Axminster Trade AT260SPT Spiral Planer Thicknesser - Calibration 1

[@mattcrow4543]

Cheers Andy Great video. The lack of instruction on the table elevation in the manual stymied my configuration for a full afternoon. This video saved my sanity and a tonne of time.

[@davidpearson7817]

Thx for this video…. I have just spent a very frustrating few hours getting this sorted… getting it spot on, releasing the locking bar and then coming back to it a few minutes later to find all gone to pot… A tip for anyone trying to adjust the planer bed - is to look at the underside of the table -where the adjuster bolts sit… mine needed smoothing off as the surface was rough and was ‘giving’ each time I clamped, released and reclamped - and throwing a perfect adjustment out… nearly sent me round the bend trying to work out…. Also -make sure your piece of wood is dead smooth… I suggest running a piece through the planer first and using that - this adjustment is very fine. My final Tuppence was re adjusting the thicknesser measurement is - rather than rummaging around in the guts of the machine to find where the blades are just touching etc… just thickness a piece of wood, then measure the thickness, then adjust the digital gauge accordingly… just a thought.. Thx again for the video.

[@Jemma1854]

Thanks for the video, very informative. Just about to get started on the calibration. Wish me luck…from the comments I think I’m gonna need it! Thanks again

[@PSchaug]

I got this planer delivered just over a week ago so your series on it could not come at a better time for me! Keep up the good work, I have enjoyed several other of your series, e.g. on the Festool LR 32-system. Cheers!

[@TheWoodgrafter]

+Petter Schaug-Pettersen Hi Petter, This is an excellent machine, the results are unbelievable. I had a friend over the other day, he had seen the first unboxing video in the series so we popped into the workshop so he could have a look. I showed him the sample stock I had used to test it, he was blown away by how smooth it was. It is pretty much finish ready. Enjoy Andy

[@LDBecker]

HA! I guess I'm the source of the concern about the way locking down the outfeed table changed the table in relation to the cutter head blades. Watching you adjust them, I was reminded of my struggle a few years ago - there are two adjustment bolts and one center bolt for the locking mechanism - somewhere along the way those two bolts got out of alignment and there is no way I can tell to realign them. It was not fun trying to figure this out as I recall. In checking today, I noticed my outfeed table was a bit too high - thanks for the reminder of the 5mm movement rule. I have that on both sides of the cutterhead, and they seem (luckily) to be aligned. This is a 20+ year old Robland Jointer/Planer, imported back then by Laguna in California. I called them recently to get a new power switch for it and there was no one there who worked for them back then, but there was a guy who had talked to an old-timer before he retired who was able to find the switch I needed. Sucks getting old (65!!!! gasp!!!), and having old tools.

[@TheWoodgrafter]

+Lawrence Becker Hi Larry, no names no pat drill :-) So long as the outfeed table is aligned to the cutter, and the adjusting knobs are not so far out of alignment that the table is twisting when you lock it down. I don’t think it matters. The more important thing is the 5mm and that the two tables are co-planner. I was thinking about the straight blade cutters (from memory that’s what you have). I guess the problem you would have is keeping the blade parallel to the thinknesser bed. If I understand correctly, you have adjustment in the blade, and you set the blade up with the out feed table. Then you set up the infeed table as discussed. However when you do this you have taken the blade out of parallel to the thickness bed But on my machine I can’t see any adjustment on the thickness bed. So it would be very easy to get this wrong and very hard to get it right. Any thoughts.... And by the way there is nothing wrong with an old tool. Cheers Andy

[@diycharger1760]

Good video. But.. 6:00 that bolt is not to stop the thicknesser table. That bolt to adjust the tension belt.. Actually that belt move the motor. Open the side cover and you will find what i mean.

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Thank you, Are you sure ? I’ll check that out when I get 5 mins. Cheers Andy

[@MREJ63]

I'm thinking of getting this model so vey interesting- Thanks! However, I think when you were doing the Planer Calibration you had the bulk of the Wooden stock on the In-feed table (well over halfway), which means it will drop the block down on that side and up on the Out-feed, affecting your Calibration on the Out-feed table?

[@TheWoodgrafter]

+Mark Johnson Hi Mark, yes I noticed that in the editing, but didn’t have time to revisit. I even mentioned that when I explained the method I was going to use - then did something different. However, the cut was set to 0.5mm and the material was on the edge of the outfeed table - so in theory is should be OK. I did re-check the calibration and all is good. But you are bang on, same approach BUT with the majority of the stock on the outfeed. Case of do what I say, not what I do. In terms of buying this model, it is awesome. Cheers Andy

[@davidbarry9689]

Hi, great video and thanks for putting these out there. My problem, is that when I adjust the out feed table to its lowest point, it still does not grab the wood (I.e. its too high and can’t be lowered further). Have tried to solve this by changing the levelling secrets but no luck. Is there an easy solution I’m missing? Thanks in advance, David

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Hi, Not sure I am following, are you saying the cutter doesn’t grab the stock when you are setting it up ? A

[@davidbarry9689]

@@TheWoodgrafter I set the planer up exactly as instructed. But even set at its lowest level, the outfeed table is too high, such that it doesn't grab the stock.

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Hi David, That is very strange, I assume you slackened off the lock but on the silver adjuster handle ? Andy

[@robcheetham4370]

So you werent kidding when you said calibarating the outfeed table to the cutters is a pain in the arse lol. Two hours in and still hadnt done it. Got close but still not right. In the end I tried to cheat and instead of lossening the locking nut and the bolt i tried just loosening or tightening the bolt without loosening the locking nut thinking this way I could just move it the tinyest of amounts to just get it right. BIG MISTAKE. I only did this twice then decided to go back to normal way of loosening both. The locking nut was super tight at this point and when tyring to put preasure on both to loosen the bolt nearest the end of the table, the bolt snapped. So now im screwed completely untill I can get axminster to send me out a new table stop screw (part A-23 in the manual). Also the grub screw on the locking nut for the height adjuster broke on me. the head squashed up so now cant get allen key into it. Im having to tighten it with fingers the best I can. Just a few questions. q1. When the block of wood is over the cutterhead and I start to rotate the cutter block well it seems to move it different amounts on each row of the cutters from time to time. Is this just to do with the speed at which im rotating the cutter block with my fingers or is it someting else? The block of wood im using is thick like you used and perfectly square. q2. When you have the 5 mm on the fence side and then adjust the bolts to do the front side, well if then it sends both sides out of contact with the cutteres then should you always go back to the height adjustment to get the 5mm on the fence side again? Or can you just go back to adjusting the bolts? I noticed you adjusted the height again to get your 5mm on the fence side again. q3. Reading one of the comments about the tickneeser bed stop bolt being for the motor tension. Is there any confirmation on this as I have adjusted it like you said in the video to be at 190mm. I had a test on the machine before I started to follow your calibration vid just to see how good it is straight out the factory, The results were brilliant. The piece im using to do the 5mm move test was my test piece and came out bang on pretty much. But ive now done the tests and the outfeed is not completely level with the cutters across the width so really want to do the fine tuning. As you said if im working with wide boards will need it bang on. Any help on the questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Wow, What a nightmare, hopefully you will get it up and running soon. Question 1 - I find I have to position the wood over the cutter block in such away that the little blade is in the center of the block. Don’t forget they have a small camber on the blades. That is most likely what you are seeing. Also do this from the outfeed table, not the infeed table. Question 2 - yes it is cycle. Adjust the height, check the bed front to back, adjust the level. Adjust the height, check the bed front to back, adjust the level etc. That way you systematically work towards the solution. On the outfeed table, I didn’t worry to much about levelling the bed (left to right) - just the height front to back to make sure it is parallel to the cutter block. So turned both adjustment screws the same. A tip I picked up is draw a thin black line on top of the adjustment nuts, that way you can gauge how much you are turning them. Small turns work best. Question 3 - I still believe that to be the stop for the bed, and have left mine set at the 190mm. The tensioners are inside the cabinet. It really is just a case of sticking with it. The good news is, it seems to be a one off job. Just before I started the workbench build - I checked the calibration and found that the height adjustment had moved. Quickly re-set using the wooden block and to my surprise... Both beds has stayed co-planer and level to the cutter block. Let me know how you get on. Andy

[@robcheetham4370]

@@TheWoodgrafter thanks for the reply. Ill take your advice and just stick with it untill its rite lol. I got the replacement stop screw through from axminster. Only problem is now that ive had to insert the new screw and now the table is even more out of wack than before. straight edge over the both tables and there quite off. Im going to try and get tables level as i can then do the 5mm test. Only thing i dont understand is if i keep raising the outfeed table to get the 5mm movement then when I come to do the infeed table i will have to raise that level with the outfeed. Rite now though my infeed is bang on the marker for 0mm cut and cant see a way to adjust that marker come the end of calibrating like you can on the marker for the thicknesser bed. Or is there a way? Or will i just adjust the stop screws on the infeed table to fix that at the end. Cheers

[@jonathanm8016]

Hi Andy, , Thank you for making this video series on the planer thicknesser!I'm in the market for a planer thicknesser and i'm convinced this is a pretty decent machine for the money. What's kind of holding me back from comitting to the purchase is the infeed table.Seeing what a faff adjusting the tables is and how seemingly sensitive/unstable they are, im wondering if the infeed table goes out of alignment if you adjust the planing thickness up and down a few times? (because the adjustment only happens on the right side of the infeed table) Does the infeed table remain co-planar to the cutter block when adjusting planing depth or not?Kind regards

[@Hindrik1986]

The blok of wood should be resting on the outfeed table and hang over the cutter block. It should't be resting on the infeed table. The end of the woodblock should hang a bit over the centre of the cutter block.

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Yes you are correct. I clocked this after the video went live - I will make an updated video next time I calibrate the. Machine. Thank you for your comment. Cheers Andy

[@stephendixon8575]

Here's a little tip for anyone else doing this (or for future reference) - when it comes to making really small adjustments to these bolts to alter the height of the out-feed table (or anything similar task), what really helps is to take a fine tipped permanent marker pen (like those you get for writing on overhead projector slides, or DVD's etc) and, before you make any adjustment to either the locking nut or the main nut's position, draw a small line on each one of them in say the 12 o'clock position (from wherever you're standing). Then when you loosen the locking nut and adjust the main bolt you can easily see precisely by how much it's moved or line it back up in position if you need to. So simple, but better than doing it just by eye and memory alone. It would of course be much better if these bolts had a much higher thread count, so that say 1/4 turn is only a very small adjustment - but then everything is built to a tight budget these days. Hope this helps.

[@TheWoodgrafter]

+Stephen Dixon Hi Stephen, that’s a great tip - thank you for sharing. Cheers Andy

[@thehappygolfers]

Hey. Really need your clarity as I'm now 3 hours in the calibration and am not getting close. Want to pull my own head off 😭 So. I have watched the Matt Estlea video, it is good for the 5mm rule, but he only calibrates the middle once and says something about these blades not needing anymore?? Yours seems the logical step to be perfect and one I'm adopting this. However, when I get to the 5mm on the top and tighten the outfeed adjuster, lock the outfeed table and then measure the bottom I got the same situation as you... And this is where I think I'm going wrong. Q1. Is the outfeed table supposed to be locked at the point before measuring the other side? Q2. Once you have it wound up, shut the out feed lid, do you then lock it to take both measurements or do you measure the bottom one again locked, unlock then measure the top? 3. I noticed in your video that once you have adjusted once you measure the top again and adjust to get back the 5mm. Q3. Is the outfeed table locked or unlocked when you start the calibration fine-tuning? Q4. After this adjustment, is the outfeed table locked before taking the bottom measure again? Q5. Do you follow this sequence each time - top, then bottom, measure, adjust top, then bottom and repeat? Love your vids, but cannot get past this video of yours. Would really appreciate your input

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Hi John, This is one pain in the rear process. I start with the outfeed table, adjust the height to give me that 5mm then check to see if the bed is parallel to the cutting block. All adjustments are made with the bed unlocked, all measurements are taken with the bed locked. So yes the process is. Unlock and adjust the height Lock and check the height Lock and check front and back Unlock level the bed Lock check front and back Lock check the height Unlock adjust the height Repeat I took me a fair few hours to get it right. Let me know how it goes. Cheers Andy

[@sebastianschoof]

Leveling that outfeed table was a pain in the *ss. I think this could have been designed better. The fact that you have to modify the position of 2 bolts is painstaking. I removed the plate covering the 2 bolts so I could see them when the table is down. I did my changes there without lifting up the table. Whenever I changed the position of the bolt, I checked with a piece of paper that the 2 bolts were touching the table. To a certain point the bolts are touching the table without the lock, but I had to get lower to level the table. Only when the lock is placed are the bolts touching the table. Dunno if this is fine, but now my outfeed table if parallel with the blade. Another confusing part is the distance the blade should move the wood. In the manual I got, it said 10mm. In the online manual, it says 3-4mm.

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Tell me about it, I tend to keep on top of the calibration, fine adjustment every month - I never want to g through that again. As a said in the video “a pain in the ....” From memory I found around 4-5 mm of movement gave me good results. Cheers Andy

[@picklearms4757]

I cant even calibrate the thicknesser on my machine. The roller on the outfeed table for the thicknesser is stuck in a fixed position and stops me from raising my table up to my cutting block. So frustrating

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Hi, Not sure I understand the issue, are you talking about the small silver roller on the end of the outfield table or the the drive roller near to the cutter head ?

[@picklearms4757]

The Woodgrafter so on the top side of the thicknesser, there are the Anti Kickback teeth, the roller, the cutter block, and then another roller (or Bar of some sort) its the bar which is stopping me from calibrating my machine, and something may be up with my model as it is near impossible to get the outfeed table parrallel to the cutter block,

[@TheWoodgrafter]

Strange, I assume you have the leaver at the side of the machine set in the correct position ? Cheers Andy

[@valdimarfririksvavarsson27]

@@picklearms4757 Did you find a solution for the ticknesser calibrate problem? I´m having the same problem, pretty sure that I have the machine set to planer mode...