Power feeders for cabinet saw

HankShop · May 18, 2015, 08:41:32 AM

New to this Board. I know that the topic is from 2006, but I found it doing a search looking for something power feeder related.

Have 2 Steff units and was wondering (to the member who built vertical mobile base) if you were successful in later models/versions of your stand?

Thank you!

AlaskaLes · May 18, 2015, 03:10:58 PM

Funny, I was reading this post like it was a current topic.
Since it has been resurrected, I wanted to add something for the education of all here.

You should never grind/profile a finished weld. All you will be doing is making it weaker and removing the supporting profile of the weld.
If it lays down as a pretty weld then good for you. If not, then it will still be stronger if you just leave it alone.
Think of the profile and strength of the Roman arch...a good weld has the same shape and derives a lot of it's strength from this shape.
If you take the top off of a Roman arch it will be exponentially weaker.

HankShop · May 18, 2015, 09:05:52 PM

Given I don't weld everyday... my welds are funtional but perhaps not pretty. Two guys I know, different shops, have beautiful welds. But then, thats their bread and butter. Looking forward to putting design of mobile feeder base on CAD then making it.

hackberry jake · May 18, 2015, 09:39:54 PM

As far as the 3 wheel single horse feeder, I think Lobo has the cheapest one. Which I'm sure is made by Comatic just like grizzly. They just get different paint, decals, and price tags depending on where they go.

Ya gotta look at tools as tools. If drilling holes in the top makes it more convenient. Then drill holes in the top. I haven't hesitated to drill feeder holes in any of my equipment.

AlaskaLes · May 19, 2015, 01:47:01 PM

We've been buying tools for the past 2 years with the plan to set up a pretty efficient processing line in the new ( not built yet) sawmill building.
With that in mind we've got:
A Powermatic 16" Planer/ helical cutter=feeds itself
A Delta 8"Jointer/helical cutter=needs power feed
2ea. Powermatic 5hp Shapers=need power feed
2ea. Powermatic 4 wheel 1hp Power feeders
Still looking for a serious 3 to 5 hp tablesaw, possibly a good used straight line rip saw.

I was doing some research last month and came across a guy that has parked his Shaper and Tablesaw back to back so he can leave the feeder on the shaper and just swing it around to use it on the tablesaw.
This has rewritten our plan to utilize this idea.
We'll be setting the feeders on the shapers and doubling them to the jointer and tablesaw. This should allow production run and consistency at all of our tools without having to buy 2 more feeders.
Thought you guys might be able to make use of this clever idea too.
Les

hackberry jake · May 19, 2015, 03:42:04 PM

One of my shapers is back to back with my jointer. I dont know if I would do it with a table saw. The tablesaw needs quite a bit of space around it when doing crosscuts on long boards.

AlaskaLes · May 20, 2015, 02:37:46 AM

Add to that...most tablesaws don't weigh in at almost 600 lbs. That can make stabilizing the feeder(150lbs) a lot more reasonable.
For our future plans we're looking for the right saw to just work at ripping boards to a REAL parallel width. That's why we're now looking into a straight line ripsaw, it would do just that...all day long. Then I can save the tablesaw for actual carpentry/woodworking projects.
Regardless, I've still found that the tablesaw just can't keep up with the size and quantity and end up cussing it more often than not.

OneWithWood · May 20, 2015, 12:00:39 PM

HankShop, my welding has improved and the welded angle piece has held up just fine. I continue to use c-clamps to clamp the base to the side of the table saw. The real estate on top of the saw is to valuable to me to sacrifice.

sawwood · May 20, 2015, 08:03:50 PM

I would like a power feeder for my table and have a question about 3ph feeder. I have a ph converter the
is adjustable to change speeds to what its hooked up to. I have seen some power feeders that are 3ph not
too expensive so what do you guys think?

Sawwood

hackberry jake · May 20, 2015, 08:15:17 PM

If you are talking about a variable frequency drive, then that should work fine on a power feeder. Of course the feeder has different speeds already, but it might be nice to be able to fine adjust the perfect feed speed.

AlaskaLes · May 22, 2015, 04:21:57 AM

Sawwood,
If you have a Phase converter and you're asking if a 3phase feeder is an acceptable option, I see no reason why that wouldn't work.
Phase converters are usually rated to the type of load. So, if it's a good phase converter and you don't have it overloaded with other tools at the same time, you should be fine.
One thing to consider is, a power feeder is a considerable amount of load as it is pretty high gear load. If i recall correctly, this would require a 2:1 or 3:1 load ratio. Thus, a 1hp power feeder would require 2hp to 3hp of rating from the phase converter at full load. Also, a static phase converter doesn't handle the load as readily as a rotary phase converter. i.e: I've got a large Cincinnati gear head metal lathe that is 3ph and this requires a 3:1 rating for the phase converter.
A little research on the net will confirm or deny this for you.
HTH,

Hackberry,
I agree, if you're doing crosscuts it would be problematic.
I'm just planning on this application for production ripping. In that application the piggyback to a shaper would be a non-issue.
Les

MikeON · May 31, 2015, 09:12:43 AM

Here's how I mounted my new 1/4 HP Grizzly to my 12" table saw. The oak board is laminated 2" thick by 5" wide. I tried a 1" thick board but it flexed too much. It is clamped down with J-bolts. I cut the end off the J so that the radius part of the J would catch the outer lip of the saw table casting.
.

Larry · May 31, 2015, 11:48:49 AM

I have two of those same feeders, I suppose for 10 or more years. I've ran a lot of material with them. I can over feed both my 3 HP table saw, and my 3 HP shaper. Of course its dependent on type of wood and thickness. I invested in the slow speed gear set and fixed that problem.

I even use one of them to resaw on my sawmill.

Tires get slick from age and wear. Buy replacement soft tires from Western Roller.

I was surprised to see the feeder to the left of your fence but a closer look and it appears you can mount it any place you want.

sawwood · June 01, 2015, 09:57:16 PM

I have a strange question about the power feeder. Could you run one off a generator ? We have a re-saw jig
for the sawmill and we have used a hand winch to pull the lumber threw the saw blade. sure would be good
if we could use a power feeder to push or pull the lumber. We have a generator just would need a power
feeder. Also how big of a feeder would we need, thinking may be a 1hp 4 wheel unit.

Sawwood