Planer Thicknesser

[mrpercysnodgrass]

I am in the market for a new planer thicknesser. It will have to be single phase and new, I'm not interested in second hand. I have had a look around and I am leaning toward the Startrite SD31, mainly because I like Startrite machines, it has very good reviews including some from members present. The only thing that is making me hesitate is I really fancied a spiral cutter block and it seems like Startrite do not do one. Can one be retro fitted? If so, how much of the folding stuff will it take? And is it easy to fit? The Axminster Trade Series AT107PT ticks all the boxes except the 240mm width, I feel I cannot do with less than 305mm and the next one up is 3 phase.
I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestion before I have a glass of wine and press that 'proceed to checkout' button!

 

[MartinCox]

The Axminster 129PT has a planing width of 305mm, spiral block and is single phase, albeit requiring a 16 amp supply. Does that tick all the boxes?

 

[custard]

On Monday I pulled out some beautiful fiddleback stock for an upcoming project, truly dazzling figure from edge to edge.

Unfortunately the timber yard had massacred the boards,

I can usually deal with that, a four knife block, back bevels on sharp knives, low feed speed, and 0.1mm shaving cuts. Okay, some improvement, but these boards were a tear out nightmare, and there were still a few nasty patches,

By this time I'm approaching final dimensions, so time to go old school. Several sweaty hours with a bench plane later and it was sorted,

So, from where I'm sitting Percy, it would absolutely have to be a spiral block and accept no substitutes!

 

[Mrs C]

Felder have got an offer on their hammers at the moment - ends on Friday.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

The Axminster 129PT has a planing width of 305mm, spiral block and is single phase, albeit requiring a 16 amp supply. Does that tick all the boxes?

Martin, I looked at the spec for this and saw 3.0 kW so assumed that meant 3 phase!

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Felder have got an offer on their hammers at the moment - ends on Friday.

Mrs. C.Thank you but I can't be doing with companies that do not publish their prices up front. So for me Felder are out.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

On Monday I pulled out some beautiful fiddleback stock for an upcoming project, truly dazzling figure from edge to edge.


Unfortunately the timber yard had massacred the boards,


I can usually deal with that, a four knife block, back bevels on sharp knives, low feed speed, and 0.1mm shaving cuts. Okay, some improvement, but these boards were a tear out nightmare, and there were still a few nasty patches,


By this time I'm approaching final dimensions, so time to go old school. Several sweaty hours with a bench plane later and it was sorted,


So, from where I'm sitting Percy, it would absolutely have to be a spiral block and accept no substitutes!

Thank you custard, I think I would be asking for a bit of money back if I was supplied with that amount of tearout! The Spiral cutter block certainly looks like the future!

 

[MartinCox]

Percy, we have several machines which require a 16 amp supply. We run all from single phase. A call to Axminster would be reassuring?

 

[Doug B]

Felder have got an offer on their hammers at the moment - ends on Friday.

Mrs. C.Thank you but I can't be doing with companies that do not publish their prices up front. So for me Felder are out.

That’s a shame as they really are excellent well thought out machines, I’ve recently upgraded mine & am very happy with it.
They offer many optional extras including extension beds (which I went for & am really pleased with) 3 different blocks, built in mobile base & choice of electrics to name a few so offering a single upfront price could be misleading. The machine is built to your specifications & priced accordingly, yes you have to wait for it to be built but personally on what is a pretty big expenditure I’m happy with all that to get the machine I want.

 

[custard]

That’s a shame as they really are excellent well thought out machines

I agree, I use Felder machines and there's plenty to like.

But on the debit side of the ledger Felder's policy is not to retro fit spiral blocks even when it's technically straightforward, and I've heard from recent buyers that they no longer deliver. The customer has to arrange transport and installation, only once the machine is in situ will Felder get involved again and commission it.

Martin and Altendorf, who are probably even higher up the quality scale, seem more accommodating.

 

[Doug B]

That’s a shame as they really are excellent well thought out machines

I agree, I use Felder machines and there's plenty to like.

On the debit side of the ledger though their policy is not to retro fit spiral blocks even when it's technically straightforward, and I've heard from recent buyers that they no longer deliver. The customer has to arrange transport and installation, only once the machine is in situ will Felder get involved again and commission it.

Martin and Altendorf, who are probably even higher up the quality scale, seem more accommodating.

They offered to deliver my A3-41 last month & commission it albeit at extra cost.
From my days at a furniture factory quite a few years ago I remember a Martin table saw having to be installed by the maintenance team before Martin would commission it, perhaps as with most of these things it’s down to site conditions & whether the customer wants to pay for a service.
I have always fetched my machines from Hammer for me it’s more cost effective & have an engineer friend who’s happy to commission them so not opting for these 2 services is a big money saver

Edit, thinking about the spiral block, I quite often work on a Felder combination machine, from memory I would have said that 4 knife block was smaller in diameter to my Hammer spiral block, this is something I will check next time I’m using the Felder, I would have thought the block would need to be the same diameter to be a straight swap ?

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

The Axminster 129PT has a planing width of 305mm, spiral block and is single phase, albeit requiring a 16 amp supply. Does that tick all the boxes?

Martin, I have looked again at the 129PT and it does indeed tick all the boxes except having an integrated wheel/jockey.
What do I need to set up the 16amp supply? I have a spare port on my consumer unit so that is straight forward enough but what do i need in the way of cable and plugs.
Regards.
Paul.

 

[stuartpaul]

Paul,

My table saw runs off a dedicated 16 amp supply and as you have a spare way on your consumer unit it should be straight forward. Run a single 2.5mm cable from the unit to a 16 amp socket and jobs a good 'un!

I did mine myself then had it double checked by a proper sparks just to be sure. I wouldn't have thought it would cost too much to have it all done by a friendly sparks.

Oops, - edited to add you of course need an appropriate breaker fitted as well.

 

[MartinCox]

Exactly as Stuart Paul said. A sparks did all of our 16amp spurs and connectors.

 

[custard]

Well worth doing, and it might make sense for the electrician to fit a couple of additional 16amp sockets while he's there,

They open the door to quite a few interesting machinery options.

 

[johnnyb]

Read my at129pt review. The mobile base is excellent btw. 2 casters at front 2 fixed at the back. The axminster also also has an outfeed extension.just order the thicknesser roller as an extra( or use the thicknesser one the odd occasion you may need it.) It leaves a pretty reasonable finish on softwood. Very sandable but not as smooth as hss knives. I'd need a very good reason not to buy the axi and stump up the extra for the hammer tbh. I've been planing constantly since i got it. I've never used the hammer though. Hammer( Felder) set themselves above everyone else and i feel they would not provide the aftercare.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Thank you for all your replies and suggestions so far.

One more question.....

Does this Axminster PT machine come with a blue 16amp plug supplied?

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Ok, just read through the manual and see that it does indeed come with the 16amp plug.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

I went into the Cardiff Axminster shop yesterday and flexed my card, so I am now waiting with a certain amount of excitement for the arrival of my AT129PT with spiral cutter block.
BTW if anybody is interested, they were selling off the display model AT129 with three knife cutter block for £1200! bargain.

 

[Richard863]

I have the 129 with spiral block. Its fab on yew and all wavy grain when you study it you think its a shame to put a sander to the finish as its so clean. I don't regret the extra cost.
Richard