Thicknesser advice

[Big Trev]

Hi,

My first post here so please be gentle.

I am looking to get a decent thicknesser for my little workshop (actually my garage). I like the look of the Dewalt 735x, 3 blades etc and Amazon.com ship to the UK. it will cost £750 all in with shipping and taxes etc.

So questions are:
1. Is the Dewalt 735x as good as the reviews say?
2. I would assume you could run this in the UK with a transformer?
3. What other Thicknessers would you recommend for my budget?

Thanks,

Trev

 

[pcb1962]

To put it bluntly, I think you'd be extremely foolish to pay £750 for a £450 machine.
I'm not familiar with machines in that price range but I suspect that something like a Record Power PT260 would be a better buy and a more useful machine in the long run.
Personally I use the planer a lot more than I do the thicknesser.

 

[TRITON]

As above.
This is the one ive in my workshop and it is ok, given cost and build
Last job 2 days ago was to thickness 6" wide hard maple from 14mm to about 11mm. Performed admiralty, though a little noisy and with a fair bit of vibration, albeit more to do with the thin stock, but everything I've put through it thus far has been fine, and a thicknesser alone wont give you square stock, you need a planer/thicknesser for that.

Many jobs you'll do will require straight square edges, for example jointing boards for tables and other wide sections, and for that you must have a planer.

I love my record PT260, despite it's limited sizes(10"x6") The 10" wide is fine, but could use maybe 8" for depth. But hey ho, needs/cost/size is my limiting factors.

My ideal set up for the smaller workshop would be this.
Dedicated planer -
Axminster Trade AT150SSP 150mm Spiral Head Planer
Dedicated thicknesser -
Axminster Trade AT330ST Thicknesser Spiral Block
But it's about £2 1/2K for both. Obviously if i had the room I'd use this chunk of cash on something with greater capacities, but for ease of storage, the above thicknesser would work
best.

 

[Orraloon]

I have the DW 735 and its a good machine. A step above the lunchbox type thicknessers in that it has 2 feed speeds and a chip blower. If you do not have dust extraction then you can get a dust bag to blow the chips into. That said It looks a bit more expensive over there. I would also avoid the hastle of getting a 120v machine then needing a transformer. Warranty issues can also be a pain if the machine is bought overseas.
Regards
John

 

[billw]

Metabo DH330 also gets good reviews and is about £400.

 

[Big Trev]

I think I’m going to purchase a thicknesser planer. 3 options:
1. Record Power PT107
2. Charnwood W583
3. Holzmann HOB260ECO

Any thoughts on these as to which is best?

thanks,

trev

 

[MikeK]

I have the Holzmann HOB260NL, which is similar to the three you listed as well as several others, such as the Axminster AC250PT and the Bernardo ADM 260. Each of these share the same design flaw, so I would not be surprised if they came from the same factory.

I regretted my purchase a few days after it arrived because the infeed and outfeed tables were not coplanar, the outfeed table was not parallel to the cutter block, none of the three cutter blades were anywhere near the correct height, and I could not make any infeed table height adjustments. When I contacted Holzmann, I was told the tables and cutters could have shifted during shipment (very possible). However, since these were user adjustments, this was not a valid reason to authorize a return, but the technician gave me a list of things to check on the infeed height adjustment. I was able to fix the table height adjustment and set the cutter blade height, but did not have full control of the table adjustments.

I later discovered the problem with my P/T, and most likely the others mentioned, was each of the tables was attached to the height adjustment blocks with pins as well as the adjusting cam bolt. However, the cam bolt and the other bolt can be completely removed without affecting the adjustment of the tables. The pins securely lock the infeed and outfeed tables to the blocks and the tables cannot be adjusted on that side.

Here is a closeup of the Record Power PT107 showing the pins. The angle adjustment cam bolt is on the right between the pins and the horizontal adjustment bolt is on the left. However, both can be removed with no change to the table alignment. There are similar pins and bolts on the outfeed table.

Here is the Bernardo ADM260 showing the same problem.

Aside from the paint, my HOB260NL is the same as these two machines. I notice the Holzmann HOB260ECO is slightly different, but appears to have the locking pins.

After I used a drift punch to push the pins out, I could adjust both tables with ease. I double checked the user's manual to make sure I didn't miss a crucial commissioning step, but the pins are not mentioned anywhere except the parts diagram.

After a lot of work, the HOB260NL is functioning the way it should, but had I known it was going to be such a problem, I would have passed on the purchase and bought a Hammer or SCM P/T.

 

[Chris_Pallet]

I think I’m going to purchase a thicknesser planer. 3 options:
1. Record Power PT107
2. Charnwood W583
3. Holzmann HOB260ECO

Any thoughts on these as to which is best?

thanks,

trev

Hiya, what one did you go for in the end?
Cheers

 

[Big Trev]

Hiya, what one did you go for in the end?
Cheers

Hi Chris,

In the end I ended up purchasing a drum sander from Laguna Tools - this one to be exact. I figured I would continue to use my Axminster bench thicknesser to do all the graft and use the drum sander for the final finish.

I hope this helps.

Trev