Rojec, Jet, sedgwick planers and planer thicknessers help.

[dicktimber]

When I retired I attended college and completed C&G cabinet making, made lots of new friends and was introduced to a new hobby.
I set up my garage and purchased a kity table saw and planer thicknesser.
I am now considering upgrading as I have a larger work area and would like some advice for a new planer/ planer thicknesser, separates or combination.
It's that next jump up the ladder after kity, dewalt etc.
Are the startrite,sedgwick,ranges, along with Jet any better than what I have, in operation and build quality?
How does the Felder equipment fair, and what about the Rojec Euro machines.
I never see any comments or reviews about these higher cost machines.

I would appreciate any comments, especially from users of these machines to point me in the right direction.
Great site and some good topics.

 

[davy_owen_88]

Rojek and Sedgwick are in a completely different league to Jet, at least here in the UK where Jet cater more for high end hobbyists and small scale trade users.

Unfortunately I can't answer your question directly as I have no experience with either Rojek or Sedgwick, but I was going to make a very similar thread regarding Sedgwick P/T's and the dust extraction and usability since the tables do not need to be raised to go into the thicknessing mode.

Davy

 

[AndyBoyd]

After years of working with a Scheppach 2600 I upgraded to a Felder Planer Thicknesser recently (500 series) and I must say allowing for the jump in price it is a world of difference from the old one (which still is her and in permanent thicknesser mode.

I'm now saving my euros for a Telder table saw as my second hand Kity 419 with self made rear extension and extended sliding table is fine but lacks guts for the big stuff i occasionally use

I have a mate with a Rojek 415 I think the biggest of their 240v numbers and he is pleased but finds it a little heavy (to adjust) and a little crude in design. The results are impressive though I must admit as we ran back to back tests on a tricky piece if rippled sycamore with all 3 machines, the Felder and the Rojeck planed and thicknessed it well and the Scheppach was poor on planing but as ever with my old scheppach it thicknessed it beautifully.

 

[dicktimber]

Andy did you consider the hobby range by Felder?
How do you rate the planer fence and chip extraction when thicknessing?

The kity is great for small sections, but when you use the full thicknessing width you have problems getting all the wood chips away and the extractor gets clogged up. Thats because the top tables are fixed and don't fold out of the way. Because of this you then end up stripping down and cleaning the pick up rollers on a regular basis in order to achieve premium surface finish.

I am hoping that the more up market machines will aleviate some of these problems?