Big decision to make !!

[Gary M]

Update,
had a demo today from the scheppach dealer, should have seen the look on his face when i brought in my own plank 2" thick walnut 9" wide x 6ft long, but hey its my money im spending and i have to be sure its spent on the right P/T.
So was i impressed ---------- in a word ---------- No !!!! :shock:
Sorry guys but the thicknesser is no better than my bench mounted Sip (and it can plane up to 12" wide), Ok maybe not 4mm in one pass, but the finish is every bit as good (sip has rubber feed rollers as well). One good thing, i learnt how to clean them properly (resin remover and a cloth).
I was very supprised at just how short the surfacing beds are.
It was nearly impossible to surface the walnut plank single handed, i didnt feel comfortable with it so i didnt bother
This is my biggest problem with my bench top jointer ( beds too short )
So what to do ??
Change over between tasks wasnt that hard, but i dont like the fence at all, seems a bit flimsy and having to take it off every time you want to use the thicknesser surely couldnt be good.

So the new scheppach hms 260 ci is not for me
Hopefully i can see the Jet on saturday, so will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Gary.
ps still no comments about the axminster,fox, lyndhurst,metabo ect ???

 

[motownmartin]

Gary,I have the Axminster 106, not really done anything too big yet but I have tested it with smaller pieces of Walnut, Cherry, Iroko, Beech, Maple, Sycamore, Sapele, Oak and Ash, it seemed to handle all these ok, The Walnut, Sycamore and cherry were 8" wide the rest were about 3".

Also ran quite a bit of Banana wood (B&Q Pine) through the thicknesser, this is what caused the biggest problem, the shavings would wrap around the drive roller so ended up pushing and pulling the boards through, with the hardwood I had to keep spaying the bed with dry silicone.

Having said all that, this is my first planer/thicknesser and have nothing to compare it to, but it does the job I want it to.