Automatic planer feeding

WoodenHead · October 22, 2012, 07:57:34 AM

Does anyone know if equipment exists for automatically feeding a planer with boards? For example, is there a machine that takes a stack of 1" x 10" boards (or whatever size) and feeds them into a planer one right after the other with no human intervention? I believe I can deal with the output, but I can't seem to find any equipment for input. I am a one person operation right now, so anything I can do to automate or assist is helpful. Presently I have a Logosol PH260 for a planer.

WDH · October 22, 2012, 08:00:41 AM

Yes. At least, that is how it is done in the big commercial pine mills in the South.

trim4u2nv · October 22, 2012, 08:06:24 PM

The old yates american pineapple feeders work pretty good. A green chain or stub chain to dump boards under the pineapple wheels works pretty good. Gilbert products in canada makes a nice feeder system also check youtube.

red oaks lumber · October 22, 2012, 08:29:59 PM

i use a table on the outfeed. i'll feed maybe 6 boards then go stack. i can still plane over 2000 bf in a day. plus i get my walking for the day

WoodenHead · October 22, 2012, 09:01:12 PM

Thanks for the quick responses. The Gilbert pineapple feeder works quite slick. I don't think I could afford something like that, but certainly gives food for thought.

Dan_Shade · October 22, 2012, 10:35:08 PM

what does your table look like red oaks?

red oaks lumber · October 23, 2012, 07:01:56 AM

its just a white plastic folding table, maybe 2'x6' i buy them at menards you can get them almost any where. they cost about $40

Dan_Shade · October 23, 2012, 07:23:20 AM

how do you keep the outfeeding board from pushing the other ones off of the table?

trim4u2nv · October 23, 2012, 04:24:45 PM

For lower speed higher quality work try searching youtube for timme stapelautomaten a german company into wood automation. Many good ideas here with vacuum lifts and lug conveyors. These guys do some high quality work.

red oaks lumber · October 23, 2012, 07:46:38 PM

my table sits about a foot lower than the out feed. the boards come out and just drop flat on the table.
i use a table when i'm ripping ,planing, moulding and sanding. best investment i made. even works on 16' material

Dan_Shade · October 23, 2012, 07:51:29 PM

after using an outfeed table on a table saw, I don't ever want to use one without!

boards kinda hang up on the outfeed of my planer, a small table there may help, i'll have to look into it.

WDH · October 23, 2012, 07:56:21 PM

I assume that you can use some of the lube or wax for table saw or planer or jointer beds to make the plastic table top slick.

Dan_Shade · October 23, 2012, 07:58:33 PM

nah, I mean the end of the board drops down and is caught by the outfeed roller housing. basically, the boards hang out like a diving board, and the next board can get wedged under the one previously ran through.

jueston · October 23, 2012, 11:51:16 PM

Quote from: Dan_Shade on October 23, 2012, 07:58:33 PM
nah, I mean the end of the board drops down and is caught by the outfeed roller housing. basically, the boards hang out like a diving board, and the next board can get wedged under the one previously ran through.

i made my mom some wooden bookmarks to sell at a church craft fair, and that happened to me a few times, but it has never happened to me with thicker pieces...

GeneWengert-WoodDoc · October 24, 2012, 05:21:04 AM

I have never seen it done with hardwood lumber (flooring mills, cabinet and furniture plants) perhaps because the lumber size (width and thickness) is not uniform compared to softwoods. I have seen feed systems with two pieces side by side, and also two pieces on top of each other with the planer feeding only the bottom piece at one time.

woodmills1 · October 24, 2012, 06:38:03 PM

?

Meadows Miller · October 31, 2012, 06:16:17 AM

Gday

There are afew different ways to deal with 4sider planer's it is easier to deal with the outfeed end as there is alot less to automate that you may be just looking at the wrong end ;) our famlys had or have run four siders for the last 30odd years the simplest and most effective one i have seen was on the back end of the Mida P4E 6x16" capacity with fixed top head and adjustable bed so dad and my uncles built a steel frame 24' long by 18" wide with a pine top and 10" or 12x1.5" verticaly at the back side that was adjustable on two sets of legs via two bottle jacks verticaly so it would take whatever was being processed . the timber would come up against an angled at 50 55deg heavy section of timber at the end of the table that extended about 2' over the side of the table whilst being pushed by the next piece coming out of the planer it would get to the pivit point and slide down a set of 45deg skids into a holding area about 3' wide i guess it would have held about 450 to 600bft of product usually there was two men running the planer but it also let one bloke do it on his own to ;) when they had it wound out they would do upto 20000bft per day simple and effective and they way il set mine up in the future ;)

Regards Chris