Big decision to make !!

[Gary M]

Hi all,
I have been following a few threads on planer thicknessers Yan has one at the minute and i don't really want to hijack it.
dicktimber started one asking about rojec, jet,sedgwick ect (to which there was not many replies)
I find myself in a position to purchase a planer thicknesser
My problem is this,
I want to make this purchase only once :shock:
do i go the whole hogg and buy the Jet 310 http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Jet- ... 365313.htm
which i can buy locally at a very good price. i like the size of tables on this machine, although it is a lot of pennies!!
or go for the baby brother http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Jet- ... 603785.htm
also available locally at a good price ( not as good a price as the big one)
don't like the schepach as it has rubber feed rollers ( my sip bench top thicknesser has them and slips alot if you are putting anything more than one or two planks through it)
Then there is the axminster, Fox, charnwood, lyndhurst - ect ect clones.
The metabo, sip, dewalt ect versions with legs.
I could also take a chance on an Ebay special like a startrite or similar, but what do i do if there is problems with it ??

the Jet machines are trade rated so will probably handle most things i would need to plane.
I dont have a clue about the others, except they are a fair bit cheeper (but need to be delivered from the mainland at a cost of around £80)

I know most of you have planer thicknessers of different sizes and brands
and i would appreciate your comments and advise. Plenty please as i consider this a major purchase and who better to ask than fellow woodworkers who actually own the machine they are recommending or not recommending !!

Just for the record i am very heavily leaning toward the big Jet but i am asking myself "Do i really need this beast ??"
looking foward to your advise,
Cheers
Gary.

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

One thing I would look at is the types of blades the planers take.
The ones I have are re-sharpenable and take quite some time to get set up correctly.
Quite a few machines have disposable knives, from what I have read they are alot faster to set up, and you dont have the drama of trying to find a decent sharpener.

 

[Nick W]

If you only want to buy once, I think you should look at Hammer, or if you're feeling really rich Felder, machines.

I have an 5 year old Hammer P/T, and am still very pleased with it. One of the great options is the dial for the thicknesser which allows you to repeatably set the thickness to whatever you want; the dials are calibrated to 0.1mm, and the spacing is such that I reckon you can easily get within 1/4 of a division which is approx .001"!

It also has disposable blades, which are reversible, so you get two edges on each blade. Changing them is dead easy, they last a good while, and are not at all expensive - the last time I bought some they were £14 a set (of three).

 

[dicktimber]

I have to agree with Nick. I have a kity which has worked well but am impressed with the hammer range from felder.
Blades are cobalt and disposable, but they should last as they are the same ones used in their production machines. Another plus is the ease of installing and setting new blades.
Another plus is the backup service, for England and Scotland.
You should be able to negotiate for a price of arrd£1,600...with the wind in the right direction. As with all tools I would advise you to try before you buy.
They are at the Harrogate woodworking show in November if you live this way....worth a visit if only for the advice you can pick up.
I'll be trying it out then!!!!!!!
Dick :roll:

 

[Escudo]

Hello there Gary,

I have the Scheppach and and I am very happy with it, for £700 it is good value.

In action it has performed well, and I have never had any problems with the rollers. The base however is poor and I made my own.

I would however , endorse Nick's thoughts regarding the Hammer/Felder. A quality machine for sure. I went to look at them at their MK store and was impressed. The blade system (Tersa..I think it was called) was impressive.

I haven't had to change or sharpen the blades on my Scheppach yet so have this to look forward to! :roll:

Hope you have fun with which ever planner you go for, they are a workshop essential.

Cheers, Esc.

 

[Gary M]

Yes the hammer would be very nice, but i fear just a little out of my budget
£1600 is just a bit much !!
I am already stretching to just under £1200 for the big Jet but i wonder is it worth the extra £400 more than its baby brother or £600- £700 more than the axminster or the other clones ?? for basically 2" wider planing capability (and bigger power)
It wont be in every day use but as i say i only want to spend the money once and be able to plane hardwoods with ease :wink:
I hadnt though about the blade change very interesting point !! all the more reason for asking for advise

Cheers,
Gary.

 

[WellsWood]

Gary, the one you haven't mentioned is the Sedgewick PT. New they're up there with Hammer price wise a bit more I think), but they change hands second hand fairly regularly like this. If you can be patient they occasionally go for silly money, but more often about the price of a new Jet/Scheppach 260. A good solid machine with fixed tables and a fence that the others (Hammer included) can only dream about. Get one that's been well treated and it'll last a lifetime.

FWIW I have the Jet 310 and love it. Like you I hesitated because of the price (way outside my original budget), and sometimes even now wonder if I should have bought something a bit smaller. One thing I don't ever think is that I'll ever need anything bigger or more powerful! I do kind of wish the 260 version had been around when I bought mine though - still that would have made the decision even more difficult :roll:

Felder are having an in house show at their Milton Keynes place at the end of Oct - got an email invite just today as it happens - with special deals on the day I'm told. Maybe they're doing something similar at Leeds or Glasgow that would be closer to you.

 

[ike]

don't like the schepach as it has rubber feed rollers ( my sip bench top thicknesser has them and slips alot if you are putting anything more than one or two planks through it)

The SIP might not work well, but I guarantee you would find the Scheppach feed system is superb, and contributes to the super finish these machines can produce. Mine doesn't slip at maximum cut/width and never has. If it did it would simply mean the rollers needed cleaning.

Have you considered this?. Saintsman (Paul) has just got one. I had a good look over it the other day. It's a very solid lump indeed. Looks like a LOT of planer for the money. :wink:

PS. Blade changing is not something you need to do regularly. Industrial machines have quick change cutter systems because tool setting is required more often and time spent doing that is money lost on productivity. It's not difficult to set up and adjust a planer block. All it requires is a little patience and usually no more than 30 minutes.

cheers,

Ike

 

[Waka]

Gary

I have the Jet 310 and opnly have praise for the machine, it is quick to change from one mode to the other, a really nice machine. My advice is go for it.

 

[ProShop]

Yes the hammer would be very nice, but i fear just a little out of my budget
£1600 is just a bit much !!
I am already stretching to just under £1200 for the big Jet but i wonder is it worth the extra £400 more than its baby brother or £600- £700 more than the axminster or the other clones ?? for basically 2" wider planing capability (and bigger power)
It wont be in every day use but as i say i only want to spend the money once and be able to plane hardwoods with ease :wink:
I hadnt though about the blade change very interesting point !! all the more reason for asking for advise

Cheers,
Gary.

Hi Gary,
Once you've bought a larger planer thicknesser you'll never buy a smaller one ever again imho . your getting a lot more than an extra 2" capacity.

But have a good look round before you buy, There are some great s/h about.

 

[ProShop]

I would however , endorse Nick's thoughts regarding the Hammer/Felder. A quality machine for sure. I went to look at them at their MK store and was impressed. The blade system (Tersa..I think it was called) was impressive.
Cheers, Esc.

Hi Escudo
The Felder machines use the Felder Quick change system to which they claim is their own. But there are similar systems out there.
Felder also offer the Tersa system (which is industry wide in use) as an option which costs more money also the tersa blades are much more expensive, good system though.

Hope this helps

 

[ProShop]

I have to agree with Nick. I have a kity which has worked well but am impressed with the hammer range from felder.
Blades are cobalt and disposable, but they should last as they are the same ones used in their production machines. Another plus is the ease of installing and setting new blades.
Another plus is the backup service, for England and Scotland.

Dick :roll:

Hi Dick

The Hammer blades are sold differently to the Felder ones (more money different steel) you can or could fit the Felder ones to the previous Hammers & vice versa but not sure on the new versions. They are not the same steel as used on the production/pro machines as these machines use HSS and Tungsten whereas the Hammer use Chrome and Cobalt knives.

Hope this helps

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Gary

If you have the money, I would recommend that you go for the larger Jet.

I have the Jet jointer 60A and it is excellent.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Gary M]

Thanks for the replies, keep them coming
I have just read p111dom's comment on his Record rpt260
(planer thicknesser thread started by Yan that i don't want to hijack)

This would be a major disaster for me to spend a fair bit ( especially so close to Xmas ) only to find out the machine isn't great

MarkW i have missed a few industrial quality planers on Ebay as not everyone is willing to put on a pallet and wait for a courier to collect, quite alot of them are three phase so that rules them out. I cant view them before i buy and to pick up myself will set me back close to £400 one day return on the liverpool boat ( I know I know all the negatives, i apoligise for sounding like a fish wife

Ike I have looked at the Excalibur and your right, at just over £400 it does look like alot of planer,
but how does it perform compared with your Schepach ??

Are the clones even worth considering ??
after all they have the same capacity as the Jet and Schepach 260 versions.
Any proud owners care to comment ?? :wink:

 

[Streepips]

I can recommend the Scheppach 260, but only pre Ci models. I find the Ci a pain to use. although output quality is the same as previous models. Sip and Axmonster. etc. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm if it aint the Shceppachthen go the other ways suggested. Hammer Felder etc.
I have found the Scheppach 260 brilliant for what I need to do, general joinery, furniture making, etc and a very reliable stable machine

 

[Saintsman]

Gary,

As Ike says, I've just bought the Excalibur, except mine is actually the 12" rather than the 10". Apart from the larger capacity, it is also 3hp rather than the 1.5 hp of the 10" model. It also has 4 knives rather than 3.

So far, I'm hugely impressed: as Ike said, it's a big, solid lump, and like my 806 table saw (gloat, moi ?) is very well made, accurate and a pleasure to use. I'll try to post a review as soon as I've got a few minutes.

Must go, hangover from celebrating Aussies defeat.......

Paul

 

[promhandicam]

I'm another Scheppach 260 owner and think that it is great for my needs - and I guess that is what it comes down to - what do you want it to do and how much are you willing to spend? I've not much experience of other 240v p/t's but I certainly don't think that you will be disappointed with the finish from the Scheppach and I've not had any problems with slipping. FWIW, if I had to start again and replace all my kit and had a reasonable budget, I would definitely get another scheppach p/t and spend more on a better table saw.

Steve

 

[Gary M]

Thanks for the advise guys,
Ok then,
The scheppach is well recomended by anyone who has one,
The Jet is also highly recomended by its users.
To be honest i sort of guessed that these two would come out on top.
I will be trying to get a demo of the scheppach set up this week, its the new Ci version, which i have seen (not working) and as Escudo says the base is pants. So lets see how it performs :wink:
I can also get a demo set up for the larger Jet by a kind owner (through local supplier)
So i am looking foward to that.
Now what about all the clones ??
No one seems to want to comment on them :roll:
Why ???
There are plenty of owners on the forumn
The one thing i have noticed about them is that the motors seem very under powered around 1100w or am i wrong ??.
Cheers,
Gary.

 

[Escudo]

Scheppach p/t 260 base for sale...any reasonable offers accepted.

Trafalgar blue and buttermilk yellow...ideal coffee table base.

Esc.

 

[WellsWood]

:lol: :lol: :lol: