Dw1150 planer

[Woodisgood]

Hi, ive posted this in Gen. Woodwk. But got scant reponse What are these like, good machine, spare parts availability, foibles value approx etc

 

[Fitzroy]

I have one. Fair machine, can thickness a 250mm wide piece and take a 2mm cut, struggle if you go full depth (3mm) at full width, but adequate power in my opinion. Beds are a little short so lengths more than 4'-5' can be troublesome to get really flat. Two speeds, with sharp knives on low speed it leaves a good finish. Infeed and outfeed rollers are rubber coated that can deteriorate if the machine has heavy use, leaving inconsistent pressure on the board with the potential for thicknessing problems, replacement rollers are available but are £40 each and a real pain to fit! Planer fence is not that robust, but perhaps ok for a hobby machine, so getting a glueable edge for panels straight off the machine is not reliable. Pulls lots of starting current, especially when cold, on near to freezing mornings it'll pop my breaker when you try to start it cold. Knives are readily available, knife setting is via a set screw system which is ok but takes some getting used to as there is a fair degree of backlash. Infeed and outfeed tables are a pain to adjust/shim if they are not coplanar. Outfeed table is fixed height so setting knives to precise height is important. Infeed table adjustment is easy and a reasonable system. Tables fold up to access the thicknesser, change over is similar to other planers with this approach. Dust collection is abysmal, it throws chips all over the place, can't find any obvious way to rectify this. They sell for £150-£400 depending on age and location, if you can get one for £250 that works and has rollers and bearings that don't need changing, and infeed and outfeed co-planar I think your on a winner.

sorry wall of text but in a rush, lunch break over in 2mins.

 

[monster]

I have one, there isn't much to add to the comprehensive review by Fitzroy - all of which I agree with!

I purchased mine secondhand from a forum member off here and its done all I needed it to do. I planed up all the rough sawn tulip wood and oak for my kitchen build which I documented here, I have just sent a load of Accoya through it for the sash windows I've just made and its always reliably done the job. The finish it produces isn't bad at all either, with hardly any snipe. I have mine on a set of wheels and just wheel it out of the way when it's not in use. The planer tables are cast aluminium and the thicknesser bed is cast iron

For a diy'er like myself or a hobbyist it's an ideal machine and is probably better built than the modern new entry level offerings, which is why I went for one.

 

[Woodisgood]

Brilliant answers thankyou,
The Mortiser bits remain a poser though, Are they unusual and hard to find
or is it just that theyre relatively expensive?

 

[Fitzroy]

Brilliant answers thankyou,
The Mortiser bits remain a poser though, Are they unusual and hard to find
or is it just that theyre relatively expensive?

Never seen one for sale on its own, only with a complete machine.

 

[rafezetter]

I also have one of these and Fitzroy has said it all except..... mine had a morticing addition that I took off, so I have the morticing bits and associated other pieces I will probably never use them, haven't so far after hmm 10(?) years of owning it, tad rusty, and I do mean just a tad, can be derusted and sharpened easily enough I recon.

Lovely machine, and Fitzroy forgot to mention that the 1150 was the progenitor of a lot of other models that followed, it's a solid design.

Starting up was also mentioned, I start mine up the first time with the drum disegaged, then engage drum after a few seconds; so far no more tripping fuses, worth keeping in mind.

 

[monster]

I have read about them tripping fuses on start up, just to add I've never had that problem with mine.

 

[Bm101]

I've got one nearly up for sale. I was just getting round to posting in sale section.
I'll let it go for a good price because the foam rollers need replacing. I bought it and never got round to sorting it. PM me if you are interested. I'm in En10.

 

[Woodisgood]

Thanks for replies

Never seen one for sale on its own, only with a complete machine.

Its called the DW600 Mortiser and its with the machine.

Rafezetter- I would like to buy the bits if theyre salvageable, any photos? are they 13mm left hand? theyre not like normal square sided mortise bits apparently

 

[Fitzroy]

Well I need to correct myself on something! RafeZ asked me about shimming/levelling the beds and so I went off to look. I was sure I remembered faffing with shims etc when I bought the machine many years ago, but no my memory is as poor as I remember.

I actually removed the beds a few years back when I got a separate surface planer. I’ve since been using it in thicknesser only mode, still looking for a bargain Multico Thicknesser, anyhow I digress. Since the tables are off I grabbed them to take a few pictures.

It turns out both the infeed and outfeed tables are adjustable. The outfeed table has four adjustable screws that can be used to change the height and plane of the bed.

The outfeed table is in two parts. The first part that connects to the main body when the table is down, the second is the table bed. These two parts bolt together and the four adjustment bolts fit between the two parts.
Outfeed table

Two parts, black angle bracket, adjustment bolt at back

Table parts separated, adjustment bolt sits in hex hole.

Ironically this is shown in the manual but until you take the thing apart, with a mind to adjusting it, the paragraph in the manual is meaningless.

My slight concern with this mechanism is that the adjustment bolts will have to cause the connecting brackets to flex, as there is no other way for the adjustment to be compensated for.

I’ll post about the infeed table in a mo.

fitz