Bad News, My return and revisiting P/Thicknessers!

[nicguthrie]

Hey guys!

I've not been on here for ages! I've occasionally stolen a moment to check how everyone's progressing, and to make myself feel bad that all the folks I was around equal with have overtaken my skill level by miles!

Unfortunately, my wife came down with cancer about 8 months ago and it's serious. To keep my spirits up, it's become obvious that I really need to take some time for myself, so I've been forcing myself to take time out and go out to the workshop and experiment despite not feeling like it - it's paying off too, I'd forgotten how much I love that woody feeling

I'm finally thinking very seriously about getting a small P/T, and I've got my eye on the difference between price ranges. I'm not a prolific user, so I don't want to spend squintillions on a perfect machine. I don't have a lot of space, my workshop is only 10ft square, and I've got horrible joint problems with... well all of them really, it's genetic rather than straight wear and tear.

So. I started with fancying the Record Power 260. It's the bees knees for small ones, with cast iron tables, induction motor, all the bells and whistles a man could want, including it's very own blade setting jigs - but it comes down to being very expensive (tho it's £250 off at the moment) and very heavy, not to mention quite large. I therefore went looking for the Woodster(star?) PT85 which had been my cheap option the last time I considered it, but D&M tools which was the last place I saw it available, have dropped it for a Sheppach HMS2000. I don't know this machine, but it looks like a clone of the Woodster.

I know these machines are Very noisy, fairly cheaply made and often need the fence strengthened etc, but my question is basically - is it "Good Enough"? I know nobody that uses them, so I'm looking for the opinion of someone that has had one or similar, whether they're reasonably capable and worth having for occasional fairly light use, for someone that can't plane by hand (physically, not skill based) and just needs to put a decent surface on resawn timber (or thin it down, and edge it for laminating) for chopping boards and coffee tables etc once in a while.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Nic.

 

[SteveF]

sorry about your sad news

I have the woodster
it is noisy as hell...i not sure my neighbors like it one bit
it has "special" blades that are few and far between
i found only one other supplier

good points are...it works

not my best choice I have ever made..but it sits in the corner most of the time
i wish i could have afforded better but alas it was not high on my priority of tools

did I say...it is really noisy

Steve

 

[Student]

Hi Nic

Very sorry to hear your news.

The PT85 and it's clones have been the subject of various threads in recent years. I have the Axminster version, no longer stocked, but they all seem to be much of a muchness. There's a useful review of the PT85 on YouTube - search Planer/Thicknesser (Jointer) review.

As for your question, do they work? Yes, if properly set up. I find mine particularly useful for thicknessing but have used the planer several times with reasonable success. However, you will need a chip extractor, I have a cheaply Axminster version, and the noise of this and the P/T running are probably like standing behind a Typhoon fighter on take off. Hearing protection, and understanding neighbours, are a must.

 

[Hemsby]

Hi,

Sorry to hear your news

I have a Elektra Beckum HC260K purchased S/Hand.

No experience with the big boy’s P/T machines but mine has handled everything I could need. Today I needed some 90x8 mm had some 100x25 sawn (could have put it through the bandsaw first), ran the 2.5mtr lengths through in 3 mm passes with a light final cut, lovely finish & spot on size.

It does have Coated Aluminium tables and obviously Cast Iron would be the ideal, but I feel that unless you are into serious work Aluminium should not be a deal breaker.

On castors it moves very easy. My machine is many years old and the tables are in excellent condition

Planer capacity 260mm wide
Thicknesser 160mm
Noise Level Working 95.3Db
Noise Level No Load 75.7Db

Overall Length 1085mm
“ Width 540mm
“ Height 410mm
Weight 60kg

Regards
Keith

 

[8squared]

Sorry about the bad news,


In relation to the woodstar it looks like a rebadged version of the titan p/t (or vise versa)... which I have as it's a budget machine and I'm always on a budget sadly


I'm very happy with it, nowhere near as loud as I thought it would be... more of a loud hum than a roar. And it's doing the job just fine... with 3 or 4" thick and 4 -6" wide hardwoods that I get which are very rough (who says no to free wood).

I would have no problems with 8" wide boards on the jointer but not with the thicknesser... although the mouth width is 8" it's marginal and you would have to be certain the piece is going to go through perfectly straight otherwise I fear it would jam and cause damage.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Likewise - sorry to hear the bad news.

I've got a Kity 439, which I picked up locally (TradeIt) for just over 100 quid.

It wasn't in wonderful condition (or at least, it didn't look like it was), but I stripped, cleaned and lubricated it carefully, and it's doing pretty well. I was surprised how easy it was to set up (expecting nightmares after taking the tables off, etc.). It pretty much bolted back together and just worked OK.

Steve Maskery's got its bigger brother, and he likes it - biggest differences are depth of cut and a lifting outfeed table for thicknessing chip extraction (the one on mine is fixed).

Both have induction motors, and mine is not anything like as noisy as I feared it would be, but it's only 7" max width. The planer fence arrangements on mine look really nasty (flimsy), but work better than I expected.

It does have a tendency to print the drive roller onto softwood, as the thing has such deep grooves that it's almost a gear wheel. That limits the minimum thicknessing cut I can take (you can finish on the planer though, to go thinner), and you have to scrub it regularly with a wire brush, otherwise any chips stuck on it also 'print' onto softwood!

That said, it's old, but quiet and effective. i'd prefer that any day over something new and noisy and not as well made*,

Perhaps you might keep an eye out and strike lucky? Secondhand P/Ts come up all the time in the local press and Gumtree, etc. I wouldn't bother much with eBay as it just inflates prices.

E.

PS: If you have the space for planer and thicknesser as separate units, that might give you more options. In use it must be a lot easier, as you don't waste time reconfiguring the machine between tasks. Mine is quick, but even so it's still a nuisance.

PPS: I get knives from Appleby Woodturnings - not expensive, and they keep a good edge. Have at least two sets, so if you nick a set whilst planing, you can swap and keep going.

*It still has plastic cogs where it really ought to have steel ones, but they're all like that - it's no worse than the others.

 

[nicguthrie]

Thanks for that thought. I may keep an eye out on Gumtree. The missus has full on medical grade OCD and hates second hand stuff, but she's not out in my Workshop so much, so she's not going to know

Good to hear the experiences with similar machines being mostly positive for the price. I'd really love the quite beautifully made Record Power one, but the weight, size and expense all count pretty hard against it.

It'd just be very nice to have, especially for edging boards to joint/laminate.

Thanks for all the sympathetic statements too, she's keeping a great attitude, but the chemo is like Russian Roulette with the side effects, and the probability side of the prognosis is a heavy cloud we try to ignore. Having said that, she's a tough cookie, I reckon the cancer has picked quite a fight with this one

Great tip about the replacement blades place - thanks for that too!

Nic.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Sorry to hear your bad news.

I have the woodstar and do find it really good for the price. It has lots of power, resharpenable blades and also a good width 20cm across. I often use hard maple and it handles it fine. Dust extraction is good too.

At the moment mines leaving a little bit of a concave face on the planer, but i'm fairly sure that's something to do with my setting up as previously it was fine or doing the opposite with taking a little off at the end of the cut. If i must i can true it up a bit with my no 7 although obviously would rather not.

Bad point is its crazily noisy.

Perhaps in future i'll use it as a thicknesses and get a larger planer for longer boards and hopefully easier tuning. Maybe the Record.

 

[wizard]

I bought a Clarke and after a few hours use the wood was coming out of the thicknesses thinner on one side than the other. Checked it over and the bearing had gone on one side. I replaced it and it soon packed up again. I then ripped out the bearing housing and made a much larger one. This sorted out the problem I then put the machine on eBay. Picture is the old bearing in the housing I removed.

 

[Mrwilson]

It's really good to see someone doing the right thing and sorting something properly before selling it. I get annoyed reading about people's problems with cars, caravans, tools etc. where the acceptable solution seems to be "trade it in" or "sell it on" . As long as it's not their problem anymore they're happy.
Well done sir!

Shug

 

[Alexam]

Hi Nic not good news, but these days threre are lots that can be done. The main thing is to think possitively and trust that all will be well eventually.

I have seen the videos on the Woodstar PT85 and it seems that if tweaked in the right way, can definately do the job. It's also good enough to do what you want and not be too big, so go for it.