Brush chippers like any regular cutting tool require maintenance to function properly. Maintenance of brush chippers however seems to be a bit more tasking than many may presume. Carrying out proper maintenance of your brush chipper requires daily inspections of the parts and components of your clipper. Some of the components that require daily inspections include safety chains, tires, belts, grease points, and most importantly the knives. Despite the importance of these components, daily inspections are not necessarily limited to only these parts of your brush chipper.
Daily inspections are not only helpful for proper maintenance, but they also help to ensure a safer working environment as it eliminates risks that may arise from the use of a faulty chipper. By carrying out daily inspections, you also reduce downtime while ensuring quality end products.
Knowing when to Change The Knives Of Your Brush Chipper
To determine the right time to change your chipper knives, you have to carry out a proper 10-minute inspection. Before carrying out this inspection, make sure to adhere to the safety guidelines by putting on protective gloves and using the right tools where applicable. You will also need to check the blades for cracks and chips as using a chipper with chipped or cracked blades can prove hazardous for the chipper and the operator.
Factors That Affect The Life Of Chipper Knives
The journey to optimizing the life and overall performance of your chipper knives starts even before the start of your daily morning inspections. To properly maximize the life of your chipper blades, you need to start from your chipping process. The chipping process majorly involves the type of wood being processed, the style of the chipper, and the type of material processed.
Many operators may not have full control over the selection process of the wood. However, you can always pay attention to the state of the wood by checking for contaminants and other objects that may be found on the wood. Some common contaminants include pebbles, rocks, and mud. These contaminants can be very harmful to the blades of your chipper. Detecting these contaminants and eliminating them before placing the wood in the chipper helps to prevent damage to your chipping knives.
With proper attention to the possible contaminants of the wood to be processed, you can increase the knife life of your chippers to a range of about 50 to 60 hours. This is a wide improvement compared to the 25 to 30 hours knife life when exposing your chipper to contaminated woods.
Another major factor that improves the life of your chipper blades is the chipping angle of your brush chipper. Placing your chipper at a fixed angle of 90 degrees ensures an extension of the life of your chipping knives. The type of wood you choose to process also has a huge impact on the knife life of your chipper blades. Hardwood can cause the edges of the chipper knives to become blunt within just a few hours of use.
Sharpening A Chipper Knife
The presence of cracks or chips on a chipper knife does not necessarily mean the end of its knife life. Chipped or cracked chipper knives can always be sharpened as long as the knife is still in good condition. However, such knives should not be sharpened deeper than an inch. Chipper knives with no cracks or chipped edges can be sharpened as much as three times on each side. To properly sharpen your chipper knives, it is advisable to use an industrial knife grinder as it prevents the knife from overheating, retaining its hardness and tolerance.