Out of the stone age - thick as a plank

[PerranOak]

OK. I've just about had enough! I spent all day Sunday prepping, by hand, some lovely beech for a cabinet door only to c*ck it up at the last minute!

Now I want a planner/thicknesser. I only have about £500 and very little space. Would it be best to get a combined one or are separates better?

Any suggestions as to make please. As a Neanderthal, I've never even seen one in the flesh!

Cheers.

 

[Steve Maskery]

If you have limited space a combo would be better. They are a faff swapping between functions, but separates take up more room.
For your budget I'd say look out for a second-hand Kity. They are good little machines when fettled properly. I made a houseful of furniture with mine.
S

 

[Peter T]

I also have little space so I had a SIPP 6 inch bench top planer and a DeWalt DW733 bench top thicknesser for a while.

The SIPP was poorly designed and made but I managed to tame it and get good results. The DW733 was a very good machine and I would recommend it.

The problem with these small, bench top machines is the noise, they really scream! Now this may not be a problem for you. A set of ear muffs and your all set to go, but if, like I do, you have neighbors, then it's a problem.

So, I sold the bench top machines and bought an Axminster AW106PT combination planer/thicknesser. It's a bit more expensive than your stated budget but it's a very capable machine.

My only criticism would be that the chip extraction when thicknessing is not great.

Good luck,

 

[RogerP]

Look out for planer/thicknessers with 260 in the model name. Three are quite a few on the market from various makers, Record, SIP. Metabo, Jet, Draper and others. They are all made from Far Eastern parts but are quite good and new they are in the £550-£700 price range. They have induction motors which are far quieter than the brush motors fitted to the smaller cheaper P/Ts. They are well made, pretty tough machines and a big step up from the bench 6" models.

 

[JakeS]

They have induction motors which are far quieter than the brush motors fitted to the smaller cheaper P/Ts.

For what it's worth: as the owner of a smaller, cheaper P/T with a brush motor, and a bandsaw and a table saw with induction motors, I can certainly say that this will be a big factor in my purchasing decisions if and when I ever get to the point where I can justify buying a bigger P/T!

 

[PerranOak]

Brill, thank you for the advice all.

My neighbours actually gave me my first table saw which is very noisy! Still, I can't take the mickey with a noisy P/T too!

So, 260 means induction motor?

 

[RogerP]

So, 260 means induction motor?

Well it actually stands for the widest timber in mm it can take but, in my experience, it also invariably means it'll have an induction motor ... but I suppose there's always an exception .... so ask before buying would be the safe thing to do.

 

[Ian down london way]

I also upgraded albeit some years ago. Ended up with a bench top thicknesser, which was dewalt, but similar to this:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jwp- ... rod365273/
Very noise (so no later than 9pm for me), and you really really need powerful dust extractor as they produce amazing quantities of chippings (not dust) which can block up tubes if not whipped away. I found they benefit from extending the in and out feed tables, or the machine may tilt if just sitting on a bench. However, as its movable, its good to move into the middle of my workshop if I need to process a particularly long item - so apart from the noise, I like it.
For a planer I went for this:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ax ... rod370404/
Works very well, and has a decent in and out feed area. As a floor standing item, you can't easily move it around, so you have to be careful with positioning (although I did fit a set of raisable wheels so I could move / rotate it if necessary). Its quite narrow though (compared to the thickensse which is the 260mm or so width), so I do sometimes find myself using the thicknesser (carefully) to flatten wood. Not ideal though.

 

[marcros]

I also upgraded albeit some years ago. Ended up with a bench top thicknesser, which was dewalt, but similar to this:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jwp- ... rod365273/
Very noise (so no later than 9pm for me), and you really really need powerful dust extractor as they produce amazing quantities of chippings (not dust) which can block up tubes if not whipped away. I found they benefit from extending the in and out feed tables, or the machine may tilt if just sitting on a bench. However, as its movable, its good to move into the middle of my workshop if I need to process a particularly long item - so apart from the noise, I like it.
For a planer I went for this:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ax ... rod370404/
Works very well, and has a decent in and out feed area. As a floor standing item, you can't easily move it around, so you have to be careful with positioning (although I did fit a set of raisable wheels so I could move / rotate it if necessary). Its quite narrow though (compared to the thickensse which is the 260mm or so width), so I do sometimes find myself using the thicknesser (carefully) to flatten wood. Not ideal though.

I have the same kit, although it is an axminster branded thicknesser and the previous model of that planer. I much prefer seperates because i am too disorganised to guarantee that i have finished all planing before thicknessing- this way at least i can nip back to the other machine. I wish it was a wider planer, but to be honest it would probably have to be a 12" one to notice much difference. Boards I have used tend to be way over the 6" if they are over, so upgrading to a 8" wouldnt offer much benefit. Mine both run, for the moment without extraction. the planer drops everything (pretty much) into a smallish dustbin. The thicknesser i just use my hoover after every few passes. Not idea, but does the job for now.

I am in a single garage. The thicknesser, when not in use lives either under the bench, or down the end I am not using. It is plenty heavy enough to move, but if you lift properly (bend knees not back!) then it isnt a great issue. The planer takes up no more room than the pt would. The alternative would be to buy a stand alone decent thicknesser and be prepared to flatten a face by hand. I am not needing to make a decision on this, but if i needed to, it would certainly bare thinking about. And if I had a PT, i could see myself leaving it in thickness mode and planing by hand half the time anyway.

If you can pick up a secondhand axi ct150 or ct1502, you could do a lot worse. it would also leave you plenty on money in the budget for a thicknesser. If yyou buy at the right price and they dont suit you then you shouldnt lose anything much if you sell them on.