Hello from Felder

[Whitesnake]

Hi everyone.

My name is Dave Whiteside.

I have met many forum members over the years whilst working at various shows. I was the Leigh demonstrator, amongst other things for Brimarc.

I have recently joined Felder UK (in April) and would like to make myself available for any enquires or questions anyone may have. Although I am new to this product, I am learning quickly and will endeavor to find an answer to a question (although there's no guarantee it will be right.:wink.

I look forward to meeting everyone again at the Harrogate show where we will have a stand. Please come over and say hello.

I have followed the forum (mostly as a lurker!) for many years and thought now was the time to get involved.

See you soon

Dave

 

[matthewwh]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum!

I'm sure theres a good number of Felder fans on here who will warmly welcome your input.

 

[gardenshed]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum!

I'm sure theres a good number of Felder fans on here who will warmly welcome your input.

And their critics






..

 

[Whitesnake]

Thanks Guys

You rarely get one without the other!

I'll try and help best I can either way.

Cheers

 

[Max Power]

Hi Dave , I'm one of the fans. Will you be at W10

 

[Whitesnake]

Hello Alan

Yes we will be at W10. We have a large stand displaying various machinery in the Hammer, Felder and Format 4 ranges.

Come over and say hello if you make it

 

[Chippyjoe]

Hi Dave,
and welcome to the forum.

Was down at Milton Keynes last week picking up my AF22 dust extractor.
Looks a serious bit of kit,and at 70kgs no lightweight!

Plumbing it in today,need to change the 16 amp breaker to a 20 amp and then I'm away.
Look forward to meeting you in the future,and all the best in your new job.

Mark.

 

[devonwoody]

Hi. Dave, which bandsaw blades do you recommend?

 

[Whitesnake]

Hi

As regards band saw blades, I have to be honest and say that although I use the band saws it is not something I do regularly or for very long. You can see who I work for and they do blades but why you should use them or not, is not something I could comment on because I have little or no experience of other blades. I am sure that someone on the forum will have more experience than me and could recommend a brand and why.

 

[9fingers]

I get all my blades now from Ian at Tuff Saws.

His service is excellent and will supply blades quickly according to your application. His advice is free and very helpful.

mailto:[email protected]

website coming soon http://www.tuffsaws.co.uk/

ebay shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/tuff-saws?_rdc=1

Bob

No commercial connection other than a very satisfied customer.

 

[jimi43]

Watcha Dave!!

Any cheap reject F600s come you way let me know! :mrgreen:

I second the thumbs up for Tuffsaw blades...that reminds me...I must get a fine one.

Jim

 

[devonwoody]

Hi. Jim, I typed in F600 at Felder website and nothing, what do you know that felder dont?

 

[jimi43]

Hi. Jim, I typed in F600 at Felder website and nothing, what do you know that felder dont?

Ooops...FB600

Missed the "B"

I like the look of that one!

Jim

 

[jeffinfrance]

hello dave,

if you've been lurking, you may already know about my problems.

first an update.

the third felder technician left yesterday evening after spending another 7 hours tweaking my cf741sp.

it looks ok. dont know how good it is until i do some work on it next week, but the difference in height from the slider to the table is tighter than a gnats chuff and the same along its length.

the table is undulating slightly due apparantly to the spindle moulder hanging off it and nothing can be done about this. a thicker table would have solved this problem at the factory i believe.

however, i am not left problem free. i can now no longer move my machine (essential if i want to work on stuff longer than three metres) until i have the time and money to completely rescreed my shop floor. the only way the technician could sort the slider, was to untwist the machine and make it absolutely flat using an engineers level, (very expensive and accurate bit of kit). i defy any builder to get a concrete floor that level without spending thousands and i was certainly never advised it would be necessary.

i ask you this dave:

why do your combination machines not come with a warning that they are notoriously difficult to set up and not reccomended for professional shops where separates would be much more useful.

welcome to the forum.

jeff

 

[custard]

hello dave,

why do your combination machines not come with a warning that they are notoriously difficult to set up and not reccomended for professional shops where separates would be much more useful.

This is alarming.

I was trying to choose between the Felder 531 and Felder 741 combination machines, with a key criteria being which would be the easiest/most practical to wheel. But with either choice "wheelability" would be absolutely essential in my workshop to allow machining larger pieces.

I seem to remember that one of the Hammer promotional videos shows a combination being wheeled on a wooden floor before being used, so if a Hammer can perform I thought a Felder would certainly be okay, as long as the extra weight was manageable. But your post has made me realise that I'll have to reconsider that assumption.

Do Felder have any standards for floor flatness to allow accurate work and wheelability with their combination machines?

 

[jeffinfrance]

hi custard,

if i had the decision to make again, i would have gone for fixed separates and made my shop bigger.

you owe it to yourself to exhaust this option before you settle for a combi.

that said, the felder is the mutts nuts when set up right, but every time you move it, to get the same accuracy, you will need to re-check everything is flat and level as the fixings between the planer and spindle table are "NOT strong enough to prevent movement". felder technicians own words. granted, on an absolutely flat and level floor, movement would probably be undetectable. but worth checking with an engineers level.

it all depends on the results you're after. personally, i'd rather not need sandpaper.

jeff

 

[moz]

Hi Jeff, I wrote in response to earlier problems you were having but, receiving no response, assumed you had sorted everything.

The problem with the slider, in many cases I suspect, is a failure to check the cast iron table for flatness before starting. In my own case, I watched during a succession of visits by a couple of engineers as they came out in a cold sweat, juggling one setting after another and getting not very far. I put up with the best they could manage for over a year before getting down to it myself. The cast iron top was twisted hence the tail-chasing exercise of previous months. After adjusting this out with the mounting bolts, it was a doddle to flatten the slider to this. How this had escaped Felder's technicians I don't know but it seems they expect these machines to arrive in a better state than they actually do and make a number of unhelpful assumptions.

You mention a sag around the spindle. Clearly, cutting a big hole in the top doesn't help and creates a weak spot between the saw and spindle. I don't know if you are aware but there is a bracket welded to the framework which extends underneath this weak spot and which holds a jacking screw which can be used to dial out most of the sag. Aplologies if you already know this, or if you have an older model which doesn't have this addition.

I use my universal daily and wouldn't like anyone considering one to be put off the idea because of unfavourable comments in this thread. They still make the best universals. All these machines need very careful setting up to get the best out of them and universals are no better or worse than separates in that sense. I would say, though, that being so complex, they really need much more time allocated for commissioning than is actually the case and I'm sure this would save a lot of time in the long run.

John

 

[jeffinfrance]

you've hit the nail on the head with the setup. my machine was twisted. made that clear in my message.

what i'm saying, is that.....if you have the space, or can make the space, go for separates.

it doesn't matter how good a combi it is.

if you havn't, make sure that your floor is absolutely flat and level or hope you never have to move it.

combination machines are a compromise.

6 months after delivery, i finally (i hope, havn't had a chance to work with it after the most recent adjustments) have a machine i am reasonably happy with. but i cant move it around until i have relaid a new floor surface.

combi machines are not the small workshop panacea i was led to believe.

i would have saved much time and money, with a more practical workshop thrown in if i had known this.

jeff

 

[moz]

combi machines are not the small workshop panacea i was led to believe.

This is an argument which runs and runs. They suit some people and not others. I've worked in a couple of workshops with every manner of separate machine and any efficiency advantage was compleletely absorbed (and then some) by the lack of space to move work around. That's the choice I made. I value my space now and never have to struggle with even the largest of pieces. Having to rearrange the room takes far longer than changing my universal from sawing to planing, etc. Assuming unlimited space, separates are better of course and the choice of manufacturer widens considerably.

Anyway, glad you got it sorted eventually and you may learn to love that machine when it's all behind you.

John

 

[custard]

John, do you move your Felder around?