Questions regarding the Felder BF631

[steven sivak]

HI!
I am new here and new to the combination machine world...

Regardless I have the opportunity to purchase a 1999 BF 631 for a ridiculously low price.
It does come with some issues that I need to mentally resolve before pulling the trigger.

Felder considers this an "old" machine and thus the parts are questionable as to whether Austria has them
on their shelf. Since I don't own the machine as of yet, they want $100/hr to talk to a tech! The East Coast
office claims they have one person who is familiar with the unit....

The problems that I see are as follows:
1. Only one spindle is included- and it is NOT the router spindle, which I would use
2. The spindle that is on the machine tilts forward and aft as designed but this machine has it tilted left and right.
I can see that there are two bolts and double nuts that allow one to adjust this left to right position- is this correct?
3. There are some electric issues:
a. brake for planer does not engage- planer continues to spin until it runs out of energy
b. ONLY the planer motor works- shaper and saw do not turn on
I thought I read somewhere that there is an interlock that prevents the saw/shaper motor from turning on
if the sliding blade cover is not fully in position- The blade covers (the sliding piece(s) that are moved out of the way
when changing blades, on this machine I believe it is made of three individual guards. The guard that is furthest
away from the operator when sawing, is missing but might be found. Would this missing guard be the culprit?

If I could solve these problems, the rest would be elbow grease, which I am not afraid of!

Some random pics attached- auto why they are upside down is beyond me!

IMG_7970.jpgIMG_7969.jpgIMG_7974.jpgIMG_7976.jpgIMG_7978.jpgIMG_7980.jpg

[Mike King]

Sounds like a major project. I'd suggest you raise these questions on the Felder Owners Group (https://groups.io/g/felderownersgroup) -- you are much more likely to find folk familiar with that machine there than on this forum.

[steven sivak]

thanks for the tip!

[Greg Quenneville]

There are sometimes used router spindles that come up for sale. Otherwise you could make s small router table that couples with the “S” rail at the outfeed end of the machine with a support leg. I had one of those on my first combination machine and it worked fine and was true variable speed instead of the max 10,000rpm of the router spindle.

2. The shaper trunnion is either broken or detached on the right side for the spindle to be tilted over like that.

3.The machine may not have braking…my 1999 does not as it was optional. In fact my machine has a bare bones electrical system.The electrical schematic is typically in the electrical compartment below the saw elevation handle.

4. The sliding sheet metal cover under the slider should be one piece. And the interlock switch is on the left side when looking at the slider. I seem to recall that that switch is oart of the e-stop circuit. If so it would also prevent the planer motor from running.

You may have dust in the contactors or mode select switch.

I assume the shaper hood and crosscut fence are both included?

Greg

[Bill Dufour]

Might help if we knew what machines this combines. You mentioned router and planer. Does it have a shaper as well? maybe a jointer. Never heard of one with a saw blade like yours.
I did try to look it up and all found was folks selling them as 3 in one and 5 in one machines. They also neglected to mention what those machines were.
BilL D

[john lawson]

I would put this in the category of if you are going to "get married to the machine" it may be a good fit. What I mean by that is you will have to devote yourself to this machine and take the bad with the good. You may have to be very patient and do a lot of work yourself or have it contracted out locally to a machinist who is your friend and does not gouge you too badly. You will have to learn every part of the machine. This machine probably does not have many/any electronic circuits so if you're handy with electric circuits or want to learn you should be okay. As someone mentioned parts show up occasionally and that's where patience comes in; you can normally get them for a reasonable price.

If it were me and I decided to get this machine I would put it in my shop, sort out everything I could, then make a list. Call the Felder tech and spend a few hours with him asking questions. Record the call. Be prepared and very thorough. But don't wait too long to call him, he can save you a lot of time with technical issues and set up and calibration issues. Maybe a second call a few weeks or months after the first. The biggest issues I would try to sort out before purchasing is checking out the castings, big parts of the machine and motors. You can check the winding on the motors and that might tell you if the motors are bad, won't necessarily tell you if they are good.

It's a great machine and if you are the kind of person who dedicates themself to problem solving it could be a very cost effective and satisfying way to get a great machine for very few dollars. If you are not it could be a nightmare that you wind up scrapping or giving away. Good luck either way.

[Rod Sheridan]

Might help if we knew what machines this combines. You mentioned router and planer. Does it have a shaper as well? maybe a jointer. Never heard of one with a saw blade like yours.
I did try to look it up and all found was folks selling them as 3 in one and 5 in one machines. They also neglected to mention what those machines were.
BilL D

Hi Bill, the BF631 has a shaper, a sliding table saw and a 31cm jointer/planer.

There is also an optional slot mortiser, it depends whether the owner bought that or not.

In March I was providing training for someone who purchased a used BF631.

The first photo shows the view of the saw/shaper portion with blade guard and riving knife removed.

The second shows the jointer/planer with the optional slot mortiser on (they “clip” on and off the machine to allow easy use of the jointer). The control switch allows you to select jointer/planer forward or reverse so you can use either hand of bit in the slot mortiser.

This particular machine was in excellent condition, and included the mobility kit.

IMG_2629.jpgIMG_2630.jpg

Regards, Rod

[Greg Quenneville]

It may also be helpful to know that many of the ‘99 parts are common to the CF-731 series combo machines up until around 2006. The BF series however cannot use the CF series table extensions and power feed bracket but both are still available from Felder.

The Felder user group already mentioned has complete manuals and parts diagrams in the user files section.

Greg