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phillamb168

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General consensus seems to be that the Jet JPT-310 is solid, but for nearly 2k I am going to have a hard time convincing the appropriations committee. I see on Roy Arrowsmith's site that he carries what appears to be an Xcalibur p/t for nearly half the price of the Jet. Has anyone used one of these?

What about the difference between 12" and 10"? Do those of you who have the 10" ever find yourself wishing you had that extra 2"? Same question would of course apply to the Xcalibur 10", I mean it's only £349.00 -VAT, so you have to wonder if it holds up...
 
Hi if I was looking for a planer/thicknesser again & my budget was up to £3000. I would go for a Second Hand
Wadkin Bursgreen, had one for many years & is a solid great machine. (get a good one for about £1200)
Just my Opinion
 
phillamb168":2m0end7s said:
What about the difference between 12" and 10"? Do those of you who have the 10" ever find yourself wishing you had that extra 2"?
Not in my ownership of a 10" PT. Anything I might have liked to dimension larger than 10" has been significantly larger than just another couple of inches. Pragmatically those few pieces would also have been a handling nightmare too.
10" seems a good sweet spot for size, cost, power requirements and space.

Without knowing what sort of workload you anticipate for it, it's difficult to offer much more assistance. Other than the Xcaliber 10" does look to be excellent value for money.
 
Thanks to both of you. The benefit of the 10" is that I'll have an extra 2"+ of space in my shop! To answer your question about anticipated workload, it's basically halved through-and-through sawn waney boards that will be eventually turned into rails and stiles. I figure the max height is more important than that 10", as I will occasionally have stuff 2"-3" square to plane.
 
Two more questions, in terms of cutter block, would I notice a significant difference between a 3- and 4-head cutter block? and then in terms of motor power, should I be worried about 1 1/2 HP as opposed to 3 HP?
 
phillamb168":35681jy0 said:
The benefit of the 10" is that I'll have an extra 2"+ of space in my shop!
You're worrying about 2" of space ???
In overall amount of workshop space needed to use a PT 2" is insignificant.
To answer your question about anticipated workload, it's basically halved through-and-through sawn waney boards that will be eventually turned into rails and stiles.
If you're only looking to deliver rails and stiles, overall width capacity probably isn't that important.
It might make a difference to which you use if you're going to be using it every day/week/month or more rarely.
I figure the max height is more important than that 10", as I will occasionally have stuff 2"-3" square to plane.
I don't think 3" will tax any machine in this class.
should I be worried about 1 1/2 HP as opposed to 3 HP?
Well apart from running costs, the main issue is have you sufficient capacity in your electrical system ? Looking at the review of the Xcaliber 12" it draws 10A, so needs a 16A supply option. Add to that the power needed for a sufficiently good extractor system running at the same time, plus lighting etc and a normal domestic ring main type system is going to be stretched a lot.
 
Rhossydd":1j38z9m7 said:
phillamb168":1j38z9m7 said:
The benefit of the 10" is that I'll have an extra 2"+ of space in my shop!
You're worrying about 2" of space ???
In overall amount of workshop space needed to use a PT 2" is insignificant.
Was a joke! :)

should I be worried about 1 1/2 HP as opposed to 3 HP?
Well apart from running costs, the main issue is have you sufficient capacity in your electrical system ? Looking at the review of the Xcaliber 12" it draws 10A, so needs a 16A supply option. Add to that the power needed for a sufficiently good extractor system running at the same time, plus lighting etc and a normal domestic ring main type system is going to be stretched a lot.

I am running two new 16A lines to the shop in addition to the existing 16A, so we should be alright. I am thinking more in terms of, will a 1 1/2 HP get bogged down on harder woods?
 
I own a Robland310 which I'm very happy with. (Same machine as the Startrite I believe). Does need a 16amp supply.

In an ideal world I'd have seperate machines but it's a good compromise with excllent capacity and on a mobile base I can shove it out of the way without too much difficulty.

Bob
 
The xcaliber machine looks interesting, and is well priced, if the quality is as good as the table saws are said to be. Are they definitely still available- the tablesaw lineup is extensive but mainly not available anymore, when I last inquired.
 
phillamb168":1jfbvyib said:
I am running two new 16A lines to the shop in addition to the existing 16A, so we should be alright. I am thinking more in terms of, will a 1 1/2 HP get bogged down on harder woods?


A word of advice from one who has been there and didn't plan ahead:

Don't just run 2.5mm cable, over spec it and use at least 4mm, preferably 6mm - especially if you have a distance to go from supply to workshop. I laid 2.5mm into my previous workshop thinking that would be sufficient. In the end I had four ring circuits in there. My new one is cabled in 10mm armoured direct from the incomer for power with a separate 2.5mm armoured for lighting, extractors, alarm, etc.
 
Hello,

12 inch planers tend to have significantly longer tables, which I think is more important to me. It is surprising how short a board can be planed flat, when the tables are not so long. Of course space is more of an issue here than the 2 inches extra width. I would say 1 1/2 HP is too small.

Mike.
 
phillamb168":6f1ast2c said:
will a 1 1/2 HP get bogged down on harder woods?
Again this will depend on what you're trying to achieve.
If you need to take full width, maximum depth cuts, it might get overloaded.

With my 10", 2 bladed PT with only a 1hp motor, if the motor sounds like it's loaded too highly and reducing it's speed I either slow the feed rate down when planning or take a thinner cut when thicknessing. As a non professional taking two passes instead on one isn't an issue for me, in a production environment the equation will be different.
 
Why not save yourself a few thousand quid and get a Wadkin machine, I got mine off eBay for £600 it takes 18 inches on the planer and 18 x 9 on the thicknesser. Its a UOS 18/9, the photo is the same as mine.
 

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Dangermouse":nt9l1w21 said:
Why not save yourself a few thousand quid and get a Wadkin machine, I got mine off eBay for £600 it takes 18 inches on the planer and 18 x 9 on the thicknesser. Its a UOS 18/9, the photo is the same as mine.

I cut the tips off two fingers on the same model planer as the picture. It all came flooding back to me when I saw it.
 
Rhossydd":3gzkdny9 said:
As a non professional taking two passes instead on one isn't an issue for me, in a production environment the equation will be different.

Hello,

Production environment or not, taking more passes than necessary, to remove the same amount of material, wears the knives quicker. You will need to have them sharpened much more often!

Mike.
 
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