Handedness of planer/thicknesser

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matthew

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I'm considering getting a planer/thicknesser for about £500 and am between the Axminster AW106PT or the EB HC260 (or one of seemingly many variants thereof). Have read a bit about these machines on this forum already so thanks in retrospect for all the helpful info!

The EB seems to be much higher-powered and obviously a bit easier to move around in a small workshop (75Kg vs 150kg). The Axminster seems a bit underpowered (1.1kW vs 2.2kw of EB), but has one big advantage of being able to put the fence on the other side, making it more suitable for left-handed folk such as myself.

Although I've seen planers in use many times, I've never actually used one myself. Anyone have any opinions on:

* How much of an issue the handedness is?

* Whether or not the lower power of the Axminster machine is enough?

MTIA, Matthew
 
Hi Matthew

Welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry but I don't know anything about these machines, I'm sure someone will be along soon.

Cheers
Neil
 
Hi Matthew,

Welcome to the forum. :D

I have the perform version of the EB machine from Axminster. It works well but I have slipped on the Cast Iron Slope TM and would consider the AW106PT to be the better machine on spec.
The lower power motor should not be a problem as it has a 3 knife cutter head, so the each cut is smaller for the same overall amount removed.
The hinged planer tables should mean that alinement is better compared to the removable table on the EB machine, it also means that you don't have to find somewhere to store the table while you are thicknessing. 8)
I have no idea about the handing issue.
 
Thanks for your replies so far, much appreciated... maybe veering towards the heavier machine, I think...

Re the LH/RH, issue, I guess a different way of putting would be: for those of you RH folk with a machine, can you imagine how easy/difficult/indifferent it would be if you had to feed timber through it in the other direction? ('cos that's what I'll be doing!)

Regards, Matthew
 
I would say 99% of planners all feed from the one direction (side) so I assume that all the left handed people have managed to use them without a problem. As you have not used one before I don't think it will be an issue, changing from one side that you are familiar with to the other could well seem strange at first. My Kity combi has the sliding table on the right of the blade where most saws are the other way round, I've never found it a problem.

Jason
 
DaveL":29or1gqx said:
I have the perform version of the EB machine from Axminster. It works well but I have slipped on the Cast Iron Slope TM and would consider the AW106PT to be the better machine on spec.
The lower power motor should not be a problem as it has a 3 knife cutter head, so the each cut is smaller for the same overall amount removed.

Dave, thanks to you and others for your replies.

What pratical differences do you think would result from the difference in power (1100w vs 2200w)? Would the AW106PT give a better finish because it has 3 cutters vs 2, even though it has much less power?

I'm guessing that the lower power would chiefly mean a lower limit on the amount of stock removal in one pass? I wouldn't mind making more passes in favour of a better finish.

(I don't really know what kind of power such things need... I wonder if manufacturers play the numbers game and up power unneccesarily just for marketing purposes?)

BTW sorry to drag this out, this is going to be the first big bit of kit for me, so I need a bit of hand-holding :)
 
Well, after (far too) much deliberation, have ordered the EB HC260C. Was very tempted by the Axminster, but I only have a small workshop (garage) and whereas the extra weight would undoubtedly make it very stable and perhaps more accurate, couldn't bring myself to commit to having a 150kg machine in there :)

Along with the extra power of the EB and suggestions that LH/RH wouldn't be too much of an issue, that decided it for me (and the 3 year guarantee won it over Perform/SIP versions).

Ordered from D&M (who I've used before and found quick and helpful), should be arrive on Friday - busy (& noisy) weekend ahead!

Thanks again for help, Matthew
 

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