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Ivor
9th April 2004, 01:56 PM
Hi,

I have been trying to run two peices of 6" jarrah flooring through my 12" thicknesser. But I have a puzzling experience. I can run the bits of flooring through the machine on one face. But on the other face the flooring gets about a little way past the feeder and gets stuck.

The boards appear flat to me, i.e. no cupping on either face and they appear straight when you look along them.

I have tried altering the thickness gradually down but they still get stuck.

Any suggestions about what is going on and how I can fix it cause it is very very frustrating?

Ivor

Robert WA
9th April 2004, 02:05 PM
What sort of thicknesser?

Have you tried turning the timber around and putting it through the other way.

I pushed 50 - 60 meters of blackbut floor boards through my dewalt last weekend, both sides, without any hassles.

Ivor
9th April 2004, 07:09 PM
Its a Makita, not sure how old, I got it secondhand.

Yep, I've tried both ways with both bits of wood, same thing. I even tried taking a bit of with a hand plane on the problem surface and they still get stuck.

I also tried pushing them through but that didn't work and I was scared of stuffing the auto feed.

All I can think of is that they are somehow wedge-shaped i.e. thinner at one end than the other, but that wouln't explain why they get stuck just a short way in. I can't see any difference in thickness by eye though.

Barry_White
10th April 2004, 10:35 AM
Have you checked to see if the drive rollers are gummed up and are slipping on the timber.

DarrylF
10th April 2004, 01:38 PM
Definitely check the roillers - they should not be shiny or gummed up.

Also, check the bed - if it's not clean & slick you'll have problems.

Also if the blades are not set right you'll have problems - dropping the head down hard enough to get them to cut (set too low in the cutthead) will often lead to the casting on the infeed clamping down on the timber.

Ivor
10th April 2004, 05:39 PM
Righto, first thing tomorrow I'll take her apart and have a look.

But if it is the rollers, I can't see how the flooring goes through on one face but not the other??

Barry_White
10th April 2004, 10:41 PM
Some flooring usually has a finished face and the underside is usually rough sawn. If the rollers are gummed up they maybe able to grip on the rough sawn side but maybe slipping on the smooth side.

Ivor
12th April 2004, 12:57 PM
Okay, I've put new blades in just to see if that made any difference and oiled the feeder head chain. I get better results but I still have to push the jarrah flooring through

The in feed and out feed trays are nice and shiny but the actual rollers appear a bit dull.

Any advice on how to clean them, oven cleaner? That is meant to be good for bandsaw lades. But I am not too comfortale about putting water any where near the machine.


I also just tried a 6" bit of pine and that went through without any problems. Could it be that the 6" jarrah is a bit too tough for an old thicknesser???