Planer thicknesser advice.

[holdthemusic]

Hi All,
I currently have a Axminster Ct150 jointer and a DeWalt 778 Thicknesser (purchased S/H). This was fine when I started off but now find i'm finding i'm running the machines pretty much flat out. I also find planing hard woods wider than 5" a little hard on the machine. Finish is excellent though. I've never been overly happy with the DeWalt, no matter what i've tried tearout has always been a big problem and sniping is also bad.
What i'm considering is going down the combined planer/thicknesser route. I want something that is accurate, finishes well, doesn't mind being worked hard and is fairly quick to change from planing to thicknessing. Budget is around £1800 and must be 230v.
I'm just round the corner from Axminster so will probably buy from them.
Thanks all.

 

[davy_owen_88]

How much space do you have available? If you have plenty then go the separate route. The jointer will have longer tables than any combined machine and in these cases I'm sure are quieter too.

Thicknesser:
Jet JPM-13 - £771.47

Jointer:
Jet 54A - £772.50 or Jet 60A - £1,163.90

If you get the JPM and the 60A your a little over your budget, but in my opinion is much better value for money than a combined machine.

If you don't have the space though, you could always check out this - it doesn't need any adjustments to go from planing to thicknessing mode, so thats a benefit, but the tables are only 1200mm long against the 1820mm of the Jet 60A.

Davy

 

[holdthemusic]

Thanks Davy,
I have a fair amount of space available so could possibly go down the seperates route but the way things are going, I'm not convinced that a 200mm planer would be enough and I don't want to end up in the same situation in three months time. What does everyone thin of the Rojek range? No one seems to mention them....?

 

[WellsWood]

Given the ideal situation, i.e. sufficient space and cash I think I'd agree with Davy about buying seperates. However, space has a funny way of disappearing just when you need it most and you'd need to be sure you will still have room for 2 machines when you get to the bottom of the "slope" (sorry to all you hand tool people - but there is definitely one for machinery as well).

I didn't have the room or cash so bought the Jet JPT-310. Apart from a niggle about the fence (bore yourself here with the details) I am very happy with it. It has unusually long tables at 1400mm for a P/T in this class, and an excellent arrangement for changing functions which does not involve removing the fence. It also has a serrated infeed roller and rubber covered outfeed roller for thicknessing which to me seems the best of both worlds. And of course you get a full 300mm width capacity on both functions - something you just could not get with separates within your budget AFAIK.

I looked at the Rojek equivalent when choosing and it looked like a good solid machine. I rejected it based on the fact that it had shorter (albeit fixed) tables, and that despite having a very substantial triangular extrusion for the fence the support brackets looked rather poorly engineered. It's also about £150 dearer.

One alternative (although again a combined machine) which rarely gets a mention is the Hammer A3-31. haven't seen one in the flesh, but looks good on paper. I particularly like the idea of quick change self setting knives, and the way the tables swing away from the workspace when thicknessing which makes a lot more sense to me.

Jet's after sales service is fantastic in my experience, so no worries there whichever way you go with their stuff. Can't say about the others, although like Jet, the Rojek is imported by Axminster so should be as good.

Hope this helps, and good luck with whatever you choose.

Mark