And yet another splitter adjustment question.

[Webicons]

So after a few hours of fine tuning my (new to me) American LS440, I think I’m almost optimized. 

The last bit that’s giving me trouble is that all the pieces gets stuck at the very end of the run.  The last mm just doesn’t want to cut.  

A few threads down I see that someone had a similar issue but my blade is new and I believe positioned correctly: blade set  0.015 away from stop by feeler gauges.

Bruce Johnson talked about a situation where notching the blade ends solved the issue but I just want to confirm and get other ideas before taking a drastic step. 

The center hole of this new blade doesn’t line up with the adjustment screw hole so I’m wondering if this screw issue goes hand in hand with my splitting issue. 

Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

Edited October 13, 2017 by Webicons

[bruce johnson]

Did it do the same with the old blade and what did the ends of the original blade look like? 

[Webicons]

8 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

Did it do the same with the old blade and what did the ends of the original blade look like? 

Thanks Bruce, I was hoping you would chime in.  The cutting edge of the blade that came with the splitter went strait across with no notches at the ends. It did allow the center bolt to attach and had a flat chisel grind. 

It was pretty dull so it didn’t split well and just shy of 2 7/8 so the adjustment knobs didn’t reach the blade. 

Ill try to sharpen and reattach the old blade to find out if it has the same issue and let you know.  Thanks!

 

[bruce johnson]

Most of the blades end up with a flat grind and realistically, that very edge will cut if it is sharp no matter if it is hollow or flat ground. A lot of people get hung on hollow grinding. Right up to the point where they take the blade to the local guy who does a pretty good job of grinding everything else, and totally mucks out their splitter blade. A good flat grind is easier and works. I have maybe got two that still had a hollow grind that had been in the trenches. 

I am not in the shop yet to check my thinking is that the Landis has the shorter blade rest than American and the blades extend further off the back. On the Americans some I get with will come with key stock or bar stock to back up the blades as they get shorter. I used one for a couple years that the side hold downs just caught the blade and it had a piece of about 1-1/4" bar stock behind it to catch the backup screws. No center screw.  

[Webicons]

21 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

Did it do the same with the old blade and what did the ends of the original blade look like? 

I was able to give the old blade a pretty good edge and after I installed it I have the same issue.  The leather splits well until the very end where it hangs up.

i guess the next step is the notch it? 

Bruce, can you recommend a depth? 

Thanks! 

[bruce johnson]

Realize that the reason  it is doing this is because the edge of the blade is sitting behind the dead top center of the rollers. By design they do sit back a fraction. Some more than others and some splitters are just finicky and need that blade edge closer to dead top center. I go forward a little at a time and just play with it. Too far forward and you can always back up. 

Now the caveats. You need to be careful of the clearance between the blade edge and bottom roller. Too close and you say bad words as you hear the feed wheel biting into the blade edge. The old rule is "thickness of a credit card" clearance space between blade edge and bottom roller.and that is what I shoot for. Be careful of the top roller and notice where the top roller starts to make contact with the blade edge. Put a tape or tag on the splitter to ID the setting and this is "no-man's land". 

[Webicons]

Bruce - thanks for taking the time to walk me through this.  On another note (or maybe related) there is quite a gap between the frame and the gear assembly (see photo).  Could you suggest how I would adjust to minimize the gap? 

I wonder if the cutting issue would get better if I properly adjusted to get rid of this gap. 

Thanks again. 

 

[Webicons]

Notching worked! 

I made a notch on the old blade that was 1/8 wide by 1/16 deep and that did the trick. Now I have clean cuts all the way through.  Thanks Bruce. 

Any thoughts about that gap between the frame and crank assembly? 

 

[bruce johnson]

The gear cover has the bearing block for the bottom roller cast into as I am visualizing it in my mind here. It floats up and down with varying thicknesses of leather, but should sit deeper into the notch. A  little grind and file work so it will fit in there and float up and down should be the ticket now. 

[Webicons]

39 minutes ago, bruce johnson said:

The gear cover has the bearing block for the bottom roller cast into as I am visualizing it in my mind here. It floats up and down with varying thicknesses of leather, but should sit deeper into the notch. A  little grind and file work so it will fit in there and float up and down should be the ticket now. 

Thanks Bruce.  Almost dialed in perfectly.  I think I’m in the home stretch now.