for life bearings with the advantage that dust also won’t get into them for longevity.


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## deema (25 Mar 2022)

The press is used to remove the bushes that are in through holes, however there are two that are in blind holes. Normally blind hole pullers will get these out, however they were pushed in so far that the puller couldn’t get a grip. In these circumstances a bit of lateral thought is required. We used a 1” tap to act as a puller. You use tap to thread the bush and when the tap reaches the bottom of the hole it pushes up the bush!


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## deema (25 Mar 2022)

The shafts of the infeed and outfeed rollers arnt worn, the bushes were. The shafts are measured both where the bushes sit and also on ‘virgin‘ shaft to determine the extent of any wear. If wear were present we would have sorted this out by having the shafts built up.
Interesting, the normal size for the shafts is 25mm, they are about 30 micron below that. The Oilite bushes have an ID of 25mm which reduces by about 10 micron when they are pushed in to make a reasonable fit. The Oilite bushes are soaked in oil and a film of oil will form around the shaft in use.
(the micrometer digital readout is set using a 10mm standard at zero, so the digital readout needs 10mm adding to it)


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## deema (4 Apr 2022)

The parts are all now back after being shot blasted and powder coated. They look really nice, please excuse my dirty finger prints on them. Commitments this week mean that we are not likely to make a start putting it back together until next week.

The company has done a really excellent job at ensuring that all the machined surfaces were protected and not shot blasted. It’s always outs a smile on my face to see parts after paint, they are totally transformed from the machine we started off with.

Powder coating like most paint finishes takes around a week to fully harden, until then it’s still a little soft, so it’s always best to try and leave painted parts a while before handling them too much.


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## KT_NorCal (7 Apr 2022)

You guys get all the neat P/T machines over on your side of the pond! 

Just an FYI, but I've been very hesitant to powder coat anything cast iron with precision machining on it as the extended heat periods can cause pieces with unrelieved stresses to warp, so I would double check everything is still within expected specs... also with cast iron you should always specify they add a high zinc primer layer as well. Rust can propagate under the plastic powder coating depending on the environment it is in.

I do like the white and blue though. I decided to paint the inside bits on my AGS white, so I'm definitely a fan.


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## deema (7 Apr 2022)

@KT_NorCal Thats really interesting, but not my experience. Before I retired I used to run a first tier automotive supply company making underbody components. A lot of parts were precision machined castings that we powder coated initially to achieve 1000 hrs salt spray test levels. We found that this could be achieved without a zinc primer. We later moved to KTL with powder on top for UV resistance / greater corrosion resistance. Powder gets about an hour at circa 180C, not that hot.
I think almost any form of paint is better than what is typically found on wood working machines we often find paint on top of original rust, that’s not caused by water permeating through the paint…..just rusting parts painted
Having said all of that we always check parts as original machining / wear can cause, as you highlight, stresses.


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## yetloh (24 Apr 2022)

Hi Deema and Sideways,

Always enjoy your threads. As a non-engineer the depth of your skills really shines through as does your thoroughness, not less your willingness to improve on what the maker did in the first place if you do not consider good enough. Speaking of which, something I have always hated on Sedgwick P/T's is the horrible yellow painted pressed steel blade guards which always seem to bind in their slots and lose their paint - to me they look and are cheap and nasty and I entirely unworthy of a quality machine. I am sure you could design and make something which would be far more satisfactory; do you have any plans to do so?

Jim


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## deema (24 Apr 2022)

Life has to be lived, and both Sideways and I have had projects that have kept us from the workshop. I’m hoping Sideways will start a thread on what he has been up to. It’s completely off topic for this forum, but really interesting none the less!! Hint hint Sideways
I’m hoping we can start to make progress next week on the machine….,,I think the weather is turning inclement again so indoors stuff is back on the agenda. I love being retired…..but need to retire from retirement!! Sooooo much to do!


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## Sideways (25 Apr 2022)

yetloh said:


> Hi Deema and Sideways,
> 
> Always enjoy your threads. As a non-engineer the depth of your skills really shines through as does your thoroughness, not less your willingness to improve on what the maker did in the first place if you do not consider good enough. Speaking of which, something I have always hated on Sedgwick P/T's is the horrible yellow painted pressed steel blade guards which always seem to bind in their slots and lose their paint - to me they look and are cheap and nasty and I entirely unworthy of a quality machine. I am sure you could design and make something which would be far more satisfactory; do you have any plans to do so?
> 
> Jim


Hah !
Thanks for the kind words Jim  This is a game. I think we egg each other on a bit. Once you accept that the worst you might do is kill a machine and end up trying to sell off the remaining parts, you may as well have a go and complete each project as well as your abilities allow. There are so many rabbit holes to go down once you begin.

I have no plans to tackle the Sedgwick guard challenge right now but I realise that you are right in your description. They are all rather naff. They scratch and the slides (vertical and lateral) don't.

My old kity 3636 with long arm, plastic guard, cam lock, etc was actually way easier to use and never felt unsafe. The arm being spring loaded, a plank could be put down on top of the guard, which would lower onto the table but never contact the blades.
We'll let that idea vegetate for a while and look at the mechanisms when we reassemble the MB guard in case there are some mods that would improve the sliding action. I suspect a self coloured plastic guard would be better than the pressed steel but maybe Sedgwick don't make enough to amortise the cost of tooling an injection moulded plastic part for each size of planer.
Hmmm.
Mill from solid plastic ?
3D print ? (Great but it's about 14 inches long 
Blingy gold anodised aluminium ?
Stiffen up the existing design ?


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## yetloh (26 Apr 2022)

My Swedish Moretens P/T (great machine with some very clever ideas) has this black aluminium extrusion







Height controlled by this Bristol lever locking int0 a slot on the front panel






It has nibbled the powder coating a bit but is a very smooth and effective design.

Jim


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## deema (28 Apr 2022)

Progress, Sideways and I have ventured back into the workshop to start the part we both really love. The assembly of the refurbishment. It’s always brilliant and a wonderful feeling to see the ‘butterfly’ emerge from what we start with.

The first job was to sort out the oil in the gear reduction box that is used to step down the motor that drives the infeed and outfeed rollers. Usually, the oil hasn’t ever been changed or topped up since the machine left Sedgwick factory. The gearbox is designed to work in one orientation, it has a pressure relieve valve in its upmost surface which also acts as the fill port. If the gearbox is not kept with the red coloured bolt vertical it will piddle oil everywhere.

With the red coloured bolt removed an oil level can be seen, oil needs to be added up to this point. The gearbox when we took it out was about half empty to where it should have been.









And with oil added to the level


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## deema (28 Apr 2022)

We usually sort out the oil level with the motor / gearbox mounted into the base. It stops any accidental spills due to the assembly tipping. We also mount the motor into the base as one of the first steps.

In the photo you can see the fill port open on top of the gear box.






In the next photo you can see the red coloured bolt reinserted. The relief valve is part of this bolt.






The main spindle drive motor mounts on a metal bar via two bolts through its upper foot. A third bolt is attached to the lower motor foot and clamps to the base through the side. This is what rotates the motor and tensions the belt. The motor /gearbox doesn’t have a tensioning system as it drives a chain, it uses instead an idler sprocket to tension the belt.


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## deema (28 Apr 2022)

The base casting is next, first off the thicknesser table rise and fall, mechanism needs to be assembled into it. 






I’m not sure what the technical term for this form or worm drive is, but it’s a form of worm drive, which means that loading the thicknesser table cannot back drive the system and change the height of the table when in use. Originally, grease was used in these parts, and for maintenance grease nipples are located on the upper surface. However, we clean all the grease out of the system and instead coat everything in white grease. White grease drys, it doesn’t pick up sawdust and create a very effective grinding paste. We will put the grease nipples back only to stop dust getting down the holes. However, they should not be used to for lubricating. 

The horizontal gear is grub screw located and the pinned to the shaft. The vertical shaft in the photo has a locking collar on the upper surface of the base casting.

The gears as can be seen look like new with no discernible wear. This is what we find on these machines.


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## deema (28 Apr 2022)

The base casting is very heavy, a two man lift really. Before putting it on top of the base we run a tap through all holes. This ensures that no shot / paint or anything else remains in the threads. The castings on this vintage of machine are thicker in my opinion than the more modern machines. Cast iron is a superb vibration reducer, that’s why it’s used today on top end machines. It’s expensive to have castings made versus fabrication, but is far superior for vibration reduction. You can always spot a value engineered machined by the amount of cast iron there is versus fabrication / aluminium extrusion.





The cast base sits on top of rubber washers to further reduce vibration transmission from the motors in the base. It’s held to the base by four M16 bolts inserted from underneath. These were fiddly to out back, getting everything lined up as the through holes have very little allowance. Hopefully Sideways might have photos of the rubber washers.






The cast iron hand wheel is attached by a grub screw, the column for the thicknesser table is inserted and bolted to the riser mechanism with three bolts. The column is lubricated with white grease.






The thicknesser column is attached to another casting, which runs in the Acme threaded rod. Another property of cast iron is that the graphite in it makes it a good bearing surface.


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## deema (28 Apr 2022)

The rear side casting is next to be bolted to the cast base. It’s again held by M16 bolts (22mm spanner / socket) at this stage you only attach the rear side casting. A lot of parts need to be built into this casting before the front side casting is attached.


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## Sideways (28 Apr 2022)

Iso 100 for the gearbox oil. It was perfectly clean so only needed a top up.





Wide rubber washers between the base casting and the steel cabinet





You can see both the grub screw and the roll pin in this view of the helical gear





And the two lubricating holes for the rise and fall spindle as Deema mentioned.


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## robump (30 Apr 2022)

Great write up guys. Thank you for taking the time to document the project! Might come in handy for the future. 

Where did you source all you new bearings/bushings from.


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## deema (30 Apr 2022)

I buy bearings and stuff from lots of places, however BearingsRus, 4bearings and simplybearings are some of my more frequent visits


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## robump (30 Apr 2022)

deema said:


> I buy bearings and stuff from lots of places, however BearingsRus, 4bearings and simplybearings are some of my more frequent visits


Thank you! Do you know the colour codes for the new Sedgwick blue and white? I assume they are RAL colours are they?


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## Inspector (30 Apr 2022)

The white grease you mention for assembly. The only white grease I am familiar with is a Lithium grease. Same stuff?

Pete


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## deema (1 May 2022)

@Inspector Hi, Pete, there are two white greases we use, lithium and calcium. You can mix the two as they are compatible with each other. I understand that calcium grease has a better water and rust restrictive properties than lithium, but has a lower working temperature (about 120C). Not an issue for wood working machines. Another alternative is Dry Moly Lubricant, however moly and white grease are not compatible, and it’s harder to find to buy. So, we use white grease as you can pick it up just about anywhere here in the UK. 

Silicone based lubricant spray would also be a good alternative, however, if the spray gets onto a table top and stuff is passed over it, it ruins the ability to add a finish. We don’t use it for wood working machines for this reason.


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## deema (24 May 2022)

Soooooo, it’s been a while since we did any work to this machine. I’ve been out of action for just over three weeks with some bug, still nit right, but there is only so much day time TV I can stomach! Today we made a little progress.

The two bearings were pressed into either end of the main cutter spindle. These are both new sealed for life bearings (SKF and FAG), including the self aligning bearing. Although we are leaving the grease nipples in place for these bearings, they will never need to be used. 

The bearings had a collar made for them so that the press only acted on the inner race.


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## deema (24 May 2022)

We reassembled the spindle into the body of the plane, it runs really smoothly. 








Your browser is not able to display this video.


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## deema (25 May 2022)

To get the spindle back into the saw I didn’t describe the process. Firstly the two bearings need to be pressed back onto either end of the spindle. A press is ideal, however, warming the bearings up to say 80C (never at or above 100C) and cooling the spindle is also another way, they should then slide on without any pressure. The larger bearing is first pushed into the casting, gentle tapping is usually required, we usually create a temperature difference to allow them to pop in very easily. Next, the other cast side is presented and again very gently tapped on. There is a bolt that must not be forgotten in the end of the spindle on the none driven end. This is stop the bearing moving in use (see picture). The two threaded rods, one of which has the anti kick back fingers attached to it also need a nut adding before the final casting is added to the spindle.


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## deema (25 May 2022)

Next to assemble are the two planing tables, these are needed to set up the alignment of the whole machine. These are lifted on, with a good squirt of white grease on the moving surfaces. For this machine both tables are adjustable…..something I really like in a machine. Each has a proper adjuster rod. This is an old machine when they made proper adjusters. The threads on these are square threads, huge capacity and won’t get stripped due to saw dust build up. This happens on the more modern Sedgwick machines that use a standard screw thread rather than a trapezoidal, acme of square thread.


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## Sideways (25 May 2022)

The bearings sit inside the side castings and the cutter block is machined just slightly smaller than the bearing housings. Net result is a small clearance that helps to keep prevent the ingress of dust and chips out even when using open bearings. The sealed for life bearings we fit are well protected.


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## deema (25 May 2022)

The tables are coplanar with each other, using a straight edge there is only a few spots where light can be seen across both tables. Now, light can get through the smallest gap, the gaps are less than my thinnest feeler gauges. That’s very impressive for a machine of this age. Looking at the tables, there is very little evidence of any wear at all. We have to align the tables properly with the spindle……but that’s for another day, it had arrived at gin o’clock! 

The photos are of both tables with a torch behind the straight edge.


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## deema (26 May 2022)

The next task was to verify the exact alignment of the tables to each other. This is done by setting the clock to zero on one table and checking the clock when checking the other table. 










You measure the table at either end, the clock is in thousands of an inch. Reading the clock you can see that there is actually about half a division of variance, so about 1/2 thou in old money or circa 12 microns for the metric people. That’s about as good as it gets over a distance of 12” or circa 305mm. 

This is not how it started out, the tables were approximately 12 thou twisted. To adjust what seems to be a PT with no adjustment you slacken the bolts holding one of the side castings and either push or pull it in the direction of the tables. As the tables are running on angled beds, this moves the elevation of one table and decreases the elevation of the other table on that side as the other side remains fixed and bolted down. We do this usually with a rubber mallet and tap the castings to get them perfectly aligned. We again verified that the tables were perfectly coplaner using a straight edge.


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## deema (26 May 2022)

Next is to verify the alignment of the tables to the spindle. Often they aren’t perfectly aligned, which isn’t a big deal. As this can be adjusted by the blades. However, the same misalignment needs to be set up with the thicknesser table otherwise when thicknessing it will produce a wedge shaped finished part. There are ways of shimming the tables if perfect alignment is needed for instance if a Tersa head is mounted.

This PT after our adjustments was virtually perfectly aligned to the cutter spindle.

Unfortunately I didn’t properly zero the clock, but if you read the clock you can see that again there is about 1/2 thou or 12 microns variation, which reflects the tables. Again, over 12” / 305mm that’s about as good as it gets.


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## deema (26 May 2022)

The thicknesser table is now mounted, and clocked at either end referenced off the cutter spindle. We are looking for less than 1 thou variance, which is far tighter than any new PT I’ve tested. The thicknesser table on this PT was not aligned with the spindle straight off and was out by approx 12 thou or circa 0.3mm over the 12” length of cut. To correct this we use shims under the table, between it and the column it sits on. In this case we added two 1 thou (25 micron) shims either side of a bolt to ensure it was properly seated. The radius we inserted them in at multiplies how much it tilts the table at either side. We usually use ‘calibrated’ beer cans that we cut up. It’s amazing how accurate beer cans are in wall thickness.





Anyway, after a bit of adjustment (we’ll Sideways got it bang in first time……it’s not the first time he’s done it!)










It’s about 1/2 thou of 12 microns or variance between the two ends……there is a theme starting 

Please pardon the dirty bits, they arn’t scratches etc just dirty hands. Sideways had been ‘feeding’ the tables with both Metalguard and liber on machine wax.


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## deema (26 May 2022)

Next was assembly of the infeed and outfeed rollers. It’s easier to set everything up with them not in pace. We have to take the outfeed table off to fit the infeed roller and chip breaker.





The chip breaker we normally mount after adding a couple of washers underneath it to raise it slightly. Every single machine I’ve done has needed this, and indeed when we took it apart it had the washers installed.





The next job will be to setup the height of the infeed and outfeed rollers as well as adjusting the spring tension.


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## Sideways (26 May 2022)

Table back on and it's starting to look something like.



















Notice the gap in the thickness table. This model has a roller in line with the cutter block to reduce friction while feeding. We haven't dropped this in just yet but it has height adjustments at each end so that the roller can be levelled to the table.


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## Sideways (28 May 2022)

Just a minor update - we didn't have much time to play yesterday.

The thickness table support / locking bar still had to be fitted and of course it turned out that there was overspray from the powder coat in the socket on the underside of the table. Cue half an hour of laborious hand work with a 20mm machine reamer to clean out the hole, then the bar slides up and in and is locked in place with a grub screw.















As an aside - notice the two slots in the photos above ? One in the base casting and one above on the side casting ? Remember these for the future. They are there to create a route for the power cables from the bottom of the electrical starters that bolt onto the front of the machine and the two electric motors that are housed in the base. They keep the cable run nice and tidy as we'll see later on.

The scale was refitted on the planer table





And pointer on the thicknesser.





The original scale for this was damaged so a replica one will be created. We've had to do this before for my own first PT, so it won't be difficult.


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## davethebb (22 Jun 2022)

Sideways, I am looking at buying a Sedgwick PT so I have been reading this thread very carefully and I must say it is a brilliant post (thank you). I have a couple of questions that I hope you can help clarify. Firstly, does the planer table height adjustment have any slack in or is it packed to a tolerance? for e.g. when you adjust the height what prevents the table from moving/twisting/left and right (even very small amounts) in the slots where the measurement scale is as this must impact on the relevant height WRT the blades?
You (or possibly Deema) also make reference that the model you are refurbishing has height adjustments on both infeed and outfeed tables and this is the best. I am a novice woodworker and can't really see why you would adjust the outfeed table once it has been set up - would you be kind enough and explain why you would perhaps want to adjust the outfeed table?


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## deema (22 Jun 2022)

The cast iron sided pieces in which the slots sit that hood the table have two long bolts at the top that tie the two sides together. You adjust the tension on these bolts such that the tables will just slide smoothly. This minimises any ‘slop’ in the two tables.

Setting up standard blades can be difficult. For PTs that use standard knives and have a fixed out feed table you have to set each knife level and to a precise very accurate height. With a moveable out feed, you just need to set the knives level and at the same height, not to an exact precise height, as you can adjust the outfreed table. This makes setting up the knives a far simpler task.


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## rogxwhit (23 Jun 2022)

I bought an MB new in January 1991. I'd visited the Sedgwick stand at the previous Woodmex, and quizzed the rep about their tolerances to do with planer bed alignments - you know, along, across, diagonal. He quoted something like 4 thou (of an inch). I thought that was fine. 

But they must've built mine over the holiday period when they were all pineappled. The infeed / outfeed were bowed over the length, and the thickness table was skewed in the width by about 20 thou. Each table in itself was flat enough, it was the alignments. So the work it produced wasn't good. But what to do? Send it back, all 7 cwt of it? Disruption & downtime.

I decided to fix it - to make it mine, if you like. I filed the inclined ways to get the top tables in synch. And shimmed the thickness table with some pieces of Sellotape tin. 

And it served me well for the next 30 yrs. I made wooden extension tables for surfacing / edging, and with careful setting-up was able to edge-joint boards of dining table length or more without any further need for dressing with a hand plane. Planed tons of reclaimed pitch pine and cleaned up the clag afterwards.

It was from the end of the era that had the adjustable outfeed table.


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## davethebb (23 Jun 2022)

deema said:


> The cast iron sided pieces in which the slots sit that hood the table have two long bolts at the top that tie the two sides together. You adjust the tension on these bolts such that the tables will just slide smoothly. This minimises any ‘slop’ in the two tables.
> 
> Setting up standard blades can be difficult. For PTs that use standard knives and have a fixed out feed table you have to set each knife level and to a precise very accurate height. With a moveable out feed, you just need to set the knives level and at the same height, not to an exact precise height, as you can adjust the outfreed table. This makes setting up the knives a far simpler task.


Deema, Many thanks that makes perfect sense.


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## Doug71 (23 Jun 2022)

Quick question, is the scale for the planer table adjustable at all? Mines not accurate, it doesn't really bother me but would be nice if it was a bit better. I have only looked at it quickly and there didn't look an obvious way to do it, looked riveted on rather than being able to just loosen screws and move it on elongated holes or something?


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## deema (23 Jun 2022)

@Doug71 I’m not sure what you exactly mean about accuracy of the scale, however, I’m interpreting it that the zero position on the scale doesn’t align with zero cut. Or alternatively say a 1mm cut isn’t 1mm. 
I’m assuming you have standard blades in your machine……ignore the following if not. So to improve the accuracy is a fairly easy exercise if you have a clock on a stand or with a good straight edge. Set the infeed table to zero on the scale. Now adjust the height of the outfeed table to be exactly level with the infeed table and that they are both coplaner in all directions. Now reset the blade height. Your all good, it’s calibrated.


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## Doug71 (23 Jun 2022)

deema said:


> @Doug71 I’m not sure what you exactly mean about accuracy of the scale, however, I’m interpreting it that the zero position on the scale doesn’t align with zero cut. Or alternatively say a 1mm cut isn’t 1mm.
> I’m assuming you have standard blades in your machine……ignore the following if not. So to improve the accuracy is a fairly easy exercise if you have a clock on a stand or with a good straight edge. Set the infeed table to zero on the scale. Now adjust the height of the outfeed table to be exactly level with the infeed table and that they are both coplaner in all directions. Now reset the blade height. Your all good, it’s calibrated.



Yes the zero isn't zero but no I don't have standard blades, I use the ESTA type blades and carriers, I did wonder if this might be the problem. I hoped there might be an easy way to adjust the scale to allow for this.


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## deema (23 Jun 2022)

@Doug71 again, an assumption you are using the ‘lugs’ on the Esta carriers to set the knife depth. Usually this means that the knives are too low for the zero to be on zero and starts at say 1~2mm. I set the carriers to sit on the two height setting grub screws and use a none permanent thread lock to make sure they remain set. This allows them to be set with the infeed table on zero. They then still drop in without the need to setup. I prefer to keep as much of the table slides inside the slots for rigidity.

the scale is held on by hammer rivets, they can be removed with care. You can then either file the holes in the scale into slots, or just glue it down where you want it as an alternative.


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## Doug71 (24 Jun 2022)

@deema yes you are correct I use the lugs on the carriers to set the knife depth and my scale does read about 1.5mm when it should be zero ( you do know your stuff don't you!).

I don't recall seeing any grub screws in my block but will take a look next time I'm swapping knives. When I got the planer it had standard blades in with some small wood packers under them, that must have been the method the previous owner used to set the knife height in the block 


Thank you for the advice, really helpful as always


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## deema (24 Jun 2022)

@Doug71 the grub screws (2 of) should be in the bottom at either end of the slot, may be missing and just need replacing. There is normally a recess to allow them to be adjusted with the blades loosely fitted……a feature I really like. If they need replacing make sure you use exactly the same length / style in all 4 holes. If one is missing, I’d replace them all with identical to ensure the spindle is balanced.


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## Tony Works Wood (25 Jun 2022)

deema said:


> The press is used to remove the bushes that are in through holes, however there are two that are in blind holes. Normally blind hole pullers will get these out, however they were pushed in so far that the puller couldn’t get a grip. In these circumstances a bit of lateral thought is required. We used a 1” tap to act as a puller. You use tap to thread the bush and when the tap reaches the bottom of the hole it pushes up the bush!
> View attachment 132429


Brilliant tip, thank You. I've not not come across this method before. What if the bush starts to spin though when it's still deep in the hole? Tony


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## deema (25 Jun 2022)

If the bush spins you can then just pull on the tap.


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## deema (22 Jul 2022)

It’s been while since @Sideways and I have been able to get together to work on the PT. Life has got in the way, but today we were able to make some progress. Firstly most of the rewiring has been completed. Sideways is going to improve the way it was originally wired, and we will show what has been done shortly.
Now that the Vertical shaper that is mounted on my Bridgeport clone mill is back up and running after a rather silly moment I had that blew up the motor; we were able to start and ‘play’ with it to work out how to use it. I have used a horizontal shaper briefly a long time agol but this is different. So, after a little experimenting and after advise from members on another thread on here we started to cut the key ways. The clapper box was made solid, ie it did not allow the tool to move back on the return stroke. It’s actually very easy to use and setup, which made a change!

I did take a video of it cutting the gear we have now completed. However it’s too big for the server to accept. I will video the next one…..for a shorter time and uplpad that when we do it, anyway, this is what it looked like after it was cut and then test fitted, a bit more work to do on it yet. There is a tapped hole for a grub to cut and the gear length needs shortening. However, we were delighted to have ‘mastered’ the shaper.


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## deema (25 Jul 2022)

All three sprockets now have the key ways cut into them. A good learning curve with the vertical shaper, we discovered that the tool can come loose which is interesting. We cleaned away the oil for the video, but normally we would have oil for the cuter to pickup as it cuts.




Your browser is not able to display this video.


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## deema (25 Jul 2022)

After the keyways are cut a hole is centre drilled, pilot drilled, drilled for the tap and tapped for a grub screw to hold the sprockets onto the shafts. The grub screw tapped hole has to align with the keyway.
We will make a temporary shaft with a key way cut into it to allow us to mount the sprockets on the lathe in order to turn the boss down to the right length. The OE sprockets are not very deep, and standard off the shelf sprockets need shortening.


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## deema (28 Jul 2022)

To finish off the larger sprockets the boss needs to be turning down in Diameter and shortening. First job was to make a quick arbour to mount the sprockets in in the lathe. This was just turning down the diameter to suit and milling a keyway into a bit of scrap.


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## deema (28 Jul 2022)

The arbour was mounted in the lathe and the sprockets slipped on and held firmly by tightening the grub screw.


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## deema (28 Jul 2022)

The boss had to be tuned down to match the original as they sit against the cast blocks that hold the infeed and outfeed rollers. Any larger and they will also rest against the side castings of the machine which would reduce the amount of end play.






Finally all of the new sprockets are mounted to the machine.


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## deema (2 Aug 2022)

Just for interest, this is what the original sprocket teeth looked like, very badly worn. The shape of the wear indicates that the sprockets and chain were not properly aligned which has rounded over one side of the teeth. These are now going into the bin.


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## deema (2 Aug 2022)

A new chain has been made to length, the one on the machine was actually too long. We guess that it had been replaced at some point possible due to the chain jumping the sprockets due to the wear. The longer chain meant that the tensioning system was not working properly and again would cause the chain to jump.


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## deema (2 Aug 2022)

Sideways had finished wiring the machine up, so it was time for a test of the thicknesser rollers.





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You can hear a slight ‘chinking’ as the chain is running. This is due to the chain just lightly brushing against the spindle pulley. Although the new sprockets are exactly the same size as the old after machining and are properly aligned, there is simply not enough space to adjust this ‘collision’ out with them as they are. We will take them off again and machine a little more off the back of the sprockets to allow more adjustment. This is a common issue with these machines, they work, but they can be refined with a little engineering And as a consequence will run quieter and last even longer with out attention.


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## deema (2 Aug 2022)

The fence is fully assembled and installed, we are almost at the finish line, only a few minor things left to do before the machine will be off to its new home.


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## Sideways (8 Aug 2022)

Safety:
1000v insulation resistance test, Live and Neutral to Earth on both motors and starters...
Deema's holding the contactors in and pressing "go".


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## Sideways (8 Aug 2022)

Bosses of the sprockets shortened, sprockets refitted and lined up using a long straight edge.
You don't need much misalignment before the chain runs erratically and clicks as the sprocket teeth catch on the side links of the chain.





I'd say these were lined up better than 2mm from top sprockets to the motor sprocket.

If you don't have the straight edge, measure from a consistent point on the chain like the end of the rivets to the side casting. 




This only works for the upper half as the pressed steel base is offset relative to the casting and it's fussy to work out the alignment on the motor sprocket.

The spring loaded tension adjuster has to sit very close to the casting for everything to align. If it is placed correctly, the idler pulley which floats freely will align with the chain instead of trying to pull it out of line





All good, now for the spindle V belt


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## Sideways (8 Aug 2022)

Straightedge used for alignment as before. Belt fitted and tensioned.





Clearance between the belt, pulleys and chain must be checked to make sure that nothing vmcan foul. The clearances are a little snug especially at the top.





Then CHECK THE CUTTERBLOCK and run it up. Tweak the tension as the belt warms up and beds in.




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## Sideways (8 Aug 2022)

Overhead guard is next. This is custom rebuild.


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## Sideways (8 Aug 2022)

Refit the blades:










Note that the wedges are marked and must be matched to the correct slot in the block












Jacking screws at each end of each blade should be wound all the way in, 




one at a time the wedges then blades are inserted and the wedges gently nipped up.

















The jacking screws are accessible in this position so gently unscrew them to raise the blade until it stands parallel to the outfeed table and a few thou higher at top dead centre. 





This distance depends on the diameter of the cutting circle etc so if you were setting up a different planer it would be different. The height can be calculated by geometry. For a first cutting test we just measured Deema's Sedgwick CP and used the same setting.

Once levelled, tighten up the 5 big allen bolts on each wedge tightly so you won't lose the blade or wedge when the block spins up. It's a great way to smash the end off your infeed table !


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## Sideways (8 Aug 2022)

Looking pretty with a brand new original dust chut£££













This is thicknessing position.
For planing it sits under the block and the thicknessing table is raised to lock it in place.

Some quick test cuts (without extraction) and then off for tea.
The tables are still covered in anti rust wax and haven't been buffed, but it certainly cuts. Nearly there !


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## deema (9 Aug 2022)

The thicknesser needed setting up, the two rollers and the springs needed adjusting to the blades that we had already fitted. The manual gives a method using a piece of wood to establish bottom dead centre of the cutter block. We use measurement as we feel is more accurate.

First off use a OneWay we measure the bottom of the blade, rotating is to get the maximum reading and then set the clock to zero……I did for the setup correct the minuscule error in zero






The plane roller at the back is set to be 2mm or 80 thou below the cutter.




The front serrated roller is set to be 1mm below the cutter.





here is the instruction from the manual. We use a small engineers ruler to set the spring length. We generally set the sprocket side 5mm tighter than specified at 60mm and the other at 55mm.




This only needs doing usually of the rollers have been removed.


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## deema (9 Aug 2022)

The back cover is on, front name badge reattached, and apart from the rear cutter cover it’s finished. A bit of a transformation from the what we started off with.


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## yetloh (11 Aug 2022)

Lovely work, as ever.

Jim


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## rogxwhit (11 Aug 2022)

deema said:


> We generally set the sprocket side 5mm tighter than specified at 60mm


So you meant 'looser', then, not tighter? Since there's a bit of downward pull from the chain drive and this is to compensate ... ;-)

Ideally one would adjust the rollers to a higher pressure for heavier workpieces, and lighter pressure for lighter workpieces. But unless doing a big batch of similar stuff, it's easier to aim for a compromise.


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## deema (12 Aug 2022)

I compress the spring on the chain side to 55mm rather than the 60mm specified, ie tighter. I have found that this works better, the chain does create a force on the rollers which is why it doesn’t need as much compression in this side.


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