In your opinion what's the better P/T - the iTech or Axminster?

[Kayen]

I bought the AC250PT Planer/Thicknesser a couple of years ago - it's now in bits in my garden waiting to go to the scrappers!

I looked after that machine (as I do with all my tools) so not a mark on it - not even a black tea mug ring on the outfeed table.

I broke it because I fed into the thicknesser a piece of Maple the wrong way - against the grain. The grain was running at 45 degrees so it cooked up the perfect storm. It exploded and somehow must have forced itself up under the feed roller, broke off the captive casting, and bent the feed roller's shaft.

So, what in your opinion is the better machine to replace it with:

The iTech 260SS or the Axminster AP260SPT?

Thanks

 

[Yojevol]

It looks to me that they're the same machine apart from livery and £££££££.
Brian

 

[Chief Sawdust Maker]

I have owned the Itec for around 2 years and cant fault it
I mainly machine kiln dried oak and recycled scaffolding board and usually do a large batch of milling lasting most of the day
The Itec come well set up as Scott & Sargent run every machine prior to delivery there were chips in the machine to prove it
I have only had to rotate 3 carbides which was due to a screw in a board that i failed to check correctly with my metal detector.
Around 3 months after taking delivery I had to tension the drive belts as they had stretched slightly and started to slip easy job to do and something that I sort of expect on a new machine
Everything is repeatable on it and hasn't required any fettling
Changing from jointing to thicknessing takes around a minute with most of that being the time taken to wind the thickness handwheel. It would be great if a manufacturer came up with a gizmo to fit in a battery drill to speed things up
If it broke tomorrow or was unfixable then i would replace like for like the only reason i would look to a different make is if there was an extended delivery

D

 

[HOJ]

It would be great if a manufacturer came up with a gizmo to fit in a battery drill to speed things up

My solution was to drill and tap a 6mm bolt in the center of my handwheel with a locknut to keep it locked home, then jam a 10mm nut spinner in an old battery drill driver I had kicking around, set to slow speed, works a treat as long as you don't go mad with it.

 

[deema]

Neither! For that money you can buy a lovely secondhand machine, industrial quality that will maintain / increase in value and not add to more landfill,

 

[johnnyb]

I don't think these machines will be landfill. they are sturdy and definitely a good choice for part time use. Full time pros may be better with an scm/hammer or maybe a vintage but I'd want tersa knives. I do like spirals though. one pain is the lack of power
1mm max at 12 inch can be nuisance.

 

[Kayen]

It looks to me that they're the same machine apart from livery and £££££££.
Brian

Yes, it does appear so - if my wife buys it we'll get 15% off the Axminster, so also a similar price.

 

[Kayen]

I have owned the Itec for around 2 years and cant fault it
I mainly machine kiln dried oak and recycled scaffolding board and usually do a large batch of milling lasting most of the day
The Itec come well set up as Scott & Sargent run every machine prior to delivery there were chips in the machine to prove it
I have only had to rotate 3 carbides which was due to a screw in a board that i failed to check correctly with my metal detector.
Around 3 months after taking delivery I had to tension the drive belts as they had stretched slightly and started to slip easy job to do and something that I sort of expect on a new machine
Everything is repeatable on it and hasn't required any fettling
Changing from jointing to thicknessing takes around a minute with most of that being the time taken to wind the thickness handwheel. It would be great if a manufacturer came up with a gizmo to fit in a battery drill to speed things up
If it broke tomorrow or was unfixable then i would replace like for like the only reason i would look to a different make is if there was an extended delivery

D

Thanks for that, it does look like a decent machine.

 

[Kayen]

Neither! For that money you can buy a lovely secondhand machine, industrial quality that will maintain / increase in value and not add to more landfill,

I'm pretty set on carbide blades - changing the knives every three or four months is no fun.

 

[Yojevol]

Yes, it does appear so - if my wife buys it we'll get 15% off the Axminster, so also a similar price.

No, it makes the Axi considerably cheaper

 

[Doug B]

A good friend bought the itech recently, he’s not a daft lad & rates it highly if not the service from Scott & Sargeant.

Changing from jointing to thicknessing takes around a minute with most of that being the time taken to wind the thickness handwheel. It would be great if a manufacturer came up with a gizmo to fit in a battery drill to speed things up

I made this for the hand wheel on my hammer,

The Perspex allows me to see the depth gauge

Works a treat & speeds up change over no end

 

[deema]

I'm pretty set on carbide blades - changing the knives every three or four months is no fun.

Buy one with a Tersa block, it’s probably the defacto standard for industrial machines. You can buy Carbide Tersa blades…….but then again when you can change all the blades in say a four blade block in about 1 minute, changing blades isn’t an issue. If you buy a 12“ machine, you can for instance buy 4” Chrome, HSS and Carbide blades and mount them all together to create 3 regions on your PT. An area for cleaning up rubbish on the outer surface of the stuff, an area to take down the majority of the waste and the HSS to take a final finishing cut. You can’t do that with a spiral block. I use an old blade set for cleaning up wood, or with anything I think might have metal in it. I then change to a good set, takes literally less than a minute to do.

 

[Kayen]

No, it makes the Axi considerably cheaper

Axi charges £120 for curbside delivery, so about the same.

 

[Yojevol]

Axi charges £120 for curbside delivery, so about the same.

Axi £1500, itech £2000

 

[Distinterior]

A good friend bought the itech recently, he’s not a daft lad & rates it highly if not the service from Scott & Sargeant.


I made this for the hand wheel on my hammer,

View attachment 151929

The Perspex allows me to see the depth gauge

View attachment 151930

Works a treat & speeds up change over no end

I'm going to copy that Doug..

I have an A3 31 with the same analogue thickness gauge on it and the only thing about the machine that has bugged me is manually winding the thickness table up & down when swooping between modes.

 

[BucksDad]

Axi £1500, itech £2000

The AP260ST is £2500 at Axminster. I think you are looking at the price of the AW2260S

 

[Yojevol]

Ah sorry, I thought you

Axi charges £120 for curbside delivery, so about the same.

The AP260ST is £2500 at Axminster. I think you are looking at the price of the AW2260S

Sorry I thought you were comparing like for like (must read the question properly in future).
The AX260SPT is a trade rated machine at £2.5K whereas the Itech 260ss is a hobby machine (same as AX 2260s) at £2K. So in answer to the original question, the Ax is the better machine but it's 25% more expensive than the Itech . If a hobby machine is good enough, go for the Axi.
Brian

 

[TRITON]

Neither! For that money you can buy a lovely secondhand machine, industrial quality that will maintain / increase in value and not add to more landfill,

Downsides to 2nd hand
Parts are worn - replacements cost as much as the machine itself.

 

[heimlaga]

Now I don't get this....... what you seem to need is a new feed roller and a bit of nickel welding on the castion that holds it.... or is there something I didn't understand?

 

[SLM]

Downsides to 2nd hand
Parts are worn - replacements cost as much as the machine itself.

In many instances this is not so; either the worn components can be replaced with standard, off the shelf, mechanical components, or in the case of something like a fence, can be substituted with a modern alternative.

For example, I changed some worn components of a Startrite ta 275 rise and fall mechanism with parts from RS, for about £30.

I substituted aftermarket fences from Axminster and from Scott & Sargent, at less than the cost of replacement parts for the old fences, and an upgrade in performance.

In both cases, the machines increased in value significantly. I know this because I sold them!

Yes, some old machines are wrecks, and a labour of love to restore. Often that labour has fantastic results! But for those whose main focus is working wood, as opposed to restoring machinery, something requiring less work is more appropriate.

But let’s be realistic; the significant majority of posts that I read about new machines (not on the scale where they’re delivered and commissioned by a tech) contain accounts assembling the machine, of niggling issues, modifications and often, moving on to something more robust. So a realistically, new machines do demand time, effort and skill to get installed and running at their best, just like an old machine.