Planner/Thicknesser

[Jim]

Guys when i get my lean-to finished i will be looking for a Planner/Thicknesser ... If you have one of these could you please give me the thoughts on the make you have ... I am not bothered about a big all singing all dancing one, it will not be used for the big stuff ...

Thanks ...

 

[Pete B]

Hi,
I had a makita very similar to the dewalt and it was fine for a few years but very light use. Then one day i was doing some very wide oak and it just slowed down and the motor burned out, had to spray extinguiser into hole where carbon things on springs screw into (I know i don't know what they are called.
But, it had good accuracy and gave a very smooth finish almost as good as a hand plane. Small sizes can be planed as well if put through on a bigger piece.
Was well made and depth gauge although not super accurate, it was accurate enough.
There was never much if any tearout and it coped with knots very well.
Maybe it was just the width of the oak an hardness combined were too much. If i hadn't pushed it one day it would probably still be going.
I did buy a cheaper Jet version but never used it and might have sold it now.
Very good for really long sawn boards when i did a load a few times, noisy, heavy but did pack away quite small, amd well made.
Have a Jet one unused and i have sold it i think.
Seemed almost as good, handles were not quite the same quality, but it was never used.
But if i had the space i would buy a large non portable that i have just realised is the item you are asking about not the portable ones.

Pete

 

[Jim]

Thanks Pete, to be honest i am not bothered whether it is portable or not, i am after one that is reliable and will do me a good job ..

 

[wm460]

If I had the room I would go for a Planer/Thicknesser combination machine
The Thicknesser is great to smooth down the timber but you need the planer/jointer to straighten it

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&...w-mKoLstmVJLmFfL0V1OJHQ&bvm=bv.47534661,d.dGI

 

[Jimjam66]

I have the Metabo HC260C. Great little machine, does everything I need it to. Only thing is I'd get the wheel set for it, it's a sod to drag around! :nonono:

 

[Mattyd]

looks a sturdy piece of Kit David..

 

[naxie]

I have a D.B.Keighley - SIP 01344 10" x 6" Planer/Thicknesser which I bought from a member on another forum with the wheel kit and a couple of sets of spare blades.

Its not a thing I use all the time, but I certainly wouldn't be without it. I tend to batch prepare timber with it for a couple of hours at a time. I got it to be able to prepare my own hardwoods for scrollsawing and it really does do a good job. The last time I used it was a couple of weeks ago when I made the base for my graduate and prepared some rather wobbley re-sawn oak down to a nice square and even 70mm thick.

I see what David means about the wheels. I keep it tucked in next to the RAS and drag it out when needed and even with the wheels, its a sod to move!

 

[clumsysod]

Hmmm not a thread I should comment on as I have no experience of these machines.
But I just can't help forcing my opinion on you.
Common comments are concerns about bulk of the item and frequency of use, therefore the two prime questions to ask your self are:
Do you have the space to spare? Don't forget its about plugging it in somewhere and the pile of timber it will attract around it like bees to a honeypot.
How often will you use it? In the first week or two all the time undoubtedly, the telegraph pole outside will be reduced to a pile of pen blanks within seconds, and it will be the best thing since sliced bread.
Then in a short time it will just become an inconvenience stuck under a bench and staying there because its either to heavy to move or there is to much stuff to move out of the way first.
In the drawer is a hand plane that is so much quicker and a short burst on the belt sander, job done instead wealding that great bulk of a pain in the arse about.

There you have now been Georged I have forced my opinion upon you, have a nice day.

 

[Jim]

Thanks for the links and comments guys, some food for thought there ...

And George, your wisdom is wisely accepted, you are bang on with your comments ...

 

[ataylor]

I guess this is going to be used for segmenting. wouldn't a good sander be as good for pen making.

 

[Jimjam66]

George, I take your comments on board. In truth, I don't use mine THAT often. Like Naxie, mine gets used rarely but used hard when it does get used. The one thing which avoids it getting relegated to the 'never used' category is that it allows me to buy rough-sawn lumber at a huge discount to prepared timber. As long as I can do that the planer/thicknesser is in no danger of lack of use!

 

[Jim]

I have a decent sander Tony, but it does not do what the Planner/Thicknesser can do. Yes it is for segmenting, but not just for the pens.

 

[Jimjam66]

A thickness sander is a particular animal, Jim. It presupposes that you have one flat side to your timber, but will then thickness it brilliantly so long as you don't have to remove too much material. Great for veneers and e like. Beats a rotary blade thicknesser in one key respect: no tearout. Easy to make, there are lots of plans on the interweb.

 

[Jim]

David i would love to have something like that ...

 

[wm460]

A thickness sander is a particular animal, Jim. It presupposes that you have one flat side to your timber, but will then thickness it brilliantly so long as you don't have to remove too much material. Great for veneers and e like. Beats a rotary blade thicknesser in one key respect: no tearout. Easy to make, there are lots of plans on the interweb.

Just what I is building at the moment.

 

[Jim]

Just what I is building at the moment.

Look forward to seeing some photos Mark ...

 

[Walter]

I have a little Woodstar planer/thicknesser which I use for small furniture projects. I bought it because it was a) small and b) cheap but it does the job reasonably well. If I was going to replace it now I would probably go for something like this Record Power one which has cast iron beds and a 2 HP motor but is less expensive than a professional cabinet based machine.

I had a Makita2012NB thicknesser on loan for a couple of weeks when I was doing an article for Woodworking Plans and Projects mag and it was a superb machine. It works best if the timber is reasonably flat to start with but slight bowing along the length can be dealt with by fastening the work to a reference board of ply or mdf and wedging beneath the gaps. (See here for a better explanation. The guy uses a fancy jig but the principle is the same).

 

[ataylor]

It would be great if each town had a place where we could take a piece of wood and ask them to plane it for us, it would be a lot cheaper than buying som machine that you would only use 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[wm460]

Just what I is building at the moment.

Look forward to seeing some photos Mark ...

Will do but will be a while before I finish it.
Picked up the shaft last week in Alice, 1100mm X 25mm dia but already have to cut it down as I cant fit it in the shed.

 

[nimrod]

I also have a woodstar planer/thicknesser which I use to take the timber to slightly above the finished size, I then finish it on a Jet drum sander which gives a very good finish and the thickness is accurate to a couple of thou. I bought the drum sander on ebay for well under half the price of a new one, I had to travel a hundred miles to get it but the results I gives made it worth the journey. the thinnest I have is about an 1/8 of an inch but it will go a lot thinner.