Servicing Carbatec 20inch Thicknesser

**woodman-79** · 25th February 2014, 01:16 PM

Hi All,

I have the carbatec 20inch thicknesser in my workshop. It's about 5 years old but has only recently seen much use since I've setup shop in our new place.
I just put in some new 18% tungsten knives which are nice but i've been having problems with timber getting jammed as it goes in. I think it's getting stuck on the inside/back edge of the slot the bottom roller is in, underneath the infeed roller. I also find sometimes, particularly on softer or thinner bits of wood that as the back end of the timber gets passed the infeed roller, it sometimes seems to jolt the timber up leaving a divet in the end of the wood where it gets pushed up a bit into the knives.

I'm sure these issues relate to adjusting the infeed and outfeed rollers and the cutter head/knives correctly but there is no service manual and carbatec were less than useless when i spoke to their "service technician".

To be clear, these issues were present before i put the new blades in..

I was wondering
a) if anyone else has had similar issues
b) does anyone have any service advice or even better, an actual manual?

I have the user manual but it doesnt say anything about servicing outside of adjusting the knives (which I believe are set perfectly)

Thanks in advance,
Mike

**shanesmith80** · 26th February 2014, 08:52 AM

I have on a few occasions had a piece of timber get stuck, but is usually if the timber is a bit uneven on the end and might be trying to take to big of cut on the very first pass. I just turn it off, lower table and pull it out then take a lighter cut (no more than 0.5mm) to even it out.
As for the second problem with softer timbers, sounds like snipe, and is unavoidable, especially on soft woods. Just have to allow for it to be cut off.
I do think that mine has instructions how to adjust the rollers (I have the 15 inch), but is something that I would never try.
For a service technician I would try contact a local furniture maker/builder and ask if they know anyone.

**elanjacobs** · 26th February 2014, 06:23 PM

Sounds like the table rollers need adjusting. I'm not familiar with your particular machine, but I'm happy to come and have a look one Sunday.

Shane, snipe is not unavoidable; fine-tuning can eliminate it completely, but it can be a right PITA to get it right.

**DJ’s Timber** · 26th February 2014, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Sounds like the table rollers need adjusting.

**spokeshave** · 26th February 2014, 08:15 PM

I have a Carba-tec CTJ-381 (15" version) and downloaded a manual from the Grizzly website for their equivalent machine.

Much more informative than the rubbish that came with the machine. Only downside is the specs are in imperial so require conversions.

Try this link to see if your machine look similar then click on the 'manual' link.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/20-Planer/G0454

Steven.

**woodman-79** · 28th February 2014, 04:01 PM

Thanks very much for the replies guys.

Steven, I will try that manual from Grizzly as a bit of a general guide. It does look very similar in design. Cheers.

Elanjacobs, really appreciate the offer of assistance. I will have a crack with the manual from Grizzly and see if i can sort it out myself first. ..I'm subborn that way

If i cant improve things... or end up making it worse.. I might shoot you a message. Thanks.

Shane, I'm fairly sure it's related to needing adjustments rather than the timber being uneven. It occurs with timber that's already been through it as well, and it didnt used to happen which suggest to me that it's in need of some love and attention.

I might also try again to get hold of the Carbatec people from Melbourne as the previous peron I spoke to was from Brisbane store.

Cheers,
Mike

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