Planer thicknessers

[Tomsk]

I've spent a few months reading everything I can about the best P / T to buy, and I'm conscious of not covering old ground here - however I wonder if the SIP 01550 machine might fulfil my needs? (I would post a link but my account is too new, sorry!)

My budget lies at a maximum of £600. I appreciate that separates would be best but I categorically do not have room. I also do not have room for a big old three phase monster. I have watched the second hand sources all this year so far but have found nothing within my region that seemed to fit my needs and I'm not comfortable about buying second hand without seeing the machine first.

Originally I thought either the Metabo or Record Power 260 clone was the right machine, but comments on here suggest that they are a waste of space.

Though most of my work will be on a hobby scale, I have a one large project of new kitchen cabinets to build this year which will utilise oak facing, and therefore a little heavier duty.

Is this model still poor and ill found?

Any comments welcome!

Tomsk

 

[RogerP]

I have a SIP 01344

..... this is the slightly later 01454 but identical so far as I can see except the rated power.

http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/sip-p...medium=GoogleShopping&utm_campaign=googlebase.

Looks a good deal..

Despite comments on the PT260 clones I can only praise my machine. It's well made, quite heavy (a two man lift) works very well, the 3HP induction motor is quiet and powerful enough to cope with all the stuff I've thrown at it. It doesn't have cast iron tables but the cast alloy ones are pretty substantial. I cant see too much from the pictures of the SIP 01550 but it looks like a cosmetically tidied up version of the 01454. The specifications are very similar.

 

[Tomsk]

It's interesting that you rate your machine so highly, and it received favourable reviews in 'Good Woodworking' and 'Practical Woodworking'. I appreciate all the reasons that it can't be as good as a full cast iron system, but sometimes there have to compromises.

I've spent so long reading and looking that I'm almost afraid to spend my hard saved money now for fear of getting it wrong....

Cheers

Tomsk

 

[merlin]

Hello Tomsk,
I have an oldish Elu EPT 1161 that I have had for some years now, while I know that you cant buy these new it may be worth looking out on ebay. (there is one on there at the moment)
I think that it is a great piece of kit, while not true green workshop machinery it has coped with every thing that I have put through it, just last week I planed, squared and thicknesed 8 lengths of 9x2 joinery
that were 3m long, I make the odd door etc and have had no problem with it.
The only parts to watch out for are the feed rollers because the rubber tends to wear a bit, one good thing is that spares are still available from places like miles.
Merlin.

 

[heimlaga]

I have an old cast iron machine and honestly I would never buy anything lighter than the approximately 150 kilos it weighs nor anything with shorter tables than the 115 cm total lenght it has. The cutter is 25 cm wide and that is barely enough for me. Some day I will get something bigger.

Aluminium tables tend to wear out. My unkle wore out the thicknessing table on his combination machine when the built a strip planked boats and planed the strips. The table got a depression along the middle and consequently the thickness of the wood became uneven. He made a new iron table for it but that was not exaktly a small project.