Planer thicknesser throwing a blade

[hunggaur]

Hi folks whilst i have a few minutes i thought i would share what happed the other month just a word of warning.

i used to have a cast iron 12 inch whithead planer thicknesser which was a great bit of kit.

however the other month whilst using it to thickness a a piece of ash the planer threw one of the blades ( i think it must have worked lose over time and then hit a knot)

well the result of this was the blade had to go somewhere and it did at very high speed straight through the top of the cast iron jointing bed shattering it to bits.

my only saving grace was that when i got the machine it had no blade guard to protect you from the blades on top of the jointer when using the thickesser. so i has built a box guard out of 18mm MDF which i also put a dust outlet in so it was quite wide that sat on top of the machine over the blades and this contiained 80 % of the shrapnel. The rest was stuck in the celling, walls and floor.

I don't know how but it all managed to miss me (THANK GOD) all i need after the event was 2 bottles of valium, half a bottle of scotch and a new pair of underpants.

please folks check your blades are tight on a regular basis.

also has anyone else had this happen????

regards

jon

 

[tjwoodms]

i have only seen the aftermarth of accidents like this you were indeed very lucky. I have done a few repairs after such an misshap it ususaly happens when somone has just changed the blades and got distracted during the process by a co worker or the phone ringing they go back to the job in hand and forget to check what they have been doing the hey presto big bang and thats the end of that.

You may have had blade creep where the centiifugal force causes the blade to slowly work its way free but usually you would notice somthings not quite right like poor finish/undersize whilst thicknessing or more vibrations as the cutter block goes out of balence.

Make sure you cutterblock wedges are in good condition also as damaged wedges can allow blades to escape or shatter in situe

 

[JoinerySolutions]

i have only seen the aftermarth of accidents like this you were indeed very lucky. I have done a few repairs after such an misshap it ususaly happens when somone has just changed the blades and got distracted during the process by a co worker or the phone ringing they go back to the job in hand and forget to check what they have been doing the hey presto big bang and thats the end of that.

You may have had blade creep where the centiifugal force causes the blade to slowly work its way free but usually you would notice somthings not quite right like poor finish/undersize whilst thicknessing or more vibrations as the cutter block goes out of balence.

Make sure you cutterblock wedges are in good condition also as damaged wedges can allow blades to escape or shatter in situe

Just one addition to tjwoodms post, and that is to ensure blades, wedges and block are free from resin build up, clean them at each knife change to be sure, the residue has a habit of breaking off and getting between the mating surfaces of knife/wedge/block and can cause problems.
Same goes for spindle moulder tooling, by the way. :wink:

Rob.

 

[BradNaylor]

I use what I assume is the same machine on a daily basis, so your story commands my attention!

Was it one of these?

Just be thankful you were thicknessing on it and not planing! :shock:

 

[OPJ]

Relieved to hear you weren't harmed in any way - what a terrifying ordeal!! :shock:

I've often feared such an incident could occur one day (hence, why I check the bolts four or five times... ) but, this is the first time I've heard of it actually happening.

I hate to ask but, I don't suppose you have any photos of the surfacing table in its current state? Might be enough to scare some of using in to checking two or three times before firing up, next time.

 

[Digit]

I've known it happen on old spindle moulders but not on a planer, either would be pretty terrifying!

Roy.

 

[hunggaur]

I use what I assume is the same machine on a daily basis, so your story commands my attention!

Was it one of these?

Just be thankful you were thicknessing on it and not planing! :shock:

yep thats the one however the right hand jointing bed ended up in a few more pieces about 20

 

[hunggaur]

Relieved to hear you weren't harmed in any way - what a terrifying ordeal!! :shock:

I've often feared such an incident could occur one day (hence, why I check the bolts four or five times... ) but, this is the first time I've heard of it actually happening.

I hate to ask but, I don't suppose you have any photos of the surfacing table in its current state? Might be enough to scare some of using in to checking two or three times before firing up, next time.

Hi sorry it happend a couple of months ago before i started posting on the board and i never thought to take photos of it.