Yes quaility drop off is quite a problem all companys seem to end up in a race to the bottom ,... but i am a firm beleiver in buying the best avaiable simple because it will be a pleasure to use and almost always will prove to be the better investment and genrally last a life time ! yes just checked out the domino stuff very nice heaver duty jointing system compared to buscuits i noted maffel also do a dowl jointer up to 12mm dowel and 40mm depth so will check that out to ..so thanks for the heads up ! as for my existing kit i will be putting it up for sale in the coming months .
Downsizing !
- Thread starter Tazio
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Quality is a real nightmare, problem is that most machines comes out of the same factory just in different colours, with different badges and slight differences and with great variability in quality, almost like the old saying that you don't want a british car built on Monday or Friday. Everything I have brought has needed modification and tweeking just to make it usable, often silly things that could have been done by the OEM. I brought a Domino because it overcame my lack of skill in making a proper M&T and saves time, but it is not as good as some people believe. I still use a Dowelmax for dowels which is very precise and accurate but also very slow. I have looked at the Maefell doweller but it was not as flexable as the domino but depends if you mainly work in wood or manmade stuff.
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
What machines are you keeping a hold of?
Have you looked into rotary phase converters as I presume you still want extraction
going at the same time.
Another solution are VFD/inverters
Happily running my 3hp machines i.e 24"bandsaw and 12"Startrite tablesaw from VFD/inverters which cost under a hundred pounds each.
(Quite frowned upon to use one VFD for multiple machines)
Have no extraction though, as I'm only running them off 13a house plugs (one machine at a time)
If your motors have 240 or D (Delta) or a triangle symbol, then those are what's known as 'dual voltage motors', which are suitable/much cheaper than a step up VFD/inverter for 380/400v motors.
With all VFD/inverters, you can tailor them to your supply, i.e slow start
as starting the machines is the tough part on your supply.
If too much juice is needed to start them, then select your starting speed for another second or two, to get them up to speed to counter the inrush current.
Tom
Have you looked into rotary phase converters as I presume you still want extraction
going at the same time.
Another solution are VFD/inverters
Happily running my 3hp machines i.e 24"bandsaw and 12"Startrite tablesaw from VFD/inverters which cost under a hundred pounds each.
(Quite frowned upon to use one VFD for multiple machines)
Have no extraction though, as I'm only running them off 13a house plugs (one machine at a time)
If your motors have 240 or D (Delta) or a triangle symbol, then those are what's known as 'dual voltage motors', which are suitable/much cheaper than a step up VFD/inverter for 380/400v motors.
With all VFD/inverters, you can tailor them to your supply, i.e slow start
as starting the machines is the tough part on your supply.
If too much juice is needed to start them, then select your starting speed for another second or two, to get them up to speed to counter the inrush current.
Tom
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If you want to keep any of your machines and have space and the floor can take the weight then use a digital phase convertor, not an invertor. This will power multiple machines at 400Vdc 3 phase but without any speed control and provide more power. Could be a good option rather than downgrading your machinery, but depends what type of woodworking you are looking at in your retirement.
An Invertor cannot be connected to more than one machine, it uses the reactance of the load to help shape the psuedo sinewave output, can only output 230 Vac, can provide speed control and is limited to 4Hp motors.
An Invertor cannot be connected to more than one machine, it uses the reactance of the load to help shape the psuedo sinewave output, can only output 230 Vac, can provide speed control and is limited to 4Hp motors.
Forwarded you a message with a link to a SCM Mini Max, Tersa block and single phase that might fit your needs. I don’t know anything about the machine, other than seen it’s for sale. It’s not one of mine
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
How much does a digital phase converter cost, say if you wanted to run
a pair of machines at the same time, with say a 4hp P/T and 3hp extractor.
I don't hear of many folk mentioning them, guessing they must be expensive.
Thanks
Tom
a pair of machines at the same time, with say a 4hp P/T and 3hp extractor.
I don't hear of many folk mentioning them, guessing they must be expensive.
Thanks
Tom
Doug B
Shy Tot
When I looked into converting 3 phase to single inverters were around half the price of converters, they were also said to be less efficient.
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
Presuming your talking of the digital kind Doug, and not the old school RPC?
Another thing for Tazio to consider is the availability of new machinery,
and the likelyhood of getting replacement parts should a complicated P/T have some issues, warped castings of the beds for one.
Another thing for Tazio to consider is the availability of new machinery,
and the likelyhood of getting replacement parts should a complicated P/T have some issues, warped castings of the beds for one.
Hi Tazio,
I have the Axminster Trade 310 spiral cutter block PT, I have had absolutely no issues at all with it and it has had a lot thrown over and through it. We have the Hammer at work and can safely say imho it is every bit as good a finish and maybe even quieter, actually the noisiest piece of equipment is definitely the extractor. Only drawback is if you are cutting your own veneers minimum thicknessing thickness is about 4mm, also you will need 16amp power supply but im guessing that'll be the same for others.
hope this helps
interesting axminster seem to have got a bad rap as regards build quality ! If you don’t mind me askimg how old is the mechine ? I have sort of settled on another Sedgwick probely a PD as I think I can manage without the 9” thickness ability and the PD is so much lighter than the PB but build quality just as good and importantly the same rock solid fence ..also I like the simplicity of the Sedgwick plus the fixed beds and of course I had one many years ago without of course the tersa block ..however the Axminster ticks a lot of boxes especially with the spiral cutters for noise reduction!... however I am concerned like so many things that recent machines are not as well built..do you mind me asking how old is your axi and are you a professional ie does it have hard use ?
I think I would require a rotory converter around £1000.00 so not really economical!..
Cabinetman
Established Member
If it’s of any help in your decision-making, the machine that Deema mentioned sounds pretty much like mine,(With tersa blades) when I first got it I ran it in my double garage which was single skin brick with a 4 inch timber frame and insulation gap then plasterboard, I got my son to run the equipment – the PT and the tablesaw whilst I stood outside and the noise was barely perceptible at 10 feet. Ian
thanks I had a look at that one but it’s the 350 so bigger than a Sedgwick MB and I don’t want or need to go bigger than 300 I appreciate the heads up though ...fortunately I am in no hurry and Sedgwick now do the tersa blocks on there mechine now not obviously as quiet as spirals but quieter than the old 2 cutters I believe SCM do a 30 which is 300 blyth supply those so I may take a look at those ..apart from the fixed beds the thing I like about Sedgwick are the heavy built cast fences which are so much better than the lighter aluminium offerings on the others although I believe SCM look like they maybe cast .
thanks for the heads up but as above the 30 or 300 is as big as I need to go and that’s the 350...
Hi Tazio, me again.
Just a thought but have you thought of renting your workshop out to others
Hi Tazio,
Its about 2 yrs old, agree the fence is not as great as the hammer/felders. I have no experience with Sedgewick but i have had no problems at all with mine. I did go to the Felder showroom in Milton Keynes, couldn't really justify the difference in cost at the time. Part of me wishes i had just paid up and probably bought a decent combo machine from them rather than the odds and sods route. I notice that you're thinking Mafell too. Great piece of kit and again hasn't let me down and im using it for ripping and crosscut solids. Thing is with all the odds n sods probably ended up with similar floorspace use as i would have with a good combo. Guess i am running about 30m per week through and over it, mainly highly figured walnut, oak, cherry and maple all rough sawn. I am a one man band that also moonlights for others if i do not have enough orders for myself so wouldn't classify myself as professional per se as its not having 100s of metres thrown at it daily/weekly.
One other point i would note, i have had nothing but a good experience with Axi after sales. Lathe motor blew a couple months after warranty expired, they kindly sent another at cost.
hope this helps and if you want to see it in action more than happy to show you
thanks Sean
that’s very useful ..so do you have the Erika 85 ? ..like you I wouldn’t be putting huge quantities through it hence considering the axi i think for a solo workshop fine but not sure for a workshop with a high heavy output , I think that’s were the importance of fixed cast beds and cast fences come in so for the smaller range mechines the Sedgwick would be much better for that ...but one man band smaller through put the axi maybe ok .. I have read quite a bit about the fact that they need quite a lot of fettling such as setting the beds up ect ..did yours ? and do you find that because the axi beds are not fixed that they need regularly resetting ? Also is the fence nice and robust as I consider the fence one of the most important parts for accurate strainghting/ jointing purposes .
it would be great to actually see one in action particularly if you also have an Erika so yes if your offering I would love to pop over !.
Hi Tazio,
No sorry i have the MT55 plunge saw with an MFT table, didn't read you r post properly i apologise. Re the PT, yes there was a little bit of fettling but didn't take more than a couple of hours and part of that was me not reading the instruction properly! Re the fence i have not had it move on me once as yet, and i do check for square each time i use it, also thus far i have not had to re adjust the beds. It may just me being lucky in that regard though.
Just give me a shout when you want to pop over and ill make myself available
Thanks Sean will do! the MT55 is great we have one and use it more than the panal saw .
