Small planer/thicknesser. Bargain or junk?

[DennisCA]

I am being offered to buy this small planer/thicknesser. Seller wants 100 euros for it.

I'd like a small combo machine I can use for a few years before I move onto something bigger, I found a very nice and large planer but I do not have space for it, not now or later, some kind of cast iron combo machine is definitely something I want in the future. But for now something this size might work for me.

Things I notice is the home made guard, a plastic pipe (!) and home made fence. It has a 3-phase motor (the plug is 3-phase) which is a bonus for me, in fact the motor alone might be something I can reuse later in a project (a future project I wanna make is Mathias Wandels bandsaw, it could be real good fit for that).

There are rust signs here and there so I am wondering if it might be cast iron instead of aluminum, that would be nice if so. I have asked the seller about that but we're in email communication and I am waiting for an answer.

I am wondering if one could make a new protective cover from wood or something rather than the plastic pipe, the arm itself looks fine so just bolting it onto it might not be a huge challenge.

The homemade fence looks like it only works in 90 degrees, not sure I have actually planned to do anything but use it like that anyway. As long as it's square. Are there other DIY options if not?

Also is anyone able to identify this machine? Seller does not know the brand.

 

[IBmatty]

Looks very very similar, even the colour, to the one my neighbour has in their basement workshop, which from memory was a Peugeot motor. That one is old and going strong, cast iron and does the job. I've seen his work. 100€ seems fair as long as the tables are flat. You could easily fit an aftermarket blade guard and fence too for not a lot of money.

 

[wizard]

No power feed but apart from that its brilliant, i would buy it, it looks very well built.

 

[wizard]

I think i am wrong it has a power feed, I want it

 

[RobinBHM]

It looks a well engineered machine and not much money.

Where is the depth of cut adjustment for surface planing? -I assume there must be a handle for lowering the front bed. I guess the large handle is rise and fall of the thicknesser.

One disadvantage of a fixed fence is that all edge work will use the same part of the cutter, but if it is for light use perhaps that wont matter.

Something that is important is that the cutter fixing bolts are all usable and not rounded off. You dont want to find you cant change the cutters or secure them safely.

 

[porker]

Looks the same as my old one that I sold on the bay a couple of months ago. Sorry can't help you with the manufacturer as I never worked it out myself. It had home made guards too made from wood. It was aluminium though and not cast iron but a solid bit of kit. Unfortunately I needed to make room in my new house with a smaller workshop.
Hth
Matt

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Shrubby]

It,s part of the Emco combination machine. Try Emcostar.nl
Matt

 

[theartfulbodger]

It looks a well engineered machine and not much money.

I think so too! If it runs, buy it! And then either have fun using it, or have fun tinkering and fettling.

One disadvantage of a fixed fence is that all edge work will use the same part of the cutter, but if it is for light use perhaps that wont matter.

Thanks for posting that! It's obvious now, but I shall endeavour to remember to move the fence on my recently aquired planer every now and again, and also to check how worn the blades are across their length.

 

[porker]

Thanks Shrubby. Although I don't have the machine any more that confirms who made mine. The logo at the bottom of the link you posted matches the one on my machine. On mine the fence moved and this part was original because it had the logo on. Depth of cut could be adjusted by the big wheel shown in the pic if I remember rightly. I had a problem with the thicknesser but can't remember what it was.

 

[DennisCA]

Well I got this and it won't run. The motor trips the fuse after 10 seconds or so. From what I've been told when diagnosing and describing the symptoms it sounds like the insulation in the windings might be screwed up, which means the motor is just a big piece of junk. Gah and it was the motor I figure would make it all worth it even if the planer doesn't work (it looks like it'll work OTOH).

 

[DennisCA]

A long time since I posted about this but I feel I should give an update and I am looking for some input on the guard.

I had to get a new motor and I found a big 4kw motor in the same RPM as the original, it's massive overkill for this small machine but for 25 euros it was hard to argue with too much power. I am still looking for a 1.5-2kw motor to replace it with, and use the 4kw motor for another project.

Anyway I disassembled and cleaned it and waxed the surfaces and I've been using it for a while now, here it is as it currently stands, made my own fence for it:

I haven't bothered with covering the belt because I stand on the other side, I am thinking about redoing the whole table* and improving the motor mount so no point in doing that yet either. I need to build a guard for it now. I have the arm for making a euro style guard but it's rusted shut with parts missing. I am not sure if I should put work into rebuilding it, or make an american style pork chop guard. I've been using the jointer using push blocks to hold the work piece and a euro guard I would be using my hands so it'd be some retraining of how I am used to use it. I've also seen some posts here saying some prefer the pork chop style.

* = Considering a scissor lift table, so I can raise the jointer or planer tables to be in line with my work benches and use them to extend the support for workpieces.