mafell ad160

[engineer one]

i know i know it is my own fault. :roll:

having lauded this machine before,i haven't used it for a while. last time all i was doing was cleaning up some old pallet boards, and before that some floor boards. therefore the knives were well and truly *********.

techically these machines have blades which are reversable, and interchangeable. so having used the set i got with the machine, i now had to fit a new set.

nma were able to provide an old set of instructions for changing the blades, and re-setting the knives.

it is kind of easy :lol: :lol: BUT :twisted:

the cutter block is only a two blade unit, and the blade holders are fixed using 3 sets screws.

so a quick run through, and lots of finger biting. :?

remove the fence, which is a pressed steel item, held by two screws
then release the set screws and slide the blade holder out. clean up the blade bed with cmt router and saw cleaner, which gets rid of the scum and in my case pine resins.. mind you it is a little messy. then strip down the blade and holder. remove the screws clean them, also remove the allen screws and clean them. clean up the holder, again using resin remover,
not sure about oven cleaner but it might work. replace screws

replace the blade with a new one. fits on two small lumps, one end is slotted so make sure the blade is in the right direction.

slide the blade back into the cutter block, and then tighten the set screws
lightly so the blade holder is against the wall of the cutter. there are three set screws.

now the suggested way is to get a piece of flat planed wood, and then mark a couple of lines on the wood, in my case, i marked them 1mm apart.

the deal is place the wood so that the first line is on the edge of the outfeed table, just in line with the edge.then rotate the blade as it would be when the machine is working, so anti clockwise from the fence side. the blade should be high enough to move the piece of wood toward the infeed
table. the plan is to move it between the two marked lines. using the allen
key a 2.5 mm one and rotate clockwise to lift the blade, anti to lower it.

this is where i have been having some problems. the instructions say do one side at a time, then when you get it right, tighten up the set screws, on that side, at which point i have been getting some problems because the screws seem to lift the cutter block. so undo all the set screws, move the wood, and do the other side, then try to do all the set screws up again

check it again with the wood. b****y thing has moved again, undo the set screws try again. the biggest problem seems to be you really need three hands, one to keep the block down, one to tighten the set screw, and one not to nick the knife when it slides:lol:

anyway after about an hour i got it basically sorted, but seems that the blades are low in the centre. anyway, it planed the face smoother, after i had put the fence back on. however when i tried to do the edge, it was not so good, got a slight angled cut .
so i re-checked the blades and one was off ****, so i will need to find a new way to do it.

need the dial indicator i think :roll: :?

i know we have talked about the axminster jig, but i think it might be too big for my bed width. so maybe i need to make my own jig with rare earth magnets, and not use a bit of wood as my measure

i admit it is cheating but after all that hand work last week, i thought well i need the 160 back for at least some of the initial preparation, hence the blade change.

and i thought blade setting on a hand plane was hard :twisted:

having said all that though, the 160 is still a decent product, although not available here any more, nma are doing a cheaper one because of some elf and safety issues to do with the blade cover. ce signs are ok, but obviously not for some people

so the biggest other problem is chip collection not to bad on the thicknesser, but b awful with the planer.

final thought the fence is not very thick, but a reasonably solid metal pressing with decent strengthening ridges, it is held by two screws. and seems mainly square and upright, but i might try an additional fence to make it better and more substantial.

hope this helps someone else

paul :wink:

 

[engineer one]

up date. after posting last night i went back, sort of fresh, and did it again.
reset the blades that is. finally got a nice shallow set up.

went at it this morning between moto gp races. nice smooth finish for the face, but still a problem with the edge. checking the fence it seemed alright, but i attached a secondary fence made from a lump of mdf which i had cut square on the table saw. that settled the problem =D>

had had visions of another hour or so mucking about :roll:

so my earlier comments about the fence are not necessarily backed up, i must settle another way to go about it. :twisted:

like so many of these machines, i am not sure that only two screws at the bottom are the most effective way of fixing a right angle fence to a planer, or indeed any machine.
although it will reduce the width i can plane from 160 down to about 140, i will feel happier to have a secondary fence for the edge planing. but then the number of times i am going to deal with a 160x160 are going to be few and far between.

anyway success again :lol:

i would guess that if the mafell has problems with its fence at the price it was, then the cheaper machine must be even less accurate, not that i know for sure. so if you buy one, check the stability and vertical of the fence. :?

paul :wink:

 

[Vinn]

check it again with the wood. b****y thing has moved again, undo the set screws try again.

I have the earlier (first?) version of this P/T called a Luna Woody and I highly rate it. I think it does have a design fault with the blade adjustment because the screws want to settle in the pits that they previously made, so if you want to adjust the blade very slightly from where it was before, you will find it difficult (as you noticed).

Another slight problem is the fact that this machine really needs to be clamped down on something while in use as it tends to over balance when pushing wood through.

Contrary to your experience I find the chip collection in planer mode is superb. I don't know if it still comes with the same set up, but on mine you have to wind the thicknessing table up to 'trap' the extractor hose adapter under the outfeed table.

Vinn

 

[engineer one]

thanks for that vinn, had not thought that was the way to go.

actually seems that H&S have gotten their fingers in the pie since
nma no longer import it, due to the difficulties with the blade cover etc.

still like the finish prior to hand planing.

you are right it can topple over, i guess that's due to the long table over the narrow thicknessing base.

paul :wink:

 

[engineer one]

vinn, after your advice about extraction, today was the first time i had had a chance to use the 160.

i had a lump of white maple, not sure what but not suitable for too much, so i have decided to use it as the front and rear parts of a x cut sled for my dewalt 744. having had long discussions with scrit i know this is frowned upon by certain people, especially since i have a dw 708 scms, and can x cut 305, but occassionally i need to cut wider, mainly boards but no wider than 620, so that is what i am making as well.

anyway the maple was about 165x140x 1600.
so is abused the 744, and resawed the width to about 17 mm by raising the blade as much as possible and cutting through both sides. previously i had cut a piece about 40 wide and i also re sized this.

so these were the bits i put through the 160. i had not realised how tough a wood maple is, nor how much the grain changes .

eventually i got a decent top bottom and one edge on all four pieces.
will cut to width again on the 744, then finally hand plane.

aiming to make the sled of 10mm faced mdf base and am wondering what to use for the mitre slides. scrit has suggested tufnol or similar, but i will try the maple because i do not think i will use it often enough to worry about wear.

anyway trapping the extractor piece under the thicknesser table was the proverbial dog's and worked very well. however the over the top extraction for thicknessing is more of a problem and eventually you do need to stop and vacuum off the rise and fall screws. still sorted.

then i did a bit of cherry for the end stop on my newly made shooting board, they seem to be the latest fad :lol: and that was really a strange thing to machine plane. so really strange break out depending on how i fed it in. :?

still overall better than before vinn so thanks.

paul :wink:

 

[Vinn]

i had not realised how tough a wood maple is, nor how much the grain changes .

Yes, I've used Rock Maple and Sycamore (very similar) before and they are very hard, very close-grained (which is why they are used for flooring).

however the over the top extraction for thicknessing is more of a problem and eventually you do need to stop and vacuum off the rise and fall screws.

Agreed. I haven't found a way round that one yet.

and that was really a strange thing to machine plane. so really strange break out depending on how i fed it in. :?

Probably teaching granny to suck eggs but grain direction in machine planing is just as important (although rarely mentioned in my experience) as in hand-planing. Otherwise tear-out will occur.

still overall better than before vinn so thanks.

You're welcome.

Vinn

 

[engineer one]

vinn, another thought, how do you find the fence, is it pressed metal, and if so how square is it??

mine is not as square as i would like, and not yet sure what to do, hate putting washers in :? at the moment i use a piece of mdf clamped on, but it is a pita, so how does yours work?

paul :wink:

 

[Vinn]

My fence isn't bang-on square either. It is pressed metal and I wouldn't have thought it was designed to be used without something screwed onto it. I have used a piece of MDF in the past (sealed and waxed - 'cos bare MDF isn't that slippery), but to tell you the truth I don't tend to rely on the P/S for squaring stock much.

I do actually have the adjustable fence for this machine somewhere - I requested it as a chrissy prezzie years ago (early 90's), but I'm not sure that I've ever used it. It's designed to be used for chamfers/mitred edges, etc, but being adjustable, allows you to set up a good 90 degrees as well.


Vinn