Unitronix Polamco 16” Jointer ???????

[Chris Rosenberger]

Unitronix Polamco FJ-41.2 HEAVY DUTY 16" JOINTER
Has anyone heard of this brand jointer before?
I did a internet search & all I could find was the listing for this jointer. The dealer that has it for sale, sold it new in the 70's. They have not sold the brand for years & no longer have information on hand. They believe it was built in Italy. The jointer does not have a name plate. It was removed when the stock feeder mount was installed.
The jointer has a 16 1/4" wide 4 blade cutter head with carbide blades & a 99" long table. It has a 5hp 3 ph motor with a cutter head brake & it is in very good condition & is very heavy. I would like to find a manual for it.
It is now setting in my shop.

[Bruce Page]

Congrats!

I haven't heard of it but it looks like an excellent professional grade machine.

Did you get a good deal on it?

[Larry Edgerton]

Nice.......

How much?

[Charles B Wilson]

Chris,

The Unitronix / Polamco Machine line was manufactured in Poland. As I remember it is a solid no frills type of machine. I have never used a jointer of theirs but have played with a saw and shaper years ago.

Exfactory may have some parerwork on their website.



Charles

[Chris Rosenberger]

Thanks for the replies.

Thank you Charles for the information. I will check Exfactory.


I am going to get an estimate for getting a Byrd cutter head made for it. So tonight I pulled the cutter head out of it to get measurements. I found bearings I have never seen before. The center will tumble sideways inside the race.
Has anyone else seen this type of bearing before?

[Charles B Wilson]

Looks like a double row self aligning ball bearing.

http://www.bearingstrade.com/self-al...-bearings.html


CW

[Darius Ferlas]

Polamco used to be a division of Poland's Metalexport.
It seems the US contact might be possibly found here


And a little trivia:

In 1970's/1980's the president of the company was a Polish spy working against the US

[Bruce Page]

Looks like a double row self aligning ball bearing.

http://www.bearingstrade.com/self-al...-bearings.html


CW

Yep, think precision pillow block.

[Calvin Crutchfield]

Nice find. Hope it was a good deal.

Got three phase? If not and it is your only planned 3 phase machine, get a VFD. Better option than a rotary phase converter with regards to space ease of install etc . . .

As for the byrd cutter head, I believe they have a 16" one for the Felder jointer/planer combo and it is $1,500.

Have fun.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Nice find. Hope it was a good deal.

Got three phase? If not and it is your only planned 3 phase machine, get a VFD. Better option than a rotary phase converter with regards to space ease of install etc . . .

As for the byrd cutter head, I believe they have a 16" one for the Felder jointer/planer combo and it is $1,500.

Have fun.

Thanks Calvin.
I have 3 phase in my shop. I am hoping the head will be around $1500. It will be a custom head so I need to send Byrd ball park measurements for a quote.
It has a big cutter head. It is 4 7/8" in diameter. So the price may be a little higher.

[Paul Murphy]

Chris, I have what I think is the same machine. When I bought it (over 15 years ago) Unitronix had some relationship with Fortis machine, although I am not too sure exactly what that was.

I had a Baldor single phase motor installed, and other than a fuse in the original start relay, a set of belts, and new knives, it is original.

Set the knives @ 1.1 mm or .0433 in. above the cutterhead.

Stock knives were 410 mm x 35 x 3, but I have been running 16-1/8” x 1-3/8 x 1/8 which are a little thicker, and I had to grind a bit on my wrench to get it thin enough to set the knives. If you want to cut a rabbet, be sure to project the end of the knives by about 1/8” so as to clear the side of the outfeed table.

I think it weighs ~1650 lb, and runs (2) 8 x 13 x 1400 mm v-belts, which worked out to be close to the 4L56/A54 standard.

The fence on mine has a bit of play, but I just park it against the base of the powerfeed to stabilize it. Someday I might see about actually taking the play out…

A Byrd cutter head sounds very nice. Let us know what you find out! I dream of one at every knife replacement.

I have the 19 page "manual", but other than an electrical diagram it doesn't get very detailed.

[Chip Lindley]

....As I remember it is a solid no frills type of machine.

Um....isn't that STEFF stock feeder a *frill*?

Jointers are pretty straight-forward machines. Not sure what other *frills* anybody would want....except flat, parallel tables and a flat 90 degree fence!

[Joe Meazle]

Great find Chris! can we get some some close ups of that guard. I have a 12" faux Oliver and the big pork chop guard is in the way when face jointing wide stock. I have been contemplating some type of hinged guard that would fall away during wide jointing (trying).

Joe

[Chris Rosenberger]

Chris, I have what I think is the same machine. When I bought it (over 15 years ago) Unitronix had some relationship with Fortis machine, although I am not too sure exactly what that was.

I had a Baldor single phase motor installed, and other than a fuse in the original start relay, a set of belts, and new knives, it is original.

Set the knives @ 1.1 mm or .0433 in. above the cutterhead.

Stock knives were 410 mm x 35 x 3, but I have been running 16-1/8” x 1-3/8 x 1/8 which are a little thicker, and I had to grind a bit on my wrench to get it thin enough to set the knives. If you want to cut a rabbet, be sure to project the end of the knives by about 1/8” so as to clear the side of the outfeed table.

I think it weighs ~1650 lb, and runs (2) 8 x 13 x 1400 mm v-belts, which worked out to be close to the 4L56/A54 standard.

The fence on mine has a bit of play, but I just park it against the base of the powerfeed to stabilize it. Someday I might see about actually taking the play out…

A Byrd cutter head sounds very nice. Let us know what you find out! I dream of one at every knife replacement.

I have the 19 page "manual", but other than an electrical diagram it doesn't get very detailed.

Thanks for the info Paul.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Great find Chris! can we get some some close ups of that guard. I have a 12" faux Oliver and the big pork chop guard is in the way when face jointing wide stock. I have been contemplating some type of hinged guard that would fall away during wide jointing (trying).

Joe

I will post the pictures shortly.

Chris