Thicknesser Feed Problem

[Munroast]

The self feed on the thicknesser isn't working that well, setting the wood through at an angle seems to work better, but feeding it straight and it sometimes stops and needs a push or pull, this marks the wood (potentially ruining it)

Can't see any adjustments in the manual, and it seems clean -its a decent machine too, aminster trade.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Is this a rubber feed roller machine or a serrated steel roller type? Whilst it is possible to reset the feed pressures on most thicknessers, they normally get set and stay that way, so I'd start by cleaning the infeed and outfeed rollers as a first measure. Then I'd derust the bed and treat it with something like Lubo or Silbergleit

 

[Munroast]

Is this a rubber feed roller machine or a serrated steel roller type? Whilst it is possible to reset the feed pressures on most thicknessers, they normally get set and stay that way, so I'd start by cleaning the infeed and outfeed rollers as a first measure. Then I'd derust the bed and treat it with something like Lubo or Silbergleit

a picture saves a lot of explaing - I'm looking in from the side the wood comes out, and you can even see the rusty bed...

The manufacturers tell me the bed will just need cleaned and beeswaxed! would that really make a big difference?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Yes. Rust increased feed resistance quite a bit. I used to use a Liberon product called Lubo on my machine beds - made them a bit slicker and they stayed rust free a lot longer. Silbergleit is a German product (I believe), sold in the UK by Felder.

BTW yours is a serrated infeed machine with a single infeed roller, as opposed to a sectional feed. Sectional feed machines can feed multiple slightly different thickness pieces side by side safely without spitting any out - try that with a solid roller machine like yours and it might end up spitting some back at you. Like the sectional spiral head, should use less ppower and deliver a smoother cut.

At what point is the machine stopping: End of cut? Start of cut? Just as the timber reaches the outfeed roller? (which incidentally needs cleaning - cleanliness is godliness) Are you feeding in the middle (or near) of the machine or to one side? What size is the material? How deep a cut are you trying to take? What feed rate are you running at? (assuming multiple feed rates) What species of timber is it? How dry is the timber?

Sorry, lots of quastions - trying to eliminate all the possibilities on the grounds that a new machine should be correctly adjusted

 

[Munroast]

Yes. Rust increased feed resistance quite a bit. I used to use a Liberon product called Lubo on my machine beds - made them a bit slicker and they stayed rust free a lot longer. Silbergleit is a German product (I believe), sold in the UK by Felder.

BTW yours is a serrated infeed machine with a single infeed roller, as opposed to a sectional feed. Sectional feed machines can feed multiple slightly different thickness pieces side by side safely without spitting any out - try that with a solid roller machine like yours and it might end up spitting some back at you. Like the sectional spiral head, should use less ppower and deliver a smoother cut.

At what point is the machine stopping: End of cut? Start of cut? Just as the timber reaches the outfeed roller? (which incidentally needs cleaning - cleanliness is godliness) Are you feeding in the middle (or near) of the machine or to one side? What size is the material? How deep a cut are you trying to take? What feed rate are you running at? (assuming multiple feed rates) What species of timber is it? How dry is the timber?

Sorry, lots of quastions - trying to eliminate all the possibilities on the grounds that a new machine should be correctly adjusted

It will stop at any time
doesnt seem to matter which side I feed the wood into, letting it go through diagonally sometimes seem to be a bit better.
it cuts nice and parallel, if lest hand side is producing 18.2 the right hand side will be within 0.05
various sizes, the wood I was having bother with would have been 90 x 18
seems to stick at whatever thickness I am taking off, will vary between 1.5mm to 0.2 for the final run through
only one feed rate
recently been using a lot of Beech and pitch pine - both very well seasoned (reclaimed stuff)

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What do you think of Liquid Bees Wax as a bed lubricant ?

 

[big-all]

was the wood dead flat and clean??[ paint/grease/dirt free]
you can not expect wood that is not dead flat and level on the bed to plane level as the pressure will vary with thickness causing different levels also contamination will vary the drag or push in any one area ??
also needs to be an amount less than the maximum that it can remove cleanly off by the blade per pass
also worth noting if your blade sharpness varies from one side to the other you will get more drag on the edge thats less sharp as more resistance ??

 

[Munroast]

was the wood dead flat and clean??[ paint/grease/dirt free]
you can not expect wood that is not dead flat and level on the bed to plane level as the pressure will vary with thickness causing different levels also contamination will vary the drag or push in any one area ??
also needs to be an amount less than the maximum that it can remove cleanly off by the blade per pass
also worth noting if your blade sharpness varies from one side to the other you will get more drag on the edge thats less sharp as more resistance ??

Yes - also prepared one side on the planer
think the machine does 2mm (you can set the planer to 2mm, so I guess it should do that in the thicknessr, I only ever do 1 / 1.5 max.
blades in excellent condition, all of it.

I'm sure its just a lubricant problem, but it aint my machine, and not wanting to get or use the wrong type of bed lubricant.

 

[Munroast]

From the picture above - what is the purpose of the four round depressions in the middle of the bed ? could the wood be catching on them ? they don't feel rough or anything

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Can't see the photograph any longer. Depressions in the bed?

 

[conny]

Can't see the photograph any longer. Depressions in the bed?

Very shallows circular indents in the bedplate. They appear to be deliberate manufacturing 'dents' so the bed does not appear to be faulty.

To the OP. I once had some timber which was supposed to be all the same size PAR. Feeding some into the thicknesser and they just wouldn't feed whilst some of the others did. I eventually discovered they were different thicknesses to begin with, (less than 0.5-1.0mm range), but also some of them were not equal dimensions along the length of board. They would start to feed in but then stop because the cut rate was not set enough. Eventually pushed/pulled them through until they were planed equally then they would self-feed the whole length automatically.

 

[Notch7]

a picture saves a lot of explaing - I'm looking in from the side the wood comes out, and you can even see the rusty bed...

The manufacturers tell me the bed will just need cleaned and beeswaxed! would that really make a big difference?

a rough bed will make a big difference….it could make the timber stick.

also you are using beech and pitch pine, hard timbers with a slippery face when planed -maybe it feeds ok if the face being planed is sawn, but if it’s been through once already and is planed, the feed rollers just can’t grip.

sand the bed with a 240g or 320g abrasive, clean with some thinners then apply some wax - furniture wax like liberon would do.

it’s possible the infeed or outfeed roller pressures are set wrongly - but as it’s not your machine it’s best to leave alone.

sometimes if you are only taking a mm off, there isn’t enough feed pressure applied - more likely to be an issue with a 4 sider than a thicknesser.