Thicknesser bed wax

[jamalsabet]

I've done my best at searching the forums to find the answer first but being new, am not sure if my search skills are up to scratch.

I've got a 735 Dewalt planer thats a few months old. Really happy with it when it works but finding its pretty sub par more often than not. My biggest issue is the feed. Even cutting off under a mm, the machine bogs down hard just cutting through some 100mm wide ash boards.

I've cleaned the rollers and changed the blades (though I stupidly fed through a a few painted board on the new blades, so am unsure of what kind of damage that caused)

Recommendations online say to wax the bed but most are US posts so the suggestions I cant find in Australia. I've tried saw blade wax but that has not helped. Most suggestions is for Johnstones Paste wax, does anyone know of an alternative here in Australia and where I can pick it up?

[Kuffy]

paint is incredibly abrasive on tool steel. I once had to remove the pink primer from a pack of 42x42 pine keeping the finished size as big as possible. So i took off about 0.5mm per side. I machined it through a four sided moulder. By the end of the job, I had wore away about 1mm in cutting radius, even rotating the heads half way through the job which lets me use the other side of the heads. You could clearly see where the knives had been cutting, bloody horrible!

For wax, I just draw a quick squiggle on the thicknesser bed with a normal candle from the reject shop. I use it sparingly because wax affects finishes, but I usually have to sand everything before finishing. Silbergleit is good too, but I duno where to get it.

[jamalsabet]

Yeah I figured I would have done a bit of damage!

I think I applied way too much saw blade wax because after an hour or so of buffing, it seems to be working way smoother.

What should i be cleaning the rollers with? Manual says mineral spirits but I can't find a definite answer of what is the equivalent in Australia.

[jazzy69]

Hi jamalsabet,
I have seen a few threads where ubeaut traditional wax is the way to go.
Regards,
Ross

[FenceFurniture]

Mineral Spirits is probably Mineral Turps, and that should be fine (or White Spirit). Any old timber wax should do for the bed, but yes I happen to be using Ubeaut.

[Kuffy]

Im pretty certain that mineral spirits is just mineral turpentine, or turps. I use acetone for cleaning metals, seems to work, but I reckon it would hurt paints and rubber

[BobL]

Waxing won't help gummed up rollers - the best thing that can be done in that regard is to minimise the chances of them getting gummed up by using high air flow dust extraction.
If they get really gummed up I spray them with a little diesel and let them sit overnight and then the gunk comes off with a light brass wire brushing the next day.

Some turps sprayed onto the rollers before you start might help?

As far as wax goes I use a bar or tub of plain beeswax. If it's the tub, remove the wax from the tub - this tyoe of wax should be quite hard but it also means it can be rubbed directly onto the tables. warming the wax up in the sum helps in cold weather

[twosheds]

Hi jamalsabet

I use paraffin wax on the table of my DW735. Comes as a solid block in a small plastic tub from the cooking aisle in Coles supermarket. Only costs a few dollars and works very well. I just rub it over the table straight from the block.

I haven't tried the other suggestions but assume they would work just as well.

Regards
Twosheds

[Glenn.Visca]

I use Ubeaut Traditional wax on an old piece of t-shirt material. Rub a little on the table, then turn the rag and buff. Takes just a couple minutes.

The rag can then be used for hand saws or plane soles with just the residual wax on the cloth.

Trad wax can be purchased online through Ubeaut, or I have seen it at carbatec.

For rollers etc. I use CMT2050 to clean off gum and pitch and wotnot. Pretty exxy though.

Are you sure the rollers are set correctly ?

[elanjacobs]

We use paraffin at work. Just rub the end of a candle over the tables in a rough zig-zag. Buff it if you want, I don't normally bother; the timber will spread it around by itself.

[jamalsabet]

Problem solved. It WAS the gummy rollers. I'd been cleaning them with methylated spirits which gave a nice clean sheen but I didn't realise that the whole rollers were gummy so what I thought was normal was just a completely dirty roller. I thought mineral turpentine would damage the rollers but when I used it, a thick layer of gum came off the rollers and now works great.

Am getting a little bit of snipe though.