multico

[marcros]

How are multico machines regarded in general. I see saws and planer thicknessers on ebay, and they never seem to go for as much as I expect them to.

Any comments?

 

[Berncarpenter]

They are like little wadkins built to last .

Cheers Bern

 

[nathandavies]

keep it quiet, they are brilliant. they as bern said are like 3/4 scale wadkins. if you get a planer, try to get one with the sliding carriage for tenoning. for the money they go for on the bay they are amazing.

nathan

 

[Bigdanny]

I have a wallsaw, and its very substantial. No problems with its quality at all. If I see a lathe/Drill combo that they did I would be tempted to put an offer in.

 

[marcros]

I am looking for a planer thicknesser- I don't want to spend a fortune because I want to put either a tersa or a helical block into it. Multico may well fit the bill. I will keep an eye open- project for the back end of the year.

 

[nathandavies]

I picked up a Sedgwick with a tersa on. it would probably be easier to get one already fitted. how much is a 12" tersa head?

 

[marcros]

I haven't looked at the tersa block. The Byrd shelix 12" head is $920- I could probably avoid the tax and international shipping element, although there would be some shipping within the USA. The 10" is a bit less- I could probably make do with a 10".

My preference would be for one that has been done but I slightly favour the helix head, which makes it nigh on impossible to find one other than a felder/hammer and they will be way beyond the budget. Tersa fitted may be a bit more common- I keep an eye open for the inca that had it fitted.

The final option may be one of the after fit options. I know nothing about them. It will be cheaper, but doesn't give the advantages that the helix does, and I don't know how it compares with the tersa for speed of change.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multico-PM16- ... 258bebd754

42 minutes to go.......

 

[nathandavies]

varied reports on the helix head

 

[merlin]

I have a CPT planer thicknesser, after I spent a few hours setting it up it works well.

I like the fact it will thickness 9" with ease - I even changed the gearing to slow the feed rate down a bit.

Cheers, Merlin

 

[marcros]

It is a contentious point. Those that like them, love them. But then there are people that have not had good results. Were the heads/inserts faulty, not fitted correctly, just rubbish. We don't know but there is certainly something different.

I like the idea, particularly for preventing tear out on wild grain. I can even live with a result that needs minor sanding, a 64th removing with a super fine smoothing plane etc. IMHO, you can't go from any machine straight to polish, whether the issue is scallops from a traditional planer or something else. My aim is to get to within a gnats gentleman's sausage of the finished size before having to resort to handheld power tools or hand tools. I don't know how feasible this is. The only sight I have had is on YouTube. I and will certainly check them out in the flesh before buying.

 

[Peter Sefton]

I grew up using my Grandfathers Multico's and have fond memories and somehow still my fingers!
Peter

 

[marcros]

I know you have demonstrated the helical blocks on the hammer machine (or was it a felder?). Have you got them in the furniture school Peter? What are your thoughts on the system?

 

[Peter Sefton]

i am demoing the Hammer this weekend at Felder HQ in Milton Keynes. I have used it a few times it is very quiet I mean really quiet and good on energy consumption. It does seem to give a clean finish on interlocked timbers, one of my current students used a helical block a lot in OZ and reckons its great. I don't own one but may consider it if upgrading in the future, the idea of only turning one or two cutters if they get chipped sounds very appealing but I am not sure how this may workout in practice with so many cutters worn at different rates. One of last years students has one in his new workshop and he is working with Ripple sycamore I haven't heard any bad reports from him.
Cheers Peter

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I saw the helical block on the Felder stand at the Detling show and it seems in principle a very clever idea. Four separate sharp edges per cutter before they're used up...what a great idea. Russell started it up and it was remarkably quiet, spooky in fact. Whats needed is some empirical results to overcome the fear factor of something new.

 

[Peter Sefton]

I saw the helical block on the Felder stand at the Detling show and it seems in principle a very clever idea. Four separate sharp edges per cutter before they're used up...what a great idea. Russell started it up and it was remarkably quiet, spooky in fact. Whats needed is some empirical results to overcome the fear factor of something new.

It is Spooky quiet and I am sure you are right about it being new, in five years time we will be wondering why we asked so many questions and didn't just go for it!
Cheers Peter

 

[acewoodturner]

I don't know if I could be arsed to change all the cutters around on something like that if I was pushed for time. I like my Sedgwick 4 bladed tersa which is quick and easy to change the blades in.

 

[marcros]

Another cutter block question... My little 6" axi has a 3 blade cutter block and a speed of some 4000rpm. The smaller of the sedgwick's the pt255 has a similar speed but a 2 cutter block. How can the Sedgwick produce a similar quality cut? Do you need to alter the feed speed to compensate?

I have just chosen this as an example because I was on the website. 2 cutter blocks seem the norm on 10" machines though.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Another cutter block question... My little 6" axi has a 3 blade cutter block and a speed of some 4000rpm. The smaller of the sedgwick's the pt255 has a similar speed but a 2 cutter block. How can the Sedgwick produce a similar quality cut? Do you need to alter the feed speed to compensate?

I have just chosen this as an example because I was on the website. 2 cutter blocks seem the norm on 10" machines though.

Marcros
Your manual feed speed is the only variable available unless the thicknesser feed speed can be changed. If all the cutters are in the same cutting circle then the three cutters should cut better, but I would assume the two knife Sedgwick block has a larger diameter thus a quicker peripheral speed giving a similar finish.
Cheers Peter