Kity 439 Planer/thicknesser Jammed

[johnbb99]

My old but trusty little P/T has jammed on a short piece of rough timber. I believe the cutter was still spinning until I switched off. [I did try switching on again - for a second - but the motor is now stalled.]
I tried [both before and after turning off] to lower the bed ie open the amount of thickness, to free the timber, but it is really stiff, such that i cannot now turn the control handle. [It did move a little at first.]
The manual doesn't help at all. Any ideas on how to free the timber and reset the machine? Which bits to take off or undo?
Until this the bed moved freely up and down [it's a crank handle above the planing bed, driving a chain to screw drives at each corner of the lower bed.
I'm not really familiar with the guts of the machine, but can manage most mechanical adjustments when given instructions!
Any help gratefully received.
John

 

[clogs]

How far did the wood get thru.....? a very short way, it's poss to knock it back...
on this occaision I would split the timber and remove the pieces....even drilling thru the wood to allow it to soften it up......
often the machine will be so jammed that unless the design of it will allow it to be taken apart from the outside......the above would be the only way.......
dont force anything.......big spanners and levers could do a lot of damage to the machines guts....
the wood is cheap by comparisson....

 

[johnbb99]

How far did the wood get thru.....? a very short way, it's poss to knock it back...
on this occaision I would split the timber and remove the pieces....even drilling thru the wood to allow it to soften it up......
often the machine will be so jammed that unless the design of it will allow it to be taken apart from the outside......the above would be the only way.......
dont force anything.......big spanners and levers could do a lot of damage to the machines guts....
the wood is cheap by comparisson....

It was part way through, so not sure about knocking it back. Aren't there anti-throw-back devices, anyway, to stop that?
It was set to 15mm so not a lot of room for getting tools in there, either.

 

[baldkev]

I'm presuming here, but is it a combined planer and thicknesser? How do the tables work? I.e some fold up and some dont. If your fold up, get in there with a chisel as tight to the cutter block as you can and take a bit off the thickness, then work backwards under the front roller so it's not caught there. Same with the rear roller, then try the table height adjuster again. Easier if you can get a multitool in there but i have no idea what access you have..... maybe a picture might help. If all else fails you could burn the bit of wood out

 

[Fergie 307]

Not familiar with this particular model, but on most of their machines the cutter spindle is mounted on bearing plates at either end. These are held by bolts to the sides. If you can remove the bolts you should be able to lift the cutter away. You will have to set it up again afterwards but at least you won't damage the machine.

 

[johnbb99]

Not familiar with this particular model, but on most of their machines the cutter spindle is mounted on bearing plates at either end. These are held by bolts to the sides. If you can remove the bolts you should be able to lift the cutter away. You will have to set it up again afterwards but at least you won't damage the machine.

Yes, I'd just begun to think along those lines, but have no idea what is involved - if anything - in realigning it after. I'll take another look at the book. But if i'm just disassembling and reassembling, is there any set up to do?

 

[Yojevol]

Yes, I'd just begun to think along those lines, but have no idea what is involved - if anything - in realigning it after. I'll take another look at the book. But if i'm just disassembling and reassembling, is there any set up to do?

Take the plunge and start dismantling. Take some photos on the way, they may be useful later on, especially if you need to consult the forum again. Taking this approach you may get a better idea of why the problem occurred and any apparent damage. As for resetting, cross that bridge when you get to it.
Brian

 

[Fergie 307]

Yes, I'd just begun to think along those lines, but have no idea what is involved - if anything - in realigning it after. I'll take another look at the book. But if i'm just disassembling and reassembling, is there any set up to do?

You just need to make sure when you put it back together that the drum is parallel to the bed and tables. It should go back fairly close, then just nip up the bolts and use a rubber mallet or a piece of soft wood to tap it as appropriate to make any fine up and down adjustment before tightening up fully.

 

[Fergie 307]

As Yojevol says you want to try and work out why it jammed in the first place. My thoughts would be blunt blades, too big a cut, misalignment of something, or some irregular feature in the wood itself.

 

[johnbb99]

Thanks All for your help and encouragement. (I have a dread of not putting it back together as it should be.)
The timber is very unusual (in my experience). It came from a pallet, and is noticeably heavy, very knotted, partly discoloured [spalted?] and has bent since being cut for the pallet.
The Thicknesser may have encountered a bit that was suddenly thicker and denser than before, I suppose.
Hopefully I will post some photos of the machine later.

 

[Fergie 307]

The other thing you could try if the piece is quite narrow is to turn the machine in reverse by pulling on the belt, with it unplugged of course. Someone pulling on the bit of wood while you try and rotate the machinery in reverse may free it, worth a try before you take it apart.

 

[johnbb99]

Here are some photos at last.
In the last one showing the stuck piece of timber, don't worry about the separate little bit of wood to the right, it's not part of the problem.
And remember this is a typical phone camera with a wide angle lens, so massive perspective distortion. Note the 4 or 5 metal pieces to the right of the wood, they are [I believe] some of the pawls [is that the right term?] that prevent the timber being thrown out backwards.
I've dug out the exploded diagram from the KITY manual, so when I get the time, I;ll start taking it apart.
[The pdf is the same as the jpegs]

 

[Doug71]

That is a gnarly piece of wood you were feeding through.

For me taking it apart would be an absolute last resort, I would be trying everything to avoid that.

 

[MARK.B.]

Removing the cutter head should be fairly straightforward and easy to do , take some photo's before starting and use witness marks so you can put things back in exactly the way they came out

 

[Alasdair]

How easy is it to remove the top plates. It might be easier get to the piece of wood. They look as though they are bolted down with those allen bolts. Even if they were loosened without complete removal it might give you a bit of extra play to remove the wood. Also meant to mention to mark everything up with something like tipex so you can put it back exactly the same way. If there are any adjustment bolts count the number of turns etc and keep a note.

 

[Alasdair]

I had the same problem with my old elu. It jammed between the rollers and base and put so much tension on the height adjustment it made it impossible to turn the plastiuc handle.

 

[Distinterior]

That is a gnarly piece of wood you were feeding through.

As Doug said, that's a gnarly bit of wood!.....How much were you taking off at the time of it jamming?

 

[Fergie 307]

How easy is it to remove the top plates. It might be easier get to the piece of wood. They look as though they are bolted down with those allen bolts. Even if they were loosened without complete removal it might give you a bit of extra play to remove the wood. Also meant to mention to mark everything up with something like tipex so you can put it back exactly the same way. If there are any adjustment bolts count the number of turns etc and keep a note.

I would add my vote for tipex, great for this sort of thing, and easily removed with alcohol afterwards.