The Forestry Forum

I am trying to help my next door neighbor with a question on a Frick 27" gang edger.

When he runs a 8 foot pine board through the edger the board is bowing by as much as 1/8 inch in the middle.  So if you lay the board on a flat surface on its edge there is a 1/8 inch gap in the middle of the board.

His question is this: is there some king of a adjustment he can make to the edger so the edge will run true for the entire 8 ft?

I appreciate any help you can give me since the edger is of no use to him if he can make a adjustment somewhere.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/61502/Frick_gang_edger1~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1620175858)
 

Welcome 354maple

Not sure what your asking,
Are the boards coming off the mill already bowed?
or are you saying when he runs a board through it comes out with a bow?

If the boards are bowed across their width the edger will not correct that

D

The 1" boards are straight and true coming off the mill they get bowed when they go through the edger

Edgers are very fustrating when cutting curves. There are so many things that can cause this the question can not be answered . I could say; put in new feed rolls absolutely square with the mandrel and new teeth, and overhead guide light and guide the board by hand.  When I rebuilt mine it did this bad. The problem was the outfeed table had one dead roll a little off.

Yes I was afraid that a complete overhaul was going to be the solution. My neighbor is a mechanic and I thought if there was  an adjustment somewhere he would have found it.  Maybe feeding by hand will work.
I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Sincerely

354maple

I was just using the statement as an example of a 'correct answer'. That edger may have just one or 2 little things wrong. The alignment of the rolls and the condition of the saw teeth first off. A stick with a wood screw makes a perfect gage to measure from the mandrel to the rolls. Anything the board touches must be considered. I spent a lot of time changing my outfeed table builds until I got it right. Many edgers just don't cut straight until the owner and the machine get tuned up. There are ways to make a fixed outfeed fence with a shifting fence to keep the board straight but this is last resort because trash gets caught in these things.  

Thanks for giving me additional information to pass along to my neighbor.  As soon as I here him fire up his diesel I'll be over to see him with a printout containing your suggestions.