Itech 260S with Spiral cutter head - First impressions

[Superstrat]

Clean and wax has always worked for me. Dunno what else to suggest.

 

[SAUFAENGERKID]

I've just ordered a iTECH 260S, I need to make up a base similar to the example posted by Mooose, can somebody let me know the measurements of the base, I have contacted S&S but they do not have anything in stock to be able to measure for me.

Much appreciated

Gary

 

[moosepig]

Answered in another thread: (click the link to take you to the relevant post)
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/planer-thicknesser.124519/post-1413230
In short: 565mm x 435mm

 

[SAUFAENGERKID]

Thanks

 

[Zag73]

Seeing as information was so scarce when I was looking for details on this planer/thicknesser and now having had one delivered, I thought it would be good to get some first impressions posted with the aim of adding to this as I use the machine.

Firstly some thoughts on why I went for this machine:

1) I wanted a spiral cutter head and initially I was sold on the Axminster AT260SPT. However the more I looked at the split lift for the wings and the fact that you have to remove the fence I realised that I would prefer a machine like the Startrite or Jet. However both of those are priced beyond my budget - I had set a limit at £1500

2) From what I could find online the Itech was made by Laizhou and they seem to make (or supply) a number of machines that look very similar to the Startrite. Assuming this to be correct I had high hopes that the build quality would be of a reasonably high standard

3) Black Friday - Scott + Sargeant had a 10% off offer over the BF weekend and that ensured that the machine + delivery came in just over the £1500. That sealed the deal and I ordered online followed by a call to S+S to talk through the delivery details. (Note for others - for some reason notes that you add to your online order do not seem to get through to the team at S+S handling the delivery. I would suggest calling them if you need to arrange a delivery day etc)

That brings me to today when a rather heavy pallet was delivered by a helpful driver (he ensured that it got right into the garage exactly where I needed it)

First impressions:

The machine is well built and feels very sturdy and nicely finished. It is a heavy machine and I will need to get it onto wheels ASAP to allow me to move it around the garage. The paintwork (aside from the interesting colour) is thick and well applied and it does not have chipping or badly finished edges that you can get on some cheaply made machines.

The fence is a combination of aluminium and heavy iron dovetail "slider" that feels very sturdy and well made and the blade guard is about the same as that found on the Startrite and others. I actually like this fence as it does not feel flimsy which was something that worried me about the Axminster.

Converting from one operation to the other is really quick and the tables are spring-loaded which makes lifting them easy. The only requirement before switching over to have the lower table set about 130mm down. This will allow the dust chute to rotate without hitting the lower table. No removing the fence and the tables lift together in one smooth motion. They also lock when fully open so should be safe to use.

I was a little concerned that some of the machine seems to have signs of use with some fine wood dust present in places even though the tables look very smooth and unused. Possibly this is from the test/setup of the machine?

I used my straight edge over tables and they are very flat and seem to be co-planer which is nice out of the box. All in all the first impressions are very good. It also ships with the "digital" height indicator which works well and should allow you to set to the nearest 0.1mm

I have run a small length of pine through to see how it behaves and have to say that it leaves a very smooth finish and it is far less noisy than the old three-blade machine I had a few years ago. All in all, I am happy with my initial impressions.

Any negatives?

Well, when I initially started it for the first time it took a while to get up to full speed. However, after leaving it to run for a few minutes it now seems to start fairly quickly - so I will assume that this was part of the breaking-in process.

Apart from that, I can only add that it came with no spare cutters and I incorrectly assumed it would ship with one or two spares. That would have been nice on a £1500 spend!

I will update this as I get it into full use in the workshop but so far it is a solid buy and looks to be good for many years use.

Hi Mooose, are you still happy with this machine? I’m in the market for a thickness planer. It’s a toss up between the itech 260 and Axminster ap260spt. The itech is cheaper but the Axminster comes with a 3 year guarantee.

 

[Jozf]

Just brought the Itec 260ss from s&s after blowing the motor on my lumberjack 12" planer. What an amazing machine in comparison! Everything about it is better! If anyone is looking for a high quality mod range machine then this is the way to go and the guys at Scott and Sargaent were fantastic.

 

[Val]

I’m thinking of buying it too, any feedback would be welcome!

The new “professional” P/T from Axminster (what was called “trade” before) is now much more similar to the iTECH since it finally got linked lifting tables, so it really is a toss up!

 

[Ollie78]

Thanks Trevanion, I think I'll try and make the trip to S&S's showroom in Horsham to take a look. On paper it looks like a decent machine for the money.

Leave your wallet at home, they have a lot of nice stuff!!

 

[Jozf]

I’m thinking of buying it too, any feedback would be welcome!

The new “professional” P/T from Axminster (what was called “trade” before) is now much more similar to the iTECH since it finally got linked lifting tables, so it really is a toss up!

I brought it last week, great bit of kit, the spiral cutter makes it so quiet compared to a standard cutter head.

 

[Jozf]

Leave your wallet at home, they have a lot of nice stuff!!

I went there to pay for my planer and spent about 30k in my head! Machine porn everywhere.

 

[Mooose]

Hi Mooose, are you still happy with this machine? I’m in the market for a thickness planer. It’s a toss up between the itech 260 and Axminster ap260spt. The itech is cheaper but the Axminster comes with a 3 year guarantee.

Still happy with my purchase - more than enough for my 'weekend warrior' use.

 

[Mooose]

I took a look at the Axminster AW2260S and apart from some key changes (see below) it looks to be the same machine as the 260SS from S&S. Great price too!

https://cdn.axminstertools.com/media/downloads/108512_manual.pdf

 

[Mooose]

Axminster:

S&S:

The main changes seem to be that the S&S can have the added mortising attachment and is rated 2kW vs 1.5kW for the Axminster. It also has a lot more cutting knives - over double. Might account for the 2kW as those extra knives will equate to more drag on the head.

That and a few cosmetic changes (the raise/lower wheel on the left of the Axminster is nice and shiny lol)

Would like to see the finish from both to understand what the extra cutters give you as the Axi machine is well priced

 

[Val]

having more than double the knives (and an accordingly more powerful motor) seems to be a huge difference - or not?

 

[Mooose]

having more than double the knives (and an accordingly more powerful motor) seems to be a huge difference - or not?

I would like to see the difference but would be hard to do without having access to both. I would assume more 'cuts per inch' from the S&S should equal better finish - but that assumes the same feed rate

EDIT - just looked and they both share the same feed rate (4.8m per min), cutter block diameter (75mm), and RPM (4000). So safe to say I would expect the S&S to produce a smoother finish

 

[Val]

I'm reviving this thread just to say I ended up buying the iTECH planer I think this is slightly superior to the Axminster one, and cheaper as well.
I too hope to post a first impression review, but that all depends on S&S actually shipping that to me

I bought it at the end of last month as it was "in stock", just to discover it wasn't actually in stock - and they haven't updated their stock level on their website until yesterday, so I assume I'm not the only one that has bought one thinking it was in stock. Hopefully I will receive it soon!

 

[Spectric]

I think these machines come out of the same factory as they are almost identical, infact I suspect nearly all the P/T's we see come out of one factory. The Itech looks the better buy and cheaper which is unusual, plus the Itech cutter block looks more helical than spiral but then the pictures may be deceiving, maybe as they call it a super spiral it is a bit of both !

 

[Val]

I agree, I can't wait to receive it and use it. I am also looking forward to a much more silent cut than my bench planer, which sounds like a jet breaking the sound barrier. I'm sure the neighbours will be happy about this purchase

 

[Bristol_Rob]

I agree, I can't wait to receive it and use it. I am also looking forward to a much more silent cut than my bench planer, which sounds like a jet breaking the sound barrier. I'm sure the neighbours will be happy about this purchase

One thing I've learned on mine is: if you don't use the lock levers on the planer and the thicknessing mode - you'll get snipe

 

[Hornbeam]

One thing I've learned on mine is: if you don't use the lock levers on the planer and the thicknessing mode - you'll get snipe

I have also found that to be the case om my Hammer A3 31. Its Ok on shorter pieces but as soon as you start thicknessing lengths more than about 3 ft long you have to lock off the thickness table. I am assuming that locking things stabilises the column.