Thread: Hafco Helical Head Thicknesser - Not impressed

I'd also have a look at the feed rollers. I've barely had anything to do with thicknessers so far, but I'm tentatively going to suggest that might be a flat spot somewhere that lessens the pressure on the wood and results in that. You did mention earlier on that you had a couple of cases of the wood stopping and getting rubber burns because of that, so I'd be having a look at as a potential cause.
Have you tried pushing the timber through, or at least maintaining some pressure behind it to see if it feels like it slips at points?

Originally Posted by LordBug

I'd also have a look at the feed rollers. I've barely had anything to do with thicknessers so far, but I'm tentatively going to suggest that might be a flat spot somewhere that lessens the pressure on the wood and results in that. You did mention earlier on that you had a couple of cases of the wood stopping and getting rubber burns because of that, so I'd be having a look at as a potential cause.
Have you tried pushing the timber through, or at least maintaining some pressure behind it to see if it feels like it slips at points?

The "wood stopping" has been alleviated by the application of Silbergleit to the bed. I don't think there's any slippage of the wood going through the rollers now.

As for deposits on the rollers? I don't think the machine is old enough for that nor has enough timber been put through it...

Originally Posted by Tccp123

The "wood stopping" has been alleviated by the application of Silbergleit to the bed. I don't think there's any slippage of the wood going through the rollers now.

As for deposits on the rollers? I don't think the machine is old enough for that nor has enough timber been put through it...

The tension springs on the feed rollers may need adjusting, or even the height of the feed rollers in relation to the cutting head, more likely the former than the latter.

Cheers

Doug

Hi Tccp123, Helical cutter head? No great improvement on conventional knives, they still present the cutter straight on to the wood. What you might like to look at is a spiral helical cutter with carbide chips. These slice the wood and give a much better finish and a lot less noise. I work with hardwoods and have just fitted spiral helical cutters to my jointer and planer and am very pleased. Other issues with your machine should be referred to Hafco but probably boil down to machine set up.

Good luck.

I think you have your terminologies mixed up glueman. A helical cutter is superior to a spiral but companies mix up the names all the time so they’ve all become “spiral helical cutters”. Helicals will present the cutter on an angle to produce a shearing cut but the old spiral cutters have all the blades on the same plane but staggered around the cutter head. This means slightly less noise but no improvement for finish as it’s cutting the same way as a straight knife cutter.

Now that Powermatic pricing through Carbatec seems to be a little more 'reasonable' i think that will be my next machine after my current Carbatec benchtop model. A very big step up.

OP, I faced many of the initial gripes you have had with this benchtop thicknesser. Sounds like you've sorted most of them. I would be putting the last of the 'inconsistencies' down to user error rather than the machine. That isn't a personal dig at you as I still get the odd snipe or stuck board with mine. I think the rollers could use a fair bit of improvement but a good clean every so often with an alcohol based liquid seems to help mine. That cuttingboard you ran through, was the underside flat and jointed before running it through the planer? I remember trying to run a 12" wide piece of non-jointed QLD walnut through my carbatec benchtop model and it struggled immensely to run smoothly, leaving ridges, burn marks, etc. After being properly jointed, though, the same piece ran through like butter!

Regards.

Originally Posted by hurcorh

OP, I faced many of the initial gripes you have had with this benchtop thicknesser. Sounds like you've sorted most of them. I would be putting the last of the 'inconsistencies' down to user error rather than the machine. That isn't a personal dig at you as I still get the odd snipe or stuck board with mine. I think the rollers could use a fair bit of improvement but a good clean every so often with an alcohol based liquid seems to help mine. That cuttingboard you ran through, was the underside flat and jointed before running it through the planer? I remember trying to run a 12" wide piece of non-jointed QLD walnut through my carbatec benchtop model and it struggled immensely to run smoothly, leaving ridges, burn marks, etc. After being properly jointed, though, the same piece ran through like butter!

Regards.

Thanks for the advice. TBH I've avoided using it because of the problems I've experienced, the most frustrating being the inconsistency. WRT the cutting board, yes it was flat on both sides.

Originally Posted by hurcorh

After being properly jointed, though, the same piece ran through like butter!

I'm not going to ask how you know what butter looks like going through a thicknesser

If I ever do find out I hope it's not my thicknesser.

Originally Posted by Tccp123

WRT the cutting board, yes it was flat on both sides.

Flat on both sides - but how far out of parallel? If you feed the thin end in first all will be well for a while - until the depth of cut becomes too much for the machine.

Originally Posted by doug3030

Flat on both sides - but how far out of parallel?

I know you're going to forgive me for having a bit of a chuckle at that one because that's exactly why I bought the thicknesser in the first place, to make the two sides parallel.

I find that if the machine has not been used for a while, like a week or two, I have to rewax the table as almost every board, except for the very narrow ones, will tend to stall on the feed and need a push to keep going. Once you wax it the machine acts like a different animal.

Originally Posted by Tccp123

I know you're going to forgive me for having a bit of a chuckle at that one

Not sure why you are chucking at that - its what thicknessers do. If they are used right and are working right.