Jet Thicknesser - Timber Sticking on Exit

[yfs1]

I got my new Jet Thicknesser (http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Jet- ... 365273.htm) last week and with some good weather was able to start using it today.

I squared up the timber on my joiner and fed it through the thicknesser. I took a lot less off then the maximum allowed (I think maybe a 64th)

The only problem is the timber gets caught on the cast housing on the way out. In other words, it gets past the two rollers and planing blades but to get it out I sometimes have to rock the timber back and forth.

My gut feeling is the steel housing (Its cast as all one piece) is just slightly out of tolerance. It seems to be the norm with tools coming from Asia. That being said:

1.) Has anyone else had this happen?
2.) I really don't want to send it back to Axminster so can I just increase the clearance on the cast iron housing with an angle grinder? I imagine a fraciton of a millimeter is all that is needed.

Cheers

 

[Digit]

This may sound daft, but try a deeper cut. I've had the same prob on my DeWalt.

Roy.

 

[WellsWood]

Sounds to me like the knives may be incorrectly set. Don't know this machine, but if it comes with a gauge for knife setting I would check that they're correct. I certainly hope you didn't just take it out of the box and start using it -NEVER trust the factory to get stuff like this right.

 

[andycktm]

I've a ten inch c.i.planer/thicknesser,not used much.But lately
the wood wouldn't go through the thicknesser :? .I cleaned the belt/roller drive contact up
reset the knifes everything i could think of extractor e.t.c. ,non of it made a difference,
Then i remembered a thread on here about waxing the tables/bed,so i waxed it.
Now it feeds perfectly,and i can still not get my head around it!!!!! :?
The difference it has made is well............. :lol:

 

[orangetlh]

sounds like the timber is sticking to the table, try a bit of wax or PTFE and it should slide through no problem

 

[DaveL]

Then i remembered a thread on here about waxing the tables/bed,so i waxed it.
Now it feeds perfectly,and i can still not get my head around it!!!!! :?
The difference it has made is well............. :lol:

That could of been one of mine. :roll: The friction of a board on the bed of the thicknesser has to be seen to be believed, waxing with Liberon lubricating wax makes my thicknesser into a different machine. 8)

 

[jonny boy]

Hi, your problem is definitly the knives not being set correctly. They need to be set a little higher (protruding out of the cutter block a little more), this will give you that little bit more clearance between the timber and the thicknesser housing on the outfeed side.
cheers,
jonathan.

 

[Slim]

The jet has a knife setting tool, so they can only be set in one position. It is very easy to check that they are set correctly. Just take off the dust hood, undo the bolts (5 or 6 per knife) and use the magnatised setting tool to bring them up to the correct height. If I remeber correctly, I had to set mine when I got it.

 

[yfs1]

The jet has a knife setting tool, so they can only be set in one position. It is very easy to check that they are set correctly. Just take off the dust hood, undo the bolts (5 or 6 per knife) and use the magnatised setting tool to bring them up to the correct height. If I remeber correctly, I had to set mine when I got it.

I did actually take the cover off the see if the blades shipped in (Was wondering if the blades included were extra or not).

The directions explain everything in my opinion effectively except actually using the height tool (the pictures are a bit hard to see). Any links to a picture of how the tool should be lined up against the knives?

I will try checking those first and waxing the feed tables before doing anything more drastic like grinding the bottom of the housing.

I certainly hope you didn't just take it out of the box and start using it -NEVER trust the factory to get stuff like this right.

Im just starting to realize that

 

[yfs1]

Found a tutorial and although the blades both seemed to be spot on, I redid them to make sure.

Board still gets semi stuck on exit so will give the wax a try

Thanks!

 

[andycktm]

Looks like this one's our's Dave, :lol:

 

[yfs1]

Looks like this one's our's Dave, :lol:

Now Im hoping so...Picked up some PTFE this morning and will give it a try tonight. Will post back either way

Fingers crossed

 

[jonny boy]

Had any luck yet?
If the timber IS catching on the housing, I can't see how waxing the tables will achive anything however, if it's not and just sticking on the table, then a little wax will certainly sort it out for you.

jon.

 

[yfs1]

Had any luck yet?
If the timber IS catching on the housing, I can't see how waxing the tables will achive anything however, if it's not and just sticking on the table, then a little wax will certainly sort it out for you.

jon.

It helped slightly (Boards only catch the housing half the time and not too severe when they do)

I think taking the Dremel grinding stone to it might buy me a fraction of a mm and sort it out.

The Teflon spray wasn't a waste though - Its amazing how the boards slide when thats been sprayed (with the exception of the very end catching)

 

[yfs1]

One more option I came up with:

What about adjusting the knive blades a bit more to compensate? What I was thinking is to take a playing card and cut it up. I could then take a piece and put under each leg of the calibration tool. This would then give me a fraction of a mm more on how much the blades stick out.

When I loosened the screws before and the springs kicked in, the blades came out quite a distance so I know there is plenty of room for adjustment.

Is the thickness of one or two playing cards most likely still in tolerance?

Anyone think of any potential problems with solving this issue this way (obviously I would calibrate both cutting blades the same)?

Cheers

 

[Sgian Dubh]

One more option I came up with:

What about adjusting the knive blades a bit more to compensate? What I was thinking is to take a playing card and cut it up. Cheers

No-one has yet suggested you look at the most common causes of wood sticking as it exits a thicknesser. This is due to incorrect setting of the (outfeed) pressure bar. It's sometimes set too low in error, that is, set below the tangent line at the lowest point of the circumference of the circle described by the rotating knives.

If this is the case the end of the thicknessed board butts up against the leading edge of the pressure bar. The obvious end result is that the wood won't pass through easily, or not at all if the pressure bar is set significantly too low. The pressure bar should be set to exactly match the tangent line I described earlier, or just the tiniest whisper higher than that line.

I'm not familar with that little Jet machine, and I know that many of those extreme light duty thicknessers often omit the full complement of parts found on the smaller light industrial machines as illustrated in the attached drawing from Alf Martensson.

However, I think you should have a look to see if your machine has the pressure bar and outfeed roller illustrated here, and then see if there is a means to adjust the pressure bar. If there is, make sure it's set at the correct height, and adjust it if necessary.

In 99% of cases I've dealt with this properly fixes the problem, and the quick (non) fixes such as waxing the bed, and incorrectly setting the knives become superfluous. Slainte.

 

[WellsWood]

Is the thickness of one or two playing cards most likely still in tolerance?

Anyone think of any potential problems with solving this issue this way (obviously I would calibrate both cutting blades the same)?

Cheers

Personally I would let the seller/manufacturer sort it out if it's a new machine. If that really isn't practical then I don't see anything wrong with the plan, after all what you are doing is simulating where the knives would be after a couple of regrinds.

One other thing has occurred to me which you may not have checked. Is the table level to the cutter block? if you only have the sticky problem on one side of the table it may be that it is not. Use a block (wood will do but steel is better) and feeler gauges to check that the table is exactly the same distance from the cutter block acress it's width. Use shimstock between table and the support post to correct if necessary. It may also be the table tilts up slightly towards the outfeed end - I would think this would stand a very good chance of producing your exact problem too.

 

[WellsWood]

One other possibility prompted by Slainte's post, if there is any flex in the table or it's mountings the infeed roller pressure may be enough to tip the table up slightly. This is especially true if the outfeed roller pressure is less than the infeed, in other words the roller is too high. Check the bolts which attach the table to the post.

And finally, and quite possibly the cause of the problem, all this assumes you are thicknessing timber which has already been surfaced on the other side. If your workpiece is relatively short, and convex on the side facing the table, it will have the effect of making it travel in an arc with the leading edge rising up as it exits.

 

[yfs1]

And finally, and quite possibly the cause of the problem, all this assumes you are thicknessing timber which has already been surfaced on the other side. If your workpiece is relatively short, and convex on the side facing the table, it will have the effect of making it travel in an arc with the leading edge rising up as it exits.

Thanks all. I am going to go on a troubleshooting tour and check all the suggested ideas.

As far as the other side, I do surface the concave side on the joiner and then run it through the thicknesser with that at the bottom (so the convex --higher in the middle-- is hitting the blades)

 

[Nick.]

Hi yfs1 - apologies for not replying to this thread earlier

All of the obvious solutions I would have suggested have already been mentioned.

It may well just be a 'one off' where something has gone wrong in production and things aren't where they should be on the machine - we have an extremely low level of warranty issues on Jet, but it can sometimes happen.

If you have tried all the suggestions mentioned and still have problems, pm me and I will make sure you get a thicknesser that works one way or the other.

Best regards
Nick