Anyone have a Woodmaster gang rip set up?

[dirk martin]

So, I decided to try some gang ripping on my 718 Woodmaster.
I watched this vid: https://youtu.be/dZKQQqPfrAo?si=eNJpIJ6uZHXmSRC9

This video does NOT show a bed board, to raise the bed, and to sing the blades into.

For the life of me, I can't figure out how the feed rollers will pull in the board you're feeding in, unless the bed is built up, and the blades are sunk into it. Yet, that vid shows nothing like that.

What am I missing?

[Simon Dupay]

It's no mereen-johnson

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Dirk, it does show a bed board, it’s the white plastic bed, it’s explained in the video that you raise the bed untill the blades cut into the plastic.

What’s wrong in the video is that he appears to be using a blade that’s too small in diameter, or he has them too deep into the bed so that he has excessive feed roller displacement and pressure.

It sure doesn’t cut like a real gang rip, when I was setting them up we were running somewhere around 60 feet per minute feed speed.

Regards, Rod

[Zachary Hoyt]

I had a 718 but never tried to use it as a gang rip. My experience was that it was a machine that could nominally do a lot of different things, but in practice was not good at any of them due to the compromises required to make it work. I would rather have a tool that does one thing well than one that does four things badly.

[dirk martin]

Hi Dirk, it does show a bed board, it’s the white plastic bed, it’s explained in the video that you raise the bed untill the blades cut into the plastic.

Regards, Rod

Well, yes, Rod. That's the standard bed-board that comes on all of the Woodmaster.
The gang blades easily hit that board, well before the feed rollers reach a 3/4" piece of stock that I'll be ripping.

I guess the only solution, is to put another board on top of the plastic one, and burry the blades.
Just can't figure out how he did it without another board on top, in the vid.

[Warren Lake]

The height the rollers sit at is adjustable as well as the spring pressure. They are very light machines but they work. I put a larger shaft in and had a corrugated head made and doubled up on the bearings and it cuts moldings well enough. There was no false table with mine so just made a few out of melmine but that delrin looking stuff should be better.

To do what he is doing id just use a table saw.

[dirk martin]

The height the rollers sit at is adjustable as well as the spring pressure.

To do what he is doing id just use a table saw.

The height of the rollers is adjustable? Are you sure? I understand the pressure is, but the height?
And, yes, a table saw does this simple enough, but I need to cut thousands of 2" wide strips at 3/4" thick.

[Warren Lake]

been years since i adjusted it so not a good memory. I did the rebuild I did then set it up to run whatever moldings at the time,. Memory was with the nuts and washers you bring the height up and down that the roller rests at,.

That is all adjustable in any planer as you have to relate infeed and outfeed rollers to the cutting circle and have a tolerance to work within. The you tube wasnt quite stellar and id contact woodmaster and ask them. Sorry I havent adjusted mine in a while as the setting I had worked for anything I did. I had zero issues with it sticking and the crowns or other moldings I ran were done in one pass and cut well. Better than what you buy as they run at high speeds. This is an old tired machine that a past owner trashed. He had an alchohal problem and likely threw a knife and bent the original shaft same time.

How many blades are you putting in? Im fast on ripping on a table saw and for some time had a power feeder on there but I dont mind ripping without them. No idea what are are doing but when you rip material often some amount will not be straight after its ripped.

take a photo looking in of what you have related to where the roller is sitting, Likely you need to adjust the nuts on there to drop the infeed and outfeed rollers lower.

[dirk martin]

"...drop the infeed and outfeed rollers lower."

ok, ok, I'll look closer then. I just thot those rollers had a fixed location.....but I'll look closer....

[Warren Lake]

logic infeed and outfeed cant be fixed as different knives have different projection and change the cutting circle.

This is different than a planer where you set up and if you use a dial like I do every time new knives go in I have the same projection of .050 over the head to the knife tip. My cutting circle does not change its the same every time. My infeed and outfeed rollers have stayed the same and never changed them.

Do you have a manual for it there will likely be some info in there as well but id still call Woodmaster if they are still around and think they are. They might point you to a good you tube or have some company videos.

[Rod Sheridan]

The height of the rollers is adjustable? Are you sure? I understand the pressure is, but the height?
And, yes, a table saw does this simple enough, but I need to cut thousands of 2" wide strips at 3/4" thick.

A gang rip would be great however that Woodmaster is slow.

I was making flooring with my table saw, flipped the feeder up and set it at maximum speed of 32 feet/minute, wish I had somewhere around 50% faster.

Regards, Rod

[dirk martin]

A gang rip would be great however that Woodmaster is slow.

I was making flooring with my table saw, flipped the feeder up and set it at maximum speed of 32 feet/minute, wish I had somewhere around 50% faster.

Regards, Rod

Not too sure about "slow", as I'm cutting 5 boards at once, at 16ft/min.

[dirk martin]

logic infeed and outfeed cant be fixed as different knives have different projection and change the cutting circle.

I understand your logic, Warren, but that's no different then feeding in 3/4" wood, vs 8/4.
That's why the feed rollers have springs on them.

And these feed rollers are over an inch away from the bed, when the teeth from the gang blades begin to make contact with the bed.

[Warren Lake]

the machines are 11 and 32 Ft per. I have a gear motor on mine not sure that affects the speed high and low but have emailed them, I used to know.

Personally I dont care about fast as im running moldings. I care about quality and make better than you can buy and its out of the same material as the job so it matches. Its hogwash the speed thing anyway as it doesnt count the time you will spend sanding which is well more for stuff run high speed. Six of one half dozen of the other.

You are doing wide boards to get five rips how long and what about tension changes? For some work its a reality.

[dirk martin]

https://vimeo.com/465522243

At about the 50 second mark, you can see his blades are getting near the bed, and his feed rollers are still a ways up.
Maybe you can't tell in the vid, cuz they aren't specifically addressing this issue.

Ya know, now that I think of it, WM might have blades of 2 different diameters, and perhaps I have the larger, which would require a bed build up....I'll do some more digging....