Which thicknesser to buy

[Libigage]

Hi I'm new to this site so be gentle. I'm after a Thicknesser but can't decide between the Dewalt DW733, Makita 2012NB or the Metabo DH330. I plan to be planing pallet wood to make projects with.Will I need a planer aswell to get to the wood square on all four sides or will a thicknesser. If anyone can advise I would appreciate it.
Regards Peter

 

[MikeJhn]

Welcome to UK Workshop, were a friendly bunch and will always help of we can.

Any nails or metal intrusions in the wood will ruin the blades on either of them, and pallet wood usually has lots of metal bits in it, that's why it has been used to make pallets, unless you have a lot of time on your hands to de-metal the wood you are chasing a loosing battle, however saying that you will need a planer as well to get the timber square, investigate a combination machine at the smallest width you need with cheap replaceable blades, preferably double sided you will need them.

Best of luck.
Mike

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

If you really need only thicknesser ( and not a planer as well) get the cheapest thicknesser there is,an used one can be picked up for less than £50 , no point buying anything more expensive.

or if you got a hand-planer already you can turn that thing upside-down and make a simple jig to make it in a homemade planer as well!
Spending some £300 or £400 or however much the makita costs is a waste of £££ if you can add £100 more and buy something like metabo hc260

 

[Cordy]

Hi
I have the Makita 2012NB 240 volt and very pleased with it; glad I bought a new one

Not got an electric planer, there are many Youtubes showing various jigs: I made one for mine using MDF

Personally I wouldn't put pallet wood anywhere near it
My metal detector for wood doesn't always find the nails :roll:
Good luck

 

[Neil S]

Hi and welcome. As mentioned, if you have the space then for a hundred or so more a combined planer thickneser can be had. This would also likely be an induction motor so much quieter. The Lunchbox thicknesers you mention are really good for portability where you can take them to site or if you need to put them out of the way under a bench or something. When I was researching this the makita has a substantially quieter motor than the rest but it's still louder than an induction motor machine. I ended up buying a combined planer thicknesser induction machine so haven't actually used the Lunchbox machines. Axminster also sell a jet Lunchbox thicknesser which is about half the price of the others.
Hope that helps.
-Neil

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[marcros]

a cheap belt sander would also be a worthwhile investment. put some 80 grit on it and it will clean up the pallet wood a bit- should make the metal bits shine and show themselves. If you damage a belt, it is £1 rather than a set of planer/thicknesser blades to have sharpened.

you could do similarly with a cheap hand plane too. you would knick the blade a bit but it saves the electric planer blades being dinged.

 

[Neil S]

Also, a thicknesser will only make one side parallel to the the opposite side. It will not make the wood flat or square. I think you can make a bunch of sleds and jigs that will sort of make the wood flat and square with just a thicknesser but it's a bit of a faff. Try googling planning with a thicknesser. Or jointing with a planer. The Americans call a thicknesser a planer and what we call a planer they call a jointer. It's all very confusing!

Cheers

-Neil

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[MikeJhn]

If I was in the market for a new one, this would be top of the list: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLANER-AND-TH ... Swx6pYnvE5 three knife block and only a couple of years old.

Basically its a clone of this: http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ho ... ser-101142

I don't think I am breaking any protocol as there is a buy it now price on it.

Mike

 

[siggy_7]

If I was working with pallet wood in any quantity, I would buy or build a thickness sander. An idea of what you can build quite easily here: http://woodgears.ca/sander/thickness.html

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[memzey]

Interesting opinions on this. I've always been a bit sceptical of planer thicknessers with lift up tables. I would always be worried that they would come out of true eventually and need frequent checking and fettling. I suppose the ones where both tables lift together might be a bit better but I still prefer the idea of fixed, solid tables that stay put in both operations. Different strokes and all that I guess...

 

[MikeJhn]

They can't be that bad, otherwise the hugh and cry from customers would be much louder, I suspect that those that may go out of alignment could be due to chipping being in the way or being lightweight without good hinging and catch's, all supposition on my part as my cast iron tables don't lift off.

Mike

 

[memzey]

You are in the same position as me Mike in that you have fixed tables in your P/T (mine is a Sedgwick) but you are more optimistic about the lift up variety than I am. Exactly what I meant by different strokes for different folks and all that!