Any suggestions for a hobby P\T

[UTMonkey]

Hi All,

I have a small shed which I do my whittling in and just wondering if I should entertain a planer thicknesser.

I have been looking at the Clarke cpt600, but looking on various websites people don't tend to rate the name.

Truth is, I cant really stretch to anything more than 150-180, it will get hobby use and space means a desktop model could be my only choice.

At this money should I stick to my hand planes? How far would this money get me?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

 

[AndyT]

I've sometimes wondered about the same question.

In answering it, I read reviews on here and realised that cheap planer thicknessers (a) are very noisy, with their brush motors (b) have expensive disposable knives (c) are a hazard unless you have space and cash to add on proper chip and dust extraction.

Looking at the small amount of sawn timber that I might want to process into planed timber, I decided that it makes more sense to pay the difference and have the timber merchant plane it for me. I'm not aiming to start up a joinery business, and quite like planing by hand.

Spend your cash on some more wood!

 

[Dangermouse]

Have you tried ebay for any local good secondhand ones?

 

[UTMonkey]

Thanks for the comments.

Ebay is starting to disgust me when it comes to this type of gear...

A Clarke CPT600 seems to be fairly common on Ebay (new). the cheapest is £189 + £16 delivery.

A quick search on the internet, and I can find one from an online tool supplier for around £150.

Either I take Andy T's advice or do a "Wanted" on this forum to see if anything second hand comes up.

 

[Anima]

I'm with Andy.

For the amount of timber I get through it would be years before I made my money back by buying a P/T over paying the timber yard to do it.
Have a look at prices but on a project around the size of a coffee table mine charges approx £5 for PAR timber. Any planing required after cutting will only be small and can easily be done with a hand plane.