Thread: Aligning Carbatec CTJ-350X tables

There are two grub screws to undo before the adjuster will move, the grub screws are directly above the cam adjusters, from memory a 3mm allen key is needed, one is located above the other and has to be completely removed before the second can be undone, the second only needs to be loosened a turn or so then the cam can be rotated.
A 5,7or 9" handheld grinder lock nut tool is nearly the right tool to fit the cam, some slight filling of the pins is needed for them to fit.

For table alignment it is a matter of adjusting the eccentric cam to either raise or lower the table at that point,
or adjusting two cams on the same side
or the other side
or the two at the front (each side)
or the two at the back (each side)
Thers's not a lot of adjustment per cam and you may have to adjust a cam to its maximum then start on the other table and make opposite adjustments.
It's a bit of juggle as to which you move first and wether you go up or down, minimum tool you need is a straight edge and the right feel for what the straight edge is telling you, I use my 1/4" wide by 2' long (Veritas I think?), make sure it is clean with no burrs on the edge.
A dial indicator with mag base and a long arm is nice to have setup on the table/point you are moving, this tells you if you are moving up or down and by how much, also if you have reached max adjustment, (mag base is attached to opposite table)

First I would aim to level infeed and outfeed from side to side at the cutter head, bring infeed up to level with the outfeed as best you can, if they aren't coplanar best you can do is get a point somewhere in the width level,
To check with SE on its edge.....hold down firm onto infeed (IF) slide it from the IF over cutter until either of three things happen...
1...it butts into outfeed (OF) and stops dead (too high)
2...or slides over onto OF (could be right or too low) only slide SE onto OF by 1/4 inch or so
3...is right ....check by holding SE down at cutter on IF with one finger and try to lift rear of SE off the IF....either of two things happen here....
1...rear of SE does lift off IF at rear (OF too low)
2... or is right SE doesn't lift off IF at rear without lifting off at the cutter point
A keen feel, ear and eye is beneficial for this style of testing.....to see a gap appear under the SE if lifting off IF, to hear the SE contact the OF and just the slightest click when it's just right.

Repeat the process for each side until you have decided which side is too high or too low or just right, next decide which cam to adjust up or down, this is where the dial indicator is very handy to tell you where the cams are and where they will take the table when you move the cam otherwise it's a bit of a guess, and into the mix decide whether you adjust one only at the front or two on the same side, you don't want to introduce a twist into the table. Ideally two dial indicators setup above each cam would tell you where the table will go if you where to move the cam. and then there's alignment along the length yet but it's doable.

There's a fair bit to digest there and I'm off to bed,
Bye for now.



Pete

Thanks for taking the time and effort to do all this, Pete, very much appreciated.

Just so I have it right in my mind, the trick is to initially get the two tables coplanar ( if possible ) across the cutter head gap, then map out the table levels at each of their 4 corners with SE, dial indicators and feeler gauges to determine which of the remaining 4 corners need to be raised or lowered. I imagine a SE the full length of a table would be ideal. You then get the tables coplanar at all 8 corners by moving any or all the 4 cams on each table, preferably monitoring with dial gauges.

Just a few questions :

Q1.at what point in the process do you adjust the edge of the outfeed table (nearest the cutter head) to be parallel with the top of the cutter head body? With a spiral head cutter?

Q2. if you raise or lower just one cam, does it change the level of the other three corners much? If so, do you then have to start over?

Q3. once the two tables are made (ideally) coplanar at the cutter head and along their lengths, and the cams are all locked, does raising and lowering the infeed table to change depth of cut alter the corner levels so the two tables are not parallel surfaces any more?

Q4. did you find that the factory alignment levels were much out immediately after you assembled the unit?

Just found how the Wood Whisperer aligns his Powermatic here. He uses the outfeed table as a reference plane, and ignores alignment of the the 3 HSS straight knives until last, then adjusts each of them to get them all level with the adjacent outfeed table edge.

But what do you do if it is a spiral cutter head?

spiral heads r the same. you get the tables parallel across the length and width, no twist etc etc. then make the cutter head parallel to the tables. and then just adjust the outfeed up or down to make the cutter edges a bees willy higher than the outfeed.

you dont really have any say as to where the spiral inserts sit into the head, its a fixed point. you cant lift them up or down. so the accuracy of spiral heads is wholly dependent on the machining of the head in the factory

Thanks for this Kuffy. I just found a Grizzly video of setting up the tables on an 8" Grizzly parallelogram table with helical head.

In this video they first adjust the outfeed table using the cams to get the edge of the table nearest the cutters and the top of the cutter head body aligned. Then the outfeed table is raised level with the top of the inserts, locked and used as a the reference plane.

Originally Posted by Dengue

Thanks for taking the time and effort to do all this, Pete, very much appreciated.

Just so I have it right in my mind, the trick is to initially get the two tables coplanar ( if possible ) across the cutter head gap, then map out the table levels at each of their 4 corners with SE, dial indicators and feeler gauges to determine which of the remaining 4 corners need to be raised or lowered. I imagine a SE the full length of a table would be ideal. You then get the tables coplanar at all 8 corners by moving any or all the 4 cams on each table, preferably monitoring with dial gauges.

That's about it, essentially it's determining by testing (SE, dial ind.) where the tables are at relative to each other then making the adjustments as required, with yours being a helix you do need to align the tables relative to the cutter head as a start point, I have straight blades so not as important for me.

Just a few questions :

Q1.at what point in the process do you adjust the edge of the outfeed table (nearest the cutter head) to be parallel with the top of the cutter head body? With a spiral head cutter? This is what you would need to be aiming for in the beginning of the process

Q2. if you raise or lower just one cam, does it change the level of the other three corners much? If so, do you then have to start over?Yes, because the cams are located inboard from each table end, when you raise a cam (to raise one end of the table) the other end will lower, it is something to keep in mind, what you can do to raise the end that lowered is then raise the table as a whole via the normal rise fall mechanisim, it might seem to be a going round in circles thing but little by little you get there.

Q3. once the two tables are made (ideally) coplanar at the cutter head and along their lengths, and the cams are all locked, does raising and lowering the infeed table to change depth of cut alter the corner levels so the two tables are not parallel surfaces any more? NO, as long the raise/lower mechanisim is working correctly it should be good, I have no issues with mine!

Q4. did you find that the factory alignment levels were much out immediately after you assembled the unit?

Mine came assembled, I did make some minor adjustments to it but the cause of the need for adjustment may have been my fault, I was moving it one time and it fell off the trolley onto it's side, no damage done but that may have knocked it out a bit.

Some further things to consider....when you start to make adjustments it will be good to know where each cam is at, Is it at top dead center (TDC) (max height) or bottom dead center (BDC) (lowest) or at some point in between, also 90° and 180° are the same height but for the same direction of cam rotation the height will move in opposite directions depending on which degree they are at, and let me tell you that can be very confusing

Thinking about the shelix head, the cutter edge has to be the reference point that you want the tables to be at the same height, with the SE out over the cutter and rotating the head the same height would be just as the SE just started to move, this done for both tables and both sides would mean that the next adjustment is to set coplanar in the length, if you don't have a long SE I'd just machine a piece of wood on edge, if the outfeed is high at the end your edge will be convex, if it is extreme you may only take some off the ends and if it is low the edge will be tend to be cancave, a sure sign of low is the trailing end of the piece will look like it is lifting off the infeed table, your cut will diminish to nothing as you take a cut and will not take a cut at the end.
I think you said in the vids they adjust the infeed table, I would think this is so they don't have to readjust the outfeed height at the cutter head everytime they adjust the far end.




Pete

Thanks for the answers to my questions Pete, and the additional info. Valuable advice about locating the top and bottom of the cam travel - will mark that on the cabinet on each adjuster.

Originally Posted by Dengue

Thanks for the answers to my questions Pete, and the additional info. Valuable advice about locating the top and bottom of the cam travel - will mark that on the cabinet on each adjuster.

No worries, if it's together you might be able to wiggle them out and eyeball it, otherwise you just have to move it and see what it does. I had a look at the grizzly vid which is good but there was also a lot more they could have said, anyway sounds like your on the way




Pete

Agree with your comments on the vids, Pete - I thought that they were pretty superficial, although the WoodWhisperer showed an uneven table and the measurements he got. Still, they explained the basic process to level parallelogram type tables.

My new Carbatec jointer will not be here until the end of March, so plenty of time for me to get ready

You might be worried about nothing yet, or Do you know it will arrive disassembled?

Hi Pete, to the best of my knowledge, it will arrive in two boxes, base and tables. But who really knows eh?

Yes, OK, we will need to see some pics of the new machine tho when all together




Pete

OK, will do - no problems there, just as long as I remember

Mine arrived with the bed in one box. Mighty heavy, but no major alignment issues. Minor tweaks only. It's a really nice machine. Crap dust extraction though.. It Needs major modification to make it work.