thicknesser choice, down to two

[Bodgers]

Put another £64 on top of your £400 budget and get a Makita from FFX. https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Mak ... hicknesser

From the same seller the Metabo is £100 less. But is it 25% better?

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[Bodgers]

Double sided blades for £21.99 : https://www.woodfordtooling.com/metabo- ... -pair.html seems reasonable to me.

Good find, cheapest I've seen so far.

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[Sheptonphil]

Double sided blades for £21.99 : https://www.woodfordtooling.com/metabo- ... -pair.html seems reasonable to me.

Good find, cheapest I've seen so far.

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

Seems the disposable only fit the older model Metabo, the newer model only take the ones with fixing holes. So average price blades are £40+.

Phil

 

[Sheptonphil]

Put another £64 on top of your £400 budget and get a Makita from FFX. https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Mak ... hicknesser

Well, looked and looked, and actually came to the same conclusion, back to the cry once scenario.

I found the Makita at tools4trade for £449. Here so it really wasn’t that far over my budget, and blade are £19.99 genuine Makita double edged disposable widely available. Couple of blade changes and the extra is negligible.

Many thanks for all the help and differing views in this thread.

Phil

 

[MikeJhn]

Double sided blades for £21.99 : https://www.woodfordtooling.com/metabo- ... -pair.html seems reasonable to me.

Good find, cheapest I've seen so far.

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

Seems the disposable only fit the older model Metabo, the newer model only take the ones with fixing holes. So average price blades are £40+.

Phil

This can't be so, have you tried them?

You also alluded in an earlier post the disposable blades can not be replaced with sharpenable blades care to explain.

IMO you are over thinking this, if the blades fit the block (holes or no holes) and the fixings tighten down onto the blade, what's the problem.

Mike

 

[n0legs]

I have the Jet.
Had it for just under a year and its been excellent. I think in total I have put around 60 foot of Walnut through it, in widths from 7-11 inches. Fantastic finish with very little snipe and totally parallel across the width.
I've done about 40 foot of oak, again in varying widths with the same finish results.
Now softwood.
There must be somewhere between 200 - 300 foot. Widths from 3 to 6 inches. The finish is not as good as the hardwood, but is a lot better than you'll find in b&q. The knives are now showing their age and wear
The feed rollers work well and leave no marks on the finished material. The feed rate is good and overall the operation of the machine is very good.
Knife/blade setting is easy with the supplied gauge/jig. The instructions are clear.
The only moan I have/had was the 50mm extraction port, way too small. I modified mine to attach 100mm, and since doing so has not clogged once.
I'm extremely pleased with mine and it's made thicknessing a quick easy process.

 

[Sheptonphil]

This can't be so, have you tried them?

You also alluded in an earlier post the disposable blades can not be replaced with sharpenable blades care to explain.

IMO you are over thinking this, if the blades fit the block (holes or no holes) and the fixings tighten down onto the blade, what's the problem.

Mike

Hi Mike

The listing for the blades here
Clearly states different part numbers for older and current models, the current ones being more expensive. It gives the serial number sequence that the change applies from.

Phil

 

[MikeJhn]

Hmmm I still think the manufacturer would be daft to price themselves at that level when its peers are at the less expensive level, is there a Metabo users group you could ask. All manufacturers have a vested interest in trying to make you buy their equipment, but I never believe the hype and find out for myself if I can.

At this stage I can only comment that blades with holes and plain blades work in my Kitty, as long as you keep the blades in the block the same weight I can't see it making much difference, I used to play around with RC helicopters and balancing the blades on one of those was a real challenge, the C of G had to match as well as the overall weight of the blade, fun days, setting up the blades in a PT is Childs play in comparison.

Mike

PS that listing does not show any holes in the blades.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Last year Fine Woodworking ran a test on these style of "lunchbox thicknessers". Amongst other criteria they measured snipe and parallelism.

DeWalt 735X Snipe 0.003", Out Of Parallel 0.000"
DeWalt 734 Snipe 0.002", Out Of Parallel 0.000"
Makita 2012N Snipe 0.003", Out Of Parallel 0.002"
Rikon 25-131 Snipe 0.002", Out Of Parallel 0.008"
Triton TPT125 Snipe 0.101", Out Of Parallel 0.010"
Delta 22-555 Snipe 0.006", Out Of Parallel 0.008"
Craftsman 21758, Snipe 0.012", Out Of Parallel 0.019"

Anything below the Makita might be fine for basic site joinery, but IMO, isn't accurate enough for precise work.

I know these aren't necessarily brands you're considering, but I'd have thought an application like segmented turning would require very precise components. I guess the message is buyer beware, portable thicknessers exist to serve very different users with very different requirements.

Wow the Triton comes out pretty badly here. So much for all the glowing user reviews online. I wonder if any of that snipe can be dialled out on the table adjustment.

Interesting result in the Dewalt as well - Matthais Wandel did a test on that Vs his old cheap lunchbox planer, and he got less snipe and better quality than the new Dewalt 735.

I'm somehwat confused, probably because I know nothing of segmented turning and only a little about thicknessing but why would snipe matter if you're segmenting, Preumably you'd prep using the thicknesser and finish with a plane, or trim the pieces to remove it? Can someone clarify?

I've seen a number of solutions for snipe, most involve correctly setting the in/out feed properly, offering additional outfeed support length or using a longer flat bed, much like when using a thicknesser as a jointer. Alternatively sticking scrap to the ends of the material you want to use... I've not tried these metods myself, just what I've seen and read so anyone who has actually sorted snipe might be better placed, I just found it interesting.

 

[Sheptonphil]

Mike

PS that listing does not show any holes in the blades.

Hi Mike, that listing, with no holes is for the older model, which are available at £25 ish shopping around, the current model needs the holed ones here at £60+

I went for the Makita 2012 in the end, at £449 from tools4trade, including the dust hood that used to be an optional extra. The replacement blade cost swung it over the Metabo, along with a total absence of neutral, let alone negative reviews for this model anywhere online.

Phil

 

[MikeJhn]

I think the holes in the blades are an irrelevance, the blade can't be located by them it still has to move to be adjustable, the blades that came with my Kitty had holes in them, when I fitted blades without holes it was just a matter of turning the chip guard around, the Kitty has never ceased to amaze me with its accuracy of cut and absolutely no snipe whatsoever.
Mike

 

[MotamJoinery]

This seems to be the blades for the new model. Main difference seems on paper that they are 1.5mm thick compared to 2mm on the old ones.

https://www.woodfordtooling.com/metabo- ... -pair.html

 

[Bodgers]

This seems to be the blades for the new model. Main difference seems on paper that they are 1.5mm thick compared to 2mm on the old ones.

https://www.woodfordtooling.com/metabo- ... -pair.html

Which is strange when you consider they are more expensive

 

[Bodgers]

Just digging up an old one to report that I bought the Metabo DH330 a couple of weeks ago and it is very impressive. If you are coming off the back of a Titan combo clone, it is a big step up. I was surprised how much quieter it is (even for still having a universal motor).

Build quality is excellent, the feature that locks the head down really works - if I pass work pieces through at a slight angle I get zero snipe - and I means zero.

Another good feature is that it actually has a meter that measures how thick the piece is (in addition to the cut height setting dial).

Build quality is up to Metabo's usual high standards as well.

Shame about the pricier blades!

 

[Sheptonphil]

Put another £64 on top of your £400 budget and get a Makita from FFX. https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Mak ... hicknesser

Forgot to update, I did spend the extra with FFX and went with the Makita. Forgotten about the extra expense a long time ago and think it’s a superb piece of kit. Perfect for everything I’ve thrown at it.