Bench Thicknesser

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Mark18PLL

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I see many posts about bench thicknessers, I am looking for 13 inch model with 3 blades if possible, does anyone know anything available in uk?

Thanks Mark
 
You may be pushed to find one as all the ones I've seen only use two straight knives.

Generally speaking I'm not really sure why we don't have more of a choice of woodworking machines in this country, feels like a missed opportunity to me but there may be a perfectly reasonable explanation.
 
I think in the uk we accept what builders throw into a house when they build it using off the shelf materials to ensure they have no character and to maximise their profits. People seem to want size rather than quality but rarely get either and this means the builders only need basic tools and hence less demand for woodworking machinery. In some countries like the USA going by many of the books I have read they have real carpenters who can fit much more elaborate trim which gives the house some proper character, they use all sorts of tools that our builders just would not reconise.
 
dewalt make the dw735 but it’s not available in the uk.
Ah yes I fancied that when I was looking for a machine last year; as you say not available in the UK.

I ended up with the Makita 2012b which is OK but I don't have anything to measure the performance against as I have never used one before.

Just had a search on youtube and there is a upgrade to a spiral block. Looks like the block with 48 tips is ~ £400
 
I researched many portable thicknesers a couple of years ago and dismissed many due to quality , poor reviews and bad design. At the time I was looking at the metabo hm260 or the makita nb 2012. I went with the makita mainly due to the excellent reviews and the sound / noise level and of course the cost . No regrets with my choice especially as I got the 110v version. As for a 3 knife design I never came across one in the uk however why not consider a spiral head design ( Axminster do one ) but the cost is high . Good luck
 
What are the benefits of 3 knives rather than 2 - the answer eludes me. Using the DeWalt DW733 to illustrate - it has a feed rate of 10m a minute. No load speed is 10,000 RPM - in use the actual speed will be somewhat less depending on depth of cut and wood.

Based on this there are 1,000 RPM per metre. With two blades the wood is being cut at 0.5mm intervals. In theory this will leave ripples in the finish as the knives "scoop out" the wood - the size will depend on the diameter of the block.

Simple geometry (which is all I am capable of) suggests this will be very very small. Using Pythagoras gives an answer of around 0.005mm - irrelevant.

So back to my initial question - 3 knives over 2 will make little measurable difference to the quality of the finish assuming the feed rate is the same. Sharpness of the knives is likely to be far more important.

The diameter of the block may also have an impact on cut quality - larger diameter means the knife speed is faster for a given RPM, the "ripples" will be smaller.

It does allow an increase in feed rate without compromising the quality of finish - useful in an industrial environment but a lunchbox thicknesser is more DIY than industrial of kit (normally).

Possibly of greater importance will be machine set up to ensure infeed and outfeed trays are properly adjusted (minimise snipe), feed rollers clean, extraction working properly etc.
 
I have actually seen the jet jwp12 m and it states in the website it has an induction motor, I thought none of these types had induction.
 
I looked at the DW735, but too found it's not available in the UK. Instead I got the Metabo DH330 (2 knives). It's worked well for years, so I'd recommend it.
 

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