Advice needed

[Patricia]

Hello Folks

First off, I am not a woodworker but my husband enjoys the tinkering. We are located in the island of Grenada in the Caribbean where everything has to be imported.

He is looking to buy this: Kity Bestcombi-2000 Universal Woodworker (6 function) including Morticer 230volt

He asked me to look up reviews for it on the web but all I have been able to find out is that it was original a French make and now taken over by the Chinese or Japanese. Also, that parts are near impossible to get.

My feeling is that a machine that combines so many things will mean that each individual 'thing' will not be very satisfactory.

Easily available parts are a very important aspect as they will definitely not be available here in Grenada.

So, with all of that in mind, can you all please advise me on what he should be buying. He will use it to make stuff like garden furniture, lattice screens, above ground garden beds and no doubt will want to try other stuff. We use a lot of hardwood over here ie greenheart, purple heart, mahogany as there are lots of termites around.

I would prefer if he would do some combination and some individual machines.

And NO, I do not control what he buys and I am definitely for him getting his toys! He works hard and deserves to have his toys!

 

[SammyP64]

Hello Patricia,

My father who was a carpenter and joiner of very high skill level for around 40 years, he has used a lot of kitty machines in his time and says they were brilliant machines, and when he saw them for sale they were good value, but, i think his experience was in the single pusrpose machines not the combination machines,

I would have thought it would be a good piece of kit, although, the besk combinationmachinery is going to be, expensive, heavy duty, and 415v, three phase,

But he should do well for his mony with a kitty.


Sammy

 

[clewlowm]

patricia. hi.
i have a bestcombi 2000. it is not a bad machine, i just has limitations? cutter block aperture is quite small/ spindle moulder is underpowered.
thickneser width is not to bad, as long as your partner does not make stair. saw blade depth of cut is rubbish. slot mortice attachment is not worth having. all in it is not a bad machine.

i would advise having a look at second user seperate machines.

 

[Patricia]

What about parts? Where are they available and what parts are liable to go first and need changing?

 

[clewlowm]

i have never had to replace any part on the machine, with the exception of cutters,

it has been a good machine and as far as i am aware there is a good supply of spare parts.

 

[woodbloke]

I had a Kity 419 table saw for 10 years (an original French one) and I currently have the K439 planer/thicknesser. I have never had to replace or tinker (apart from the dust extraction on the saw) with bits on either machine in all that time.
Living where you do though, I'd be tempted to go for single machines that are guaranteed to be almost bullet proof, such as Sedgewick's from Axminster.
The down side is that these are industrially rated machines and may well be outside your price bracket. The good side though, is that the technical support and back up from Axminster is about as good as it gets, so any problems or queries with a machine would be fixable and they'd be happy to ship parts to your neck of the woods - Rob

 

[Patricia]

Can anyone direct me to where parts are available?

 

[SammyP64]

If customer service is what your after and price brackets are unimportant, the best machines on the market are felders in my opinion, Robert ingham and a chap i know swear by them, im looking to get some of there stuff for myself, but at 8000 + for a single phase combi unit without too many add ons, there quite a lot.

If your in the caribean i weould have thought it easier to buy machines from america, and if they are new ones too, then theres far less distance for spares to travel


Sammy

 

[Patricia]

Electricity here is 220v 50hz and that is the reason that we want to buy from the UK.

Hubby has decided to go with individual machines and is now looking at Record.

Anyone know a good place on the web to look for reviews?

What do you guys think of Robert's?

He is looking at: Table Saw TS260SB
Planer Thicknesser PT300
Morticer BM16

I am going to have a look at Felder's - again - reviews would be very helpful.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Hi Patricia
You like a challenge, don't you? I think your assessment of a combi is wise.

Was Robert a typo for Record? If not I don't understand you. If so...

Record is a long-standing traditional British company. Except it is not any more, it's pretty much no more than a brand.

I have a Record lathe. It's OK. Only OK but OK nonetheless. Would I buy it again? Maybe, if the price was right. It's good solid old-fashioned engineering, all right. Oiled bearings, for example, rather than Sealed-for-Life. Not exactly 21st century design.

The reviews of the more recent Record tablesaw, IIRC, are mixed. Good value for money, perhaps, but plastic handles and wheels that seem to be, shall we say, vulnerable. I stress that this is hearsay, I don't have personal experience of the saw.

Personally I have a Kity P/T, quite a decent little machine, I've had to replace the drive belt twice in a decade. I have an Excalibur table saw, which is a Chinese clone of a Delta. Again, old-fashioned, rock solid engineering. Will last for ever. Not exactly cutting-edge design. My Spindle moulder is a Scheppach. I don't use it very often, but when I do it delivers. Plenty of power for moulding, rebating and panel-raising. It takes up too much room in my workshop to really earn its keep, but as a machine, I have no complaints.

Given that, given the logistics of the supply, you will want to buy only once, I'd do a bit more research, if I were you.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Digit]

I'm intrigued! Granted the Voltage problem etc but importing from the UK machines that are themselves imported from halfway across the known universe may not be the best option.
The US is the major trading partner of Granada, so depending on import tariffs etc, I would strongly recommend that as a possible course of action if you have not checked out the States as a source of course.

Roy.

 

[Patricia]

lol! Yes, you are right Steve! I meant Record - it really is all the same to me.

I just want to get this closed out and get the stuff ordered! Finding it quite frustrating!

What about Felder? Have been looking at their website and it looks impressive if very frustrating. I cannot seem to find any prices on their machinery. Where can Felder be purchased online? Are we allowed to post links on this forum?

Hubby like to get really great quality stuff - he wants it all to last forever! He's living in the past, I think!

:lol: :evil: 8)

 

[Patricia]

The voltage is not the problem - that is easily solved with a transformer. But what about the cycles? Hubby is British and works in the Far East so passes through the UK often. So we can order stuff online (spares) and have it delivered to our relatives - pick it up on our way through.

He is no different to most Britis in that if it is not made in UK, Germany etc, it will not be of very good quality! lol!

 

[Digit]

Machines from the UK are highly likely to have been made, in part at least, in China. So if hubby is intent on avoiding such manufacture, remember that the Americans have a thriving home manufacturing base of high quality products.
Whether the motor problem could be solved at source I do not know, but I suspect that it would be worth enquiring as Granada and its partners do import a lot of machinery from the States.
In your position I would certainly value a lot of American produced machines above Chinese products!

Roy.

 

[woodbloke]

The other option is to look at the Jet range of machinery, well built and probably better made than the Record equipment - Rob

 

[Richard D]

He is no different to most Britis in that if it is not made in UK, Germany etc, it will not be of very good quality! lol!

These days I tend to think of stuff made in Germany or the US as being better quality than anything from a UK company. Largely because we don't seem to have a manufacturing industry any more, and pretty much everything is actually made in China. I've rarely been impressed by the quality or longevity of stuff made in China.

But I agree with your husband. Buy something that is well-made and it'll last a lifetime (or two); buy something cheap and you tend to find out where the corners were cut to save costs, and a lot of the time you end up having to replace it anyway, so you don't save any money by buying cheap.

(Someone remind me that I said this the next time that I start looking at *cheap* P/Ts.)

 

[SammyP64]

If you apply on the felder website, they will send you a catologue and you can also see prices on the internet, its expensive, but its build in the old ways, like a modern wadkin, robinson, whitehead etc etc

I advise if pirce is a concern, a startrite bandsaw, brilliant value for money, and sedgewig saw, spindle, planer, maybe jet (not to much experience with there stuff) if you have three phase capabilities, then old Wadkin stuff will outlast the world itself



Sammy

 

[Patricia]

You guys have really been great! Thank you ever so much. My husband now has loads to look at and make a comparison and decide with what he wants to buy.

If anyone else wants to add to the advice or give some reviews on the various brands, that would be very helpful.

 

[Patricia]

Am back again!

Does anyone know where is Sheppach made these days? We definitely do not want anything made in China!

 

[Patricia]

Does anyone know with certainty what brands are not made in China?