scholar
Established Member
I am hoping that someone may be able to help and/or advise on modifying some spindle ends of some planer feed rollers I have to replace my existing ones.
I have an Inca planer/thicknesser (Inca 190) that is a nice machine, but the feed function on mine has never been satisfactory since I have had it (bought used). I have been advised by the Swiss parts supplier that the infeed roller is worn - I tried ordering a replacement but, long story short, it never arrived. I have written about the problem ages ago, but have finally got round to doing something.
A new standard infeed roller may have been a big improvement, but the other weakness is that the outfeed roller is just smooth steel - I am used to Scheppach planers that have always had rubber-coated rollers and so ideally I decided I would like to replace the Inca steel outfeed roller with a rubber coated one [it may be that the best solution would be to replace both rollers with rubber-coated ones as per the Scheppach set-up, but that is not the issue here].
I learnt that there are various clones of the original Inca planer design and figured there was a good chance that one of them may have compatible spares that would be more available. The alternative model I settled on researching was the Metabo HC260 and I did what I could to examine parts diagrams of both machines before taking a punt on ordering replacement infeed and outfeed rollers. One advantage was that the Metabo outfeed roller is rubber-coated. I could see there were some detail differences, but gambled that the key bits would be compatible - after a couple of months waiting for Metabo deliveries (through the excellent MTMC), I now have the replacement rollers and they are just about compatible. Below I have tried to illustrate the modifications that I think will get the spindle ends so they will fit the Inca.
Here are the four rollers side by side:
As annotated, the bearing areas that fit into bushings (bronze, I guess) are all 12mm and the new rollers fit these fine.
In all but two areas, the new rollers will need to be taken down to match the existing - I have roughly marked these in red on the shiny new infeed roller.
On the end with a hole (for the drive sprocket pin) things are a little more complicated as shown in the picture below:
To match the existing, the new rollers will need to be machined down on the D.12mm area as marked - this may be straightforward, I hope; but also the D.10mm area will need to be expanded to 11.5mm - could this be done by sleeving with some ID 10mm x 0.75mm wall tubing? - and then a new hole drilled for the sprocket drive pin.
Finally, the new rollers are slightly shorter and may not have enough length to retain the Starlock washer that retains the sprocket - perhaps an alternative would be to thread a hole in the end to take a retaining bolt (there is a short hole in the end of the new roller perpendicular to the hole you can see.
A detail, possibly, is that the existing rollers have a recess between the shoulder and the bearing area - there is a brass/bronze washer that is fitted at this point, but I don't know if the machined recess is important.
I dont have any machining facilities (or capability) and wonder if anyone would be able to help (for fair reward, of course). A more knowledgeable engineer may well have different solutions - what I know about machining is what I have seen on YouTube
Cheers
I have an Inca planer/thicknesser (Inca 190) that is a nice machine, but the feed function on mine has never been satisfactory since I have had it (bought used). I have been advised by the Swiss parts supplier that the infeed roller is worn - I tried ordering a replacement but, long story short, it never arrived. I have written about the problem ages ago, but have finally got round to doing something.
A new standard infeed roller may have been a big improvement, but the other weakness is that the outfeed roller is just smooth steel - I am used to Scheppach planers that have always had rubber-coated rollers and so ideally I decided I would like to replace the Inca steel outfeed roller with a rubber coated one [it may be that the best solution would be to replace both rollers with rubber-coated ones as per the Scheppach set-up, but that is not the issue here].
I learnt that there are various clones of the original Inca planer design and figured there was a good chance that one of them may have compatible spares that would be more available. The alternative model I settled on researching was the Metabo HC260 and I did what I could to examine parts diagrams of both machines before taking a punt on ordering replacement infeed and outfeed rollers. One advantage was that the Metabo outfeed roller is rubber-coated. I could see there were some detail differences, but gambled that the key bits would be compatible - after a couple of months waiting for Metabo deliveries (through the excellent MTMC), I now have the replacement rollers and they are just about compatible. Below I have tried to illustrate the modifications that I think will get the spindle ends so they will fit the Inca.
Here are the four rollers side by side:
As annotated, the bearing areas that fit into bushings (bronze, I guess) are all 12mm and the new rollers fit these fine.
In all but two areas, the new rollers will need to be taken down to match the existing - I have roughly marked these in red on the shiny new infeed roller.
On the end with a hole (for the drive sprocket pin) things are a little more complicated as shown in the picture below:
To match the existing, the new rollers will need to be machined down on the D.12mm area as marked - this may be straightforward, I hope; but also the D.10mm area will need to be expanded to 11.5mm - could this be done by sleeving with some ID 10mm x 0.75mm wall tubing? - and then a new hole drilled for the sprocket drive pin.
Finally, the new rollers are slightly shorter and may not have enough length to retain the Starlock washer that retains the sprocket - perhaps an alternative would be to thread a hole in the end to take a retaining bolt (there is a short hole in the end of the new roller perpendicular to the hole you can see.
A detail, possibly, is that the existing rollers have a recess between the shoulder and the bearing area - there is a brass/bronze washer that is fitted at this point, but I don't know if the machined recess is important.
I dont have any machining facilities (or capability) and wonder if anyone would be able to help (for fair reward, of course). A more knowledgeable engineer may well have different solutions - what I know about machining is what I have seen on YouTube
Cheers
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