Surface planer blade guards

[Karl]

hi all

Looking for some advice. This may sound like a daft question, but i'll ask anyway

I've been getting to grips with my new Jet 260. When surface planing boards, is the blade guard supposed to be left butted upto the fence, thereby covering the entire blade? The height of the guard can be raised, so the timber passes underneath the guard.

If so, how are you supposed to apply pressure to the board as it passes over the cutterhead?

The style of guard on the american machines i've seen looks much more user friendly - it springs out of the way as the timber is pushed over the cutterblock, and springs back into place once the timber has passed the cutterblock.

Hope this question makes sense.

Cheers

Karl

 

[wizer]

Yes it should pass underneath. You should never be applying pressure to the timber over the cutter block anyway. Just on the out feed. I always set the guard so that it is also applying a bit of pressure as the tip of the wood is first fed in.

 

[wizer]

The style of guard on the american machines i've seen looks much more user friendly - it springs out of the way as the timber is pushed over the cutterblock, and springs back into place once the timber has passed the cutterblock.

Don't let Scrit hear you say that :lol:

It's largely deemed ver unsafe to use those kidney guards.

 

[Digit]

Now me, I work 'tother way. I lower the guard and pull it away from the fence by sufficient to pass the timber through then use a push stick to keep my hands clear. Alternatively I change from pushing on the feed table to pushing on the out feed table.
The reason I prefer this method is that with the guard raised there is a possibility that your hand could meet the blades if something went awry.

Roy.

 

[wizer]

Now me, I work 'tother way. I lower the guard and pull it away from the fence by sufficient to pass the timber through then use a push stick to keep my hands clear. Alternatively I change from pushing on the feed table to pushing on the out feed table.
The reason I prefer this method is that with the guard raised there is a possibility that your hand could meet the blades if something went awry.

.

Nope, you're going to have to explain that Roy. How can your hands be in danger if the blade is covered? Doing it your way exposes the blade and makes it very dangerous, indeed.

 

[PAC1]

You should form a habit of NEVER EVER passing you hand over the blades. A vision that is for ever etched in my mind is an old joiner who had a habit of doing this until the day he took the pad of his thumb. He was feeding timber in his usual fashion straight over the blades but on this occassion his thumb was not on the wood. I stood utterly shocked unable to stop him from the inevitable. Then took him to hospital.

For that reason I cringe at the thought of the american spring loaded alleged guards.

I use the pass under technique usually but for some stock you have to set the guard against the stock. The important thing is to keep your hands at least six inches from the block which ever technique you use

 

[Digit]

Imagine a piece of, say 100mm X 25mm, you've planed the face and now need to do the edge. Raising the guard to pass the piece beneath means a gap below the guard of 100mm plus, by the length of the exposed blade, unless you habitually move the fence each time you change from planing a face and move to planing an edge of course.
As for being dangerous wizer, my hands never get near the knives and cannot slip under the guard.
I too have seen what PAC described.

Roy.

 

[Mr Ed]

When surface planing I adjust the guard up just enough to allow the timber under. When edge planing I slide the guard away from the fence, leaving a gap just wide enough for the timber to pass through. In both of these scenarios the blade is not exposed.

Re where pressure is applied I reckon on applying pressure onto the infeed table (back from the cutter) for about the first 18 inches of the board, once there is enough flat surface on the outfeed pressure gradually transfers to there.

Ed

 

[Ironballs]

Just to re-iterate what the others have said, always have the guard in place covering the entire width of the blade (ie butted against the fence) and have just enough clearance to get the timber underneath. Feed the piece up to the cutters, with no digits overhanging the sides and keep about 6 inches clear, once you have sufficient length on the outfeed side transfer your hand to that side and apply downward and forward pressure.

I've now got into the habit that when I reach this point I go hand over hand on the outfeed only as it keeps my hands away from the cutters and also helps eliminate snipe. The only problem you can have is vacuum effect on bigger boards which makes it difficult to move the board.

For doing the edge you pull back the guard just enough to allow the board to pass between the guard and fence. I then follow the same procedure as above but apply the pressure to the fence rather than the table, keeping just enough downward pressure on the outfeed side to keep it pushed into the table. Again this is a very good way to eliminate snipe

 

[Karl]

Yes it should pass underneath. You should never be applying pressure to the timber over the cutter block anyway. Just on the out feed. I always set the guard so that it is also applying a bit of pressure as the tip of the wood is first fed in.

Thanks Tom

I did mean pressure just after the cutterblock.

But how do you feed the timber into the cutterblock and avoid any chatter? If the guard wasn't there, you can have a pushblock at the front of the piece, and pass it right over the cutterblock, thereafter maintaining pressure on the outfeed table.

But with the guard in place, how do you keep sufficient pressure on the piece to stop any chatter, yet keep it moving along so it passes over the cutterblock. It seems to me that (at the start of the cut) pressure needs to be near the cutterblock on the infeed table to avoid chatter. Once the piece has passed the cutterblock, pressure can be moved to the outfeed table.

:duno:

Cheers

Karl

 

[Ironballs]

Can be a problem Karl, some pieces are more troublesome than others. I try to keep as much pressure as I can on the infeed until it passes the cutter block, if the piece is long enough (hangs off the end of the table) I may apply a little upward pressure so it acts like a lever and forces the other end into the cutter block. I'll usually bank on having to remove the first inch or two from a length anyway once I get to dimensioning

 

[wizer]

Chatter? Chatter? What Machine is it you have??? :lol: If you're getting excessive chatter then you have the infeed too low IMO or you knives are too high.

As I said above. I set the guard to have a slight amount of pressure on the board as it goes in. This eliminates most chatter, that I recall anyway.

 

[OPJ]

That's a good question, Karl. Chatter isn't often an issue with timber 2in. or thicker. With 1in. board, you just have go in with confidence, really, applying slight downward pressure as you start (though, not as much as you should on the outfeed side). With practice, you'll get better at this. In the mean time, any chatter marks will usually be removed by the thicknesser. :wink:

With regards to where and how you position the bridge guard... The big question is, what do you do with something 3in. square?! :wink:

 

[wizer]

If it's think stock you are working with, then I wonder if there's any advantage to double sticking a board to the back?

 

[woodbloke]

This issue was covered in depth by Alan Holtam in F&C when some readers picked him up for not passing the material underneath the guard, but having it butt up to the edge of the timber being planed.
I always plane timber in this way on a p/t and have done for the last 30 years. How else are you supposed to plane the edge of a board? - Rob

 

[Karl]

Thanks guys. I suspect it is a technique problem, rather than anything to do with the machine.

The stock started life as 1" rough sawn.

I've just had another little practise, surfacing some shelves (6" wide, 1" thick) that I glued up yesterday. Passing it under the guard resulted in excessive chatter, even with the depth of cut adjusted to <1mm. Not a very good finish. Moved the guard to the side, and tried it with the method I referred to above (I know, unguarded blade etc, but I wanted to see what the results were), and no chatter, excellent finish.

I'll get some pointers off Brad next time i'm at his 'shop!

Cheers

Karl

 

[Karl]

This issue was covered in depth by Alan Holtam in F&C when some readers picked him up for not passing the material underneath the guard, but having it butt up to the edge of the timber being planed.
I always plane timber in this way on a p/t and have done for the last 30 years. How else are you supposed to plane the edge of a board? - Rob

Rob - i've got the edge jointing sussed, and do as you suggest. Nice edges, almost negating the need for hand planes :shock: :lol:

It's the face planing that I am having trouble with.

Cheers

Karl

 

[wizer]

It's weird. I can't recall ever experiencing chatter :?

 

[woodbloke]

This issue was covered in depth by Alan Holtam in F&C when some readers picked him up for not passing the material underneath the guard, but having it butt up to the edge of the timber being planed.
I always plane timber in this way on a p/t and have done for the last 30 years. How else are you supposed to plane the edge of a board? - Rob

Rob - i've got the edge jointing sussed, and do as you suggest. Nice edges, almost negating the need for hand planes :shock: :lol:

It's the face planing that I am having trouble with.

Cheers

Karl

Karl - face planing is similar, just use a push board. Take a lump of ply or mdf about 400x150x18mm long and insert a small piece of ply on the underside at the back to catch the timber...stick a handle at the rear end and a plane tote at the front. If you grip the tote and handle as you would a Phillyplane (and you've got plenty of them) and feed the timber through, you ought not to have any difficulties.
Keep the guard covering the exposed cutter block not being used but ensure that it touches the edge of the timber being machined. Even though your hands will be passing over the cutter block, there's a large lump of mdf 'twixt the pink fleshy bits and the revolving spiny bits - Rob

 

[Karl]

Rob - I think we're on the same wavelength.

I am going to upload some photo's, and see how other people do it.

Cheers

Karl