Bench Top Planer with Helical/Spiral Head

[Mark18PLL]

I see this has been asked before but has anything changed recently? i have been searching but struggle to find anything like this. I only have a garage workshop so size is really important and i need to be able to stop away when not it use, hence why i cant consider a free standing model.

Thanks
Mark

 

[Spectric]

Any reason why you want a helical or spiral head? I think these are found in the larger machines and not in the smaller bench models, but if I was replacing my PT anytime soon then I would be looking at a Tersa setup, definately not the old spring loaded setups that are a real PITA to setup.

 

[Mark18PLL]

I suppose i am just following the herd lol. I hear so much about them and that they give much better results and the machines a quieter, not sure if this would apply to a bench top version but i have seen one from Jet but its only in the US.

 

[Inspector]

Spectric they are being sold in portable machines https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/sho...MI9YDZ6Omv9wIV3cLCBB34CQJ7EAYYASABEgJMTvD_BwE but they are not what you would normally picture a helical/spiral head to look like. Some come with 4 edges on the insert or only 2 like the Rikon example. The thing to watch for is whether the inserts are readily available or proprietary and you are at the mercy of the seller to keep providing them at a reasonable cost.

The other option is to replace an existing straight knife planer head with one from Sheartac or similar.
https://www.sheartak.com
Pete

 

[Spectric]

The other option is to replace an existing straight knife planer head with one from Sheartac or similar.

I did look into these options when I was having major issues setting the knives on my Record PT107, in hindsight I would not have brought any P/T with knives that needed seting up. I resolved my issues by using the ESTA system which is not a cheap option but makes changing the knives really easy, and the replacement disposable blades are cheaper than the OEM ones and double sided.

https://www.advancedmachinery.co.uk/machinery/tooling.asp?section=esta-bruck-knife-system-382
The aftermarket ones are not cheap and unless there is one for your machine then the time and cost do escalate, I believe @MikeK did look at this option but went for a Tersa machine instead.

I think if you go down this route then the helical head has advantages, the cutters are angled to the tables wheras with spiral they are in the same plane as normal knives but there is still a lot of debate for and against, so at the moment a bit like marmite. If I was looking at buying a larger expensive machine then personally I would look at a four blade Tersa machine or even a six but for us mere mortals working in limited space and doing it for fun then not an option.

 

[BucksDad]

A large contributing factor will be the noise of the motor, as all benchtop models have universal motors. The cheapest / smallest planer/thicknesser you can get with an induction motor is the Metabo HC260, previously Electra Beckum which also come up second hand a lot.

Take a look at Rag 'n' Bone Brown's video where he shows his storage solution for it, although I believe he has subsequently changed it for a similar design with a scissor lift table now but that will give you something you can store away potentially.

You can then have the 2 options as outlined by Inspector and Spectric.

I am going to have a small workshop and will get the Metabo and use the ESTA system.

 

[MikeK]

The aftermarket ones are not cheap and unless there is one for your machine then the time and cost do escalate, I believe @MikeK did look at this option but went for a Tersa machine instead.

Correct! If I kept the Holzmann P/T, I would have converted it to the ESTA system. When I bought the Minimax FS30G, I had my choice of the two-blade conventional cutter block, three-blade Tersa cutter block, or the 40+ helical cutter block. I chose the self-adjusting Tersa system because it takes less than two minutes to change the blades, the blades are readily available from many sources, a set of three blades is much less expensive than replacing the square carbide cutters over the life of the machine, and the machine was in stock at the warehouse in Italy.

Out of curiosity, I did ask Byrd Tool about a helical cutter block for the Holzmann PT260NL. Byrd makes the Shelix cutter block that is popular for the DeWalt DW734 and DW735. The salesperson did not recognize the Holzmann model number, but told me it was possible they had a cutter block that would fit, but I had to remove the cutter block from the Holzmann and take all of the relevant measurements using their custom order form so they could find a match or give me a quote to make a cutter block. Either way, the estimated cost of the cutter block would be well over $1,000, which is more than I paid for the Holzmann.

 

[Bojam]

I have the Axminster AT330ST spiral head benchtop thickness planer. Looks like they've discontinued it. I'll be selling mine soon after <2 years of light use as I've upgraded to a 12" combined PT (also with helical head).

Given that I work exclusively with dense and abrasive tropical timbers, having a spiral head machine with TCT cutters was a no brainer. It gives an excellent finish. And in the time I've had it I've never needed to rotate the cutters. So they all still have 3 rotations left before replacements need to be bought. It is relatively noisy but that's to be expected from a universal motor.

 

[Bojam]

When you say planer, are you referring to a surface planer (jointer), thickness planer, or a combined machine I wonder?