Gilbro Super Smoother - 4" Jointer - Manual Wanted

[DSEL74]

Has anyone got a manual or instruction sheet for a 4" Gilbro Super Smoother??

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Spent a few hours just cleaning it and getting the rust of the surface.

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[DSEL74]

It's is missing at least one spring off the safety guard as shown in this photo.
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If you compare it to mine (photo 4) I don't have the spring.

[Chesand]

Dale

I have had one of those for about 40 years and never had a manual. I believe they were made in Preston.

They are very simple and work on the same principle as the more modern Jointers. If you look at a manual for any jointer, you should be able to work things out.

Hope that helps.

I have just asked Mr Google and it seems that Gilbro Engineering still exists in Railway Place, Preston

[DSEL74]

40yrs?? I guess you have quite a bit of experience with it then. Is the small 4" very useful? I'm thinking the length of the table is more of a limitation than the width.

Is the safety guard supposed to snap back or just be pivoted out of the way, which does sound like much of a benefit?



There are 4 adjustment knobs, two each side. There are two brass screws that look like they tighten down on the thread of two of those knobs. Do you know what these are for???

[malb]

The guard spring you are missing is a tightly wound helical spring approx 3.8 turns of 2.4mm wire with right angle end stubs 10mm and 12mm long. Overall diameter is 22mm, so ID would be around 17mm. The end stubs fit into holes in the guard casting and the offset pivot.

Have had a unit for about 10 years as part of a Gilbro combo tablesaw/jointer. I purchased the unit from a neighbour who was moving to a unit. He purchased it new from the factory in the mid 1960's and did not receive a manual with it then, so they probably didn't produce anything. If they did it would only have been typed and duplicated so would not have a lot of detail.

If you have stripped and cleaned your unit, you probably have discovered all its little secrets, the only hidden bits I can think off are the table locking screws tucked away inside the base casting with cast alloy heads similar to the table height adjuster screws. I find that you can make small table adjustments with the locking screws fastened but releasing them slightly is helpfull for initial setting up.

I have the spring out at present to measure, can take photos etc if it helps you.

I have dealt with Gilbro Engineering in Preston in the past, they seem to be a jobbing shop run by decendants these days with little background knowledge of the machinery once produced.

[DSEL74]

I have the spring out at present to measure, can take photos etc if it helps you.



That would be great thanks. Do you think this would be something that can be adapted from an off the shelf item??


Never had or used a jointer before so I guess I will have to spend sometime on utube

[Chesand]

40yrs?? I guess you have quite a bit of experience with it then. Is the small 4" very useful? I'm thinking the length of the table is more of a limitation than the width.

Is the safety guard supposed to snap back or just be pivoted out of the way, which does sound like much of a benefit?



There are 4 adjustment knobs, two each side. There are two brass screws that look like they tighten down on the thread of two of those knobs. Do you know what these are for???

I think Mal has answered your queries quite well.
I have not used mine very much in recent times and it has been superseded by a 6 inch jointer. It has been gathering dust and I have been intending to list it here for sale but just have not got round to it.
The table length does limit the length of timber that can be put over it safely with good results.
The safety guard should swing back to cover the blades.
I made a cover to go over the pulley at the back so that fingers were protected from the pulley and belt.

Hope that helps

[malb]

Will photograph the spring tomorrow and post it here, doubt that it would be easy to modify an existing spring, as you need to form a couple of tight right angle bends and straighten previously wound parts to form the ends, trying this with an existing hard spring would probably fracture the wire.

Are you wanting a worker, or a to fully restore the unit? For a worker you could probably use a helical tension spring running up to the side or base of the rebate guard/support and connecting to a screw in the hole for the genuine spring tang on the underside of the swing guard. A similar arrangement was used with the 6in Gilbro my father had when building when I was a kid.

The guard should swing all the way across the cutter until it meets the fence, regardless of where the fence is positioned. As you feed a board against the fence the outer corner connects to arm of the guard and pushes the guard away from the fence, then runs along the side of the board as it works along the jointer.

From memory, they measure a tad over 4.75 inches across the blade so safely work to about 4.5 inches. Mine has the original rebating blades installed, these are sharpened at the end furthest from the pulley, as well as across the edge. Table length is a limitation, but longer than some 6in benchtop jointers. Longest I have run over it is about 1500, but the original owner and family worked material to 3m with it by using external supports. They seemed more limited by shed space than the table size.

[malb]

Have attached a series of photos showing the spring with dimmensions, the mounting point for the spring by the guard pivot, and the guard and spring assembled.

Re brass screws. There are two slotted metal plates that fit over a groove in the table height adjustors to transmit motion from the adjustors to the tables. At the other end of these plates, two brass screws per plate fix the plates to the cast webs in the underside of the table. These are the only brass screws I can recall from on the unit.

Feel free to come back with any other queries.

[DSEL74]

I'll have to see what I can find, thanks for the photos and details. I wonder if any of the current machines would have a matching spring as a spare part??

I want a user machine but if I can get it as original as possible is good.

[kaluco]

Have attached a series of photos showing the spring with dimmensions, the mounting point for the spring by the guard pivot, and the guard and spring assembled.

Re brass screws. There are two slotted metal plates that fit over a groove in the table height adjustors to transmit motion from the adjustors to the tables. At the other end of these plates, two brass screws per plate fix the plates to the cast webs in the underside of the table. These are the only brass screws I can recall from on the unit.

Feel free to come back with any other queries.

Hi I have have also inherited one. When I was cleaning it up, I removed the saw blade to buy a new one and placed the washers and nut on the table,hence I lost it. Could you please inform me the size of the nut. Is it af left hand thread.
All help greatly appreciated.
kaluco

[malb]

Hi I have have also inherited one. When I was cleaning it up, I removed the saw blade to buy a new one and placed the washers and nut on the table,hence I lost it. Could you please inform me the size of the nut. Is it af left hand thread.
All help greatly appreciated.
kaluco

Hi, I guess that this is addressed to me as I am the one who fessed up to having a combo unit. The saw arbor nut is definitely 5/8" and obviously some form of imperial thread, but not sure which off hand. It's currently nighttime and the middle of a thunder storm here and the shed is 50m away without lights. I will put it on the list for tomorrow to go and remove it and check with thread guages/engineering handbooks to identify the thread for you. Fairly sure it is LH thread but it may not be because it is a non tilt arbor system. I know the DW Radial Arm i bought at the same time from the same person is definitely 5/8" LH so will visually compare with that to confirm.

[malb]

Hi, getting back to you after some running around and shopping for tools to confirm.

The arbor nut is 5/8" x 18TPI UNF, Right Hand thread. My counting and measuring kept coming up with 17.6 TPI and 5/8 UNF was the closet match in all of my thread charts but I wasn't able to confirm as someone lost my imperial thread gauges when they borrowed the tap and die set a couple of years ago. Tried the local Bunnys, they had three thread test boards, coarse threads to 3/4"/20mm, fines to 1/2" and metric, UN coarse and fine, to 12mm/1/2", so no go there. Had a junky set of imperial taps and dies for $70 that included a gauge, but no gauges seperately. Finally tracked down Total Tools new location and got a decent set of gauges which confirmed 18TPI.

You should be able to get a decent nut at a bolt and nut specialist, or maybe a car parts place that handles parts for American cars.

I have bought the drive flange up to the house and will draw that up for your next. You will probably need to get one made, unless you can find almost identical in size as a spare part for a current model saw. Don't be tempted to use a mudguard washer or flange that is way different in size, the contact areas of the shaft flange and drive flange need to match closely or the blade will either loosen or dish on you. I have attached a PDF file from Sketchup with a dimensioned cross section of the flange so you can try to locate a similar unit, or have one made for you. Material is mild steel.

[Christos]

Well done Malb.

[flyingsecret]

Hi Guys, I'm a metal guy breaking into the wood working thing through necessity as renovating an old house in Tumut, NSW. I have bought quite alot of gear now, all second hand and as I buy it I strip it down and overhaul it so the information you post, especially the pics is awesome and I take my hat off to you all for the info sharing. I recently purchased a Gilbro planer but it is minus the plate guard so was wondering if anyone could mail me an outline drawing that I could use for a pattern and anything else associated with it so I can fabricate one. Many thanks, Gordon

[malb]

Flyingsecret, I am probably the one best able to help with the guard, but we recently moved house and workshop, and all my kit is dismantled and in storage. Was in the storage this morning but didn't know you needed this. Machine is fairly accessible so I can get the bits for you to draw/photograph for you. Do you need the whole guard system or just the actual blade cover?
The whole system comprises a few parts from memory:
A hex pin that fits in the hole in the infeed casting where you might expect the cover to pivot, on the floor side of the table, and hex setscrew to secure it.
A small diecast dog bone drilled both ends. One end set up for a setscrew fits below the table on the lower half of the pin above and the setscrew locks it into position, oriented 1 flat on the pin outboard of the parallel to the table and facing toward the outfeed. This provides a remote mount for the guard to pivot on, and a pinhole for one end of the return spring for the cutter guard.
The actual guard and it's inbuilt pivot pin. This inserts into the main hole at the other end of the dogbone.
The return spring photographed and dimensioned in an earlier post. Basically a tension helical spring with two stubs on the ends. One stub mounts into the small hole in the dogbone, and the other mounts into a similar hole in the bottom of the guard by the pivot pin. The return spring also acts as a spacer between the guard and dogbone to raise the guard above the cutter and outfeed table for clearance. The amount of clearance is set by adjusting the dogbone position on the hex pin.

I will pull the whole planer unit from storage tomorrow and bring home for photos and drawings.

[greggyboy]

G'day, Frank Gill at Northern Machinery in Preston is the son of one of the GILBRO brothers, and runs a secondhand machinery sales buisness at plenty rd in Preston, and if anyone had a manual for your machine, it would be him. Stop in or give him a call, he's a nice bloke and very helpfull. Cheers Greg

[Woodamatuer]

Hi team, I've just purchased a Gilbro jointer and have an issue. When stripping to service and inspect for hidden issues I've had a problem getting the cutting wheel off and now it's stuck.
How can I replace bearings and re-fit the cutting wheel?
I don't know how to attach pics sorry. I'm located in Wallan Vic, if anyone knows where I can take it for repairs I'd appreciate it.

[malb]

Hello and welcome Woodamateur.

I am not sure where your issue is. Were you trying to remove the cutter head from the shaft? My unit has been in storage for 4 years now and my memory of the shaft and cutter head is not great as although I have removed, replaced, and aligned blades in the cutter head, I have never had a need to separate the head from the shaft to allow the bearings to be removed.

I seem to remember that the cutter head has at least one allen set screw going into the bulk of the head between the blade slots. I doubt that this bearing directly on the shaft would be the only connection between head and shaft. To my way of thinking, there would either be a key and keyways, with the screw probably clamping onto the back of the key, or a substantial flat milled onto the shaft for the end of the screw to grip on.

I assume that you are trying to drive the shaft out of the head with a drift, as I expect that the head would be a tight fit on the shaft and would not come easily after 50 years. Did you perchance get to completely remove the setscrew and sight down the hole before trying to move the shaft? A lot of penetrating spray down this hole might have helped free the shaft/ key etc, but if you have moved the shaft and it has jammed, it may be too late now.

[Woodamatuer]

Hi Malb, Yep, thanks for your reply. I continued to persevere and had to angle grinf one of the bearings off, after that I gade to file the shaft so the new bearings would fit.
I've got it back together with new bearings but now need to dismantle again so I can get the locking pin aligned with the small indent on the shaft.
I had sprayed heaps of WD40 in the hole to loosen up the cutting wheel from the shaft so it shouldnt take much to fix. Then sharpen/replace the blades and good to go.
Just beed to find 4 1/2 inch blades in Melbourne or online.

[malb]

I would not be removing bearings with a grinder, or filing shafts to get bearings to accept them. The cutter head revolves at 5000+RPM, and everything needs to be very well balanced, any slight imbalance will cause vibration, which will produce poor surface finish, and may ultimately allow the blades to move in the head or propagate a crack in the shaft if there are nicks or file grooves on the shaft.

With regard to new blades, saw doctors are generally equipped to grind the edge on them, and most can source HSS blanks that can be cut to length and ground. My unit had a set of chipped blades and I had Specialty Saws in Croydon regrind grind them for me. Their rig can accommodate blades to at least 0.5m long and can use either a grinding stone or diamond wheel to handle HSS or Carbide tipped blades.

With regard to cleaning the shaft and head bore, I would be giving them a good work out with fine steel wool or scotchbrite pads dampened with WD40 to clean them both up. This should be able to remove mild rust and accumulated debris without removing metal.