[OP]
Contributor
Anyone know if the planer speed can be reduced w/o major rebuild? The stock speed is about 30 fpm, and my nearly 4 hp machine bogs down if I try to take off more than about 1/32". This seems rediculous to me. If I could cut the speed in half cut quality would improve and I'd be able to take off more wood per pass when I want to. Thanks for any info. you may have.
John
Contributor
You probably have a different root cause. Dull blades perhaps, or some really hard wood, or some other mechanical issue? I have a 12-inch Minimax combo and never had the planer bog down with around 1/16" depth. Have not tried more, but I am sure your machine is rated for a lot more than 1/32" depth of cut.
Member
Something doesn't seem right. My 14" machine has a 4.8HP motor and I except once which I accidentally tried to take about 3/16-1/4" off a wide maple board haven't noticed bogging down. How are your blades? Is the motor connection all good? have you tried to check the amp draw of the motor under load?
[OP]
Contributor
The blades are sharp. The amp draw is around 18-19 amps under load. Seriously, I can't take off more than 1/32" on nearly any 12" board regardless of species.
John
Contributor
John, Tersa head or regular?
Erik
Ex-SCM and Felder rep
[OP]
Contributor
Regular head with straight knives.
John
Contributor
some thing wrong, invincible 3 hp have taken 1/8 off though normally would not,. YOu have a good point though about changing feed speed, these machines would be better if you could have a gear drive motor and dial in your speed like my little moulding machine. it runs birdseye fine, the SCM im trying to hold the boards to slow them down realize the trans will ahve to come apart and figure out a way to adapt a gear feed motor to do that. cutter head stays the same feed rate what you want.
what wood and how wide?
[OP]
Contributor
As I said above, any species 12" wide will bring the machine to a near halt if I try to take off much more than 1/32". As far as I can tell, the motor is fine as it draws the number of amps it should and is consistent with what's on the motor plate - 18.6 IIRC.
The knives are sharp, both when I got it and since I sharpened them after I knocked them on a hidden nail.
If something is wrong I think it has more to do with the design than with the machine itself. 3.8 HP, or there abouts, is just not enough grunt to take off much wood at 30 fpm. Cutting the speed in half would go a long way towards getting the machine in a better operating range. I think newer models have lower feed speeds, and maybe more HP, too. They did that for a reason.
John
Contributor
John,
I have a very old Minimax FS35 and don't have the problems you describe in the least. It routinely takes off more than 1/16" from wide hardwood boards. It sounds like your machine might be the problem and not the design. Here is the old girl.
Frontal.jpg
Contributor
sorry had looked back to the first post about width. I think any machine is going to slow a bit how much I dont know. My general 14" would have on 3 HP and the SCM would as well but not as much and im talking minimal so much so never bothered to really note it, an RPM gauge would tell mere. Are any pulleys changed or all stock. Next the motor gurus might say if its possible for a motor to lose power in time, dont think ive ever seen that or even a motor burn out on my stuff switches many. anyone know of a decent quality RPM gauge? is there some sort of counter weight thing guess im just wondering if anything was changed.
Member
Did you get the machine used and was it ever modified? How many knives is the cutter head?
If you open the back of the machine you see the power system between the cutter head and the infeed rollers. You might be able to change a few sprockets to reduce the rollers speed. Incidentally I once wanted to change the chain on mine and it was a very odd size that I couldn't find in any supplier here.
[OP]
Contributor
Mine looks a lot like yours, Rich. Early 80's I think. I bought it last year from the original and only owner who hardly used it. It looked nearly new. He apparently had some trouble with the original starting module on it because what was on it wasn't OE. Turns out it wasn't right, either, as it kept tripping out whenever I put much load on it. Close inspection showed he had a 10-16 amp AEG starting module on it, which he bought through SCMI, which was a real surprise because the motor plate says it draws 18.6 amps which I have confirmed is true. I bought a 16-20 amp AEG relay for it and the motor now runs w/o tripping out.
If something is wrong with it I have no clue what it is - and I'm all ears as to what it might be.
I have it wired to a 10 gage, 30 amp dedicated circuit, that I used to run a 5HP planer on, so it's not being starved for power.
John
Contributor
John, have you waxed the planer bed recently?
Erik
Ex-SCM and Felder rep
Contributor
Since you likely need to remove the motor to swap pulleys, I'd take it to a shop and have it checked. 20-25 years is about the life of a metric motor used in some woodworking machines so it could have an issue that only shows up when under heavy load. I had a planer that had the motor rewound to 440 but was sold as 220 and the motor plate confirmed it. Drove me crazy because it bogged down under load. I doubt that is your problem but it sounds like there could be a motor issue. Dave
[OP]
Contributor
As far as I can tell it's all stock and I'M pretty sure the cutter head is turning the correct rpm. The motor is definitely the original.
I have waxed the planer bed.
New machines have a 4.8 HP motor even on the 12" wide model and run down to 23 fpm with a 1/8" max cut. MM made that change for some reason.
John
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