SIP Planer Thicknessers

murphs14 · 21 Jan 2012

Hi Everybody, I want to buy a planer thicknesser that will handle mostly softwood but some hardwood oak etc and I haven't got a fortune to spend. Is there anybody out there that has a SIP machine/ Are they any good? They look like value for money but only if they work well. Any satisfied/dissatisfied customers that can advise me please??

New to woodworking and it really is turning out to be a bit of a minefield so any help would really be appreciated.
thanks.

peter

RogerP · 21 Jan 2012

I have a SIP 01454 and can't fault it. I don't have any experience of the smaller model, but I expect it will be very noisy as it has a brush motor - most small P/Ts do. If you can, find a second-hand P/T with an induction motor.

Dodge · 21 Jan 2012

Which SIP model are you specifically looking at?

murphs14 · 21 Jan 2012

The one I can afford is a SIP 01550 10in x 6in Planer/Thicknesser. Looks ok but who knows?

peter

woodstainwilly · 21 Jan 2012

I have a SIP 10X8. It is a good machine the only
slight niggle I have with it is changing over to thicknessing,
it can be a bit fiddly getting the shaving collecting chute in
the right spot. The machine won't run until it is. :mrgreen:
Willy.

JakeS · 21 Jan 2012

RogerP":1re9liel said:
I don't have any experience of the smaller model, but I expect it will be very noisy as it has a brush motor - most small P/Ts do.

I have an older-model 6x4 SIP P/T, and as you suggest, it sounds like a jet taking off! I do get decent results out of the thicknesser, but right now either the blades or the outfeed table aren't aligned properly so I can't plane stuff over the top, I need to have a good look at it.

The problem with it is that I can't get the blades out right now, because the screws which hold the blade-mounting block in are stuck, and I can't turn them to get them out without rounding off the head. I've obtained some spares, so I think sooner or later I'm probably going to have to cut the screws off in order to remove the mounting block and then somehow remove the stubs from the screw-threads in the mounting block. I'm hoping that they're only stuck because they're tightened too far and once the pressure is removed they'll move more freely, but I'm worried enough about it to be putting off starting the job. I got it second-hand, so it could have been the previous owner's negligence, soI wouldn't mention it but for the fact that I seem to recall that when I asked about it on here Chems said that he had exactly the same problem. It could be a problem restricted to the small model, perhaps?