Chems
Established Member
Philly has a lovely detla floor standing PT, Jet do a couple of similar ones but are there any other types on the market? Can't seem to find a great range to choose from.
Floor Standing Thicknessers?
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dannykaye
Established Member
I have the SIP P/T which is floor standing. I don't know if they do a thicknesser only version
Chems
Established Member
I used to have that machine I'm talking something more heavy duty like:
Axminster TH410 (16" Capacity) £790:
Jet JPM-13 CSX (13" Capacity) £804:
An this is the brilliant looking delta one philly has which I don't think you can buy anymore, retails in the US for £838:
The Axminster is good for the money considering you get an extra 3 inch capacity for less money.
I think possibly a big capacity drum sander would be more realistic for what I'm after, the ability to finish larger panels quickly.
Axminster TH410 (16" Capacity) £790:
Jet JPM-13 CSX (13" Capacity) £804:
An this is the brilliant looking delta one philly has which I don't think you can buy anymore, retails in the US for £838:
The Axminster is good for the money considering you get an extra 3 inch capacity for less money.
I think possibly a big capacity drum sander would be more realistic for what I'm after, the ability to finish larger panels quickly.
Philly
Established Member
I was very fortunate to get hold of my Delta X5 - its a UK spec machine that a friend imported. Its a great machine - much quieter than the DeWalt it replaced and the in/outfeed tables make machining long boards a doddle.
Worth keeping your eye on Ebay if one comes along.
Cheers
Philly
Worth keeping your eye on Ebay if one comes along.
Cheers
Philly
OPJ
Established Member
Unfortunately, it's similar to the situation we have with stand-alone surface planers more than 6in wide - if you're looking for a brand new machine, you won't find anything cheaper than those two you've already mentioned.
I'm not a fan of the small, portable/bench-top thicknessers because (as Philly implies) they make an awful lot of noise even when they're not cutting. If you've not heard one before, it's like having another loud vacuum running, in addition to the hum of your extractor. :?
On eBay, I've occasionally seen old Multico thicknessers (floor-standing) go for around £400. Some single-phase, some three-phase. If I had the space, I'd look at buying a second-hand planer/thicknesser off eBay with an induction motor (like the AW106PT I have now) and would simply take the surfacing tables off so I could use it as a dedicated thicknesser - I'm pretty sure this is what P111dom did, in fact.
What I don't understand is how we can buy combined planer/thicknessers for around £600 yet, we can't get a dedicated planer of thicknesser with the same capacities for anything less than almost double that amount?! :x
I'm not a fan of the small, portable/bench-top thicknessers because (as Philly implies) they make an awful lot of noise even when they're not cutting. If you've not heard one before, it's like having another loud vacuum running, in addition to the hum of your extractor. :?
On eBay, I've occasionally seen old Multico thicknessers (floor-standing) go for around £400. Some single-phase, some three-phase. If I had the space, I'd look at buying a second-hand planer/thicknesser off eBay with an induction motor (like the AW106PT I have now) and would simply take the surfacing tables off so I could use it as a dedicated thicknesser - I'm pretty sure this is what P111dom did, in fact.
What I don't understand is how we can buy combined planer/thicknessers for around £600 yet, we can't get a dedicated planer of thicknesser with the same capacities for anything less than almost double that amount?! :x
Chems
Established Member
The little bench top SIP I have at the moment is brilliant for the money couldn't be more impressed, but boy is it loud, I use specially made in ear moulded plugs and my normal ear defenders its that loud, specially thicknessing.
What I want to speed up work is the ability to glue up say 600mm wide and just be able to pop it through another thicknesser to get it finished take out any high areas from the glue up and remove any mess. And I think a belt sander would do the job better, and cheaper?
What I want to speed up work is the ability to glue up say 600mm wide and just be able to pop it through another thicknesser to get it finished take out any high areas from the glue up and remove any mess. And I think a belt sander would do the job better, and cheaper?
OPJ
Established Member
600mm wide?!? :shock: You'd be unlikely to find a thicknesser with that kind of capacity for as much as the ones you mentioned originally! :shock:
You might be better off going for a drum or wide belt sander. They give good results without tearout. Trouble is, you have to remove a very small amount of material with each pass (unlike a thicknesser).
Using a portable belt sander isn't as tricky as some might think (I do it a lot now :wink - think of how you would flatten a large panel with a hand plane... Cross-hatching and working across the diagonals to remove the high spots. Then, carefully going with the grain to remove the cross-grain scratches. Don't let it linger in one place and try to keep it moving. 4in sanders are better for this than 3in.
For some models, you can also buy frames that limit the projection of abrasive below (ie. you only remove x-amount of material from the entire surface). I've not used one though and they don't seem to be available for my Makita 9404. I find they're much better at this than random orbit sanders, which can create dips and low points.
Another possible issue with using a thicknesser to clean up a panel of edge-jointed boards is that, if the grain isn't running in the same direction on all the boards, the cutter block will rip some of it to shreds, where you're cutting against the grain direction.
You might be better off going for a drum or wide belt sander. They give good results without tearout. Trouble is, you have to remove a very small amount of material with each pass (unlike a thicknesser).
Using a portable belt sander isn't as tricky as some might think (I do it a lot now :wink
- think of how you would flatten a large panel with a hand plane... Cross-hatching and working across the diagonals to remove the high spots. Then, carefully going with the grain to remove the cross-grain scratches. Don't let it linger in one place and try to keep it moving. 4in sanders are better for this than 3in.For some models, you can also buy frames that limit the projection of abrasive below (ie. you only remove x-amount of material from the entire surface). I've not used one though and they don't seem to be available for my Makita 9404. I find they're much better at this than random orbit sanders, which can create dips and low points.
Another possible issue with using a thicknesser to clean up a panel of edge-jointed boards is that, if the grain isn't running in the same direction on all the boards, the cutter block will rip some of it to shreds, where you're cutting against the grain direction.
Chems
Established Member
Yes I think a standard PT and a Wide belt sander would do me.
OPJ
Established Member
Yes, we'd all be happy with that setup, if only we all had space like yours... :wink:
:wink:
