Is a planer / thicknesser worth the money ?

[LarryS.]

probably a stupid question but from reading a lot of threads on the forum it appears that the general consensus is that a planer thicknesser saves you money. My question is - does it save enough ?

Apparently my local wood supplier offers a planer / thicknessing service on the wood he sells so how would that cost more than me buying and operating my own ? If he's got a big industrial machine surely thats cheaper to run and operate for lots of wood than mine would be ?

apologies if it is a daft question

 

[Rich]

Thats not a daft question MG, but for my part, I like to dimension the wood myself, I'm nbot self employed so have more time on my hands than others, however, if I had to choose again I would buy 2 seperate machines as changing over on my SIP 6x4 is a pain.
Regards,
Rich.

 

[LarryS.]

Thats not a daft question MG, but for my part, I like to dimension the wood myself, I'm nbot self employed so have more time on my hands than others, however, if I had to choose again I would buy 2 seperate machines as changing over on my SIP 6x4 is a pain.
Regards,
Rich.

rich, when you say you 'like' to dimension the wood yourself, is that because of cost or because you can be more sure of the dimensions or is it because you like doing it ?

paul

 

[Rich]

Hi MG, the fact is I'm still learning about timber, and I don't think I'd have the confidence to tell a pro what timber sizes I want, but I do enjoy sizing it myself and it's good practice, but like I say I have the time to do it and no customer timescale to stick to, btw I do like your mobile saw station.
regards,
Rich.

 

[LarryS.]

Hi MG, the fact is I'm still learning about timber, and I don't think I'd have the confidence to tell a pro what timber sizes I want, but I do enjoy sizing it myself and it's good practice, but like I say I have the time to do it and no customer timescale to stick to, btw I do like your mobile saw station.
regards,
Rich.

thanks rich, actually discovered a problem with it today, I needed to cut some angles on the tilt and realised the dust screen I'd put at the back is too high, so some adjustment now required

from what i've read it sounds like you can't go for a p/t in isolation but need some serious dust extraction with it, is this right ? and if so what have you bought (think you have the axminster p/t)

 

[Mike.C]

MG, I will talk about softwood, only because of recents events, and pricing up some timber at another wood yard yesterday. Up here a metre of 19mm x 95mm PAR is £1.80, and a metre of sawn 22mm x 100mm is 64p, or metre of sawn 22mm x 150mm is 95p. So IMHO a p/t is certainly worth having.

As for dust collection, well that is a must.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Rich]

Paul I have the SIP 6X4 P/T, there's nothing wrong with it other than it's labourious to keep changing from one mode to the other especially when it's set up for multiple cuts and you realise you've missed one, then after changing back again it's never the same thickness, so, if I had one of each machines instead of a combo this problem would not occur, call it lazy if you like, I have no problem with extraction, I had a good buy with a charnwood ext for £20.00.
regards,
Rich.

 

[LarryS.]

MG, I will talk about softwood, only because of recents events, and pricing up some timber at another wood yard yesterday. Up here a metre of 19mm x 95mm PAR is £1.80, and a metre of sawn 22mm x 100mm is 64p, or metre of sawn 22mm x 150mm is 95p. So IMHO a p/t is certainly worth having.

As for dust collection, well that is a must.

Cheers

Mike

thanks mike those are some pretty good numbers, i'll check similar for my local supplier but from you figures it looks like a p/t may pay in easily

 

[LarryS.]

Paul I have the SIP 6X4 P/T, there's nothing wrong with it other than it's labourious to keep changing from one mode to the other especially when it's set up for multiple cuts and you realise you've missed one, then after changing back again it's never the same thickness, so, if I had one of each machines instead of a combo this problem would not occur, call it lazy if you like, I have no problem with extraction, I had a good buy with a charnwood ext for £20.00.
regards,
Rich.

what model was £20 ? or is there a zero missing ??

 

[Rich]

No seriously, it's a Charnwood w895, I'm not gloating over someone else's misfortune, but this chap in Woodley, near to me advertised it in the local press, his pop had passed away and he just wanted the garage cleared, he offered it for £20.00 and I jumped at the opportunity.
Rich.

 

[LarryS.]

No seriously, it's a Charnwood w895, I'm not gloating over someone else's misfortune, but this chap in Woodley, near to me advertised it in the local press, his pop had passed away and he just wanted the garage cleared, he offered it for £20.00 and I jumped at the opportunity.
Rich.

Some guys have all the luck (apart from the guy who died obviously)

 

[johnnyb]

like all equipment its nice to get what you want size wise under your own steam. the timberyard would have better equipment certainly but they would soon tire of you asking for an extra 2mm off etc. some timberyards will charge per cut for sawing and it soon adds up. also it will move so what was once flat is no longer. no yard in my area offers anything like as good a service as b and q. afa sawing.....planing would be out of the question.

 

[OPJ]

Another reason why I prefer to dimension my own timber is because I can be aware of the mositure content and condition of the timber before machining it. If there's too much moisture when you plane it up and then, you bring it indoors as a finished piece of furniture, there's a very good chance the timber will shrink, cup and distort - and possibly split - as it dries out.

Unless you're very good at planing timber by hand, I do not really think it's possible to have a complete workshop without a planer-thicknesser. You do need both, or a two-in-one machine. A thicknesser may flatten a face but, you won't get a perfect 90º edge and, unless you're working very short length, they won't come out the other end straight either. That's what the planer (aka. jointer or surfacer) is for. :wink:

Where do you get your timber, just out of interest? If you're talking about Interesting Timbers, I think they generally air dry their stuff down to 18% and then, depending on demand, may kiln-dry the rest of the way down to 12%. You should also be aware that their timber is stored in a very large shed; this won't neccessarily match the conditions of where you intend to store your finished piece of work. The other thing is that I've only ever seen three guys working there and, can only imagine it could sometime take longer than other, larger set-ups may be able to offer.

I'm not trying to knock David Simmonds and co. in any way. I've been there a couple of times myself and have had excellent service and assistance from them, paying some very competitive prices for their hardwoods too.

So, yes, there are many reasons why I believe you DO need a planer-thicknesser - and, from what we've seen of your workshop so far, it looks like you have practically everything else! :wink:

Some people go for seperate units as you can store a thicknesser under a bench, say. The disadvantage of buying a stand-alone planer though - unless you're prepared to pay A LOT of money - is that you're limited to a 6" maximum planing width. This may be fine for most people but, the advantage of owning a 10" wide planer and thicknesser is that while you can thickness 10" wide boards, you can also surface planer 10" widths as well!

If you were looking to buy new, I'd happily recommend the Axminster AW106PT from personal experience. You want to be spending at least for a decent P/T - some people will happily spend a lot more...

 

[WellsWood]

Not a daft question at all Paul, in fact I think many people would benefit from a little objective thinking like this when it comes to buying machinery - I include myself on that list :roll: The "slope" wouldn't be anything like as steep or slippery if we were all to stop and think carefully about exactly how much benefit we were actually going to get from that next new "toy". Of course this applies much more so to those who make their living from woodworking, but unless you have a limitless supply of cash it doesn't hurt to think a little about how a machine will "pay for itself".

When it comes to P/Ts I believe the real benefit is not in saving money over buying planed timber, but in the control it grants me with regard to the exact finished size and moreover to the quality of the planing. PAR timber is rarely square on even one corner between adjacent faces. Nor is it likely to be free enough from wind, warp, or cup (certainly not by the time it gets to me) that I could use it as is, so I'm odds on to have to plane it again no matter what I buy. I'm talking cabinet/furniture making usage here though, it really depends on what you're doing with it. I certainly wouldn't entertain the thought of planing up my own floorboards or door linings from sawn for example (assuming sawn softwood was even available to me - see the recent thread on this very subject) as it simply isn't a sensible use of time even for a hobbyist.

 

[Anonymous]

probably a stupid question but from reading a lot of threads on the forum it appears that the general consensus is that a planer thicknesser saves you money. My question is - does it save enough ?

Apparently my local wood supplier offers a planer / thicknessing service on the wood he sells so how would that cost more than me buying and operating my own ? If he's got a big industrial machine surely thats cheaper to run and operate for lots of wood than mine would be ?

apologies if it is a daft question

Depends how much wood you buy and what thickensses you desire - if you use non-standard thicknesses, then it is worth the money

If you buy 'stock' it is once agian worth the money as you can size the wood as and when required

 

[Shultzy]

Genghis, I've just looked at my local woodyard's price list. The difference between sawn and planed softwood varies from 5p for 1" x 5/8", 21p for 4" x2" to £1.27 for 8" x 4" and these are per foot differences.

A P/T also allows you to size up those offcuts, which you can't take back to the woodyard for them to plane.

 

[LarryS.]

Thank-you to Tony, Olly, Mark and Johnny for the responses. Lots of experience and knowledge which has helped me reach my conclusion.

I'm just starting off in wood-working and have started by making furniture for the workshop, so nice and rough, cheap softwoods & plywood so no machining really required. My plan has always been to start with the workshop to learn and make mistakes there (and I'm accomplishing both so far ), then move onto simple indoor furniture made with oak and other interesting wood for our new house (coffee tables, bedside cabinets e.t.c.). Therefore looking at all the responses plus all the other threads I've read I'll finish the furniture for the workshop (couple more cabinets, a workbench and some shelving) and then invest in a planer thicknesser, most likely the Axminster AW106PT as Olly and many others have recommended it, at the same time getting an extractor to go with it. It will be in the garage as there is no room in the workshop but it looks like that is no problem if I plan correctly and can cut / plane at the start of a project.

again, thanks for everyones input, not only saves me time but also very likely money which I may otherwise had thrown in the wrong direction

Olly, if not actually got a supplier yet having bought nothing but I have been looking for likely candidates to go and visit. I'd never heard of interesting timbers after doing loads of searching for suppliers on the internet and yellow pages, turns out they are only half an hour from my house ! I'll be popping down there for a visit, thanks for the info.

 

[Baldy]

Hi guys regarding planer thicknessers I would say that it is definitely worth buying one. Timber is getting more and more expensive so anything you can do to minimise costs is worth it. Buying timber in the rough and dimensioning it yourself is one way. Having gone down both routes I would suggest buying separate machines as it can be a pain to swap back and forth all the time

 

[les chicken]

Paul

If you want a trip to examine tools and machinery, I suggest a trip to Toolite in Mitcheldean Glos. Not to much of a distance from Bath but well worth the trip, it is like an aladins cave of equipment. Two floors with all sorts on display.

I have no connection with this distributer, I just like to take the trip from newport now and again to see items in the flesh.

Les

 

[LarryS.]

Paul

If you want a trip to examine tools and machinery, I suggest a trip to Toolite in Mitcheldean Glos. Not to much of a distance from Bath but well worth the trip, it is like an aladins cave of equipment. Two floors with all sorts on display.

I have no connection with this distributer, I just like to take the trip from newport now and again to see items in the flesh.

Les

cheers les, i have got the rest of the week off so may make a trip up