Bristol_Rob
Established Member
The real extra secret is to not overly tighten those lever locks. Or you cause further alignment issues.
Gently Snuggle Up - like you do on a cold winters night
Itech 260S with Spiral cutter head - First impressions
- Thread starter Mooose
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Gently Snuggle Up - like you do on a cold winters night
Hornbeam
Established Member
I am talking about the lock on the thicknesser bed rise/fall
You re correct that the locks on the infeed/outfeed planer tables should not be overtightened
Bristol_Rob
Established Member
Let's call them anti-snipe locks for both the planer and thicknesser.
Then the message is clear
Then the message is clear
I think it's probably best not to start a new thread with my own "review" of the planer, so I'll just piggyback on this one 
I have finally received the planer last week! it was delivered in front of my garden room/workshop door and I naively thought it would've been able with the help of a friend to move it inside the last 3 metres - how wrong I was! I ended up covering it very accurately with blankets and tarps for the night, and then the day after I had to call a moving company as with age the weight of 215kg has increased exponentially - must be the inflation
However, in the end all good and the planer was in place the day after.
I then proceeded with the little assembly that was left (fence, safety arm thingy, feet, etc.) and it was ready for some set up. Surprisingly, it seemed to be already set up properly: the infeed and outfeed table were already coplanar, and I couldn't insert the feeling gauge under the 1m long straight edge placed across both tables - maybe only a tiny tiny bit at the center of both tables, but as I understand what matters is the extremities of the tables, am I correct? it may just be the tables not being ground perfectly and having a dip at the centre, but I'm not sure it should affect the planing. what do you think?
I have also placed a straight edge on the outfeed table while moving the spiral head, and this resulted in a drag and a movement of 5 to 6mm. is this too much? should I set it up again for maybe 2 or 3mm of movement so the knives are touching the straight edge even less?
I proceeded with some test planing on some wood, and it seemed to be brilliant - such an improvement from my benchtop scheppach! this is the result:
However, after a couple more tries, I noticed a very very faint sign of snipe at the end of the piece. I wonder if it's because of what @Bristol_Rob and @Hornbeam were saying about the tightening of the planer locks
My first impressions are of a solid planer, very handy for conversion between planer and thicknesser, with a reasonably sturdy fence that is good for 90 and possibly 45º planing. To be honest any correct result in between these two angles I would consider it more of the result of chance rather than proper setup, as the fence relies on the hard plastic caps for being set up, and they only have these two settings.
I particularly love the design of the safety arm thingy that goes on top of the cutting head: it can be locked in a downward position as well, which is extremely convenient to safely move it out of the way when moving the fence all the way to the end of the cutter head and just exposing enough knives for the cut (the dovetailed fence support acts as a cover for the cutting head too).
Am I the only one thinking that the best safety measure for planers/jointers is the one the American machines have (the springy bean-shaped thingy)? I always feel like passing the wood under that cover is asking for trouble. Am I doing it wrong?
I have also noticed, when unpacking the planer, that the zip tie holding the fence came loose, so the paint of the dust extractor hood came off and fence plastics were all scuffed. Also, the inside of the planer (I opened the back to install the feet) was full of nasty sawdust, but it didn't look like the machine was previously used, so I assume that must have been there since packing in China! I have breathed in a few handfuls of that
In general I have to say that the packaging was poor, poorly balanced inside with incredibly thin plywood that would bend and brake even when lifting the pallet with a pallet truck. Other than that, all good
I'll post more here when I have a better idea of the capabilities of the machine
I have finally received the planer last week! it was delivered in front of my garden room/workshop door and I naively thought it would've been able with the help of a friend to move it inside the last 3 metres - how wrong I was! I ended up covering it very accurately with blankets and tarps for the night, and then the day after I had to call a moving company as with age the weight of 215kg has increased exponentially - must be the inflation
However, in the end all good and the planer was in place the day after.
I then proceeded with the little assembly that was left (fence, safety arm thingy, feet, etc.) and it was ready for some set up. Surprisingly, it seemed to be already set up properly: the infeed and outfeed table were already coplanar, and I couldn't insert the feeling gauge under the 1m long straight edge placed across both tables - maybe only a tiny tiny bit at the center of both tables, but as I understand what matters is the extremities of the tables, am I correct? it may just be the tables not being ground perfectly and having a dip at the centre, but I'm not sure it should affect the planing. what do you think?
I have also placed a straight edge on the outfeed table while moving the spiral head, and this resulted in a drag and a movement of 5 to 6mm. is this too much? should I set it up again for maybe 2 or 3mm of movement so the knives are touching the straight edge even less?
I proceeded with some test planing on some wood, and it seemed to be brilliant - such an improvement from my benchtop scheppach! this is the result:
However, after a couple more tries, I noticed a very very faint sign of snipe at the end of the piece. I wonder if it's because of what @Bristol_Rob and @Hornbeam were saying about the tightening of the planer locks
The real extra secret is to not overly tighten those lever locks. Or you cause further alignment issues.
Gently Snuggle Up - like you do on a cold winters night
My first impressions are of a solid planer, very handy for conversion between planer and thicknesser, with a reasonably sturdy fence that is good for 90 and possibly 45º planing. To be honest any correct result in between these two angles I would consider it more of the result of chance rather than proper setup, as the fence relies on the hard plastic caps for being set up, and they only have these two settings.
I particularly love the design of the safety arm thingy that goes on top of the cutting head: it can be locked in a downward position as well, which is extremely convenient to safely move it out of the way when moving the fence all the way to the end of the cutter head and just exposing enough knives for the cut (the dovetailed fence support acts as a cover for the cutting head too).
Am I the only one thinking that the best safety measure for planers/jointers is the one the American machines have (the springy bean-shaped thingy)? I always feel like passing the wood under that cover is asking for trouble. Am I doing it wrong?
I have also noticed, when unpacking the planer, that the zip tie holding the fence came loose, so the paint of the dust extractor hood came off and fence plastics were all scuffed. Also, the inside of the planer (I opened the back to install the feet) was full of nasty sawdust, but it didn't look like the machine was previously used, so I assume that must have been there since packing in China! I have breathed in a few handfuls of that
In general I have to say that the packaging was poor, poorly balanced inside with incredibly thin plywood that would bend and brake even when lifting the pallet with a pallet truck. Other than that, all good
I'll post more here when I have a better idea of the capabilities of the machine
Are you sure it is not a customer return. Would the OEM in Asia actually run wood through to check it !
Either way for a brand new machine you do not expect paint damage.
Either way for a brand new machine you do not expect paint damage.
I thought the same, but I checked the spiral head and it had no signs of having been used. However, I think there's little I can do now, is it? I noticed the paint damage after I had already gone through all the faff to get it inside, the thought of returning it back sent shivers down my spine if I have to be honest. The paint damage is only in the extractor hood, which is made of plastic.
I could've called @ScottandSargeant (Louis there was very helpful) and ask for explanations, but then I had so much other stuff to do (and I've been off sick) that honestly it slipped out of my mind.
I thought that the scuffing happened because the loose fence was rattling all around the box, and that the sawdust inside the machine (but not around the head or on the thicknessing table) was just blown there while packaging it. Am I being too optimistic and maybe I got a problematic machine?
I would definately let Scott and Sargeant know what you have found and then they are in the know so if you have any future issues it would help resolution. As a customer you expect goods to be in top notch condition. When I got my bandsaw it had a scratch on one of the doors and the switch was broken, I contacted the supplier who said they would exchange the machine but like yourself I did not want the hassle of moving it again so they ended up sending me the replacement parts that I then fitted, for me a good compromise.
I actually just spoke with Louis at Scott&Sargeant, he told me that machines are used by them for the set up, so that's why there was some sawdust inside. He also told me that all machines are brand new, not ex-demo or returns. He also asked me to send him pictures of the damaged parts, so I sent him an email - we'll see what happens!
Terrytpot
Established Member
Beat me to it…I was about to say mine arrived with a little man glitter inside too but was told that was from scosarg carrying out calibration tests before dispatching on to the customer ,which explains why very little needs to be done after unwrapping and assembling as the tricky bits already been done for you , assuming you haven’t been particularly ham fisted.
The fact that S&S actually check the machine before despatch is great for the customer, most others just receive from where ever and just despatch and never see the machine.
Hornbeam
Established Member
Hi Val. Glad you are generally pleased with your P/T
Snip while planing would most likely be to do with relative height of the outfeed table to the cutter block . This is not something I have had an issue with
Snipe when thicknessing is often down to support of longer pieces. What I found on my Hammer is that if I lock off the thickness table with the locking lever, it tightened everything up and reduced any movement in the table
Ian
Snip while planing would most likely be to do with relative height of the outfeed table to the cutter block . This is not something I have had an issue with
Snipe when thicknessing is often down to support of longer pieces. What I found on my Hammer is that if I lock off the thickness table with the locking lever, it tightened everything up and reduced any movement in the table
Ian
I absolutely agree, that’s a really valuable (and rare) service done to the customer!
Yes, I am pleased indeed. This afternoon I have spent a couple of hours to finely tune the tables. Now the “ruler drag” has gone down from 6 to 4mm, and the bed are still all coplanar and at the right height.
Can’t wait to have the time to do a test and see if the snipe is gone!
However the quality of the machine seems to be good. The only other comparison I can do is with the Axminster Professional 260SPT, and this seems to be actually better.
