How is the surface gauge. Production of a thicknessing machine for wood. Used materials and fasteners
Very often, in the manufacture of wooden parts, craftsmen must process a large number of different blanks. To give an attractive appearance to the product, it is necessary to plan the boards, even out their thickness and make the surface as smooth as possible. These parts can then be used to design furniture or interior decoration. When performing such work, a thicknessing machine is used. If the amount of work is small, then you can assemble the thickness gauge with your own hands.
The purpose of the surface gage
Homemade thicknessers can be different in design, but all of them are designed to obtain wooden parts that are even in thickness. If a set of boards has a different thickness, then using this machine you can bring the blanks to the desired one. And also you can fix all sorts of defects in the surface of the wood.
Thicknessing machines are divided into two main types:
- Grinding.
- Cutting.
The basis of the machine is a U-shaped bed. A mandatory element is a shaft, which is attached to the bowl and fixed on a special beam. If the machine is cutting, then several knives are fixed on the shaft to cut layers of wood when the shaft rotates. Grinding units use abrasive shafts that grind the part to the desired size.
Classification and possibilities
Thicknessers are divided according to different criteria. Despite the fact that the thicknesses have the same purpose, they can be different in execution.
Machines differ according to the following criteria:
- By drive. Some homemade devices have a manual drive, but electric ones are most common. In household models, an electric drive works at 220 volts, and in professional ones it costs 330 volts.
- By type of feed rollers. The machine can be equipped with one or two pairs of drive rollers. If one pair is installed, then a very strong clamping of the workpiece to the shaft is required. The disadvantage of this scheme is the possibility of vibration during processing. More practical and convenient systems with two pairs of feed rollers. They are used in cases where it is required to process a large volume of workpieces.
- By the number of shafts with knives. Their number affects the variety of profiles that can be processed simultaneously.
- By functionality. Some machines can do not only the roughing of the product, but also the subsequent fine grinding. Thus, various chips, dents and other defects are removed, which inevitably result from violations of jointing technologies or errors of the master.
- According to technical specifications. Typically, these devices are designed for power from one to forty kilowatts with a cartridge rotation speed of up to 12 thousand revolutions per minute. Thickness thicknessers can process a workpiece from five to one hundred and sixty millimeters with a planing width of up to 1350 millimeters.
And also thicknessers can differ in the ways of adjusting the gaps and the arrangement of the bearing assembly on the main drive.
Device and principle of operation
A standard machine can perform the tasks of a drive jointer and planer. The transverse machine can be used for short workpieces, while the longitudinal machine is suitable for long workpieces.
The simplest machine has a mandatory minimum set of nodes:
- An electric motor that provides rotation of the shafts.
- Drive train, which can be belt, gear or, if the equipment is low-power, with replaceable pulleys.
- Shaft with knives. Knives can be of various shapes. To date, spiral-shaped knives are considered the best. During operation, they create minimal noise.
- Upper assembly consisting of front and rear rollers. The first roller that meets the workpiece has a corrugated surface. In this way, it improves grip on the board and maintains the correct direction of movement of the workpiece. The second roller has a smooth surface so as not to spoil the machined part.
- Clamping knot. It removes chips and prevents splitting of the part. It is made in the form of a massive metal element with spring-loaded teeth or claw grips.
- Bottom node. He is responsible for feeding the bar into the work area.
- A table with a gap adjustment unit between the upper and lower level rollers.
- Bed. All the remaining elements of the thickness gauge are placed on it.
The rotation from the electric motor of the machine is transmitted to the working shaft by means of a drive gear.
The blank board is placed in the working gap and pressed tightly against the lower node. Then the part is brought under the upper pressure rollers. The corrugated roller captures the front of the board and feeds it to the working shaft. The upper and lower guides clamp the semi-finished product and fix the product during processing. The clamping device prevents the collection of chips.
When a part exits the rear smooth roller, the next part is fed into the front roller, thus ensuring a continuous workflow.
Assembly from an electric planer
It is difficult to work with a hand-held device for a long time and productively, so many craftsmen assemble a thickness gauge from an electric planer with their own hands. The design is simple, a lot of materials not required, and any master can repeat it at home or in a small workshop.
To make a homemade thickness gauge, you need the following tools:
- Lathe for turning rollers.
- Drilling machine for drilling holes for various fasteners.
- Welding machine to assemble the heavy bed and feed table.
- Drill. With it, you can quickly drill small holes and tighten bolts.
- A grinder will be required to cut out the details of the future machine according to the drawings. When working, one must not forget to make allowances for the thickness of the cutting blade of the grinder, so that the design is correct and even.
Usually, the total dimensions of home-made machines do not exceed 1x1 meters. Therefore, thicknessers are easy to carry and place in any convenient and accessible places. The main thing is that the approach to them should always be free.
The layout of the main elements is as follows:
- Main table for product supply and delivery (1)
- Actually, the wooden product itself (2)
- Fuse (3)
- Upper corrugated roller that feeds the workpiece (4)
- Pressure block to keep chips from clogging (5)
- Main knife shaft (6)
- Second pressure block (7)
- Upper smooth roller (8)
- Bottom roller with smooth surface (9).
First you need to assemble the frame. An iron corner or a shaped square pipe with dimensions of fifty to fifty millimeters is perfect. The larger the size of these elements, the more possible the vibration of the running machine.
After preparing the parts for the frame, a frame is assembled using a welding machine. Before this, holes must be drilled with a drilling machine. To dampen vibration, the frame is best concreted.
On a lathe, shafts are made: knife and auxiliary. If possible, it is better to purchase ready-made ones. The appearance of future products most of all depends on the quality of these elements.
An electric motor can have a power of four to five kilowatts. For motor pulleys and shafts, gear options are suitable. In this case, it can be used as a chain rotation transmission.
Pressure rollers are best obtained from the squeezing unit from old washing machines. The rubber coating of these rollers is very gentle on the surface of the wood and does not deform it.
Using a welding machine, a frame for the rollers is created. The rollers themselves are bolted. If springs are used on one side of the shaft, then it will be possible to move the shafts vertically.
The welding machine will help make part of the tie rod - this will be the limiter. The tabletop is attached to the adjusting fasteners. It consists of front and back.
Before start-up work, check the correct location and sharpening of the knives.
After completing the assembly of the machine, you can begin to set up and test its performance.
Equipment setup
Before starting work, make sure in reliability all fasteners and sufficient tightening of the bolts.
Adjust the machine by checking the degree of tension of the feed rollers. In case of complete filling of the working table, increase the pressure of the front rollers.
When processing small elements, the pressure is reduced so as not to damage the wooden surface.
With a correct understanding of the principles of operation of the thicknesser, its adjustment is quick and efficient.
It must be remembered that for high-quality work it is not necessary to set the maximum depth of planing. It is better to perform several operations in a row and then a good result will not keep you waiting.
Production of a grinding and thickening machine
A simple grinding thicknesser can be made independently from a conventional electric drill.
It just takes a little patience and time.
You will need the following details:
- Electric drill or screwdriver.
- A sheet of plywood about fifteen millimeters thick.
- Nut with "ears".
- Bolt M16 and a few self-tapping screws.
A small elongated frame is assembled from plywood, on which a manufactured corner structure with a hole is installed from one edge. The assembled assembly is a frame to which an electric drill is attached, and its cartridge is inserted into the prepared hole.
After that, two side holes are cut out in the form of an equilateral trapezoid, in which through holes are drilled under the axis of the future shaft. The bearings are inserted into these holes. The side frames are fixed on a plywood base on opposite sides. The fastening of the elements occurs due to carpentry glue and self-tapping screws.
Then a lifting table is assembled, on which the workpiece will slide. An adjustable lift is needed in order to change the distance between the table and the shaft. This distance determines the thickness of the part being processed.
The movable bed is attached to the main frame with a special guide.
The main shaft is assembled from several pieces of round plywood. The blanks are glued together and the result is a grinding drum. The resulting shaft is carefully machined through with a drill. Then, using a circular saw, a longitudinal groove is made to secure the sandpaper.
A sheet of the desired size is cut out of a sheet of sandpaper and wound onto a shaft. The edges of the canvas are tucked into the groove of the shaft and fixed on it with screws or self-tapping screws.
The finished emery shaft is mounted in the thrust bearings and the do-it-yourself thicknessing machine is ready.
Work safety
Before switching on the machine, it is necessary to check the state of sharpening of the knives and the correctness of their position. You need to make sure that the knife shaft is securely guarded. It is forbidden to process workpieces if they are shorter than the distance between the shafts.
Basic safety requirements are very demanding and include:
- Mandatory grounding to prevent electric shock or fire.
- In no case should you bring your hands closer to the rotating shafts.
- Long hair must be tucked under a headdress.
- Sleeves should be either rolled up or buttoned tightly at the wrists.
- There should be a rubber mat under the work table.
- When the machine is turned on, it is forbidden to carry out any repair work.
- Before turning on the device, check the serviceability of all components and the electrical wire.
Wooden bars are fed to the work surface and into the machine end to end. This should use the entire available width of the desktop.
Compliance with simple rules prevents injuries and cuts.
Thicknessing machines are often used during construction work. In fact, such equipment is an improved version pencils and rulers. If desired, a thickness gauge can be made with your own hands from a conventional electric planer. To do this, it is enough to have basic skills and a little patience.
Planer appointment
The thicknesser machine is a tool that allows you to perform precise lines on almost any surface. In this case, it will be possible to avoid most of the errors that are observed when using a ruler and a pencil. Even if you make a thicknessing machine with your own hands from improvised materials, you can avoid uneven or broken lines. The accuracy of the tool will be 100%, because a very sharp blade is provided here.
The thickness gauge is really relevant during large-scale construction, because it allows you to handle a huge number of boards of different widths with your own hands. It should be noted that modern machines knife change is carried out more simply, which means that it will be possible to remove chips of a certain size. This is facilitated by the presence of control of the cutting depth.
It is important to take into account the fact that wood must be pre-treated for planer. If it is planned to work with polymers, insulation and plastic, then only those thickness gauges are suitable, in which the feed rollers are covered with a layer of rubber.
Such equipment is indispensable in the carpentry and furniture industry. However, it is worth remembering that, under the condition of constructing a thicknessing machine, it is unlikely that you will be able to process thin workpieces with your own hands, because the surface quality may deteriorate due to vibration.
Preparation for the manufacture of the machine
Before constructing a machine from an electric planer, it is worth deciding on the dimensions of the parts that will subsequently be processed. This will help you choose the required width of the device case, the dimensions of all guides, as well as the length of the stud.
When developing a drawing, make sure that all main components:
- clamps;
- barbell;
- blade, that is, a hairpin;
- pads.
Particular attention should be paid pin location, since it is she who is responsible for the movements of the electric planer. Accordingly, it is not worth installing this element in the central part of the case. To ensure a strong fixation and ease of use of the machine, it is important to place the hairpin between the two handles. In addition, it is worth making sure the mobility of this part. It is enough to place the rolling bearing at the top, and weld the nut closer to the middle. Such a fixation will allow you to accurately adjust the height of the hairpin.
To make a structure from an electric planer with your own hands, it is worth preparing wooden blocks that act as guides and sheets of plywood. It is important to pay special attention to the design of the lower plane. Smooth lines can only be achieved if the workpiece moves parallel to the sharp blades.
Creating a device with your own hands
The manufacture of a structure from an electric planer is carried out in strict sequence, taking into account a pre-prepared drawing:
If you perform all the steps correctly, then the thickness gauge will allow you to end up with a perfectly flat surface. In this case, it is important to press the workpiece very carefully, otherwise the device may fail.
Making a thickness gauge with your own hands is far from the most difficult task. A homemade device may have similar characteristics to simple factory thicknessers, but at the same time such a tool will cost several times less, if not at all for free. It all depends on how many components needed to assemble the device will have to be bought or ordered from the craftsmen.
- The thickness gauge is a device designed for planing blanks, giving them a complete appearance;
- Such a device allows you to change the thickness of the product, create a perfectly smooth surface;
- Thickness gauge is an indispensable tool in the field of furniture production;
- With the help of a thickness gauge, you can finish the premises, create building materials, decorative elements;
- A factory tool is not a cheap pleasure. In this regard, home-made surface gage gained great popularity;
- You can make a planing tool with your own hands, based on the drawings and understanding the principle of operation of the unit.
A homemade device is a budget analogue of a factory machine. If you often have to deal with wooden blanks, or you are building yourself, creating furniture for your home, it is not necessary to buy an expensive factory thicknesser. For such purposes, a homemade tool will fit perfectly.
Machine elements
Homemade thicknesser, like its factory counterpart, includes several main components that you will need to make and assemble with your own hands:
- Table;
- Frame;
- knife shaft;
- Billet feeding system;
- Adjustment bolts.
So that in the process of work you do not have problems and questions, we will consider the features of assembling each of the presented elements of the machine separately.
Frame and table
- Before starting the assembly of the thickness gauge itself for woodworking, determine the features of its future design. It is advisable to be based on ready-made drawings or sketches developed in detail with your own hands.
- The desktop serves to accommodate the entire structure of a homemade thickness gauge.
- In this case, the table should be arranged so that you can move freely around it. This is due to the supply of blanks on the desktop.
- A homemade thicknesser is usually compact in size, which allows you to place the frame and desktop inside your own garage.
- When making or choosing a material to make a desktop, give preference to perfectly flat surfaces. Otherwise, increased vibrations will occur during the operation of the installation.
- The classic solution for a homemade thickness gauge is a desktop and a frame welded with an appropriate apparatus from a square pipe and metal corners. It is recommended to choose corners measuring 50 by 50 mm, and a pipe - about 40 millimeters.
- The more massive you make the desktop, the more vibration-resistant the device will be. Therefore, it makes sense to use heavy, durable materials when making a table and a frame.
For self-assembly of the thicknesser, you may need the following tools:
- Electric drill;
- Welding;
- Turning tool;
- Drilling machine;
- Angle grinder or just a grinder.
Shaft
- An important component of the planer machine is the knife shaft. Without it, a home-made thickness gauge simply will not be able to fulfill its direct duties;
- The knife shaft is the main element with which workpieces are processed;
- Trying to make a knife shaft yourself is not recommended, since it is almost impossible for a beginner to achieve its perfect balance;
- Experts with experience in assembling planers advise choosing a 300 mm knife shaft with three knives;
- The knife shaft has pulleys and is connected to the motor. In the case of a thicknessing machine, give preference to stepped models;
- On the machine, the knife shaft must rotate at a certain speed. For home use, the optimal speed limits are 4000-700 rpm;
- The shaft should be connected through an asynchronous electric motor. Its power can be 4-5 kW. This is quite enough to work at home;
- The principle of operation of an asynchronous 4-5 kilowatt motor allows you to make such a connection through a single-phase standard power supply. Your machine will be powered by 220 volts. This will reduce the cost of electricity, significantly simplify the process of maintenance, prevention and operation of the surface gage;
- Pinch rollers are required to operate the machine. You can carve them with your own hands, or use rollers from washing machines. In the second case, we advise you to choose parts from Soviet washing machines;
- The frame for rollers is manufactured as a welded structure using spring-loaded bolts.
Feed system and adjustment bolts
A manual woodworking thicknesser is somewhat inferior in efficiency and productivity to a machine, so the manual version should be used in certain cases. For most craftsmen, the principle of the machine is suitable, which they decide to make with their own hands.
- Homemade thickness gauge, according to the drawings, is installed on the desktop with adjusting bolts. This principle of the device allows you to adjust the position of the structure as necessary.
- To ensure precise table adjustment that allows effective use of the knife shaft, many use sprockets from bicycles, connecting them to the chain. Such an assembly principle will eliminate the need to adjust each bolt separately and change the position of the table with maximum accuracy.
- To assemble such a design, springs are required. Borrow them from truck engine valves. Finding them in the auto parts market or in landfills is not at all problematic.
- In most cases, the thicknessing homemade tool has a manual feed. Over time, a homemade thickness gauge can be improved by adding an automated feed system for workpieces to the desktop. This will allow the workpiece to move smoothly on the machine, removing a uniform layer of wood from the surface.
- Experienced craftsmen are advised to use special rollers to press the workpieces to the desktop during processing. It is difficult to make clamps on your own, but ready-made rollers can perfectly cope with the task.
As you can see, the principle of assembling the thickness gauge is quite simple. We advise you to reinforce your knowledge with video lessons, where the masters will tell you the secrets of creating effective thicknesses on your own.
Before starting work
- Before you make the first run of the workpiece, be sure to make sure that all the elements of the machine assembled by yourself are working. Without this, it is strictly forbidden to operate the tool;
- Check how well the knives are sharpened. With blunt shafts, you will not be able to achieve at least some result. And make sure they are properly installed;
- Don't forget the importance of a permanent shaft guard;
- Never process parts on a homemade thicknesser whose length is less than the distance between the two shafts of your tool;
- Do not clean, repair or attempt to adjust the thicknesser settings while the tool is running.
Otherwise, we only wish you good luck in assembling an efficient, reliable and productive thicknessing machine.
Craftsmen who often work with certain wooden blanks are faced with the need to plan a large number of boards to give them an attractive appearance. At the same time, it is also necessary to equalize their thickness, make their surface smooth, so that the material can be used for the production of furniture, interior decoration or for many other similar purposes. A wood thicknessing machine is best suited for such work.
Now the cost of this type of equipment is quite high, even if it is a small machine for use in a home workshop. As a result, not everyone can make such a purchase. In this case, the right decision would be to make a do-it-yourself thicknessing machine according to ready-made drawings. As a result, on an ordinary desktop, it will be possible to plan a variety of wooden blanks quickly and efficiently.
Table and frame of the future machine
Work on a homemade thicknessing machine
Before you start making a thickness gauge on wood yourself, you should decide on its design, familiarize yourself with the finished drawings (at the end of the article). The entire structure should be located on the desktop so that it is possible to walk around it freely to supply material. Such a tool can also be used in a home workshop, since its dimensions are very small.
The main thing is that the surface of the table where it will be located is as flat as possible to prevent the occurrence of strong vibrations.
To make such equipment for home use, the following design is usually suitable. The working table of the machine and its frame are welded, for this a metal corner and a square pipe of dimensions 50 × 50 and 40 mm are used, respectively. In principle, when assembling the table and the base of the machine, you can use materials not only of these, but also of any other sizes, but it should be remembered that the more massive the elements used, the more stable the equipment will be, and the less vibration will occur during its operation.
To make a thicknessing machine for your home workshop, you will need:
- drilling machine;
- lathe;
- welding machine;
- drill;
- Bulgarian.
knife shaft
The next element, the presence of which is mandatory in the thicknesser machine, is the knife shaft. This is the main part of the machine, which carries out the processing of wooden blanks. The best option is to buy a finished design with axle boxes, since homemade shafts are very difficult to make well balanced. A suitable option would be to use a three hundred millimeter shaft, in the design of which there are three knives. The pulleys of the shaft and the engine are best chosen as stepped, as for the shaft revolutions, then the best option would be 4000-7000 revolutions per minute.
For the operation of such a shaft, an asynchronous motor with a power of 4-5 kW is suitable. An important advantage of this choice is the fact that by making a machine with such an engine, it can be started from a single-phase electric current, which significantly reduces costs and complexity in the use of equipment.
It is best to grind the pressure rollers yourself, it is also a good option to use ready-made parts from old Soviet-style washing machines. The frame of the rollers must be made welded on spring-loaded bolts.
Adjustment bolts and workpiece feed
Drawings of a homemade machine
According to the drawing used, the table for installing the thicknesser machine must be installed on the adjusting bolts, which will make it possible to adjust it if necessary. In order to adjust the plane of the table as accurately as possible, as well as to prevent the need to adjust each bolt individually, bicycle sprockets can be welded to them by connecting them with a chain. Springs can be taken from valves from the engine of any truck.
In the drawing used, manual feeding of blanks. But there is always an opportunity to improve the design by equipping the machine table with an automatic workpiece feed system. In this case, the workpiece will be very smoothly fed into the machine, which will ensure accurate removal of the required layer of wood during planing.
In addition, it would be useful to use special rollers that will press the workpiece to the work surface during its processing. It is very difficult to do this manually qualitatively, while the rollers cope with such a task “perfectly well”.
This completes the assembly of the thicknessing machine. To prevent the formation of corrosion and fungi, it is recommended to paint all metal parts of such home-made equipment. It is not necessary to paint only the lower working part of the tool, which will process the material.
Preparing the machine for work
Regardless of which thickness gauge is used - homemade or factory, before carrying out any work, it must be configured for work. Not only the quality of the work performed will directly depend on this, but also the safety of the worker who uses such equipment when processing wooden blanks.
In work
In addition, when preparing for work, it must be remembered that in the event of a significant filling of the table, if it is necessary to simultaneously feed several parts across the entire width of the table, in the process of planing a board of large width or similar work, the pressure in the feed rollers must be adjusted so that it is increased, because in such cases, cutting resistance increases significantly. If the processing of parts of small width is carried out or the table is not completely filled, in order to prevent the wood from collapsing during its processing, the pressure in the rollers should be reduced to the desired level.
Safe machine operation
Before each start of work on the machine, it is necessary to carefully check the correct position of the knives, as well as the level of their sharpening. The knife shaft must always be guarded. On a home-made thicknessing machine, it is impossible to process parts whose length is less than the distance between the shafts.
To prevent the possibility of getting one or another injury, it is strictly forbidden to repair, adjust or clean the machine, as well as to clean the work table with the machine during its operation.
It is necessary to feed wood blanks on the desktop and into the machine itself end to end, while using the entire width of the table.
Manufacturing and operation of a home-made thicknessing machine
Thicknessing machine is one of the most popular types of woodworking equipment both in industry and among private craftsmen. The purchase or independent manufacture of such a unit greatly simplifies the process of planing blanks.
From this article you will learn how to make a thicknessing machine with your own hands. We will consider the principle of operation and the device of this equipment, as well as an overview of popular factory-made units.
1 Purpose, device, principle of operation
Thickness planer is designed for planing wood blanks in thickness. He can process boards, beams and boards, adjusting them to a given size in one penetration (and not several, as is the case with planers).
There are also a number of surface thicknesses oriented to the processing of blanks made of plastic, foamed insulation and other polymeric materials. In such devices, the feed rollers are covered with a layer of rubber, which prevents damage to the front parts of the workpieces.
The key characteristic of any thickness gauge is the depth of cut, which indicates the thickness of the cut of the material in one pass. It varies in the range of 1-3 mm. The processing width of modern units can be 30-330 mm.
Depending on the design features, the following types of thicknessers are distinguished:
- unilateral;
- bilateral;
- multifunctional.
The one-sided unit is designed so that the planing of the workpiece is carried out only along the upper end, while the device of two-sided models assumes the presence of two cutting shafts - above and below, which allows processing two opposite sides of the part.
The structural device of the thickness gauges consists of the following elements:
- bed;
- knife shaft;
- Desktop;
- pressure springs;
- rollers for feeding the workpiece and fixing their rocker;
The bed of industrial thicknessers is always cast iron, however, household units are equipped with aluminum beds in order to reduce weight. A working table is fixed on the frame, the length of which cannot be less than 100 cm (safety requirements). Single-sided thicknessers have a fixed working table, while in double-sided it can be adjusted in height.
The main working unit of the machine is the knife shaft, which can have 1-4 cutting edges. The edges are replaceable, and as they wear they need to be changed. Two pairs of rollers, which rotate from an electric motor, are responsible for the automatic feeding of the workpiece.
One-sided thicknesser in action
A little about how to choose a thicknessing machine. For domestic use, the best option would be units with a shaft rotation speed in the range of 6-10 thousand rpm and a power of over 2 kW (a power of more than 1.8 kW allows you to process hard wood without problems). We recommend purchasing machines weighing 25-40 kg for the home, there are many mini-units weighing 10-15 kg on the market, but in practice it is inconvenient to use them, since such equipment is not intended for serious operation.
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1.1 Homemade thicknesser - step by step instructions (video)
1.2 We make a thicknessing machine with our own hands
At home, it is quite possible to make a multifunctional thickness gauge, which is close in terms of operational capabilities to factory-made machines. However, often such a machine is simply not needed at home, and the main task when assembling it is maximum savings.
With a limited budget, it is best to make a thicknesser based on an electric planer, for this you will need the following parts:
- bed - the supporting frame is welded from a metal corner measuring 40-60 mm and reinforced with spacer studs from reinforcement or hexagonal rods;
- broach rollers - here you can cheat and use rubber rollers from an old squeezing machine for washing, which will need to be bored out for bearings and fixed on axles, the length of which is selected based on the width of the desktop, and the diameter is assumed to be 20 mm;
- desktop - made from a piece of plywood or a sanded board covered with a galvanized sheet 1 mm thick, while the board must be coated with an antiseptic;
- a protective cover above the desktop can be made of 1-2 mm sheet metal, fixed on a supporting frame from a corner or a profile.
Homemade thicknesser from an electric planer
Almost all factory electric planers have a base plate, so that their attachment to the planer frame is not difficult. Under the plate, it is necessary to make two side bearing surfaces from a corner with a thickness of at least 5 mm, the height adjustment mechanism is easiest to make from a screw axis, although other options are possible.
To make such a one-sided thicknessing machine, you will need to incur the following costs: for the purchase of an electric planer - up to 10 thousand, for a metal profile - up to 3 thousand, for bearings, studs and other trifles - up to 3 thousand.
The operational capabilities of a home-made unit will depend entirely on the characteristics of the electric planer. Note that this design is not safe, since its device does not provide for the presence of claws to block the reverse motion of the workpiece being processed. In the event of flying fragments of the board, you will be protected only by a screen made of tin a few millimeters thick.
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2 Shop thicknessers
If it is not possible to make a planer-thickness fixture on your own, it makes sense to pay attention to alternatives to factory production. An extensive range of thickness gauges of both industrial and domestic class is presented on the domestic market.
- Woodworking machine with a thickness gauge universal BBK 5903 (cost 14 thousand rubles). This unit performs the functions of a thickness gauge (one-sided), planer and circular saw. The power of the electric drive is 1.6 kW, the rotation speed of the knife shaft is up to 8000 rpm. Depth of planing in one pass - up to 3 mm.
- SDR-3302 is an excellent mini thicknesser for installation in a home workshop or garage. Equipped with a 2.2 kW electric motor, which develops a shaft speed of 8000 rpm. Able to process workpieces up to 330 mm wide and 6-210 mm high. Depth of planing per pass - up to 3 mm. SDR-3302 is sold at a price of 14-15 thousand rubles.
Among the models for industrial use, the undisputed leader is the thickness gauge Stomana DMS 41, the price of which is 220 thousand rubles. DMS 41 is widely used in woodworking workshops, the model is equipped with a four-knife working shaft with a diameter of 100 mm, which develops up to 5000 rpm. The power of the built-in electric drive is 3 kW. Thickness gauge DMS 41 can process workpieces with a height of 4-225 mm, the thickness of removal per pass is 4 mm.
When choosing factory thicknessers, we recommend not to give preference to cheap Chinese products in order to save money. Of course, you can save a certain amount of money when buying a Chinese for 9 thousand, and not a domestic-made machine of similar characteristics for 15, but the savings will result in even greater costs in the future.
Firstly, Chinese desktop machines are essentially disposable - they are not designed for long-term use in difficult conditions and have an extremely small operational resource. Secondly, spare parts and components for the Chinese on the market are extremely scarce, and you may find it impossible to repair the machine due to the lack of necessary parts.
In this regard, domestic-made equipment is preferable - there are spare parts for it and they are quite inexpensive. For example, a 6J-346 drive belt for Kraton thicknessing machines can be bought for 200 rubles, while such a belt needs to be replaced no more than once a year. Among the proven manufacturers, we single out such companies as Enkor, Kraton and Interskol. Good foreign brands are Jet (America) and Makita (Japan).
Do-it-yourself thicknessing machine
Thicknessing machines for wood are a kind of planing and jointing machines, and are designed for the precise manufacture of "in size" boards with a certain cross section. Unlike planing woodworking equipment, such units are equipped with clamping and feeding devices, and can also process several workpieces at the same time. The versatility of modern thicknessing machines increases if the tool kit includes not only flat, but also figured knives.
Homemade thicknessing machine
Classification and possibilities
The execution of the considered units can be quite diverse. Machines are classified according to the following criteria:
- Drive type. Homemade mini-devices can also have a manual drive, but in most cases they still use an electric drive. At the same time, household models are equipped with a 220 V motor, and professional ones with 380 V.
- By type of submission. In the machine diagram, there can be one or two pairs of feed rollers, respectively, in the first case, it will be necessary to make the clamping of the workpiece to the table more powerful, vibrations at the moment of insertion are also not excluded. Bilateral roll feeds are more perfect and convenient to work with. A number of foreign companies (Makita, DeWalt, etc.) complete their products with automatic feeding units, but this option justifies itself only with significant production programs of the same type of products.
- By the number of knife shafts. This determines how many different profiles the machine can process at the same time. True, the number of operators will increase accordingly.
- By functionality. The device of thicknessing machines allows not only dimensional processing of the semi-finished product, but also its subsequent calibration. This eliminates the appearance of transverse chips, dents and other defects that may appear on the treated surface in case of non-compliance with the jointing technology or with an excessively large supply of the starting material.
- According to its technological characteristics. In practice, the equipment in question is produced with a power range of 1 ... 40 kW, with a shaft speed of up to 10000 ... 12000 min -1. planing width up to 1350 mm, stroke up to 50 m/min and initial workpiece thickness 5…160 mm.
In addition, some models differ in the way the clearances are adjusted and the design of the main drive bearing assembly.
Device and principle of operation
A typical wood thicknessing machine can successfully replace two pieces of equipment: a mechanical drive jointer and a planer (transverse for short products, or longitudinal for long ones).
Homemade thicknessing machine
The simplest scheme of a planer machine (with one-sided feed of the source material) includes the following nodes:
- Drive motor.
- Transfer. It can be a standard V-belt, toothed, with a variator, as well as with replaceable pulleys (the latter option is distinguished by the minimum values of the transmitted power, and therefore is used only in low-power equipment).
- Knife shaft. Can have multiple tools with different configurations. Spiral knives are considered especially successful, which make minimal noise during their work.
- the top direction assembly, which, in turn, consists of a pair of rollers - front and rear. The front roller has a corrugated surface: in order to improve the grip on the tree, and to prevent a possible change in the direction of the processed board. The rear roller is always smooth;
- clamping unit, which prevents chip jamming and possible cracking of the material. Structurally, the clamp can be made in the form of claw grips that penetrate into the wood, or it can also be in the form of a massive metal element equipped with spring-loaded teeth;
- a lower direction assembly, which facilitates the supply of the workpiece into the working space;
- table with devices for adjusting technological gaps between the rollers of the upper and lower clamps;
- bed, on which all other elements of the working scheme of the machine are located.
The principle of operation of the thicknessing machine
Units with a double-sided feed device are distinguished by the fact that they are equipped with an additional knife shaft extension unit. In this regard, it is much easier to replace a tool for reinstalling it from one standard size to another (or for the purpose of subsequent sharpening).
Thicknessing machine device
The planer works like this. The torque from the electric motor through the transmission is reported to the knife shaft. The board to be processed is brought into the gap and pressed first to the lower, and then to the upper pressure rollers. In this case, the workpiece is captured by a corrugated roll and fed to the tool. Before plunging, the semi-finished product is clamped between the upper and lower guides, which ensures reliable fixation of the material during its processing. The clamping device ensures timely removal of chips from under the rotating tool. At the moment the workpiece leaves the rear guide roller, the next product is set into the front one, after which the process is repeated.
Homemade thicknesser in your own workshop: choice of parameters
There is a significant number of various models of the equipment in question on the market, both from domestic manufacturers (Corvette, Enkor, Krasny Metallist, etc.) and imported ones. The latest versions are dominated by dubious Chinese brands that are not reliable in operation, and, in addition, often have underestimated, against passport, parameters. In such cases, and also if the proposed machines do not fit into the available area dimensions, it makes sense to make a thickness gauge with your own hands.
It should be noted right away that it is better to purchase a number of components and parts than to try to do it yourself. This, first of all, concerns the knife shaft itself, together with the mounting bearings: home-made options will not differ in the required mating accuracy, as a result of which the part will overheat greatly under load.
When choosing a machine diagram, they are guided by the available drawings (can be found on the Internet), but before that it is worth clarifying a number of device elements. For example, if in one unit there is a need to combine a jointer and thickness gauge, then it is advisable to make equipment with a two-way drive. Then, on one side of the device, it is possible to pre-stretch the workpiece, and on the other hand, to carry out the final processing of the tree “in size”.
You also need to decide on the maximum length of the knife shaft: a home-made machine with a shaft of more than 500 mm can lose rigidity when working on hardwoods: pear, hornbeam, oak. As a result, wavy ridges up to 1 mm high can go along the surface of the board, which will require further processing of the semi-finished product. The landing dimensions and diameter must be made such that on home-made equipment it is possible to obtain skirting boards, baguette profiles, as well as other decorative elements made of wood.
When choosing a design, it is necessary to fully provide for safety measures during the subsequent operation of the unit. Homemade thicknessing machine Do-it-yourself machines must have a reliable fence for the working area of the table, and also exclude the possibility of a board backswing if the gap is excessive, as well as its destruction during processing.
Analyzing the available drawings of home-made devices, it should be borne in mind that the presence of two lower clamps in the table will reduce the effort of the board task in the workspace, since the workpiece will move along the smooth surface of the roll, and not along the table.
Production and assembly
The manufacture of the machine begins with the bed. For these purposes, it is advisable to use tubular steel with a cross section of at least 60 × 40 mm: the pipe is characterized by increased rigidity and moment of resistance, which will positively affect the accuracy of operations performed on a home-made unit. Structural elements are connected by welding. It can be replaced with a prefabricated version, but it is less preferable - assembling the table and bed using an angle and connecting studs with a diameter of M30 or more will force you to often check their tightening.
For feed rollers, you can use rolls from an old washing machine: their rubberized surface will do the job well. The rollers are bored to fit the diameter of the existing bearings, taking into account the required value of the adjustment range. In home-made thicknessing machines, this process can also be done manually by turning the handle.
For the manufacture of a table of a home-made unit, a wide polished larch or oak board is suitable. Wood dampens vibrations well, but in order to increase anti-corrosion performance, and from the point of view of fire safety, it should be impregnated with fire-resistant compounds or creosote. The connection of the table with the bed can be bolted.
3d model of a self-made thicknesser
When choosing a motor, the maximum required torque should be matched to the machining needs. As a rule, an electric motor with a power of 5 ... 6 kW is sufficient, with a speed of up to 3500 ... 4000 per minute.
To ensure safety, a home-made machine must be protected by a removable casing. It can be made from sheet steel (0.6 ... 0.8 mm thick).
The necessary components - bearings, knives, pulleys, fasteners - are selected in accordance with the specification for the drawings of a home-made thicknessing machine.
When assembling a homemade machine, you must:
- ensure maximum evenness of the table surface;
- balance all rotating parts in static and dynamic modes;
- provide for convenient adjustment of the table;
- check the reliability of the device for protecting moving elements.
A home-made thicknessing machine is checked at idle. If all nodes are working correctly, check the unit in operating mode, and then paint all fixed parts with weather-resistant paint.
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Do-it-yourself thicknessing machine. Thicknessing machine scheme
October 21, 2015
Woodworking machines (thickness) are well suited for sawing workpieces of various sizes. Longitudinal cuts can be made using the movable bed. The frames of the models are made in various shapes, and the characteristics can vary quite a lot.
It should also be borne in mind that some modifications are made with gearboxes. In such a situation, the user has the ability to control the cutting speed. In order to study this issue in more detail, you need to familiarize yourself with the device of a simple thicknessing machine, which you can do yourself.
Thicknessing machine device
The scheme of the thicknessing machine includes a U-shaped bed. In this case, the frames are most often used double-sided. In this case, a lot depends on the workspace. Some modifications involve moving platforms. In such a situation, the frame can be moved on rollers. Directly cutting wood is carried out using a powerful engine. To date, most often you can find two-stroke modifications.
In this case, the frame acts as a support. Also, the scheme of the thicknesser machine includes a shaft, which is most often attached to the bowl and fixed on a special beam. To adjust the position of the frame, as a rule, gears are used. Also, flywheels are installed in the devices to change the position of the pushers. The side supports are mainly fixed on the lower beam.
Device with speed lock
It is quite easy to make a thicknesser machine with a speed lock with your own hands. First of all, you need to prepare the bottom frame. It is best to pre-select steel sheets for this purpose. In this case, much depends on the size of the bed. If its length does not exceed 120 cm, then the frame can be made narrow. Some additionally advise installing a support at the bottom of the machine.
Thus, the device will be well stabilized and the shaking will completely disappear. For precise woodworking, the bottom supports are well suited. After the frame sheets are welded, you can proceed to the bed. The engine is most often located in the upper part. The retainer is usually mounted directly in the gearbox. In order for the platform to be controlled, the height of the upper beam must be calculated in advance.
Block stop model
You can make a thicknessing machine with a block stopper with your own hands using a low-power power supply. First of all, the assembly of the machine must begin with the installation of the frame. Next, the area for mounting the engine is being prepared. Directly cutting elements are installed on the beam.
Modifications with crankshafts involve the use of different brackets. In this case, the platform is adjusted using flywheels. In order to position the blocker correctly for the engine, a large beam must be prepared in advance. The last thing that remains is to connect the power supply along with the power cable.
Model with three regulators
You can make a thicknessing machine with three regulators with your own hands only by installing brackets. However, first of all, it is necessary to fix the bed on the frame. For this purpose, you can use a welding machine. In order for the platform to be stable, it is necessary to weld the lower clamps onto the beam. If the bed length does not exceed 120 cm, then small supports can be used. Platform mounts are optional. The height regulator in this case should be located on the side of the engine. To do this, the bracket is installed near the top beam.
At the same time, it should not come into contact with the pushers. After that, the flywheel is connected directly. The crankshaft must be above the platform. Its diameter must be at least 18 mm. In some cases, experts advise installing small fences for it. Protection at the machine is located above the bed. The engine itself must be located near the platform. The longitudinal movement regulator is also mounted using a bracket. As a result, it remains only to fix the rotary control. The flywheel is installed in this case from the side of the engine.
Devices for two regulators
It is not difficult to make a thicknessing machine for two regulators with your own hands. The bed in this case can be installed small. First of all, you need to deal with the height regulator. To do this, the bracket is welded to the work area. Its second end should be located on the top beam. By rotating the flywheel, the platform must move. In this case, the main load is on the bracket. In some situations, the frame may also suffer from deformation.
In this case, many experts advise installing supports at the edge of the platform. This can be done with a welding machine. The second regulator in the thicknesser is designed for horizontal adjustment of the platform. In this case, you won't be able to rotate it. Install the second bracket on the engine side. In this case, for convenience, it is best to fix the flywheel at the upper beam.
Model with an emphasis on the block
You can assemble machines with an emphasis with your own hands only with the help of a welding machine. Start work with the frame. For this, sheets must be prepared steel. Next, it is important to weld the side supports. Only after that is it possible to put the bed. It is best to sharpen it in the corners. This is necessary so that the platform does not cling in the future. After that, a beam is installed on the upper block. The engine in this case is attached last.
The presence of pushers at the machine will greatly facilitate the use of the device. It should also be borne in mind that it is important to install the power supply at the bottom. To do this, the platform can be placed under the bed. In this case, the crankshaft must be mounted under the engine. In this case, the cutting device is installed after the power supply.
Machine on a feed belt
Do-it-yourself machines are assembled with a feed belt using long shafts. In this case, its movement is provided by the displacement of the rollers. It is necessary to assemble the machine from the bottom. To do this, the frame is welded first. Cast iron can be used in this case. The thickness of the metal should be at least 3.2 mm. The bed on the machine must be mounted on the side stops. To do this, you need to use a welding inverter. It is important to grind the edges of the platform with a file in advance. The rollers in this case must be installed under the working area.
To do this, first of all, blocks are mounted under them. After that, you can take measurements under the upper beam. In this case, much depends on the dimensions of the engine. If we consider push-pull modifications, then they will not take up much space. In order to adjust the position of the platform, it is important to provide a place for the bracket in advance. It should be installed from the side of the cutting part.
Machine "Makita" MP2000
This thicknesser machine has positive reviews. By design, it is unique, and it is quite difficult to make it yourself. There are three regulators in this case. Due to this, the user has the opportunity to rotate the platform. Additionally, it should be borne in mind that the frame is used in small sizes. This thicknessing machine (household) weighs only 55 kg, and due to this it is very easy to transport. At the same time, the working area allows processing large workpieces.
Longitudinal sawing of wood is carried out using side pushers. This model has a start blocker. Also of the design features, it should be noted the presence of a fairly wide frame. Due to this, with the stabilization of the specified device, everything is in order. This thicknessing machine costs (market price) about 650 thousand rubles.
Machine "Metabo" 30R
The design of this double-sided thicknessing machine is very interesting. In this case, the frame is U-shaped. Additionally, it should be noted that the longitudinal regulator is located at the top of the beam. Thus, it is quite easy to control the platform. With large workpieces, this machine copes successfully. However, it should be borne in mind that this device is not suitable for longitudinal cutting of wood.
The bed presented thicknesser machine (household) has a fairly wide. The height regulator is installed at the top beam. The working area is extensive, but it is not possible to rotate the platform 360 degrees. The engine in this device uses a power of 3 kW. Thus, its performance is quite good. This thicknessing machine costs (market price) about 570 thousand rubles.
Model with two shafts
Making a model with two shafts (drawings of a thicknesser machine are shown below) is quite problematic. In terms of dimensions, the device will turn out to be quite large. It should also be borne in mind that the frame must be prepared strong. The minimum thickness of the metal in the lower part must be 3.3 mm. It is also important to mention that the frame must be used T-shaped. Many specialists choose a rectangular platform for such a machine. In this case, the working area will allow you to engage in longitudinal sawing of wood.
Regulators for the design must be installed two. Brackets for the height controller are best mounted at the top beam. In turn, the rotation regulator is standardly required to be located at the bed. In this case, the bracket can be fixed at the support. The crankshaft in this case should be located directly at the top beam. You need to attach it behind the cutting device. The second shaft, which comes from the gearbox, must be on the engine side.
Planer Beam Machine
With a planer beam, a thicknessing machine (home-made) is assembled at the first stage as standard from the frame. In this case, it is more expedient to install the bed in a T-shape. The minimum thickness of the metal must be 3.3 mm. The upper beam in this situation must be welded using a welding inverter. The engine can be installed on a separate platform.
You should also provide a place for the power supply. Two brackets for platform control can be installed. The planer beam should be located at the base of the working area. Thus, it will not interfere with the workpiece in the future. You can use screws to fix the platform. In this case, the side supports in this situation will not be superfluous.
Model with sharpened beam
A thicknessing machine (home-made) with sharpened beams is very common in our time. It works well for ripping wood. It should also be borne in mind that the working area in this case must be made wide. For this, it is important to prepare the frame in a U-shape. Next, it is necessary to weld a frame with supports to it.
Pushers are installed last. In this situation, it is necessary to calculate the dimensions of the brackets. Flywheels will also be needed to adjust the platform. The engine for the machine can be standardly placed on the upper beam. At the same time, experts advise installing power supplies under the bed. Thus, the wiring during the operation of the device will not interfere.
Block devices
Machines with blockers can be found quite often. They are installed on single-stroke and two-stroke models. The blocking device itself is located at the power supply. It should also be noted that for them it is necessary to bring the button to the control panel. In this case, it is important to securely insulate the wiring. If the power supply is located under the platform, then this is quite simple.
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Do-it-yourself thicknessing machine made from an electric planer, other design options
Few people in childhood left indifferent the first visit to the carpentry workshop. The indescribable smell of fresh wood shavings, the cleanliness and smoothness of a freshly planed board, the fluffiness of sawdust - this is the place where, with the help of a thickening machine, several clumsy boards with a scratchy surface from protruding fibers were magically transformed into an elegant stool.
The result of the work of the thicknesser was perfectly even lumber, which was suitable for the manufacture of many such interesting and beautiful things.
The design and types of thicknessing machines
Of course, the thicknessing machine was not the only one in that workshop. And many of these workshops could not boast of such luxury at all. But a circular saw, often assembled on the same shaft as a planer drum, was almost always available. And then a simple device that allows you to control the uniformity of pressing the workpiece to the surface of the desktop, brought the planer closer in its functionality to the planer, which in skilled hands provided almost the same result, although somewhat more expensive both in terms of work and time.
We talk about this in such detail here, so that the main topic of the article is clearer - making a thicknessing (thickness) machine with our own hands. After all, its main task: to plan a molded wooden material with the same thickness. And several successive planing operations on a planer with such a clamping device will provide this result.
But what is a real gage equipped with?
Thicknessing machine has:
- Desktop;
- working shaft (1 or 2), two - for simultaneous processing of two surfaces of the workpiece or one - for processing the workpiece on one side;
- rolls for clamping and pulling the workpiece (a pair from above or two - from above and below), with electric or manual drive;
- table height adjustment system;
- backstop protection system.
In the option of finalizing the planer, some of the listed systems are missing. But also, dual-purpose machines are industrially produced - planer-thickness planers.
In them, under the working table for jointing, there is a height-adjustable working table of the thicknesser. The processing of the workpiece is carried out by the same drum with knives as jointing. In this case, only the upper part of it is processed. During the operation of the machine as a thicknesser, the upper part of the machine is closed with a protective overlay, in order to avoid injury.
Sometimes a wide cutter is installed instead of a drum with knives.
Schematic diagram of the operation of the thicknessing machine
Why make a thicknessing machine with your own hands?
The scheme of work for most home craftsmen should be clear even without visualization, but for ease of understanding the tasks of self-manufacturing a thickness gauge, it will not be superfluous.
There are two motivations for self-manufacturing of any equipment:
- desire for self-realization;
- desire for savings.
All the rest follow from the above. And you can save a lot of things:
- first of all - money due to the abolition of auxiliary functions, without which it is quite possible to do without in a home workshop;
- in the second - electricity by reducing the number of electric drives;
- in the third - a place in the workshop due to optimization and sizing.
If we talk about a full-fledged thicknessing machine, then, based on the three-dimensional drawing below, its components can be reduced to the following list:
- electric drive from an electric motor with a power of 1.5 - 2.5 kW for a two-knife drum rotating at a speed of 5 - 10 thousand rpm;
- manual chain adjustment of the level of the desktop;
- manual chain coupled feed of the workpiece with two lingering pressure rollers.
But you yourself accept the concept of your thickness gauge. Consider 3 approaches to implementing the idea of self-manufacturing a thicknessing machine.
A high-tech method for the manufacture of a thicknessing machine
There are 3 independent electric drives, which are:
- drive the cutting drum,
- are pinch rollers,
- adjust the position of the desktop.
Torque is transmitted to the drum by means of a V-belt transmission, and in the remaining two versions - by a chain. Moreover, the uniformity of the pressing of the rollers is regulated by interconnected spring-loaded intermediate sprockets, although in our opinion, such a system will still not allow to avoid some temporary weakening of the chain at the moment the workpiece leaves the feed roller.
The tension of the drive chain for adjusting the height of the desktop is carried out by two rigidly fixed sprockets.
Such an approach, obviously, can be justified by the fact that you have a flexible mini-production with a large number of equipment reconfiguration operations. Although here, some schemes could be simplified. For example - like this:
Such a machine will not turn out to be cheap, and the abundance of rather complex components will require constant maintenance. But, apparently, this is exactly the case when it was precisely the desire for self-realization that came to the fore, because for the same money it would be quite possible to find a used thicknessing machine and, having slightly repaired it, provide a solution to the same problems.
Do-it-yourself thicknessing machine from an electric planer
It is this approach to solving most tasks for the thickness gauge that arise in the conditions of a home workshop that seems to us the most interesting.
First of all, this interest is based on minimal modifications to an existing tool to perform the work of expensive equipment with almost the same result.
By installing an electric planer on a platform with a variable height, we get almost the same thickness gauge. True, it regulates not the position of the desktop, but the position of the working tool in relation to the workpiece being processed, but the essence of the process does not change from this. The role of the table here is performed by a flat powerful board with width limiters on the sides. They also serve as a place of attachment of the main node. But first, let's talk about him.
On the planer, we will change the back support plate to a home-made one made of OSB or plywood, with a thickness that provides the same level with the front plate, which regulates the necessary clearance (1 - 3 mm) for chip removal. Its width should correspond to the width of our impromptu desktop.
On the sides of this plate, rails are screwed for attaching the legs, the height of which is dictated solely by common sense. It is obvious that, based on the standard width of the planer knives of 82 mm, the thickness of the processed workpieces should not be more than 100 mm, so the distance between the axes of the leg fastenings can be taken equal to 110 - 120 mm. Accordingly, their total length will vary from 140 to 160 mm with a width of 35 mm and a thickness of at least 10 mm. The legs are fastened strictly at the same distance from the edge of the bar.
Craftsmen who often work with certain wooden blanks are faced with the need to plan a large number of boards to give them an attractive appearance. At the same time, it is also necessary to equalize their thickness, make their surface smooth, so that the material can be used for the production of furniture, interior decoration or for many other similar purposes. A wood thicknessing machine is best suited for such work.
Now the cost of this type of equipment is quite high, even if it is a small machine for use in a home workshop. As a result, not everyone can make such a purchase. In this case, the right decision would be to make a do-it-yourself thicknessing machine according to ready-made drawings. As a result, on an ordinary desktop, it will be possible to plan a variety of wooden blanks quickly and efficiently.
Table and frame of the future machine
Before you start making a thickness gauge on wood yourself, you should decide on its design, familiarize yourself with the finished drawings (at the end of the article). The entire structure should be located on the desktop so that it is possible to walk around it freely to supply material. Such a tool can also be used in a home workshop, since its dimensions are very small.
The main thing is that the surface of the table where it will be located is as flat as possible to prevent the occurrence of strong vibrations.
To make such equipment for home use, the following design is usually suitable. The working table of the machine and its frame are welded, for this a metal corner and a square pipe of dimensions 50 × 50 and 40 mm are used, respectively. In principle, when assembling the table and the base of the machine, you can use materials not only of these, but also of any other sizes, but it should be remembered that the more massive the elements used, the more stable the equipment will be, and the less vibration will occur during its operation.
To make a thicknessing machine for your home workshop, you will need:
- drilling machine;
- lathe;
- welding machine;
- drill;
- Bulgarian.
knife shaft
The next element, the presence of which is mandatory in the thicknesser machine, is the knife shaft. This is the main part of the machine, which carries out the processing of wooden blanks. The best option is to buy a finished design with axle boxes, since homemade shafts are very difficult to make well balanced. A suitable option would be to use a three hundred millimeter shaft, in the design of which there are three knives. The pulleys of the shaft and the engine are best chosen as stepped, as for the shaft revolutions, then the best option would be 4000-7000 revolutions per minute.
For the operation of such a shaft, an asynchronous motor with a power of 4-5 kW is suitable. An important advantage of this choice is the fact that by making a machine with such an engine, it can be started from a single-phase electric current, which significantly reduces costs and complexity in the use of equipment.
It is best to grind the pressure rollers yourself, it is also a good option to use ready-made parts from old Soviet-style washing machines. The frame of the rollers must be made welded on spring-loaded bolts.
Adjustment bolts and workpiece feed
According to the drawing used, the table for installing the thicknesser machine must be installed on the adjusting bolts, which will make it possible to adjust it if necessary. In order to adjust the plane of the table as accurately as possible, as well as to prevent the need to adjust each bolt individually, bicycle sprockets can be welded to them by connecting them with a chain. Springs can be taken from valves from the engine of any truck.
In the drawing used, manual feeding of blanks. But there is always an opportunity to improve the design by equipping the machine table with an automatic workpiece feed system. In this case, the workpiece will be very smoothly fed into the machine, which will ensure accurate removal of the required layer of wood during planing.
In addition, it would be useful to use special rollers that will press the workpiece to the work surface during its processing. It is very difficult to do this manually qualitatively, while the rollers cope with such a task “perfectly well”.
This completes the assembly of the thicknessing machine. To prevent the formation of corrosion and fungi, it is recommended to paint all metal parts of such home-made equipment. It is not necessary to paint only the lower working part of the tool, which will process the material.
Preparing the machine for work
Regardless of which thickness gauge is used - homemade or factory, before carrying out any work, it must be configured for work. Not only the quality of the work performed will directly depend on this, but also the safety of the worker who uses such equipment when processing wooden blanks.
In addition, when preparing for work, it must be remembered that in the event of a significant filling of the table, if it is necessary to simultaneously feed several parts across the entire width of the table, in the process of planing a board of large width or similar work, the pressure in the feed rollers must be adjusted so that it is increased, because in such cases, cutting resistance increases significantly. If the processing of parts of small width is carried out or the table is not completely filled, in order to prevent the wood from collapsing during its processing, the pressure in the rollers should be reduced to the desired level.
Safe machine operation
Before each start of work on the machine, it is necessary to carefully check the correct position of the knives, as well as the level of their sharpening. The knife shaft must always be guarded. On a home-made thicknessing machine, it is impossible to process parts whose length is less than the distance between the shafts.
To prevent the possibility of getting one or another injury, it is strictly forbidden to repair, adjust or clean the machine, as well as to clean the work table with the machine during its operation.
It is necessary to feed wood blanks on the desktop and into the machine itself end to end, while using the entire width of the table.