Farm Labourer
Established Member
New boy here, first post - so please be gentle!
It may be a little long & boring but someday somebody may find it useful.
I joined this forum a couple of weeks ago to learn as much as I could about the EB260HC. I bought mine second hand 20 years ago and to be honest after building a kitchen and various other things, it hasn't been used too much. I have lent it to family & friends over the years and frankly it owes me nothing.
As I have a new project, an ash frame for an old car that I plan to rebody and decided that I need a new bench. I found plans on line (Third Coast Craftsman), went to the sawmill and bought ash for the car and hardwood lumber for the bench.
Having ripped the boards as per plans and having changed blades on the P/T, planed a face and an edge on each board then put them through the thicknesser. About halfway through the 19 lengths for the bench-top, I realised that the faces were anything but parallel. So I did an internet search and found some interesting advice on this forum - some post shad pics that were only available to subscribers - so I subscribed.
I took the P/T apart to determine what the issue with the thicknesser was and in doing so discovered that the outfeed roller and both drive belts required replacing. Spares were sources through Powertoolspares in Lincolnshire and arrived earlier this week.
With the outfeed roller out and the chip guard removed, I used a length of extruded aluminium angle about 2" tall to act as a rough guide. I locked the cutter block in the three o'clock/nine o'clock position with a 19mm spanner mole-gripped to a box section I clamped to the body of the P/T, then raised the table until the angle was an interference fit against the cutter block on one side. I then slid the angle out and offered it up to the other side. It fitted with about 4 mm clearance.
Obviously sometime in the past, something has gone awry. Mindful of all of the comments on here about how difficult levelling the table could be, I decided to do it!
I seperated the P/T from the stand and rolled the P/T onto its side. Having released the tensioner, I removed the chain. With the angle extrusion, I rotated both screws on the low side until I had an interference fit across the entire width. I then lifted the P/T back onto the stand but stood it on blocks so I could get to the sprockets underneath.
Using a dial test indicator (DTI) - I made minor adjustments to the sprockets on one side only until I could slide the DTI across the table, using one of the cross bars to ensure perpendicularity and was delighted when after about 2 mins I had less than a one thou (0.001") discrepancy. I have a digital level and that showed that both front and back of the table were at the same height.
Obviously putting the chain back on might have affected the final outcome but to my surprise and delight, when I'd rolled it onto its side, replaced chain, re-tensioned and lubed the chain, a final check showed it to be about half a thou out. I think I can live with
So, not such a scary job at all and the spares all fitted without incident. I'm rather pleased!!
It may be a little long & boring but someday somebody may find it useful.
I joined this forum a couple of weeks ago to learn as much as I could about the EB260HC. I bought mine second hand 20 years ago and to be honest after building a kitchen and various other things, it hasn't been used too much. I have lent it to family & friends over the years and frankly it owes me nothing.
As I have a new project, an ash frame for an old car that I plan to rebody and decided that I need a new bench. I found plans on line (Third Coast Craftsman), went to the sawmill and bought ash for the car and hardwood lumber for the bench.
Having ripped the boards as per plans and having changed blades on the P/T, planed a face and an edge on each board then put them through the thicknesser. About halfway through the 19 lengths for the bench-top, I realised that the faces were anything but parallel. So I did an internet search and found some interesting advice on this forum - some post shad pics that were only available to subscribers - so I subscribed.
I took the P/T apart to determine what the issue with the thicknesser was and in doing so discovered that the outfeed roller and both drive belts required replacing. Spares were sources through Powertoolspares in Lincolnshire and arrived earlier this week.
With the outfeed roller out and the chip guard removed, I used a length of extruded aluminium angle about 2" tall to act as a rough guide. I locked the cutter block in the three o'clock/nine o'clock position with a 19mm spanner mole-gripped to a box section I clamped to the body of the P/T, then raised the table until the angle was an interference fit against the cutter block on one side. I then slid the angle out and offered it up to the other side. It fitted with about 4 mm clearance.
Obviously sometime in the past, something has gone awry. Mindful of all of the comments on here about how difficult levelling the table could be, I decided to do it!
I seperated the P/T from the stand and rolled the P/T onto its side. Having released the tensioner, I removed the chain. With the angle extrusion, I rotated both screws on the low side until I had an interference fit across the entire width. I then lifted the P/T back onto the stand but stood it on blocks so I could get to the sprockets underneath.
Using a dial test indicator (DTI) - I made minor adjustments to the sprockets on one side only until I could slide the DTI across the table, using one of the cross bars to ensure perpendicularity and was delighted when after about 2 mins I had less than a one thou (0.001") discrepancy. I have a digital level and that showed that both front and back of the table were at the same height.
Obviously putting the chain back on might have affected the final outcome but to my surprise and delight, when I'd rolled it onto its side, replaced chain, re-tensioned and lubed the chain, a final check showed it to be about half a thou out. I think I can live with
So, not such a scary job at all and the spares all fitted without incident. I'm rather pleased!!
