Planer thicknesser problem

[Rob Cheetham]

Hey. I have recently done my first ever panel glue up. It was just two pieces to practice. Overall I was happy with it. The top was flat and couldn't at all see or feel the seam at all. Though it has gone out a bit now. Dont think the wood was fully dry. The bottom though was not flat. One of the boards was not of uniform thickness to the other. From one end the seam is flush. Then further down it goes off by about no more than 1mm short.

I planed the first faces and first edges on the planer then did the other faces on the thicknesser. My problem is that when I planed the faces they were perfectly flat. I then did the other faces in batch on the thicknesser one after the other to make sure they were the same. But obviously one hasn't been cut properly and goes short further down one side of the board.

If the sitting face is flat and has been produced on the planer above then shouldn't the thicknesser produce a flat face on the other. What could be wrong. Could I be taking too much of. I don't know. Little advice would be great.

The machine I have is the axminster awept106

Thank you.

 

[peter-harrison]

Hi Rob, if I understand you right, one of the boards gets thinner about half way down? I have had this happen when the workpiece has got twisted while going through the thicknesser, and ridden up over one of the side channels of the thicknesser bed. As it is pulled through, it gets pretty messed up.
Another possibility is that you put that piece through upside down?
Pete

 

[Zeddedhed]

Some years ago I too had that very machine and found that the thicknessing table had a slight tendency to rock, which would cause the problem you've described I believe.

It may be worth having a look to see if yours suffers from this problem.

 

[Rob Cheetham]

Hi Rob, if I understand you right, one of the boards gets thinner about half way down? I have had this happen when the workpiece has got twisted while going through the thicknesser, and ridden up over one of the side channels of the thicknesser bed. As it is pulled through, it gets pretty messed up.
Another possibility is that you put that piece through upside down?
Pete

Thanks for the reply. I will admit that sometimes the piece goes in at a funny angle but lately I have held it in place untill the rollers have a firm grip and it goes in straight. I didn't put it in upside down either as I marked the faces I did on the planer and the marks are still there so. It seems to be fine at one end but then further down it gets thinner but only on one side. Hope that makes sense lol. I got pics but not sure how to put them on this post. Thanks again.

 

[Rob Cheetham]

Some years ago I too had that very machine and found that the thicknessing table had a slight tendency to rock, which would cause the problem you've described I believe.

It may be worth having a look to see if yours suffers from this problem.

Thanks for the reply. I did think mayby what if the bed wasn't flat or if it rocks but I have had it produce good results before. I'm sure the knives are set correct or I wouldn't have had a flat first face and square first edge with the planer at first.

Did you manadge to fix yours or counteract it. What should I look at exactly.

I'm thinking about splashing out on a better one as im not greatly impreseed with this one. Sometimes its good but then its not. I have seen them spiral blade blocks that look awsome but are expensive. Though I do believe you pay for what you get and should last me a lifetime near enough lol

What machine have you got now if you don't mind me asking.

Thanks again

 

[Zeddedhed]

I've now got a Hammer A326. If I was buying again I'd look for the longest tables I could possibly afford on a good quality machine. Facing and edging heavy oak is hard work and not easy to get good results with short tables. I'm often working with 200 x 80 at over 2500 long, so longer tables would be a huge benefit.

If you're not regularly making stuff that needs timber this big then not so much of a worry of course.

With regards the Axi machine, I eventually got them to come and look at it (I'd had just shy of six months) and they tried for about a month to fix it - four engineers, new table and support column, new top tables (they were refusing to go back co-planar after thicknessing). Eventually they agreed to refund me, so I bought the Hammer.

 

[Deadeye]

I also have this machine... and the table does deviate if I put a large piece in skew and try to take a thickish depth off.
My solution is to take the final thickness off in 0.5 and then 0.25mm passes, and to run the board through again at the nominal final thickness the other way round.
My verniers tell me this produces a much more consistent final thickness.

And you're certain there's no twist in your board? I had trouble gettign the planer set exactly so the two tables were co-planar in all directions. So at first I was getting a nice smooth, but twisted, surface... which the thicknesser faithfully recreated.

 

[deema]

What was the thickness of the final cut you took? Could it be that the board was too thin to be cut by the Thicknesser? I’ve done it myself where flattening a board took a number of passes making a tapered board too thin to thickness the full length.

The minimum wood removal through a Thicknesser is usually 1mm to take out the serrated roller marks. If there aren’t any marks it would suggest the first pressure roller isn’t exerting enough pressure

The other thing that can occur is the planner is cutting a taper if the blades are set too low / tables aren’t coplanner.

I personally prefer a P/T with fixed beds as I believe they are far more rigid.

 

[SteveF]

I have had the same issue
I have the "digital" depth gauge and have noticed that after tightening the lock handle for the thicknesser table it will still move about .5mm after a very few runs of timber
my other pet hate when using the planer is the locking knobs \ bars will disengage due to vibration and therefore causes snipe at the end of a cut (until I re-lock the table)
oh and the outfeed adjustment nuts keep vibrating off
and the stop button vibrates off

apart from that it is a great machine

Steve