Hi all. I’m building a cabin with open beam sissior trusses. The 6x6x20′ are roughcut and i’m trying to plane them smooth. The 6×6 were feeding fine, but latley it;s all i can do to push these monsters thru. I adjusted the in-feed & out-feed rollers all the way down and have the tension springs tight. Can i have too much pressure on the rollers, in effect squishing the 6×6 into the table? The table rollers don’t touch a straight edge when i check them, but they do roll when planning. Any ideas how to set the planer up so it will feed correctly?
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http://www.owwm.com/Parks/FWW/tuning.asp
Maybe help.
Joe H
I would try some "Topcote" or similar product on the infeed/outfeed tables and the platen directly under the planer head. Sometimes those pieces get sticky and it can be enough to slow or stop the process. if you slide your hand across it and it doesn't slide smoothly then it's time for some sort of dry lube. Paste wax would probably do fine, though I prefer "Topcote".
http://www.amazon.com/Bostik-10220-Aerosol-Top-Cote/dp/B0000223UD
open the machine and clean everything...
put dry lube on the table...
get back to work....
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Don't know what planer you have, but one of mine has set bolts under th eends of the table rollers, back off a jam nut and turn the bolt to raise the rollers.
On that one I don't like to have too much roller up, it contributes to snipe, so I have a plywood bed table , solid lumber core, that is well waxed and it also is longer than the standard table..for roughing, use the rollers, for really clean finish passes,I use the table.
Depending on your planer, 6x6 may be torqueing the bed and raising hell with the feed rollers as well.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Classic sign of dull blades. Try swapping for some sharp ones and I'll bet you're back in business.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
With roughcut 6 x 6, you want the rollers fairly high above the table (yes, you may get some snipe), and the lumber will be trying to pushing them down below the table: if it is just a couple of set screws holding them in position, you may need to tighten them often. They may be rolling, but not enough......Topcote the table, jack them up, and give it a try.Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Mike, when it works, it works well, nice chips and plenty of them. Then for no reason i can find, the drive stops and i push my guts out until the drive roller takes over again. I will chack out the sharpness of the blades. Thanks, john
Are the 6x6 already fairly true? I try to joint one face flat, then "skip" or "Hit and Miss" at high speed till it starts cutting more continously, then switch to lighter cuts, and slower speed.
Flip as needed to equalize the amount being wasted off, or remove defects.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Yep. I just had this happen the other day while doing some white oak. Worked fine for a while, then it became almost impossible to force some of the boards through. Worked well for some boards, but others wouldn't go through fer squat. At first, I was thinking that a few of the boards were crazy hard, but that just didn't make sense. It snuck up on me so intermittantly/gradually, I wasn't even thinking of a blade issue.
What happens is that the dull-ish blades don't take off quite as much as the tool is set for, so the board is too thick to go through on the next pass. New blades fixed 'er up and we were back in business in no time.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA