In the market for a planer / thicknesser bur budget upto £700 ish

[Silent-impact]

Hi All,

In the market for a planer thicknesser ideally 10" upto sort of £700. Anybody got any recommendations?

I had been looking at the record PT260, anyone got any experience of these?

 

[TRITON]

Ive this one at home.

Thoughts
Could be better.
The fence is ok, but the markings for the angles are near impossible to read, and its not a smooth action setting it up, more jerky which is a total pain trying to get something exactly right.
Supplied knives I think are made of soft cheese or that could be just me
Thicknesser, especially on hard hardwood like maple its got a tendency to vibrate, which to me would indicate a lack of pressure from the rollers, but its ok, though again roller pressure tends to be poor in that its best to help a board go through. Tendency to snipe at the end , due to the short bed- here I'd recommend strongly making an extension by laying a melamine covered thick board on it.
There are safety switches under the table to be activated by the plastic dust chute, which isnt needed in my opinion, and are a total pain in the proverbial trying to sit the chute so it catches them, especially with the handle being at the opposite end.
I forgo the chute in place of a bit of timber, which is easier to hold in place as you raise the table to engage it. Here youre working blind by feel, and its totally dumb. In fact i nearly had a sparks take the F£$%^& thing off its that tricky.

If i had the choice again i'd have gone with a stand alone thicknesser(axminster spiral) and a stand alone planer(axminster CT1502), or had the room, a 2nd hand cast iron affair. Or maybe one of the trade rated, step up ones like the axminster AW106PT2
But at the time that was all i could afford.

Suggestion - save and buy something like the AW106. Doesnt have to be axminster, but of that type rather than the cheapest.

 

[Silent-impact]

Ive this one at home.

Thoughts
Could be better.
The fence is ok, but the markings for the angles are near impossible to read, and its not a smooth action setting it up, more jerky which is a total pain trying to get something exactly right.
Supplied knives I think are made of soft cheese or that could be just me
Thicknesser, especially on hard hardwood like maple its got a tendency to vibrate, which to me would indicate a lack of pressure from the rollers, but its ok, though again roller pressure tends to be poor in that its best to help a board go through. Tendency to snipe at the end , due to the short bed- here I'd recommend strongly making an extension by laying a melamine covered thick board on it.
There are safety switches under the table to be activated by the plastic dust chute, which isnt needed in my opinion, and are a total pain in the proverbial trying to sit the chute so it catches them, especially with the handle being at the opposite end.
I forgo the chute in place of a bit of timber, which is easier to hold in place as you raise the table to engage it. Here youre working blind by feel, and its totally dumb. In fact i nearly had a sparks take the F£$%^& thing off its that tricky.

If i had the choice again i'd have gone with a stand alone thicknesser(axminster spiral) and a stand alone planer(axminster CT1502), or had the room, a 2nd hand cast iron affair. Or maybe one of the trade rated, step up ones like the axminster AW106PT2
But at the time that was all i could afford.

Suggestion - save and buy something like the AW106. Doesnt have to be axminster, but of that type rather than the cheapest.

Thanks for the feedback, I did think I might be better just waiting and possibly investing in something a little bit more meaty

 

[PaulArthur]

I have the Axminster AH106PT and its a decent machine. It's a bit fiddly, and isn't the most precise machine over very long timbers (I found that boards over 2m are a little bananary... Having said that though, it's very good for smaller timbers. It leaves a half decent surface if you take it slow over the top. It's now called the AC250PT and is a cool grand (I paid £650 for one that had been returned unused when a new one was £800), but if you can save up a few extra quid, I think this would be a good buy. You should also consider something like a Tormek and a planer blade sharpening jig too - I find my blades ding quite easily, and when I sharpen them, I wonder why I didn't do them sooner!

 

[Spectric]

The one thing I overlooked when I brought my PT107 was the blades and I soon realised what a pain setting them up was. The three blades were sprung loaded and held in place with a nut arrangement which seemed to fight you all the way during setup. Had I known this I would have looked elsewhere for something with disposable blades that had positive location. If the blades are not set correctly then you will not get a good finish. So this is something to bear in mind, ok you could fit an aftermarket system but that adds on another £275 although the blades are much cheaper. For what you have to spend it may be worth waiting till you can spend a bit more to get something that delivers.

 

[TRITON]

The basic T4 machine and planer jig will set you back about £340 for the machine and about £150 for the jig(Notice how expensive the jig is as its the most usable, the other jigs are way cheaper) ., and while it has its plus points for other blades, it would be considerably cheaper to buy a 2nd set of blades to swop out, and send the blunt set to be professionally sharpened, which isnt going to cost a great deal, and as an occasional expense its likely you wont notice it.
A sharpening service usualy costs out at a quid per inch per blade, so likely £20 as opposed to near £500.

 

[SkyBlue63]

I've got the Metabo HC260c which is the same as the PT. The fence in planing mode has to checked each time you use it for square. Thicknessing is ok. I would like to change to spiral cutter head, maybe one day.

 

[RichardG]

I've got the Metabo HC260c which is the same as the PT. The fence in planing mode has to checked each time you use it for square. Thicknessing is ok. I would like to change to spiral cutter head, maybe one day.

I had the same problem with my fence until I did a simple mod.

Metabo HC260C (and clones) fence improvement

 

[Myfordman]

You should get some used British cast iron for that sort of money and likely to be better than anything new in that range.

 

[stimpy]

I also have the metabo unit. I cannot comment from long term use as I've not had it that long but for the time I have used it, once set up it does a perfectly satisfactory job for the money.

All depends on your budget, usage and mobility / space. An older longer cast jobby would/could no doubt be better but have their own pros and cons.

As others have stated, it's a bit fiddly and you certainly feel the budget in the top fence. But, I have managed after a small amount of adjusting/ fiddling to strike a satisfactory result.

Purchased for £540 0r £560 new from FFX...