I've got one of the large'ish Axminster ones. 635mm wide I think.
I (mis)use it a lot and it's a brutal enough machine.
They are insane money new, but I looked relentlessly for some time, and, when one came up, not much short of 3hrs away, I drove there the next day.
I think I paid £600 or £650 or somthing, and it needs a new starter enclosure.
...but again they are just silly money new. And not popular enough for there to be loads on the used market all the time.
I use mine (mis-use) in place of a planer for figured timber after resin fills. I find it's the easiest way to take out movement from blanks before final finishing, so I leave parts oversize on the thickness and then take them down with multiple passes right at the end. Like you would a thicknesses, but a slow and tedious one, that, on the upside, doesn't eat parts... (I have a thicknesser)
Axminster just rebadged stuff. So you will find most of their electric stuff under different brand names, made, I'm sure, in the same chinease factory.
So, when you know what size tool you want, make sure you search for all the other brands that rebadge that same tool also.
Good luck. The unit I have made a real difference to the speed of the work I'm recently doing. Again, I know I'm abusing it (in terms of intended function, rather than in terms of mechanical strain) but, slow as it is, it gets the results I was after.
