Bandit 1390xp knife question

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rymancm

rymancm

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So, I have a Bandit 1390xp. I just installed a set of newly sharpened knives and adjusted the anvil. Now the chipper sounds like a machine gun. It does not chip as smoothly or quietly as before and the chips seem to be slightly pulsing out of the chute rather than shooting in a steady stream. I can see more vibration in the limbs as they enter the chipper. The knives looked to be sharpened perfectly by the same guy I've been using for 10 years. I adjusted the anvil to exactly .12" with the supplied gauge per the instructions. I did not measure to see if all the knives were the same width but I didn't notice any real discrepancy when I gapped the anvil. The chips look perfect. This has always been a very smooth machine and now it just isn't right. All I can guess is that one (or more) knife is a different size than the others due to the sharpening. Or, could the anvil gap be too tight? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
rymancm said:
So, I have a Bandit 1390xp. I just installed a set of newly sharpened knives and adjusted the anvil. Now the chipper sounds like a machine gun. It does not chip as smoothly or quietly as before and the chips seem to be slightly pulsing out of the chute rather than shooting in a steady stream. I can see more vibration in the limbs as they enter the chipper. The knives looked to be sharpened perfectly by the same guy I've been using for 10 years. I adjusted the anvil to exactly .12" with the supplied gauge per the instructions. I did not measure to see if all the knives were the same width but I didn't notice any real discrepancy when I gapped the anvil. The chips look perfect. This has always been a very smooth machine and now it just isn't right. All I can guess is that one (or more) knife is a different size than the others due to the sharpening. Or, could the anvil gap be too tight? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Is the machine shaking like its off balance?
 
No, not really. I don't notice any shaking or vibration until wood is actually being chipped. Then it's like I can hear every single time the knives hit the wood rather than just a smooth purr like before, hence the machine gun comparison. I can see the vibration in the limbs going in (they are in contact with the knives) and I never saw that before. It is a little hard to explain...
 
rymancm said:
No, not really. I don't notice any shaking or vibration until wood is actually being chipped. Then it's like I can hear every single time the knives hit the wood rather than just a smooth purr like before, hence the machine gun comparison. I can see the vibration in the limbs going in (they are in contact with the knives) and I never saw that before. It is a little hard to explain...
Click to expand...
Maybe the gap is to tight then ,if the knives were different it would be off balance and shake that is all that is left I think.
 
I did gap it so the gauge can just barely squeeze in. I guess I'll back it off a little and try again. The machine is stuck on a job for several days so I don't have it at home to fiddle with.
 
I don't think the gap is the problem,,They say up to a little over 15" but I would not feed it that big.
How many times have you had to sharpen that set of knives?,,3 times max for me,
You want it to sound like a machine gun, or helicopter,,
If you are going to try to max it out in diameter of wood, you need to read the fine print,
dice it up,,feed it, or deal with the shaking and vibration.
Jeff :)
stock up on trailer light bulbs.
 
jefflovstrom said:
I don't think the gap is the problem,,They say up to a little over 15" but I would not feed it that big.
How many times have you had to sharpen that set of knives?,,3 times max for me,
You want it to sound like a machine gun, or helicopter,,
If you are going to try to max it out in diameter of wood, you need to read the fine print,
dice it up,,feed it, or deal with the shaking and vibration.
Jeff :)
stock up on trailer light bulbs.
Click to expand...
Out of balance shakes when not chipping and when chipping so I dont think the knives are the issue.
 
This is the first sharpening. I'm not talking about huge wood, just small stuff. All I know is I like how it chipped better before I changed the knives... I will pull them off and measure them just so I know. Then I'll play with the anvil clearance and see if that makes any difference.
 
rymancm said:
This is the first sharpening. I'm not talking about huge wood, just small stuff. All I know is I like how it chipped better before I changed the knives... I will pull them off and measure them just so I know. Then I'll play with the anvil clearance and see if that makes any difference.
Click to expand...
Be interesting to see why. I think it could be the air gap ain't large enough.
 
Yeah, I think so too. Like I said, it chips well but all the guys said "hey, what's up with the chipper" the day after I swapped the knives so clearly something has changed.
 
Check you bolts for the blades and check they are all tight and look to see if the angle that the blades were sharpened at it the same as new blades. I had a guy sharpen blades for.my 200 and he changed the back off angle and the thing chupped like crap.
 
I found that 2 blades were longer than the other 2. I reversed them and now all blades are close. I will try it today and see if that helps.
 
They were sharpened as a set. I guess some were dinged up more so they got sharpened more. I'm talking less than 1/8" difference but maybe that's all it takes. If this damn rain stops I'll go to work and find out!
 
So, with all the knives now roughly the same length the chipper is back to normal. Smooth, quiet, no vibration, perfect chips. HOWEVER, now I have a different problem. When I'm chipping bigger stuff, end grain rounds etc. I am having more long slivers and chunks binding the upper feedwheel. Some are getting above the feedwheel and keeping me from being able to lift it. This used to happen very rarely but now it's happening all the time. I can reverse the feedwheels and the chunks fall out but it's a real problem. Again, this is not a knife sharpness problem. The knives are razor sharp and the chips are perfect. It's a problem when a short fat piece goes in sideways or a round goes in with the grain up etc. The bigger slivers/chunks that result are somehow binding the upper (and possible lower) feedwheel. Has anyone had this problem?
 
rymancm said:
So, with all the knives now roughly the same length the chipper is back to normal. Smooth, quiet, no vibration, perfect chips. HOWEVER, now I have a different problem. When I'm chipping bigger stuff, end grain rounds etc. I am having more long slivers and chunks binding the upper feedwheel. Some are getting above the feedwheel and keeping me from being able to lift it. This used to happen very rarely but now it's happening all the time. I can reverse the feedwheels and the chunks fall out but it's a real problem. Again, this is not a knife sharpness problem. The knives are razor sharp and the chips are perfect. It's a problem when a short fat piece goes in sideways or a round goes in with the grain up etc. The bigger slivers/chunks that result are somehow binding the upper (and possible lower) feedwheel. Has anyone had this problem?
Click to expand...
Sounds like the cutting anvil is dull or your air gap is too big or both. You know that the cutting anvil or what ever its called in this case also must be sharp?
 

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