picked up a Metabo jointer/planer

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Here is a Metabo ADH1626 jointer planer that I picked up today. It was part of a larger purchase, and I got it for next to nothing. It is a 10" jointer and 10" planer.

It is a German made machine, and seems to be similar in design to several european brands (Kity, Inca, etc). The jointer tables are cast aluminum. It is built very well, but I'm much more comfortable with the old old iron approach, where heavier is better. The engineering seems to be excellent though.

The unit had not been run in years, and the grease in the cutter bearings was dried out. After some disassembly and lubing, I got it working. So far, it works "real pretty good". As a jointer, it works quite reasonably, but the tables are very short, so I can't imagine it will work well on long boards.

In planer mode, I think some adjustment is in order. Once the board gets to the outfeed roller (rubber), the wood sort of gets stuck, and goes through in fits and starts. I guess this means the rubber outfeed roller needs to have more pressure on the wood.

Anybody out there have a machine of this ilk? What do you think of these? I've not decided whether it will play a role in my shop or not. I have a Powermatic 8" jointer that is great, but this unit gives me 2" more face jointing width.

I admit that I do have a bias against aluminum in WW machines, yet those crafty Germans seem to have made a nice unit here. If I can get the planer working well, maybe it will stick around.

[David Weaver]

I have a short jointer, too - and dare I mention it - I run longer boards on the jointer to clean up the edges and then I finish them to a much finer degree with a jointer bench plane. In the rare times your jointer won't be able to handle the board, if you have a way to clamp the board so you can plane it, you'll be pleasantly surprised how easily you can do a very good job if you have a well tuned plane.

[Jim Becker]

Skim plane the boards to "see what's there" and then cut them down into shorter components. (A good practice no matter what size your jointer is) and then the shorter beds have little or no effect for most applications.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

H
In planer mode, I think some adjustment is in order. Once the board gets to the outfeed roller (rubber), the wood sort of gets stuck, and goes through in fits and starts. I guess this means the rubber outfeed roller needs to have more pressure on the wood.

That can happen when (1) the blades are dull; (2) the table needs waxing; (3) the rollers are glazed over; (4) or the pressure springs for the feed roller are shot or out of adjustment

[Lynn Kasdorf]

That can happen when (1) the blades are dull; (2) the table needs waxing; (3) the rollers are glazed over; (4) or the pressure springs for the feed roller are shot or out of adjustment

The blades are decently sharp- they do a fine job jointing white oak.

The table is nice smooth stainless steel, but I'll try waxing it.

The rubber roller is not glazed. In fact, when I feed a piece of wood through, the rubber roller turns and the wood doesn't move, which abrades the rubber. I cleaned the roller with acetone and it is nice and grabby now.

I think the pressure adjustment is off. I just don't know the right approach for adjustment. I have the operators manual, but it is in German!

I'll try moving the adjustments and see what happens.

Thanks!

[Karlan Talkington]

Lynn,

Did you find this metabo on Craigslist? I saw one posted there the other day and was thinking of picking it up.

I would try "googling" for the model to get an "english" version of the ops manual.

[Wilbur Pan]

I have the Rikon version of this machine. It also has "short" aluminum tables. The planer table in my machine is coated with some sort of very slick coating to the point that it's somewhat shiny. I'd wax the table in your machine, even though it's stainless steel.

I haven't found the "short" beds to be much of an impediment. I've been able to joint 6 foot boards on my machine. On the other hand, having a 10" face jointing capacity is great.

The only thing that I would consider replacing my jointer/planer combo with is a 12" or 16" jointer/planer combo.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Actually, I think the problem was that the chain that drives the rollers was skipping. The tensioning spring fell off. I re-engineered that and it now planes nicely.

One thing that is kinda strange is that seems to be no DC outlet when in jointer mode. There is a big rectangular DC outlet for planer mode (uh, 4" round would have been nice...). However, it won't be hard to fashion something for jointer mode.

I'm going to email Metabo and see if they have an english manual. They don't on their website.