Planer Thicknesser Technique

[Anonymous]

Well. all I can say is, over here in Canada, the standard guard is the kidney guard and everyone I know that's used the kidney and the euro guard prefers the euro style. that's 100%. MiniMax used to sell their jointers in North America with the kidney style (presumably to appease the stuck in the mud unisaw crowd) and have now reverted back to the euro guard due to numerous requests.
Using the euro style correctly is much safer than the kidney, never gets in the way if positioned correctly and inspires more confidence in users.
To each his own, but imo, a change to a kidney guard is a big step backwards

 

[Jake]

That's interesting, Nick. I've read similar stuff about saw styles by informed US woodworkers, deprecating the unisaw style in favour of the european sliding saw model. Norm is infectious, though.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't get me wrong, a competent craftsman can do great work on a unisaw or the like. But it's 1930's technology and they're all made in Chiwan now.
The european machines are far superior in workmanship and safety. The only advance to happen in the N.A. woodworking community in the last 50 years is the Sawstop.
You're right though, Norm is infectious and he's done a lot to get people interested in this great craft. I shake my head at some of the things he does, but i would never knock what he's accomplished.

ooops sorry, this got off-topic.

 

[Noel]

No worries Aragorn.

Best rgds

Noel