Kity 636 Frustration

[Smith1987]

Hi all,

I am new to woodworking and even newer to forums as this is the first one I've joined and the first post on here. Over the last year I have been acquiring tools and got a circular saw, corded and cordless drills, belt and random orbital sanders and a mitre saw. As well as some chisels and hand tools. It didn't take long for me to realise that prepping rough timber with hand tools is a skill in itself. And I would much rather use that time making things. That's when I saw a kity combination machine for sale on ebay. It has a table saw, spindle moulder, morticer, and 636 planer thicknesser all on one table. I had been interested in a combination machine for a while because of the limited space I have. And £560 seemed like a good price for all those features. It came with manuals but they are very limited in terms of setting up the planer thicknesser. I would like to strip it down and replace bearings etc but my main concern is that when putting It all back together I won't know where to start. I suppose what I'm asking is if you where assembling the machine from scratch which components would you check the tolerances of first. Sorry about posting a novel but I have been in the garage for ages with it and it's still a mystery to me.

If anyone could shed some light on this I would be very grateful

Thanks

 

[Trevanion]

My Kity 623 spindle moulder has to be the most convoluted thing I've ever taken apart, everything was so crammed into a compact package with only barely enough access to get at the bits to take it apart. It was a real challenge and I like to think I'm a little bit handy with that kind of thing.

From a completely disassembled state, the usual order of work with a PT is to ensure the cutterblock is parallel with the thicknessing table (This isn't absolutely critical to the use as the knives can be adjusted to be parallel with the bed but having the cutterblock parallel is half the battle), set knives in the machine with a 1-2mm projection, set the infeed roller around 2mm lower than the apex of the cut, set the outfeed roller 1mm lower than the apex of the cut, put outfeed surfacing table on the machine and set it in the right place using the timber stick method of setting knives where the stick should be dragged along the bed by 4mm or so when the cutter block is rotated, put infeed bed on and ensure both beds are co-planar with each other.

Marius Hornberger tore his machine apart to put in a fancy helical head, perhaps something can be gleaned from that for your own adventure:

 

[powertools]

I have a similar Kity machine that I have had for almost 40 years. I have never had to strip it down to replace any vital parts and I would suggest that you just get on and use it to see if there are any problems before you strip it down just for the sake of it.

 

[Daniel2]

I have a similar Kity machine that I have had for almost 40 years. I have never had to strip it down to replace any vital parts and I would suggest that you just get on and use it to see if there are any problems before you strip it down just for the sake of it.

Good advice, and I would second it.
I have a Kity 639 planer/thicknesser. Ok, it's a stand alone machine, but I
have had it now for nearly twenty years. It's a workhorse for me, and I
shudder to think how many board feet have passed through it. In all that
time I have only replaced blades. Not even a belt !
I'm not at all obsessive about it's maintenance, but I don't abuse it either.
Just use it, and address any issues if and when they come up.
ATB,
Daniel

 

[heronviewer]

I agree with Powertools. Carry out the recommended lubrication and see how it goes. I've never done anything else.

 

[Smith1987]

Thanks for the replies. Ive not really had time to check in. I should have explained what's wrong with the machine. First thing I noticed was that the infeed and outfeed tables where both not level to each other(perhaps done during transit). When I performed a drag test the smallest amount of drag on a knife from the outfeed table was 7mm and higher on the other edges. The Outfeed table sits above the cutter block by a few millimetres . When a 9" board is passed through the thicknesser there's a 0.7mm difference from one side to the other. The knives sound like they're hammering the wood instead of gliding through and the thicknesser table doesn't operate smoothly through its range of motion. The fence wasn't square but I have now corrected it. I work much better when aided by manuals listing steps to follow and measurements. I have a new set of knives and what with the amount of things not right with the machine was thinking of taking it apart, cleaning everything, changing bearings, lubricating moving parts and reassembling. But right now I'd be more than happy to just get the machine working accurately. I've read good things about the 636 online and once its set up accurately I think I'll get decent results with it.

So in summary there are a still a couple of things that I'm trying to figure out.

1) When ensuring the cutter block is parallel to the thicknessing table should I be adjusting the cutter block position referencing off the thicknesser table or adjusting the thicknesser table to be level with the block?
2) If I am setting the thicknesser table referencing from the cutter block how do I know the cutter block is level. And If levelling the cutter block referencing from the thicknesser table how do I know the thicknesser table is level?Does it matter? Or is there somewhere else I'm supposed to measure/reference from?
3) Is there an exact distance the outfeed table surface should sit above the cutter block?
4) Can the thicknesser infeed/outfeed roller height be set independently via the spring and bolt assembly under the table?
5) Once the cutter block and thicknesser table are parallel and the knives are set evenly protruding from the block, should I then keep altering the position of the outfeed table until the 4mm drag test is successful? Or do I place the outfeed table anywhere, then begin altering the knives in small increments until the drag test is successful?

My first idea was to loosen the cutter block assembly and get an object I know to be level/even thickness and place it on the thicknesser table directly beneath the cutter block and raise the table until the whole width of the cutterblock is evenly supported and level with the thicknesser table then tighten it up. Then set the infeed/outfeed rollers height. But I don't really want to start loosening things that I shouldn't.

I am determined to figure this out! I have feeler gauges, a vernier caliper and an engineers square. Do I need a dial gauge?

If you've read this far thanks, any input/advice would be appreciated. As you can probably tell I've never owned a PT before.

Cheers

 

[Smith1987]

Quick update: I have removed the infeed and outfeed table. I made the cutter block and thicknesser table parallel by raising the cutter block slightly on one side. I then put new knives in the cutter block. So in theory if the knives are protruding an even amount from either side I should get perfectly accurate thickness across a 10" board in thicknesser mode? I set the knives so that the point where the knife bevels is just touching the cutter block. It's the only thing I can think of to reference from. I then ran a board through and it came out 0.25mm thicker on one side over the 10" blade width. Once I get it thicknessing accurately I'm thinking of leaving the blades alone and adjusting the outfeed table until it's 1mm above the cutter block on both sides. Then make infeed table coplaner and it's sorted.
Couple of of questions though. How accurate is acceptable for a thicknesser. Should I buy one of those knife setting jig things? Any advice would be appreciated I'm just starting to make progress!