Has anyone used Elu Planer thicknessers?

[LFS19]

I've been in the market for a planer thicknesser for a while now. My specification is good quality, performs both thicknessing and planing functions and is reasonably priced; which means essentially I'm after a second hand machine likely from the 90s.
I barely have any money to put into woodworking, so pretty much all my tools are old Elu pieces that have come from Ebay or a carboot sale. Elu gear always fits the bill for me nicely because they're usually cheap but very well built as you all are aware.

These machines are incredibly difficult to get for a low price, with most being either thicknessers or planers (so I'd have to buy two machines which I wouldn't be able to afford), and the ones that are both are very highly priced, usually being over £1k.
Realistically, I only have about 300 quid to spend, so as you can imagine finding such a machine at this price is a bit of a nightmare.
initially I found the DeWalt DW1050. It fit the bill really well as it was highly regarded and within my price range, but in my one year of searching I've only ever found one; which upon contacting the seller had already been snapped up.

However, I have stumbled upon an Elu EPT 1151 on Ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Elu-Thicknes ... Sw1AVcoKia

Never seen or heard of the machine before which indicates it might be quite a rare listing, considering I've searched for Elu Planer Thicknessers when I started my search and came to the conclusion they didn't actually exist given the absolute dearth of info available. It's £325 with make offer.
I was hoping considering the wealth of knowledge on here that someone on here might have come across it and can vouch for it being a good machine, and then whether you think it's a decent price for it.

There's also another Elu on ebay; the EPT 1901: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Elu-Planer-T ... 0010.m2109

This ones looks like a cheaper model and is to bid for, so potentially I could get it at a lower price than the first listing.

As I say it's very rare I come across one of these that seems to tick all the boxes, so your input will be very much appreciated. Furthermore, if any of you know of something else that might fit the bill, please let me know.

Many thanks, everyone!

LG

 

[LancsRick]

I have a DW1150 I'm looking to part with at the moment, I'm trying to source a larger old English machine. I'm west Lancs.

 

[Trevanion]

Elu had a run of machines in the 90's that were exactly the same casting for casting, panel for panel, motor for motor as the Dewalts (Elu were bought out by Dewalt not long before) except in a Silver, Black and Blue colour scheme. That Elu EPT1151 you've linked to there is exactly identical to a Dewalt DW1150, but there just wasn't as many made, hence why it's serial no: 00017 and there's no information about them. There are also Bandsaws, Radial Arms saws, flip-over saws and other kit by Elu that's the same as Dewalt.

Out of those two you linked to I would go for the 1151, even though it's quite a bit more expensive than the 1901 it is much better built (I assume just by looking), parts are plentiful as it's a Dewalt clone whilst I think the 1901 was Elu only and parts are non-existant, also the 1151 will hold value much better. I would say around £250-300 is a fair price for it since that's the average going price for the Dewalt version.

 

[Nick.]

I sold the EPT1161 in '97 when I was working for Elu - it was Ok, but I think £300 for that previous version is a bit on the high side for a machine of that age.
Personally if I was on your budget & if you want an older machine I'd look at the Elektra Beckum HC260M - that in my view was far better than the Elu when it was launched & early ones were made in Germany.

Buying second hand will always depend on the individual machine though, and who knows what abuse they've had over the years.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Nick

 

[Jonathan S]

I have a elu 1151 and it's an good machine, plenty of power, does everything you would expect of a machine that size.....I have now up graded to a bigger pt but keep the elu for back up and the occasional site job.

Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk

 

[Fitzroy]

As many have said looks like the DW1150. The common problem to resolve on the DW1150 is the rollers are rubber and can wear badly. They are £40 each to buy and a pig to fit. I’d ask for photos of the rollers before I bought the machine.

 

[SammyQ]

I've got a 260 like Nick describes. Its my third thicknesser and she's a keeper. Quiet, powerful, safety braking at the shut off, easily maintained, great blades c/o Appleby.

Sam

Edit: my second one was the whopping DeWalt 733...Concorde taking off made less racket!

 

[LFS19]

Elu had a run of machines in the 90's that were exactly the same casting for casting, panel for panel, motor for motor as the Dewalts (Elu were bought out by Dewalt not long before) except in a Silver, Black and Blue colour scheme. That Elu EPT1151 you've linked to there is exactly identical to a Dewalt DW1150, but there just wasn't as many made, hence why it's serial no: 00017 and there's no information about them. There are also Bandsaws, Radial Arms saws, flip-over saws and other kit by Elu that's the same as Dewalt.

Out of those two you linked to I would go for the 1151, even though it's quite a bit more expensive than the 1901 it is much better built (I assume just by looking), parts are plentiful as it's a Dewalt clone whilst I think the 1901 was Elu only and parts are non-existant, also the 1151 will hold value much better. I would say around £250-300 is a fair price for it since that's the average going price for the Dewalt version.

Interesting, had no idea this was the same as the Dewalt but I do know that's the case with a lot of later Elu models. Thanks for the info!

 

[LFS19]

I sold the EPT1161 in '97 when I was working for Elu - it was Ok, but I think £300 for that previous version is a bit on the high side for a machine of that age.
Personally if I was on your budget & if you want an older machine I'd look at the Elektra Beckum HC260M - that in my view was far better than the Elu when it was launched & early ones were made in Germany.

Buying second hand will always depend on the individual machine though, and who knows what abuse they've had over the years.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Nick

Makes sense.
There's an Elektra Beckum HC260M on ebay at the moment for around this price but it doesn't have the "M" at the end of the name. What does the M stand?

Many thanks for the reply!

 

[LFS19]

I have a elu 1151 and it's an good machine, plenty of power, does everything you would expect of a machine that size.....I have now up graded to a bigger pt but keep the elu for back up and the occasional site job.

Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk

Nice, thanks for the clarification!

 

[LFS19]

As many have said looks like the DW1150. The common problem to resolve on the DW1150 is the rollers are rubber and can wear badly. They are £40 each to buy and a pig to fit. I’d ask for photos of the rollers before I bought the machine.

That's a great point. I remember people mentioning the rubber roller issue when I asked about that machine before.

Many thanks!

 

[LFS19]

I've got a 260 like Nick describes. Its my third thicknesser and she's a keeper. Quiet, powerful, safety braking at the shut off, easily maintained, great blades c/o Appleby.

Sam

Edit: my second one was the whopping DeWalt 733...Concorde taking off made less racket!

Yeah, they look like decent machines; certainly on my radar now!

And yeah, I think I've used the 733 (they're the newer DeWalt's, right?) a year or so ago. It was incredibly loud!

 

[LFS19]

To add: I also keep seeing the Elu MMF81 hand held planer for sale for very cheap. These had attachments to turn it into a bench planer so you could use it upside down; and there was also a thicknesser attachment. Of course, the limitation is the width of the machine, though I'd be interested to see one in use.

The MMF81 can be had for really cheap (often seen them for about £30) and if the bench attachment and thicknesser attachment were not like gold dust I might consider it.

 

[MikeJhn]

There are lots of discussion about rubber rollers vs metal, the rubber ones do wear, but don't mark the timber as much as a metal roller with resin and wood chips on them, six of one and ............................

 

[Fitzroy]

No complaints over the rubber rollers, and the machine with sharp knives can take a super five cut with no marks on the wood, so gives a great finish. Just wouldn’t want to spend several hundred quid then have to shell out another £100 and lots of hours to replace them unless I knew that’s what I was getting in to.

F.