Thicknesser Motor

A thicknesser brings a board whose one face has already been flattened down to the required size and makes its two faces parallel; in furniture and joinery shops it is the machine that ensures parts come out at the same thickness. Unlike the surface planer, the board here is fed not by a person but by motorised rollers. This page covers the main motor and the auxiliary drives of the machine; for the whole woodworking shop, see our Woodworking Machine Electric Motors page.

Three Separate Tasks in One Machine

The board lies on a heavy table. The serrated infeed roller grips it, the cutterblock hanging above the table takes a cut from the top face, and the smooth outfeed roller pushes the piece out. Table height sets the final size to be reached.

Each of these movements needs its own drive. The main motor turns the cutterblock by belt and uses most of the power. The feed drive turns the rollers slowly through a gearbox or chain; on some machines this motion is taken mechanically from the main motor, on others there is a separate small motor. The table drive moves the table up and down via screw spindles and runs only briefly during adjustment. Before replacing a motor, first establish which layout your machine has, in other words how many motors it carries.

Main Motor Load: Width, Depth of Cut and Feed

On a thicknesser the block cuts across the full width of the board at once. As the board gets wider and the cut deeper, the cutting force grows; that is why machines with a large working width also have a large main motor. Moreover, because the feed pushes the board at a fixed speed, the operator cannot feel the load and slow down; the motor has to carry it.

Feed speed sets surface quality and motor load together. With fast feed, the chip removed by each knife gets thicker, current rises and knife marks become visible on the surface. With slow feed the surface becomes smoother but output drops. A two-speed feed gearbox, or a feed motor whose speed is set by an inverter, makes it easier to strike this balance for each workpiece.

A two-pole motor in the 3000 rpm class is common for the main drive; block speed is reached through the pulley ratio. The exact value is always the one written on the machine's nameplate and the maker's diagram.

Motor Selection for the Feed and Table Drives

The feed motor is low in power but has a hard job: pressing the rollers onto the board while pushing the piece against the knives at the same time. The load does not fall with speed; it behaves as a constant-torque load. That is why a four-pole motor combined with a gearbox is common on the feed side. Our reducer for electric motors page guides you on geared drives; the gearbox ratio comes from the machine maker's diagram.

If the feed speed is to be changed by an inverter, note that our three-phase motors can run on a frequency converter. On a motor that will turn at full load for long periods at low frequency, a separate cooling fan may be needed because its own fan slows down; if the drive is far away, an output filter is considered depending on cable length. Writing these conditions into your quotation request is enough; details are on the inverter compatible electric motors page.

The table motor is the smallest and is usually a four-pole, low-power aluminium frame model. Its direction changes often and its running time is short; the screw mechanism does not let the table drop by itself.

Double-Sided Thicknesser

In series production plants both faces of the board are machined in a single pass: the lower block flattens the bottom, the upper block gives the thickness. These machines have two main motors, and the feed drive is stronger than on a single-sided machine because resistance increases as the piece passes through two knife zones at once.

Switching on both main motors at the same moment puts a sudden load on the supply. Starting the motors a few seconds apart and, at higher ratings, using star-delta or a soft starter softens this shock. Star-delta requires a motor with a winding able to run in delta at 400 V; in our range, that means the models whose nameplate reads 400/690 V.

Chip Load, Braking and Maintenance

The chips a wide-table machine throws out every minute can fill several sacks. If extraction is weak, chips get trapped under the rollers; the feed motor is strained, and the main motor does extra work in a hood packed with chips. The capacity of the extraction line therefore affects motor life directly.

Even though the cutterblock sits inside a closed hood, it must have stopped completely before the maintenance cover is opened. On most machines quick stopping is provided by a mechanical brake or an electronic brake controlled from the panel; this device belongs to the machine, not to the motor. Our motors come with IP55 enclosure protection and class F insulation; keeping the fan cowl grille free of chips is the simplest maintenance that prevents the main motor from overheating.

Example Motors for a Thicknesser

The models in the table are examples; the final choice is made according to machine load, required speed, mounting and operating conditions. The nameplate of each motor on your machine must be taken as the reference separately.

Quotation for a Thicknesser Motor

Send us the machine type (single- or double-sided thicknesser), which motor is to be replaced (main, feed, table), its power and speed, the supply voltage, the mounting type and the quantity. Photographing each motor's nameplate separately avoids confusion; our send your motor nameplate article helps with this.

All models with visible prices are grouped in the buy electric motors category; use our contact page for WhatsApp and phone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the feed on my thicknesser driven by a separate motor or by the main motor?

If you open the side cover and see a separate motor going to the feed gearbox, there is a separate drive; otherwise the motion is taken from the main motor by chain or belt. The wiring diagram shows this as well.

Can I set the feed speed with an inverter?

Yes, on machines that have a separate feed motor. If long running at low speed is expected with this constant-torque load, let us assess the need for an external fan together at the order stage.

The main motor slows down while cutting; do I need a bigger motor?

First check knife sharpness, depth of cut, feed speed and belt tension. If these are fine, compare the current you measure with the nameplate value; any power increase must stay within the limit allowed by the machine maker.

Why does the table motor fail often?

If the limit switch does not work when the table reaches its end position, the motor is forced with a locked rotor. Check the limit switches, the lubrication of the screw spindles and the setting of the motor protection together.