Combo jointer / planer question

[Greg Parrish]

Okay, so the clamping lever improved the snipe but it’s not gone. Now I’m wondering if the snipe from before is continuing to transfer during thicknessing.

Will go back in a moment and start with a new board on the jointer and will then run that through the thicknesser to see if snipe is gone now that I’ve figured out the clamping lever has to be tightened during use.

Boy oh boy. Do 4 post type planners require the clamp or lock during planing. The dewalt didn’t have this feature. Well, if it did, I never used it. LOL

[Julie Moriarty]

There was no lock on the 735. Dewalt says it's self locking. I can add, "...well sometimes."

[Greg Parrish]

Made one more discovery. I think anyway.

the extrusion is slightly crowned in the middle. It has a clamp underneath that once tightened seems to pull the center of the extrusion flat. Sort of like a spring clamp of sorts.

So, I’ll need to go back and make a slight adjustment now that I see how it’s working so it will pull itself flat and in line with the planer bed when clamped in place.

If if anyone else noticed this or if this isn’t what should be happening please let me know. I’m frustrated with it as the instructions are about useless for anything other than just studying the diagram and interpreting function from that diagram on your own.

[Bill McNiel]

Greg,
My experience, all of 5 days, with the jointer function on my A3 41 is that one doesn't need to press down on the feed side very much at all. The machine seems to suck the material down on its own, not sure if this is a result of the cutter head or dust collection but it is definately different than my previous jointer.

Second issue regards the height of the cutter head relative to the outfeed table. I have yet to find any Felder/Hammer info concerning the Silent Head, as opposed to the knife head. At least SMC provided some semblance of instruction in this post (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....ble-adjustment). Blessings on the members here.

I would love any input from Creekers who have a Hammer as to the most desirable height, so far I have settled on having the Silent Head higher than the "Owners Manual" shows for knives.

As for snipe with the planner, I think it might be a reflection of the jointing process. I personally have not experienced any issues with planning as long as the jointing was done right.

Don't hesitate to contact me, i have been screwing around with this machine for a week and am "happy" to pass along whatever I have learned. The Owners Manual SUCKS!!!!

Regards - Bill

[Brian Holcombe]

Fix the snipe with the jointer first. Just a guess but likely the outfeed table us slightly low. I would check to see if the tables are parallel, then adjust the outfeed to be about .001” lower than the peak of the cutter. I did this on my jointer to eliminate a very very minor snipe.

After that, see if it snipes on the planer. Likely it is simply a minor adjustment being needed.

[Greg Parrish]

Thanks Bill. Hearing others first experiences help.

Thanks Brian I’ll look at the jointer beds tomorrow and check with the straight edge for parallel. Then I’ll check the outfeed height. Will report back after I do that. Hopefully the table is easy to adjust if needed.

Thanks again.

[Brian Holcombe]

It's a good thing to really dig into the machine when you get it, you learn considerably more than if you just run it and everything is spot on. It also makes it considerably less nerve wracking to break the seal on factory settings.

My J/P was very accurate from the factory, but I couldn't help but tweak it a bit and the result was a minor improvement. You should be able to get the planer to work without snipe without extensions. The extensions are good for really long pieces of wood, but not really needed on short stuff.

I'm not surprised that the extrusions are not flat, I've yet to get a totally flat extrusion of any make including Aigner.

[Julie Moriarty]

So you spend $5K on a machine because it's engineered so well and when you go to use it, it performs poorly? Makes me wonder if I can refuse delivery tomorrow.

This whole thing about Felder covering their butt with all the documents you have to sign and then saying you're on your own to fix it if there are problems when you go to use it is so wrong. I've taken delivery of pricey tools on the job and they worked right out of the box. If they didn't, contractors wouldn't buy them. Why is this lack of quality control and failure to accept responsibility for delivering a properly working product accepted in woodworking? I just don't get it.

[Brian Holcombe]

Both minimax machines I bought new were perfectly in spec.
The Felder mortiser, I assume, was still set as it left the factory as I can’t imagine anyone purposefully setting it up as it was. I would double check every setting on that machine and bring them all within spec myself.

You can gripe about this stuff all you want, I do plenty, but if you want to get working then you’re best off just to deal with the problem. The result is that you know the machine very well afterward.

There is good reason why so many people on this board have machinist type checking tools, it just comes with the territory of working with machinery.

[Julie Moriarty]

Kind of like an expensive European sports car being dropped off in your driveway and the driver saying, "If you have good mechanical skills, the right tools and the time and patience to get it running right, you're gonna love this car."

[Greg Parrish]

Ha, it reminds me of an Al Bundy episode where the neighbors are telling Peggy they should get a European luxury car like theirs. She goes to talk about the high end leather, the sound of the engine, the smell, etc. then pulls out a stack of pictures they just received in the mail from the shop it’s been in the last 8 months. Goes on to say, here are pictures of the guys crating it up to go back to Germany for repairs. It must be very exotic problem since they can’t fix it here. LOL

anyway, I’m not whining so much as just being dissappointed that it isn’t ready to work out of the box. I really needed it to be an easy, turn it on and get to work process. I understand most new machines take some fiddling to install accessories and initial parts but it sucks to have to do any major alignment adjustments straight off the line.

And I do understand that a new 12” parallelogram jointer and 15” 4 post planer might have had to have the same type stuff done had I gone that route. I’m basing this on experience with the dewalt and a Powermatic 6” jointer that worked perfect right out of the box for about 1/3 the cost.

Ill get get back to mine tonight to check bed alignment and go from there.

[Julie Moriarty]

I’m basing this on experience with the dewalt and a Powermatic 6” jointer that worked perfect right out of the box for about 1/3 the cost.

Exactly. If they can get it right (with the PM being shipped from China) why can't these fancy European manufacturers do the same? Apparently, they don't see the need.

[glenn bradley]

Kind of like an expensive European sports car being dropped off in your driveway and the driver saying, "If you have good mechanical skills, the right tools and the time and patience to get it running right, you're gonna love this car."

Oh, you mean like a Harley? Just kidding . . . It is jolting to find that machines are machines regardless of price. some are inherently poor and others quite good but, an assembly and QA process still basically drive the customers perceptions on receipt. We see good and bad stories on all tiers of the tool world on here.

[glenn bradley]

I’ve figured out the clamping lever has to be tightened during use. Boy oh boy. Do 4 post type planners require the clamp or lock during planing. The dewalt didn’t have this feature. Well, if it did, I never used it. LOL

Just some clarity; in the lunchbox planer world the elevation design of the 735 does not require a lock. Other small planers are notorious for their snipe with some exceptions. My DW734 had a carriage lock and I was able to use it snipe-free for years. A friend with a Delta Shopmaster (read Snipemaster) could never get past it and just gave up and wasted the material as a matter of course.

[Rod Sheridan]

Okay, so the clamping lever improved the snipe but it’s not gone. Now I’m wondering if the snipe from before is continuing to transfer during thicknessing.

Will go back in a moment and start with a new board on the jointer and will then run that through the thicknesser to see if snipe is gone now that I’ve figured out the clamping lever has to be tightened during use.

Boy oh boy. Do 4 post type planners require the clamp or lock during planing. The dewalt didn’t have this feature. Well, if it did, I never used it. LOL

Hi my A3 has zero snipe without the lock being used..........Rod.