planer thicknesser setup

[wallace]

Hi can some one point me in the direction of a good explanation or youtube vid that goes through the process of setting up a PT. I've done the knife setting for planning but am inexperienced at setting feed rollers and stuff. Do the rollers get set to the knife tip or the head body?
Thanks

 

[JustBen]

I though that on a thicknesser the rollers were spring loaded and self adjusted.
That's how it works on my thicknesser.
It's just making sure the blades are parallel with the thicknesser bed.

As for the surface planer, Steve Maskery has a video somewhere showing how to set blades and to eliminate snipe.

 

[nathandavies]

if you get the wadkin bts manual from daltons it has what heights all that stuff is supposed to be at, would it be the same across the board?

nathan

 

[MARK.B.]

The rollers on my SIP p/t self adjust

 

[Peter Sefton]

I would say setting the pressure on the feed rollers is not a DIY job, I have done it a couple of times over the years and seen experienced engineers struggle with it. Depending on the make and model they can be adjusted on the springs to give more or less pressure.
Why do you need to adjust them? Have you set your planer blades back in the block in the correct position?
In basic terms, if you have them cutting a larger cutting diameter than the norm you will not have enough pressure to feed the timber, if the opposite is the case then you will leave printed marks from the in-feed roller.
Hope this helps, sorry i don't have any measurements.
Cheers Peter

 

[GK1]

I'm doing this right now after machine re-assembly but I'm waiting for new planer knives so haven't done the full test yet. My machine has adjustable locknuts which set the lowest possible position of the rollers relative to the cutterblock.

Initially I've set up infeed and outfeed rollers 2mm below the cutting circle. Obviously they both lift a bit as the timber goes through. Then I ran a 16" wide board through with the belt off the cutterhead to see if the feed is straight, I found I had to adjust the tension springs a little before the board would travel straight through without skewing. But it was easy, just tension the side that is lagging behind the other.

My p/t also has pressure bars, also spring loaded, not sure what height they are meant to be but judging by the smoothness of the infeed pressure bar, it must have been touching the timber before it met the cutter. The outfeed pressure bar I've set a millimetre above the cutting circle so it doesn't mark the planed surface. Actually, I'm not really sure what they're for. I think maybe they form a sort of chamber to channel chippings up through the gap between the two planer tables.

If I find, when I do the cutting test, that the timber won't feed I'll increase the tension on the springs on both sides. If I get infeed roller marks I'll raise the infeed roller.

 

[heimlaga]

Is your old wadkin rebuild that close to finished?

There is a good tutorial on the youtube but I cannot remember where. He was setting up an elderly Parks thicknesser.

Peter Sefton
One reason who people may have to reset everything is if they have shifted the bearings or fixed up a machine that was stuck with rust after many years in a damp place or maybe even remachined or shifted out worn out parts. I have seen wallaces posts on his project and it looks like he has done a good job.

 

[Flynnwood]

This any good?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0arGQP38yg

 

[Peter Sefton]

Is your old wadkin rebuild that close to finished?

There is a good tutorial on the youtube but I cannot remember where. He was setting up an elderly Parks thicknesser.

Peter Sefton
One reason who people may have to reset everything is if they have shifted the bearings or fixed up a machine that was stuck with rust after many years in a damp place or maybe even remachined or shifted out worn out parts. I have seen wallaces posts on his project and it looks like he has done a good job.

Sorry guys - it wasn't my intention to question Wallace's skills. Anyway did a bit a digging and found this hand-out I used to use a few year's ago which explains a bit more detail about setting the pressure on infeed and outfeed rollers/pressure bars. This was for an old Wadkin machine and other machines will vary depending on how strong/worn the springs are - hope it helps.

Cheers Peter

 

[wallace]

Thanks for all the input guys. Its for the wadkin planer I recently did. I found a manual for the RM which is the big brother of mine and in it states that the pressure bar at the front should be set 0.4mm proud of the cutting circle and 0.8mm at the back. I have tried running the planer a bit but I am not happy with the sound and feel of it. When I installed a new bearing I did not have to pre heat it and it went on with a slight tap. I would have expected it be a lot harder to get in place i.e heating the bearing, freezing the shaft or maybe using a press to get the bearing on. The machine is louder than I would expect and I can feel resonance when I touch the table. I suspect the shaft is worn because it had been used with a broken bearing. When I took the head to bits the grease was a funny colour as if it was metallic.

 

[nathandavies]

my bearings on my bts fitted easily, the machine is spinning one heck of a block, so a little resonance isn't that surprising, it's difficult to know unless one is there I suppose.