AW106PT2 or Charnwood W583 or SIP 01575

[Col]

Been investigating a planer/thicknesser for a while now and have come down to the following:
Axminster AW106PT2
Charnwood W583
SIP 01575

Have been watching *bay for used old iron (the various makes as recommended in these forums) but by the time transport (and possibly conversion from 3 phase) and reconditioning are added I have come to the conclusion I would be better off in the long run by buying new and as good a quality I can get for around £700.

Precision more important than heavy duty since low use expected (but will be working with hardwoods).
Good resale value in a few years.

Which would you choose and why please?

 

[RogerS]

Well I can reduce your shortlist down to two because the Charnwood and the SIP look identical to me.

Reading the customer reviews on Axminster, I'd go for that one.

 

[Col]

Roger,
thanks for pointing that out. I am coming down in favour of the Axminster but I can't help watching *bay just in case something better comes along for lees money that I would be prepared to risk.

Does anyone have any negative experiences on the AW106PT2 please?

Thx , Col

 

[djwalsh]

hi i have the axminster, for the money its pretty good. though there are some bad points, the fence angle adjustments are quite poor, they need to be adjusted everytime you switch back to surface planing (you have to remove the fence entirely when switching to thicknessing which is a bit irritating) knobs also made of cheep plastic, mine are broken now so i adjust fence with mole grips and spanner.... table height adjustment likes to move with vibrations so has to be checked regularly if doing large batches of each operation.

but as i say for the money its pretty good, 3 knife block gives great finish and once you know its quirks and double check table heights fence square etc before each operation it gives good results. needless to say when time and money allows i will upgrade to an old machine off the bay

hope i didnt come off too negative

 

[Col]

hi i have the axminster, for the money its pretty good. though there are some bad points, the fence angle adjustments are quite poor, they need to be adjusted everytime you switch back to surface planing (you have to remove the fence entirely when switching to thicknessing which is a bit irritating) knobs also made of cheep plastic, mine are broken now so i adjust fence with mole grips and spanner.... table height adjustment likes to move with vibrations so has to be checked regularly if doing large batches of each operation.

but as i say for the money its pretty good, 3 knife block gives great finish and once you know its quirks and double check table heights fence square etc before each operation it gives good results. needless to say when time and money allows i will upgrade to an old machine off the bay

hope i didnt come off too negative

Useful info - just what I was looking for - thanks.