planer thicknessers

[yan]

I have been considering the purchase of a combined planer thicknesser for some time now and have done some research on this forum.
I believe the scheppach 260 seems to be a very good machine but possibly a little to expensive for my needs.
At present i only require one to enable me to plane and thickness white oak lippings for veneered board edges.
I have been looking at both the metabo 260 and the Record 260 and believe that they are basically the same machine, but some people on the forum that have the Record are not very pleased with them.
I would like a bit of help and advice regarding these and any other machines that may be suitable.
Thanks yan.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

I have been considering the purchase of a combined planer thicknesser for some time now and have done some research on this forum.
I believe the scheppach 260 seems to be a very good machine but possibly a little to expensive for my needs.
At present i only require one to enable me to plane and thickness white oak lippings for veneered board edges.
I have been looking at both the metabo 260 and the Record 260 and believe that they are basically the same machine, but some people on the forum that have the Record are not very pleased with them.
I would like a bit of help and advice regarding these and any other machines that may be suitable.
Thanks yan.

I used to have a record, nothing wrong with the machine it's the fence or rather the angle adjuster that's rubbish. I assume the look alikes have the same rubbish fittings.

 

[yan]

Hi LN
thanks for the reply, yes the fences do leave a lot to be desired.
I have also read that the Record planer tables are not very level or not easy to level.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Hi LN
thanks for the reply, yes the fences do leave a lot to be desired.
I have also read that the Record planer tables are not very level or not easy to level.

Yes you have a point there, my planer or what Americans like to call a jointer has allen screws below the blade to do adjustments the record does not have these, probably because it's a double sided blade. It does take some time to set them up exact.

 

[yan]

So it is possible if fiddly to set the tables accurately on the record.
As regards the fence perhaps it would be possible for me to engineer something a little better.
Hopefully some members with the Electra Beckam/Metabo will join in and give me some information about their machines.

 

[engineer one]

why don't you dip your toe in the water, and try one of the 6x4 machines which are available around 200-250 quid. although i have a mafell, ad160
and it is very good nma now only sell the cheaper ones.

for lippings would seem to me the ideal thing, and the substitute fences can be made pretty easily out of mdf.

paul :wink:

 

[yan]

Hi Engineer One
yes I had thought of going that route especially with my limited use at present, but think I might be dissapointed with the short length of the tables. At present I am also in the position to be able to afford something hopefully a little better.
What I am hopeing for is that someone can tell me that one or the other of the models works well and will give me good jointing performance with level beds, and with good well finished timber in thicknessing mode also.
I was leaning towards the Metabo because although they are similar machines the Metabo has rubber outfield rollers which I assume also helps with not marking the timber after thicknessing.
If I cannot get a positive response for any machine in this price bracket then maybe I would be better of getting a more expensive Sheppach or Jet, but I do not want to spend more money if it is not neccessary.

 

[engineer one]

i guess it depends upon what you mean by shortness of tables, my mafell is almost a metre long on the planer, and i can easily put one of my saw table rollers to pick up the wood, but i don't often plane longer than 4 feet.

as for the thicknesser table, i agree that is short, but they are all somewhat shorter than the planer. you can always build an separate input table to ensure you get what you want.

i am not sure about metabo since i think this is a re-badged item rather than their own original. and i do not personally like the idea of lifting the tables to allow the thicknessing process to happen.

the other thing is that all this large machines are just that, and considering how often any of us use them, they take up a bunch of space which is kind of wasted for maybe 60-75% of the time we have them.

just think my way, you could spend on something else, like a bandsaw :lol: :lol:
or some tasty hand tools :twisted:

paul :wink:

 

[Harbo]

I have a Metabo 260K (I think?) - bought a while ago now at a very good price when Metabo could not deliver the cheaper (C) model.
Mine has had plenty of use as most of my work is made from locally sourced rough sawn British hardwoods.
I have had no problems with it and in fact is one of my favorite machines - seeing the planed timber emerging from the rough state is magic!
Metabo took over Elektra Beckum and the design was originally an EB.
It is easy and quick to convert from Planer to Thicknesser - only one table is removed and the fence slid off.
I have had no experience with other P/t's so cannot really compare, but am very pleased with mine.

Rod

 

[Permutation_Jim]

I've been using an Elu 1151 (very similar to the Dewalt 733s).

It has removable (not collapsible) legs, is solid but lightweight, and still handles 10" on the planer and 8" on the thicknesser. Top tables are aluminum (yes, I'm a Yank) and the thicknesser table is cast iron.

There are several variations of the design under both the Elu and Dewalt labels that commonly sell on eBay for £150-250, depending upon age and condition.

I had a dedicated DW733 thicknesser (great machine ) but found it easier and quicker to pop the tables on the 1151. My work seldom calls for thicknessing a 12" wide board, in any case.

Thanks, Jim

 

[Lord Nibbo]

as for the thicknesser table, i agree that is short, but they are all somewhat shorter than the planer. you can always build an separate input table to ensure you get what you want.

paul :wink:

I sold my record because when used in thicknesser mode any adjustment meant I had to alter all feed & exit rollers if I was doing any real long timber.
Most if not all Thicknesser/planer combination machines suffer from this problem.
That is why I went for seperates, problem gone.

 

[the_g_ster]

Yan,

I'd think carefully about what you need to use it for first. If today you expect only light stuff then somethign smaller makes sense. Trouble is one day you decide to do something more and you are then constrained. A thicknesser is a long term purchase, so what will you be doing in 5 years?

If you search for record on here there seems to be a slightly more negative response than Metabo etc, from what I can gather record aren't as they used to be, and even Scheppach don't seem to hold a reputation is solid as what they were, mainly down to price pressure on manufacturing and low cost country production, not germany.

I have a HMS260ci, which has been awesome, it does need a 16 amp supply, (can run on a plug, but may blow fuses a fair bit). It's been great except the tip mechanism on the base is pants as it can get stuck and then lifting a 140kg planer hurts. You could try ebay for a second hand one.

Good luck, G

 

[yan]

Thanks all for the replys, I appreciate all the help but I will have to get back to you all at a later date. I had to rush my wife in to hospital this morning so I will have to carry on with this discussion later.

 

[engineer one]

hope it is nothing to serious

paul :wink:

 

[yan]

I would like to thank everyone for their advice/help.
Thanks for the concern engineer one, my wife is home with me now after just over 2 weeks in hospital and doing well.
I haven't had to much time lately to think about planer thicknessers but will get back on the search soon.
Thanks all.

 

[Nick W]

... when used in thicknesser mode any adjustment meant I had to alter all feed & exit rollers if I was doing any real long timber....

Really? Sounds most unusual to me. What happened if you didn't make the adjustments? What adjustments did you make? Did you try supporting the timber on the infeed and outfeed sides (e.g. on rollers, or even by hand) first?

 

[p111dom]

I sold my record because when used in thicknesser mode any adjustment meant I had to alter all feed & exit rollers if I was doing any real long timber.
....

I'm interested in this comment too as I have a Record RPT260 and to be frank I think the whole machine is rubbish. Very expenseive for what it is. Very unflat tables and difficult to set up. (Althought my cutter block does have alen screws to set the blade height). Fence is too low, too short and the tilt lock is a joke. It will not stay at 90 degrees as you tighten it so you have to set it tilting back say 5 degrees so it comes into line as you tighten it. It's the machine I hate most and intend on replacing it with a JPT-310 next year. However it there was a was of getting it to work better until then even if it means manual adjustment between jointing and thicknessing I want to hear about it!

With regard to the origional post I would reccomend buying the cheapest clone of this machine only if money is tight. (be it the SIP or Axminster models). I can confidently say that within a year of use if your hobby takes off you'll be looking to upgrade and will lose some of this cash!
The Scheppach is definatley a better machine but the capacities are frustratingly similar than the record for more money and the only plus's are rubber no mar rollers. The Smaller Jet model (I think is the same price as the Scheppach) again has no greater capacity but the way the top lifts in one action without having to remove the fence is the biggest plus point and is the main reason I have decided on the 310 model!

 

[Streepips]

For light to medium work I would choose an older Scheppach 260, pre Ci.
I have both so can easily compare The Ci is awful to use compared to the sintered alloy table range. The Ci is of course heavier and the safety switch gear is a nuisance, the out feed/waste chutes block up in seconds and the inter operation changes are far more fiddly and time consuming than the earlier models.
I bought one new about 20 yrs ago ( obviously pre Ci) and its a really well thought out model. sometimes see them on Ebay and thats the one I would go for. Pre cast iron tables, but with the planer bed extension roller bars if you can get them.
The mode; I am referring to ( Been many minor variants ) has the blade guard slotted into a fitting almost in line with the cutterblock. rather than at the end of the planer bed as most seem to be , the fence is adequate but not marvellous, but open to adaptation...... If you like I could email you a pic of the model so you know which variant it is. Mine has worked hard for 20 odd years and the only thing apart from knives I had to replace was the 10 or so drive belts that it went through before it settled. Not replaced on for about 15 years now
Plus they all have the rubber coated rollers