Do many hobbyists own planer thicknessers?

[Nelsun]

I had the Titan P/T, found it to be a bit flaky and reliably unreliable so sold it on. I got the Makita 12" lunchbox thicknesser as it was well reviewed and takes up little room. I'll use hand planes to get things into shape but the thicknesser then saves my wonky wrist a lot of grief when taking any amount of additional wood to desired thickness.

For £100 I picked up a Scheppach 50 litre extractor and it does a great job sucking up 90% of the shavings.

 

[pulleyt]

If you are a hobbyist and own one, do you use it much?

I am very much in the hobbyist mould and do have a P/T from Axminster. I don't use it daily but I do use it for more or less every project and would not want to be without it. BUT I am privileged to have both the money and space to afford one and, as someone posted earlier, I don't have to justify or recoup the expense, so do remind myself often how fortunate I am!

For me the real benefit is the ability to size up various timbers, mostly from sawn hardwood, to any size I require and not be held up by trying to source PAR stock or order custom planed stock - but maybe that's just my impatience :lol:

 

[thetyreman]

you can easily get most timber merchants to make pieces to a cutting list, I've done it several times, you might even find they'll do a better job than you ever could, it'll cost slightly more but it's worth it.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Just purely out of curiosity, many people not earn a living from this but own a planer thicknesser?

I would have thought very few diyers have P/T, as a lot of projects may involve sheet goods or Pao solid timber.

If you are a hobbyist and own one, do you use it much?

Are you looking for justification for buying one? Or wanting to out the non-purists among us?

I was given a cheap Erbaur planer/thicknesser, or "jointer" as MikeG likes them to be called. I was given it by a friend who had to give up his woodworking hobby because of COPD - that may be telling us something.

I still use it to plane, but for getting square and level it is hopelessly inaccurate, to the extent that I have recently taken to using my hand plane, which is also hopelessly inaccurate, but I hope to do better with practice. Getting stock planed at the woodyard seems a bit pointless, because they just bang it through a planer in long lengths, which means it comes out just as banana shaped as it went in - perhaps you have a better system where you buy wood.

So my advice, if you were looking for a machine, is definitely to get one, but do NOT get a cheap one. I couldn't do half the things I attempt without it, even if it is of questionable quality. If I could be confident of the results, I could do far more with less wood, and make less firewood .

 

[Trevanion]

I’ve said it here before and I’ll say it again, it’s best to learn how wood works in slow motion with hand planes and such before moving onto bigger, louder and more dangerous equipment with spinning blades that turn over 70 times per second. If you start using a P/T without prior knowledge about how wood cuts and behaves you’re on a slippery slope to a painful experience, monetary or physically.

That being said, it’s practically the number one stationary power tool to have perhaps behind a saw of some kind, and of course an extractor. Being able to plane timber square and true is an essential part of the craft, whether you do it with a hand plane or a P/T is up to you.

Not to put anyone off, here’s an example of what can go wrong if you haven’t got a clue how to use one properly and don’t respect the machine like this fella. *************** warning.

 

[sunnybob]

I bought a refurbished JET, from axminsters ebay site which saved a bit of dosh.
Like ALL machines nowadays, it will NOT solve your problems straight from the box, but with some attention to adjustments (and making a longer feed table that goers all the the way through the machine) its a godsend when I have a 3 metre wonky bubinga rough sawn plank.

Word of advice if you are considering buying.
make sure you buy one that will lock the head in place. Mine doesnt, and i have to put up with some snipe at each end.
I know the dewalt locks, maybe others.

 

[mbartlett99]

PT and track saw are the only power tools I wouldn't be without - everything else is a luxury. Not that I've ever measured it but at a guess for every hour on the table saw I'll do 10 on the pt.

 

[Blockplane]

Vintage Coronet Consort lives under the lathe bench and is dragged outdoors when required.

 

[sunnybob]

I think I have had an OOOOPS moment here.
I have been happily commenting about something that I now think I dont own.

I have the bench top "lunchbox" thicknesser, which might not be what everybody else is talking about.
If so, then youll just have to accept my senior moment apologies.
This is what I have
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiV2DNdnOp4

But as far as machinery goes, I stick by everything I have said =D> =D> =D>

 

[Lazurus]

Scheppach P/T for me, wouldnt be without that and my table saw, just makes life easier.

 

[Bedrock]

Had an Elektra Beckum p/t until we moved 4 years ago. Will replace it in my new w/s now the old too big workbench is sold.

I mostly stick to hand tools, but a bandsaw and a p/t are the machinery I would not want to be without. Having said that, I did buy a wooden scrub plane last year for £12 - no name but looks like an Ulmia or an E.C.E. Absolutely invaluable would not now be without it.

Saves on all that noise and chips extraction.

 

[transatlantic]

I wish I had one. I have not had very much luck in buying prepared timber. Even if I could find a source of well prepared stock, I'd still most likely be cutting to size anyway.

So far I am getting by with just a thicknesser, but all the workarounds for getting a flat and square edge are a bit of a faff, and not very reliable (unless you have a really good TS and really good thicknesser).

You always hear people saying you don't need a PT, but it opens up so many doors (theres a pun in there somewhere).

One day.

 

[Inspector]

I have a Hitachi F1000A that I bought in the early 80's. It is a little different than the over/under machines you generally have. The 12" planer/thicknesser and the 6" jointer/surfacer are side by side and driven with the same universal motor. Up side is the jointer is 5' long. While I wouldn't turn down a good over/under if I was given one I'd prefer separate machines. I like a long bed to joint/surface with and even though change overs can take only a few moments just as soon skip that bit. My shop is 637 sq ft/59M so I have the space.

Pete

 

[whiskywill]

I have planer/thicknesser and a surface planer/jointer.

 

[nev]

I would say not as they are are not that big on straight edges.

 

[harryc]

I am in the diy hobbyist bracket and have had a jet lunch box thicknesser for over 10 years.
I am in the machine category rather than hand tools and for someone like me the thicknesser is also extremely handy as a planer with a few shims on a board.

And as other have already stated it is much cheaper buying rough sawn timber.

 

[Fidget]

Yup,

Very happy with my Record PT 260.

Being able to make stock to the size of the project is invaluable to me

 

[julianf]

I'm generally either trying to match up stuff to our home, that's full of random measurements, or repurposing other timber.

I'm never just making a stand along project, and going out to buy timber for it.

In that, the planer thicknesser is probably the most useful of wood tools that I have.


Mine is an Axminster one. Id much rather a "proper" one (old, cast, powerful) but the Axminster was for sale locally, so I ended up with it.

 

[julianf]

Ps

Remember, when costing, you really do need a decent method of extraction. I can't imagine trying to operate mine with a hoover style extractor.

 

[Noho12C]

Ps

Remember, when costing, you really do need a decent method of extraction. I can't imagine trying to operate mine with a hoover style extractor.

Fully agree with that. And chip extractors take quite a lot of space (at least in a one car garage..)

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