Thread: Thicknesser cutters missing workpiece

Originally Posted by labr@

The problem: Changed the cutters on my Jet JWP12 today and now the blades seem to be missing the workpiece by a couple of mm.

Background:
Last time I used it was several weeks ago and there was very little material being removed.
I was trying to take very light cuts because the thickness control (winder / whatever) was being forced back up as the workpiece went through.
I put this down to blades being very dull after thicknessing painted reclaimed timber.

Today I changed the cutters using the setting gauge to obtain correct cutter height.
Ran a test piece through and found that although the thickness was wound down to 1mm below the thickness of the timber it was not taking anything off.
The feed rollers were at the point where they felt significantly tight. I am reluctant to wind it down any more as it feels like I am forcing the workpiece in and I don't remember it being like this when I first bought it.

Looking underneath and putting a straight piece of timber in there it appears that the cutters are about 2mm above the roller height.
I imagined that the rollers would be spring mounted and therefore have some vertical movement but can't feel any of this.

This photo shows the gauge in place on one of the newly installed blades.
Blade gauge no gap [1024x768].JPG

I really don't think the blades are set incorrectly. Even if 1 was off or uneven then there should still be some cutting going on from the other - or at least at 1 end.

The question: Do any of you experienced people have any idea what's going on and how to fix it?
(Actually the same goes for you inexperienced people as well because at this moment I have no flamin' idea at all.)

Sounds like the in-feed and/or out-feed rollers have moved out of adjustment.

I have the jwp16 so the setup is different, but ...

From memory, the in-feed and out-feed rollers are height adjustable. The manual describes the method to check them .. Either against the position of the knives or against the position of the cutter head.

Thanks for the suggestion Glenn. You could well be right about what's happened but unfortunately the manual for this one says nothing about the feed rollers.

In fact the entire manual is not very good. The only detail is in the section on how to change the cutters - and even that has an error.

I would have a go at sending Jet an email ... Unless someone else with this particular machine has any suggestions.

Thanks again Glenn - but I think I'm onto it. Did what I should have done in the first place and took the cover off to have a better look. The rollers are sprung and the bearing carriers appear to be jamming. I suspect they just need a good clean out. I did get them to move and was able to run a small piece of timber through that cleaned up OK but they still feel very stiff.

The question now is will I do any damage using compressed air in there? I'm always wary of the air gun so will try to get a good vacuum connection on there first along with a bit of levering up and down.

Mine is not a jet but I do blow it out with compressed air and no problems.
Regards
John