Buying a second hand Sedgwick

[PostmanPat99]

Hi all,

I'd like to buy a second hand Sedgwick planer thicknesser (or similar). Budget up to £1500. Does anyone have a reconditioned one for sale?

Or could give me any advice on this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27669476...DVnNR31RCe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Is it a good buy? What work I would need to do. I don't know if this is a two knife, but if it is, can I convert it? I'm mainly making jewellry boxes, gun boxes and small furniture, a nice finish of the planer would be nice

 

[Doug71]

I have the same planer as that but in 3 phase, it is a solid old workhorse which is a good and bad thing.

With it being old (40+ years?) it is solid and dependable but lacks finesse, it wasn't really designed with things like dust extraction in mind.

My worry would be that it's maybe a bit crude for your intended purpose of making jewelry boxes etc, for example it only thicknesses down to about 11mm before you need to start using boards under the workpiece to lift them, anything below about 10mm I often put through a little lunchbox type thicknesser that I have as it isn't as brutal.

The Sedgwick does give a nice finish but might be overkill for what you need. I had a small Axminster AW106PT which while certainly not as well built it had a 3 knife block, better dust extraction etc and was more suited to smaller/finer work and more user friendly.

The old solid cast iron stuff is nice but I don't think it's always the best solution for everyone.

 

[deema]

I know @Sideways has a Sedgwick he is slowly revamping. It’s was his own personal machine and was in superb condition. But being @Sideways before he sells it he’s going all over it to ensure it’s tip top. The only thing I will say, is it will take time, neither of us work to deadlines anymore

 

[PostmanPat99]

I know @Sideways has a Sedgwick he is slowly revamping. It’s was his own personal machine and was in superb condition. But being @Sideways before he sells it he’s going all over it to ensure it’s tip top. The only thing I will say, is it will take time, neither of us work to deadlines anymore

Thanks for your message. Sounds perfect, possibly depending on that timeline! Lots of projects I want to start yesterday.

 

[Cabinetman]

Not to deride Sedgwick at all, I have two of their machines and would buy the same again, but I also have an SCM Minimax planer thicknesser which has been superb. Mine has a Tersa 3 knife block and the finish is probably good enough for most people as a finished surface.
Just hope it can widen your search.
Ian

 

[johnnyb]

I love my axminster spiral p/t it's not as perfect as it could be but If you are a hobby worker I doubt you'd ever need to change blades. It's solid enough that once it was set it's stayed that way for years. I occasionally hone the tips on a diamond stone. The thicknesser can't take huge bites. The finish is better on hardwood as I reckon the tips are not blunt but half Sharp whereas trad knives/tersa are very sharp/half sharp/ then to blunt. But it also has quite close feed rollers so short bits can be thicknessed(for boxes)
I totally agree the Sedgwick is crude imho (in comparison) and never ever setting a knife must be a monster bonus.

 

[PostmanPat99]

I love my axminster spiral p/t it's not as perfect as it could be but If you are a hobby worker I doubt you'd ever need to change blades. It's solid enough that once it was set it's stayed that way for years. I occasionally hone the tips on a diamond stone. The thicknesser can't take huge bites. The finish is better on hardwood as I reckon the tips are not blunt but half Sharp whereas trad knives/tersa are very sharp/half sharp/ then to blunt. But it also has quite close feed rollers so short bits can be thicknessed(for boxes)
I totally agree the Sedgwick is crude imho (in comparison) and never ever setting a knife must be a monster bonus.

Thanks for the message. Which model do you have? And are you saying you never have to set the spiral knife? Forgive the ignorance, I'm new to decent power wood tools

 

[johnnyb]

Once every year or so I hone and clean this takes an hour or so. The knives are unsetable anyway. Bear in mind I use mine 8 hours daily(on and off)

 

[johnnyb]

310 spt