Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | Sep 25, 2002 04:58am | #1

   "That board is toast" -- glad it wasn't your hand! 

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

2. 
   RSRose | Sep 25, 2002 05:51am | #2

   Mark,

   I think that you have covered the possibilities of the problem: damaged bearings, damaged cutterhead or both. There's a possibility that the cutter head assembly has been slightly dislodged. Can you remove it and reseat it?

   Changing bearings is not that hard to do, but if the head is warped that won't help.

   The bearings are sealed. You shouldn't and can't lubricate them or clean them. Only replace them.

   Rich

   
   

   ---

   Edited 9/24/2002 10:53:01 PM ET by Rich Rose

1. 
   MarkMortensen | Sep 25, 2002 06:56am | #3

   Thanks Rich.

   I have it partially dismantled and will look into reseating the cutterhead.  I do notice that when I spin it slowly by hand I can hear a slight grating from one of the bearings, but not the other one, so I'm suspecting bearing problems.

   Out of curiousity, how does one check for a warped cutterhead?  Is it really possible to warp a cutterhead during a single kickback event?  It seems to be a pretty substantial piece of metal!

   -Mark

1. 
   RSRose | Sep 25, 2002 07:31am | #4

   Mark,

   I don't know if it's possible to check for a warped cutterhead without the kind of precision tools used in its milling. Is it possible? Yeah, I guess so. Probable? very, very low.

   It does sound like you have a bearing problem (which is actually good news.) Bearings are designed to fail under excessive load and to be replaced. No big.

   BUT, if after replacing the bearings, the problem persists, well, one would have to think of damage to the head, or the bearing seats. I think replacing the bearing will do it.

   "Is it really possible to warp a cutter head?"

   My dad was the floor manager for the Phila. Inquirer newspaper long ago. Newspaper presses have massive steel cylinders that the printing plates are bolted onto that run at high speed. They're machined steel, 3 feet in diameter, 5 feet long. I'll never forget a call one morning at 2 am. that woke us all up. My father was on the phone saying, "uh huh. Uh huh. Uh huh. Huh?" A press had had a paper jam. He got off the phone and stood there with an incredulous look on his face. He said, dumdfounded, "They bent a cylinder!"

   Rich

1. 
   MarkMortensen | Sep 25, 2002 04:57pm | #5

   Thanks so much for your input, Rich.  Makes me feel more comfortable dismantling the jointer, knowing I'm probably on the right track!

   -Mark

1. 
   JeffKurtz | Sep 25, 2002 07:39pm | #6

   Mark,

   Rich is right-on.  When you get the bearing replaced, check the cutter head with a dial indicator to be sure it or its shaft aren't damaged.

   Good Lord man, what were you running through that thing!?!?  Dittos on the glad you weren't hurt comment.

   Jeff

2. 
   FreeGee | Sep 25, 2002 10:32pm | #7

   Hi,

   It's very unlikely that a bearing is damaged by the impact. Bearings are hardenend and in application like this they are probably overdimensioned anyway. Much more likely that the shaft is bent as this will be unhardened material. The bearing noise may have been there all the time.

   Gert

1. 
   JeffKurtz | Sep 26, 2002 12:27am | #8

   FreeGee,

   Any sudden, strong force can and often will damage a bearing - that's why old high-impact applications used babbitt or similar materials.  Remember the high speed at which the shaft is turning.  Even the smallest damage inside the bearing can/will cause even greater damage in moments. 

   That point aside, I agree, it may well be the shaft.

   Jeff

2. 
   DennisS | Sep 28, 2002 05:45am | #11

   Out of curiousity, how does one check for a warped cutterhead? 

   It's maybe more expensive than something you'd want to buy, but there's a tool called (I think) A-lineIt or something like that. Check the Woodcraft websight. Search on Aline or dial indicator or the like. This is a very, very handy piece of setup equipment that's works with almost every tool you might have in your shop. And it's extremely accurate.

   With all the mounting accessories that come with the full system, you can easily check for runout on the cutter head of your jointer. It works pretty well for setting the knives, too.

   Aside from that, if you have a good steel straightedge like the blade from a Starret try square, and a set of feeler gauges, set the straightedge on the outfeed table and rotate the cutter head while gauging the distance between the cutterhead and straightedge with your feeler gauge.

   As I'm sure you know, the power cord is UNplugged during any of the above operations.

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]

3. 
   PTurtiak | Sep 27, 2002 06:54am | #9

   Hi MM,  have you inspected the drive belt?  You might have created a gouge on it thus creating the vibration and sound. 

   best of luck

   Peter

1. 
   MarkMortensen | Sep 27, 2002 08:25pm | #10

   No, I haven't looked at it but I'll check it out.  I'm pretty sure the bearings were the major culprit as even with the belt disconnected, I could spin the cutterhead and the low whine still persisted.  I could distinctly hear it coming from one of the bearings.

   I've removed the cutterhead from the jointer but can't get the belt sprocket off.  It almost seems as if Delta welded it on!  So I'm taking it in to a repair shop today to remove the recalcitrant sprocket.  Hope to be up and running this weekend.

   Thanks for the input!

   -Mark