Kity K5 help and Advice

[tmitch45]

HI All,

I have been lucky enough to be given what I think is a Kity K5? On the stand it says Bestcombi. Its in working but rough condition and I'm in the process of stripping it down to renovate and rebuild. I must admit I'd never heard of the Kity brand before this but in a discussion on a FB page tells me its a pretty good machine and around 20+ years old? Now unfortunately my parents neighbour who gave me the machine is in poor health so wasn't able to tell me much about the machine at all. I've searched on 'google' and I understand it either came with or had the option of a mortiser and a spindle moulder? both of these are missing on mine and I have no instructions. There are a couple of things I'm intrigued about and would love your help with as I want to do right by the guy who gave this to me and fully restore and modify it to better than its former glory.

1. There are scratches on the table saw table and some pain spills etc. I want to carefully machine polish this but it looks like there is a protective darker grey coating on it. its this correct and would it matter if I polished this off as I intend to wax it?

2. The fence for the table saw is damaged and not accurate can people recommend an upgrade one?

3. The table saw blade isn't in line with the 'T' tracks, is there a way to adjust this into alignment?

4. The surface plainer works well but when putting wood through the thicknesser there are lines across the wood which I think is from the ribbed infeed roller? Is this a known issue and how can it be improved or eliminated?

5. There is a large pully wheel with 3 large holes and 3 smaller holes (see photo) which is part of the drive mechanism for the thicknesser rollers. There is a huge amount of lateral play in this is that normal and how can this be improved as its reducing the tension on the small drive belt.

Many thanks for any help and advice you can give me in my quest to restore this. I also plan to build a modified cart so its more mobile and fits in my workshop particularly as the spindle moulder is missing so there is a huge space. I'll keep all the old parts so at any time I can return it to stock.

 

[clogs]

a nice gift, but quite a bit of work.....they make pretty good machines for the upgraded DIY enthusiast.....
u need to ask ur neighbour if he has any odd bits in the shed or even a manual.....

Seems to me that u need some hands on help with this.....it's dif if ur not mechaniacaly minded....
if u have a men in sheds club near u join and ask for help....
I'm sure help will be offered....

1, dont worry to much about the table just yet...
2, cant help with that but how is it damaged....?
3, there will be adjustment for that.....the bolts are prob loose'ish and it's moved over time...either the motor mounts or just the table itself....
4, the lines in the wood when planning will most certainly be nicked blades....cheap and easy to replace....
the ribbed infeed roller will not normally make these marks although if adjusted wong they can bruise the wood....but not norm on that grade of machine....
5, I dont know the machine but it could be down to a badly fitted pulley or the bushes are worn...would not think they would use a proper roller bearing in that position....
it would cost to much but hey ho....
more photo's would help........

 

[tmitch45]

a nice gift, but quite a bit of work.....they make pretty good machines for the upgraded DIY enthusiast.....
u need to ask ur neighbour if he has any odd bits in the shed or even a manual.....

Seems to me that u need some hands on help with this.....it's dif if ur not mechaniacaly minded....
if u have a men in sheds club near u join and ask for help....
I'm sure help will be offered....

1, dont worry to much about the table just yet...
2, cant help with that but how is it damaged....?
3, there will be adjustment for that.....the bolts are prob loose'ish and it's moved over time...either the motor mounts or just the table itself....
4, the lines in the wood when planning will most certainly be nicked blades....cheap and easy to replace....
the ribbed infeed roller will not normally make these marks although if adjusted wong they can bruise the wood....but not norm on that grade of machine....
5, I dont know the machine but it could be down to a badly fitted pulley or the bushes are worn...would not think they would use a proper roller bearing in that position....
it would cost to much but hey ho....
more photo's would help........

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately my parents neighbour has become unwell and is not doing well cognitively so cannot remember much about it. Luckily I love projects like this and do a fair bit of this sort of thing so it will be a labour of love for me. I have already stripped it down ready. The fence is just a bad design so I was looking at the Axminster upgraded fence. I watched a youtube video about a Kity thicknesser (basically a bigger version of mine) and he had the same marks as mine and said it was the infeed roller so made himself a new one but his dad is an engineer. I'll link the video below if I can find it.

 

[Lons]

Hi
Nice gift and you should be able to get it working reasonably well though parts excepting belts, blades etc are like hens teeth to get hold of.
That model Bestcombi was introduced in the late eighties so will be somewhere between and years old rather than but that is of no consequence. I have an original sales leaflet but not the manual however I do have a manual for the K5 Mk2 which immediately preceded it and it's almost identical apart from a change of spindle moulder shaft from to mm.
I'll send you a pm with my email address which you can reply to if you would like the files in pdf format.

Bob

BTW I wouldn't sand off the grey finish on the tables,, they are alloy and it's a hard protective surface, if they are deep scratches then better imo to fill them, it is after all a tool to be used not an ornament.