electra Beckum hc 260 toast or saveable?

[reck123]

Hi all,

I have had my little electra Beckum hc260 for a about three years now. and have been really pleased with it's performance for a hobbits machine. I've thrown tons of hardwood at it with no problem.

theist few weeks I noticed the spindle which the thicknesses bed feeling a bit stiff when raising the bed higher and lower I gave them a clean and they were back to smooth working order.

The other day when thicknessing I noticed that I could no longer move the position of the bed and it was seized in position. admittedly I used a little too much force trying to pushing the handle and then noticed that the bed had bent and was completely seized/stuck.

Now my combo machine only functions in jointer mode and I would like to try and rescue the thicknesseser aspect. I'm assuming I defiantly need a new thicknesseser bed as this one is now totally bent out of shape.

having previously called metabo before and sourced spare nuts and bolts (as there hc260 seems identical to the electra Beckum predecessor)

I called them to try and get a spare bed and to which I was told they do not have them and the thicknesseser bed is not identical to to the old electra Beckum model. do you think this is true?

I have been contemplating upgrading to a more precision jet combo machine but its a big investment and would rather keep this little one going for atlas a little while longer.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[city17]

If you were able to find a broken Elektra Beckum HC 260 and take the thicknesser bed off that, you could definitely still fix it. However it would be quite a bit of work as you'd have to take the entire machine apart and put it back together. Getting everything perfectly lined up is not so easy either (but it's doable).

I also don't think the Metabo thickness table would fit, as the Metabo height adjustment handle is actually on the side, and not on the top like on the Elektra Beckum. My guess is also that a replacement bed from Metabo would be pretty expensive.

 

[RobinBHM]

I reckon the chain has got stuck and youve wound the handle forcing one corner to move only

given its aly, are you sure it wont go back flat if you wind the individual posts until the bed is flat again?

maybe the bed is just under tension, I cant see it bending very easily....I wouldve thought it would have cracked rather than just bent.

If it wont go back dead flat maybe peel off the stainless steel, put in a packer to make it level -and stick the stainless steel back in. -it wouldnt be easy maybe needing a router on a skid to be used like a milling machine to create a tapered bit of mdf or ply

 

[reck123]

Thanks city17 for the confirmation on the interchangeability of the metabo hc260 parts

yes the replacement bed was around 160 euros so a expensive risky purchase . if its a no fixer I might just remove the bed and delegate it to jointer duties and buy a bench top thicknesses.

 

[reck123]

I reckon the chain has got stuck and youve wound the handle forcing one corner to move only

given its aly, are you sure it wont go back flat if you wind the individual posts until the bed is flat again?

maybe the bed is just under tension, I cant see it bending very easily....I wouldve thought it would have cracked rather than just bent.

If it wont go back dead flat maybe peel off the stainless steel, put in a packer to make it level -and stick the stainless steel back in. -it wouldnt be easy maybe needing a router on a skid to be used like a milling machine to create a tapered bit of mdf or ply

That actually seems quite plausible! do you know how you can wind the individual posts?

i'm not at my workshop at the moment but going to check that out of Monday. Thanks for giving me some hope

 

[RobinBHM]

That actually seems quite plausible! do you know how you can wind the individual posts?

i'm not at my workshop at the moment but going to check that out of Monday. Thanks for giving me some hope

it looks to me like the post with the handle has been wound down and the other 3 stayed where they are.

the bed I think is a die cast aly one, so it seems like it may have got twisted, but you never know -I would get a torch and have a look underneath to see if you can see any cracks

underneath -I think its under the machine -the 4 posts each have a sprocket with a chain run around -if you slacken or undo the chain you can turn the post with the handle on it.

 

[reck123]

thanks for that Robin, reckon your on to something there.
ill be there mondaymorning so will check it out and see if I can slacken the chain for the posts.

will report back and let you know how I get on.

thanks for the help its much appreciated

 

[pe2dave]

I've an HS260 for sale - see Scheppach hms 260 Planer thicknesser

 

[Woody Alan]

Removed after reading Robins assesment, good chance it's easily fixable.

 

[Jetset]

I hope you get it fixed but just wanted to add that I’ll have one of these for sale shortly!

 

[reck123]

Thanks for the offers but I am based in Berlin.

@RobinBHM your diagnosis was spot on. I can manage to get a little slack in the chain but can’t find a good method of turning the posts. Tried using a wrench on both the post and the corresponding gear below but I can’t get enough purchasing power resulting in it slipping off.

will keep on tinkering

 

[city17]

Thanks for the offers but I am based in Berlin.

@RobinBHM your diagnosis was spot on. I can manage to get a little slack in the chain but can’t find a good method of turning the posts. Tried using a wrench on both the post and the corresponding gear below but I can’t get enough purchasing power resulting in it slipping off.

will keep on tinkering

If I recall correctly there is some screw or extra fifth sprocket/gear that tensions the chain. You need to remove that in order to completely remove the chain. With the chain removed you can easily move the individual posts (apart from maybe some tension from the bent thicknesser bed).

I can check on my machine if it's helpful.

 

[Nick b]

Thanks @city17

That would be helpful to know where it is. I managed to slacken of the chain and basically the chain is of the gears.

The winch/ handle is moving more freely now and the flex in the one corner now seems to have transferred to the two back corners so the whole bed is sloped downwards by a cm. I'm trying to get the same thread count above the thicknesser bed on each post to get it level again but I can't for the life of me move any posts individually, probably As you mentioned because of the tension in the bed.

I might have found a small crack on one of the outside edges and felt like I heard something when this incident happened but it's hard to tell wether it carrys through to the rest of the bed.

I feel like some progress has been made as it's not completely seized anymore but a bit stuck on moving forwards now

 

[city17]

I checked with my EB machine, and there indeed is a fifth sprocket, right above the motor. I'm guessing you probably already have the motor disassembled? In any case if you have the chain off the gears that issue is already solved.

Good to hear you're making progress, hopefully you can get it it to move. Otherwise you might have to disassemble it.. but maybe someone else has better advice to avoid that.

 

[reck123]

Thanks City17 appreciate that! Ill have a look for that tomorrow. the motor is still assembled.

yes feels like some progress but also afraid of making the situation worse hopefully can figure it out without diassembly.

thanks again and any other advice from yourself or anyone else is much appreciated

 

[reck123]

Hi Again Folks,

I've since made some progress and managed to turn the posts and bring the the bed out of its unseized state. I decided to wind the the sprockets so the posts would bring the bed all the way down so thicknesses bed is touching the metal base below it in the hope that when I reattach the chain to the gears below the bed it is square to the cutter block. or should I create some kind of device to measure between the bed and the cutter block?

laying my longer straight edge across the bed it seems mostly flat although a gap in the left top corner below the handle is apparent. I never checked my bed for dead flatness before so not sure if this was introduced or not I guess once I start thicknessing any new imperfections will be apparent and perhaps I have to go the route you suggested @RobinBHM and make some kind of insert although its too early to tell.

I am now having having difficulties reattaching the chain. Originally when I removed it I was able to slacken it off but did not notice there was a extra sprocket for tensioning as you pointed out @city17 as it was obscured above the motor.


I managed to get the chain back around the four corner gears but realised there was two much slack which . I removed the motor bolts so I could find the tensioner and found the tensioner plate and the sprocket which was no longer attached and just sitting on the ledge. It must of come undone when I was wriggling the chain to get enough slack to remove it.

as far as I can tell from the diagram this sprocket is attached to the chain tension plate with a hexagonal nut.
so now with the motor removed and better access I attached the sprocket to the tensioner plate with a new nut and finger tightened it.

I am most likely doing something wrong but I can't get the chain around all four gears/sprockets and the 5th tensioning sprocket

does anyone have any experience reattaching the chain and can tell me if this configuration of the tensioner is anywhere near correct as since it was already unattached when I discovered it I am unsure.

I am very grateful for all your help so far and likely wouldn't of made it this far without it.

Best wishes and gratitude,
Nick

 

[city17]

Hi Nick, good to hear you've made some progress. The bed looks surprisingly flat, thought it would be bent more. Even a small deviation from flat could make it difficult to use though.. Or you might be able to only use one half of it, if that's flat.

About the sprocket. I do remember it being a bit tricky to tension it, but I can't remember exactly how it worked. I'll try and see if I can take a picture of it, but it might be a bit hard without disassembling the motor...

 

[galleywood]

reck123 / Nick b

You should be able to push the tensiner sprocket mechanism against it's spring to allow you to get the chain onto it's sprocket.
Failing that, remove the tensioner assy, engage the sprocket in the chain and then replace it's bolt while pressing against the spring action.
I hope this helps.

 

[clogs]

the chain is made the correct size from new.....
there's not enough room for extra slack in the sdjusters (this is to keep the machine small).....often with this type of chain/sprocket arrangement the sprokets and chain go on in one go...
bigger machines would have a jig on the production line.....
any for us, the idea is have as much slack as poss the ease one or 2 sprockets ALMOST of their locaction, creating more slack then just turn the chain a little, back and forth easing the sprockets back fully onto the shafts....
it's just a bit fiddley......but def doable......
dont get angry just take ur time...it'll prob fall to bits the od time....
one last thing mark all the gears and housings with a timing mark....that way u can see that they are in the correct position....ie the table is flat....

 

[reck123]

thank you all very much for the in depth reponses. I will try and have another stab at this later this evening.

@city17 that would be most helpful and a very kind offer although I don't expect you to remove your motor and have to faff about reattaching it . but maybe with a phone light/photo shining above gap of the motor I can make out the configuration better from your machine.

best regards,
Nick