Having got rid of my 'serious' planer/thicknesser last year because it was taking up too much space and not being used often enough, I found myself wanting something to do the odd bit of flattening and thicknessing. I noticed that Screwfix offer a Titan 8" unit for £149, which is way less than any other unit out there. The reviews were universally good, so I thought I'd have a flutter. First pleasant surprise: when I ordered it in-store they charged me £129! So I'm already £20 in-pocket.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: it is light enough to be picked up and moved around the workshop. However, it seems quite sturdy little unit. The in- and out feed tables are cast aluminium, like my old Metabo. Laying a straightedge across them showed them to flat and co-planar. All good so far.
The fence is a pressed steel unit, as is the thicknessing table. Not great, but at this price-point it's to be expected.
There are some thoughtful touches: the cable can be wrapped around two frames behind the machine to keep it tidy, and there are not one but two push boards supplied! My Metabo had none, at four times the price!
Popping open the front cover revealed th workings:
Not as sturdy as one might have wished, lots of plastic and flimsy arbours. Again, though, what would you expect at the price-point? There was no grease in the workings so I squirted some lithium grease around before replacing the cover. Time to turn her on!
Planing is quite straightforward and produces nice clean results. A 1.5kW (2hp) motor is pretty powerful for a unit of this size, and the blades are nice and sharp (but will they stay that way or are they made of cheese?)
To switch to thickness in mode on my Metabo you had to strip half of the machine away, but this unit is simplicity itself: take the extractor unit out of the thicknessing bay, pop it on top of the table, and you're ready to thickness. The table is raised and lowered on four lead screws and seems to be accurately parallel. I have read that the screws sometimes get out of sync causing the table to skew - will have to keep an eye on that. Again, the results of my first attempt at thicknessing gave nice clean results.
VERDICT: it's hard to fault this little machine at the price-point. It can be put out of the way until needed, and if it gets used once in a blue moon you can console yourself by remembering how much you paid. Th pressed steel components will affect accuracy, but for a hobbyist the results will be more than adequate. Time will tell how it survives usage, but the reviews suggest I have no worries on that score.
It seems that this machine is substantially identical to a number of other branded units, most notably the Woodstar PT65. Since that machine retails at £250, there are big savings to be had with the Titan.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: it is light enough to be picked up and moved around the workshop. However, it seems quite sturdy little unit. The in- and out feed tables are cast aluminium, like my old Metabo. Laying a straightedge across them showed them to flat and co-planar. All good so far.
The fence is a pressed steel unit, as is the thicknessing table. Not great, but at this price-point it's to be expected.
There are some thoughtful touches: the cable can be wrapped around two frames behind the machine to keep it tidy, and there are not one but two push boards supplied! My Metabo had none, at four times the price!
Popping open the front cover revealed th workings:
Not as sturdy as one might have wished, lots of plastic and flimsy arbours. Again, though, what would you expect at the price-point? There was no grease in the workings so I squirted some lithium grease around before replacing the cover. Time to turn her on!
Planing is quite straightforward and produces nice clean results. A 1.5kW (2hp) motor is pretty powerful for a unit of this size, and the blades are nice and sharp (but will they stay that way or are they made of cheese?)
To switch to thickness in mode on my Metabo you had to strip half of the machine away, but this unit is simplicity itself: take the extractor unit out of the thicknessing bay, pop it on top of the table, and you're ready to thickness. The table is raised and lowered on four lead screws and seems to be accurately parallel. I have read that the screws sometimes get out of sync causing the table to skew - will have to keep an eye on that. Again, the results of my first attempt at thicknessing gave nice clean results.
VERDICT: it's hard to fault this little machine at the price-point. It can be put out of the way until needed, and if it gets used once in a blue moon you can console yourself by remembering how much you paid. Th pressed steel components will affect accuracy, but for a hobbyist the results will be more than adequate. Time will tell how it survives usage, but the reviews suggest I have no worries on that score.
It seems that this machine is substantially identical to a number of other branded units, most notably the Woodstar PT65. Since that machine retails at £250, there are big savings to be had with the Titan.
