Which planer/thicknesser?

jammyhl · 16 Feb 2016

I'm in the market for a planer / thicknesser. I'm looking eventually to build a 21ft double ender yacht I saw years ago in Wooden Boat but for now I've got a lot of wood from our house conversion I want to recycle for panelling and ceiling work.

I'm fine buying old and used if the quality is sound enough. Should I be looking at old Sedgefield / Watkin etc types over the younger Axminster/Charnwood/Kity's?

I'm thinking 12" X 9" and budget up to £1k.

Thoughts and a healthy dose of realism please

scosarg · 16 Feb 2016

Have a hunt for either a Wadkin BAO/S 12x7 ...,beautifully engineered planer thickener with pressure bars so it planed thin material nicely..see
http://scosarg.com//leaflets/Wadkin/WadkinBaos.pdf
or a Sedgwick MB is nice, but a more basic machine.
http://scosarg.com//leaflets/Sedgwick/M ... nesser.pdf

Remember .. You might be lucky but you might have to buy a phase converter if it's a 3'phase one.
Axminster had some rebadged Sedgwick machines at one point, but mostly Chinese/taiwanese... Charnwood Chinese.
Some of the original Kity and Scheppach machines might be worth looking for too.

jammyhl · 16 Feb 2016

Thanks! Only just round the corner from you. Was trying to persuade you to let Startrite SD300 go cheap - how do they compare to the Wadkin?

RobinBHM · 16 Feb 2016

A startrite is a decent machine, very different league to Wadkin though.

If you have three phase then you will have a wider choice 2nd hand. 240v machines are available at the size you are looking for, but expect to pay more. On the other hand a good brand 2nd hand machine will hold its value very well.

scosarg · 17 Feb 2016

I think we have one of the old models left on display we could do a deal on. Give me a call during the day and I will let you know what I can do fr you
Paul