wheel alingment on powerfeeders?

[andy photenas]

Hi there, I just got a new shaper table and it came with a power feeder. I have never used one before and was wondering if all of the wheels should be in the same plane? Or should i say should they all touch the wood at the same time with the same pressure?
The issue im having is the feeder spins its wheels and the wood does not move through. I do have the machine set below the wood by around 1/4". It seems the middle wheel protrudes from the plane of the front and back wheels by a noticable amount. This is a small 3 wheel machine.

[David Kumm]

Wax the table and probably change the wheels. Urethane blue or yellow from Western Roller or Axiom will make a world of difference. Dave

[Erik Loza]

Ditto on the aftermarket poly wheels. Whatever that yellowish rubber it is that the feeder mfrs. use, after it sits for a long time (i.e. "machine bought at auction"...), it becomes somewhat glazed and loses it elasticity.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[andy photenas]

Ill go look for those wheels online ty vm !

How about the height on the wheels should they all be the same ?

[Cary Falk]

I am no feeder expert but I had the same problem and waxed the table and also ran the feeder and held a piece of 60 grit sand paper on the wheels to remove the glaze. Works great now. Mine are yellow rubber.

[J.R. Rutter]

Same height on the wheels: 1/8" to 1/4" of travel depending on how you are cutting (more pressure for climb cuts and/or large cuts). Toe in towards the reference fence about the same: 1/8" to 1/4" depending on the cut and how the wood is behaving. The urethane wheels are great, but the rubber will work if it is not glazed. If this is a baby feeder, then urethane might not be an option - but I don't know much about them, just big feeders. Ditto everyone else on cleaning and waxing the table to allow the wood to slide smoothly. Congrats on the new machinery!

[david brum]

Andi

I got a "new" shaper with power feeder this year also. Mine came with an older 1/4 hp, 3 wheel Grizzly feeder. The wheels were ancient and really hard. I called Wester Roller to order new ones and learned that I could buy rollers in standard width or extra wide. I got the extra wide ones in blue urethane and they are amazing. They are really grabby, especially with the extra width adding more surface area. I find that the feeder is also easier to set up, since I don't have to be as precise about how much to compress the roller springs. i think the set of three was around $80.

BTW, my feeder has the middle wheel slightly higher off the table than the end wheels. Don't know why but it doesn't seem to matter. Mine are all in the same plane viewed from the top. If you have one sticking out, you might want to remove it to see if there's an obstruction behind it or if the screws are loose.

[Judson Green]

I've got the small delta stock feeder, bought it used, needed new wheels cause old ones were hard/glazed, bought some from grizzly, work great.

[andy photenas]

Wow guys i cant tell you how great it is to have found a group that can speak my language!!
I will buy some new wheels and pull this machine apart to learn how it works better now im loaded with ammo when i do it ty vm all :)

[Jeff Duncan]

The new wheels will make all the difference in the world. If you need to use it now though clean them up with lacquer thinner and the coarsest grit sandpaper you can find. That'll get you by for a short while. As far as one wheel being a different size that's not good. If you have to ability to turn it down then again….you can make it usable in the short run. Long run replacing with new poly tires will resolve all the issues.

good luck,
Jeffd

[andy photenas]

time to wheel shop! ty again