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Thread: Spiral Head conversion
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3rd August 2017, 11:17 AM #1SENIOR MEMBER
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Spiral Head conversion
I have a Woodfast PT310 the older yellow version.I recently purchased a spiral head cutter at the Sydney woodshow to fit into this machine.I have started to take out the old cutter head but unsure of exactly how to get the head and bearings out of the housing.I have taken the belt off the pulley and removed the pulley with the grub screws and key.I have checked the internet and there is no information i can find that is suitable.I also rang Woodfast and they say that you cannot fit a spiral cutter to that model as it was not designed for it.I was told that it would take a lot of modifying to make it work as they tried to do it 5 years ago.I would appreciate to hear from anyone who has any experience in this.
cheers.....Roy
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3rd August 2017, 12:06 PM #2SENIOR MEMBER
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Just been and measured the new head and what i can of the old and all the measurements are the same.So i cannot see how it won't fit.Looks like i may have to take off the infeed table to get more room.But i would like to hold off until someone may have more information.
cheers.....Roy
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3rd August 2017, 03:45 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Roy,
Where is Mt Kembla, in Australia or elsewhere? If Australia what state is it in? Asking as someone close by may help or offer to look at it for you.
To get the bearings off and out of the housing, a press is normally used, don't think that bashing it with a hammer will work, it usually ends up burring the end of the shaft, or damaging the housing. A press is best to put things back in place too, while you've got it apart, check the bearings to see that they're not rumbling, as now is the ideal time to do preventative maintenance on it.
KrynTo grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.
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3rd August 2017, 04:39 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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3rd August 2017, 04:48 PM #5Taking a break
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3rd August 2017, 06:04 PM #6SENIOR MEMBER
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G'day Kryn Mt Kembla is located is at the back of Wollongong up under the escarpment.Thanks for your advice i won't be doing anything rash.Looks like i have had an offer to help already.
cheers.........Roy
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3rd August 2017, 06:08 PM #7SENIOR MEMBER
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6th August 2017, 07:52 AM #8Senior Member
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Just thinking back to my Rexon planer.....You need a bearing puller (2 or 3 leg from someone like Supercheap Auto for around $20.00) then the shaft and blade housing will move sideways enough to get one end (usually the short, non-driven end) out of the frame, then the whole assy. will slide down and out. The new bearings will need to be "pressed" onto the shafts but this is not an exact science and a piece of aluminum tube slightly smaller then the O.D. of the bearing and a hammer will usually get the bearings seated. Depending on feel (if the bearings slide onto the shaft with minimal resistance, like you can push them on by hand) then some "Locktite" bearing lock on the shaft will make a good job of the work. You may need to remove the blades first (Remove them anyway, saves a trip to the Hospital emergency room for stitches to your hands) to get the cutterhead through the opening in the frame.
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6th August 2017, 10:27 AM #9SENIOR MEMBER
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Just a quick update on how things are going.Yesterday Chris Parks and his son Drew kindly came down to offer some help.Things were as i thought not a quick and easy job as was mentioned when i bought the cutterhead.The infeed table needed to be removed so the cutterhead could be pulled out.But also the housing that the cutterhead and bearings sit in also with the in and outfeed rollers had to be removed along with a few other bits and pieces.We were unable to remove the bearings or cutter with the tools we had so Drew kindly offered to take it to his work and remove them with a press.Chris is going to chase up some new bearings and get them fitted and then hopefully we can get it back together with out to many spare parts leftover So a big thanks to Chris and Drew for going above and beyond.Will post again after it's going.
cheers.....Roy
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6th August 2017, 10:32 AM #10Taking a break
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Spare parts just means you built it better
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6th August 2017, 11:24 AM #11
Every time you pull something apart and put it back together again you always have a part left over, but no matter how many times you do it you never seem to have enough parts to make two of them.
Roy, having upgraded my thicknesser and jointer to spiral heads, I know you won't regret the effort to do it. It does not sound as if it is one of he easy models to upgrade.
Good to see the forum community spirit is still alive and well with Chris and Drew coming to lend a hand.I got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.
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6th August 2017, 06:02 PM #12
"An engineer is the guy who knows which bits to leave out"
Good on Chris and Drew for helping out. Still pondering whether to upgrade my JET JPT-310 to a spiral head.....short term pain for long term gain?
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6th August 2017, 06:40 PM #13GOLD MEMBER
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It depends....
Is the machine worth it or can you sell it as is and buy a new machine with helical head already installed for not a lot more money.
Can you confidently change it or get help to do so.
Do you use the machine enough to justify the cost.
Do you often get damaged blades.CHRIS
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6th August 2017, 06:51 PM #14
In addition to what Chris said:
Do you have a thicknesser with a spiral head? If so it greatly reduces the need. (joint one side, put through thicknesser jointed side down until smooth, flip board over and finish jointed side with the helix head on the thicky.
If you have jointer and thicknesser, upgrade thicknesser first, then reassess if you need to do the jointer (amount of use, etc as per Chris's post.)I got sick of sitting around doing nothing - so I took up meditation.
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6th August 2017, 10:07 PM #15SENIOR MEMBER
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