Anyone own a Jet 310 or 410 planer/thicknesser?

[RogerS]

I have a few questions.

1) The aluminium fence does seem to be mounted pretty firmly and not flex. Does it stay that way? Does it maintain it's 90 degrees?

2) Do the tables maintain their register as they are moved up and down to go into thicknesser mode?

3) What is that nasty little lever for adjusting the height of the infeed table like to use in practice?

Many thanks

Roger

 

[wizer]

I have the 260 and have used the 310.

1. The newly designed fence certainly does stay at 90 degrees. Mine has a very slight twist across it's length. But in reality it doesn't transfer to the wood.

2. Yes absolutely. It's one solid unit.

3. There's nothing nasty at all about that lever, it works well. You obviously have to lower it and then raise it a bit to allow for backlash.

 

[Waka]

I have a few questions.

1) The aluminium fence does seem to be mounted pretty firmly and not flex. Does it stay that way? Does it maintain it's 90 degrees?

2) Do the tables maintain their register as they are moved up and down to go into thicknesser mode?

3) What is that nasty little lever for adjusting the height of the infeed table like to use in practice?

Many thanks

Roger

Roger

I have the 310 and find it an excellent machine, I've had mine about 4 years now, I'll attempt to answer your questions.

I have had no problem with my fence remaining at 90 degrees, the only thing I find annoying is the silly little bristol fittings they use to hold it on with, never have liked them, I changed mine for home ones.

In the 4 years I've had mine I've only re-aligned the tables once and this is very easy to do.

Infeed table adjustment is fine, looks a bit strange but in reality it does the job adequately.

Another thing you didn't ask about was the table rise and fall locking, again this is with the bristol lever, I also changed this for my own design.

Blades are very easy and quick to change and set up.

Heavy machine so if you want it moveable then a good sturdy base is required.

All in all I think its an excellent machine, I'm sure others will comment.

 

[RogerS]

Thanks guys for the quick reply.

Wizer - how do you find adjusting the infeed lever finely? When I had a play with a 310 it seemd very hit and miss. You'd try and nudge it up a little bit...oops too much..down a bit....back a bit. With a screw thread (even though you still have the backlash) at least it is a fine and graduated advance.

 

[wizer]

why would you want it so fine\accurate??

 

[RogerS]

why would you want it so fine\accurate??

Just to feather off the saw marks left by the table saw maybe?

 

[wizer]

The top setting is fine for that. I don't think you need to have it on a screw. It's certainly not something I've needed.

 

[ivan]

I have a 310, for 2 yrs, excellent value. the new fence is a bit flatter than the old but not perfect. I think it was Waka who posted the necessary mod. The arrangement looks a bit heath robinson but it is very rigid. You do need to check for 90 deg after you move the fence as botom of fence mechanism is not machined flat (you could have this done).

Machine as whole very solid. See my posts on this machine for some points to check, and instructions for table setting, which are not in manual. By the way, Felder uses similar system. Lifting tables as pair is V nice and quick to changeover, table setting reamins stable.

Nasty little lever (??? not at all, and Felder has one too) on outfeed, you can adjust easily to dial gauge to fine tune knife height a la Felder till you get 3-4 thou hollow over 1M by tapping the lever (ie in ~ 1 thou steps). There is some backlash in the system so always adjust upwards to final setting of either table.

The cut depth scale for infeed table is not too accurate, but peels off and can be restuck if necessary. There's nothing flimsy in the mechanism, no pressed steel parts, all thick rod and bar.

Thisknesser table is also very rigid, does not move when locked, and digital add on readout gubbins is accurate and helpful if you have old eyes and or stiff back!

I have fitted Felder extension tables to mine with success, see my posts, gives you ~3M tables so you can machine plane flat to a handful of thou hollow over 2.5M which isn't bad. The machine is beefy enough to take this mod. You can also extend the thicknesser table, )also beefy casting) if you plane a lot of long stuff.

I believe you'd have to spend a lot more money to do better.

 

[dicktimber]

Roger
I have to say that the kity I used to have had a screw thread knob to adjust the depth of cut for the planer table.
When I upgraded to the jet, it took a bit of getting used to.
However the number of times I change the setting is minimal, as I am only looking to get a face side and edge from the surfacing table, the bulk comes off from the thicknessing mode.
I have never had any problems at all with the fence or repeatability moving the table from one mode to another.
Let me say that the build quality is very good, and it's a solid machine.
The point you miss out is the daftest and most irritating, and that is the change over of the chip collector.
You either have to turn the machine round, or manoeuver the extractor round the workshop.
Granted you can just flip the chip collector over and have the hose running in an 's' round the machine to the extractor, but I always like to have a dead straight hose running down to the extractor, so that build ups of chips in the hose are reduced, especially when thicknessing.
No machine is perfect.
If I was using it professionally, I would not have bought it, as separate planers and thicknessers work better in shops (IMO)
But then I would be looking at paying a lot more dosh.
Mike