Minimax FS41 Elite - How To Add Motorized Height Adjustment

[Len Rosenberg]

I've had my FS41 Elite for 7 years. It is a great machine, works flawlessly, but I'm really tired of having to bend down to turn the hand crank to raise and lower the planer bed by 6 inches every time I need to switch from jointer to planer or vice versa. Has anyone made a motorized height adjuster for a FS41 Elite? If so, can you share how and what parts were used? Thanks for any suggestions!

Len

[Erik Loza]

Len, a former customer of mine attached a mandrel to the handwheel shaft on his FS41E and was able to use a cordless drill gun to act as power-drive. Jeff… (I’m forgetting his last name); maybe he will chime in.

Erik

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's what I use on my Hammer jointer-planer. It is a way of using a cordless drill to drive the handwheel which cranks the planer bed up and down. It requires no modification to the jointer-planer, and took about twenty minutes to build. You just put it on the handwheel, and pull the drill's trigger. If you want to fine-tune the handwheel position, you just put the drill-plus-connector down, and hand-crank the handwheel.

I don't know your Minimax machine, but I'd bet that this approach can work on it.

Here's the drill, the connector, and the handwheel -- which is mostly enveloped in this view by the connector.
482202

Here's the connector seen from the other direction.
482203

[Dan Friedrichs]

Lisa Starr recently posted a phenomenal job she did adding a stepper motor: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?297320-Hammer-A3-31-converted-to-quot-CNC-quot

I did it with a brushed motor: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?253281-DIY-PowerDrive-electronic-table-raise-lower-for-a-Hammer-A3-31&highlight=

(both on Felder units, but I assume not too dissimilar from what you're looking for :) )

[Phil Gaudio]

Something I posted a few years ago: still in use and still working great:
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?284155-Thinking-about-getting-a-Minimax-FS-41ES-Thoughts&p=3036099&highlight=#post3036099

[David Buchhauser]

Len, a former customer of mine attached a mandrel to the handwheel shaft on his FS41E and was able to use a cordless drill gun to act as power-drive. Jeff… (I’m forgetting his last name); maybe he will chime in.

Erik

Erik - that's exactly what I was thinking! I have been cranking the knee on my Bridgeport mill up and down for years, and just recently discovered and purchased a socket that I can install in my Milwaukee 18v cordless drill to motorize the process. Of course it isn't going to move it to the exact spot you want, but will get it close and then install the manual crank wheel and dial it in by hand.

David

482238482239482240

[Erik Loza]

David, that’s a great solution. A machine shop could probably bore out the ID pretty easily (if required).

Erik

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks to all for the great suggestions! Phil G, how did you modify the hand wheel? Looks like you mounted a 1/2" drive socket in the center? How is it mounted?

Thanks,

Len

[Greg Quenneville]

For those of us with handwheel dials I have seen somewhere a lexan disc fixed to the face of the handwheel with a nut fixed to the middle of the disc. (Short section of threaded rod with a nut on each side). That allowed the inventor use of a battery drill plus keeping the dial indicator for height.

That said, I like Lisa's device very much. I wish I knew how to program.

Greg