chook
23rd December 2004, 07:58 AM
Readers of this forum will perhaps know that I have one of these machines and that I have recently had a problem with it. For what what it is worth here is my opinion of the thicknesser.
I bought it about 2 years ago. At the time carbatec had a deal where they would supply the thicknesser and a dust extractor for a few dollars less than the price of the delta thicknesser (DE 22- 560).The CTJ 340 is a cheaper clone of the delta. I had the cash to buy either and I bought the carbatec one. In doing so I suspect I made the wrong choice.
The thicknesser does what it is designed to do, well. Boards are planed evenly and cleanly with little or no snipe. The cutter head rises and falls easily and locks tightly into position. Blade changes are simple. A jig to assist this is supplied. The blades are double sided and are able to be resharpened. I believe that some thicknessers have blades which must be replaced at a considerable cost when blunt. My machine came with a dust hood. When attached to a dust extractor,dust collection is very efficient.
The motor has sufficient power to cope with the jobs I have given it. On the hoop pine, silky oak, mango, black wattle, crows ash etc that I have used it on, it has coped well.
The price is now even cheaper than it was. At a current catalog price of $499 it is good value if that is how much you have to spend. BUT ....
The machine is a clone of the delta thicknesser at about $300 cheaper. The trade off is in the quality of the parts used. I have no personal experience of the delta thicknesser. But I do own a delta 10 inch compound slide mitre saw. The quality of this machine is first rate (better than makita). If their thicknesser is of the same quality then it must be a very good piece of equipment.
I have had a few problems with the machine.
1. The handle which you turn to raise or lower the cutter head snapped off due to a poor manufacture.
2. A feed roller bearing seized. This caused the drive chain to the rollers to snap. This was due to poor lubrication of the bearing. But at the time that it happened the machine had not had very much use and the bearing should not have needed lubrication.
3.The drive belt to the cutter head, which is made of a cheap reinforced nylon, melted. This in turn melted the housing which surrounded it. This was caused so far as I can make out by the pulley on the cutter head shaft coming loose. Whatever the cause this pulley was doing a fair dance on the shaft. The bearing itself was okay. I hope a new pulley will fix the problem.
4. I makes enough noise to wake the dead. All thicknessers make a lot of noise but mine excels at it.
I have since discovered that delta parts will, in many cases fit the machine,though they are more expensive. For example I have replaced the nylon belt ($12) with a delta belt ($42). In future, should it require more servicing I will use the better quality parts.
It would appear that the machine is okay provided that a few things are attended to.
If I were setting up the machine again, straight from the box I would lubricate the feed roller bearings. I would also check all nuts and bolts. I will be putting loctite on the nut holding the pulley in place when I put it back together this time around.
Would I buy it again? Not if I had the money to buy the delta machine. I do not know if it would have been any better, but I suspect it would be. Am I happy with it? If it works for an extended period of time now without any problems I will be since when it is working it works really well.
In another thread I asked about changing the belt to the cutter head.
Well there is a small pulley which comes directly off the motor. Near this pulley is a philips head screw. This screw can be backed off. This allows the motor to pivot. Then the tension on the belt can be slakened off while the belt is replaced. Then the motor can be levered up to correctly tension the belt for use.
I would be very interested to hear from others who use this machine. Carbatec sell heaps of them and they are probably making their owners fairly content.
I bought it about 2 years ago. At the time carbatec had a deal where they would supply the thicknesser and a dust extractor for a few dollars less than the price of the delta thicknesser (DE 22- 560).The CTJ 340 is a cheaper clone of the delta. I had the cash to buy either and I bought the carbatec one. In doing so I suspect I made the wrong choice.
The thicknesser does what it is designed to do, well. Boards are planed evenly and cleanly with little or no snipe. The cutter head rises and falls easily and locks tightly into position. Blade changes are simple. A jig to assist this is supplied. The blades are double sided and are able to be resharpened. I believe that some thicknessers have blades which must be replaced at a considerable cost when blunt. My machine came with a dust hood. When attached to a dust extractor,dust collection is very efficient.
The motor has sufficient power to cope with the jobs I have given it. On the hoop pine, silky oak, mango, black wattle, crows ash etc that I have used it on, it has coped well.
The price is now even cheaper than it was. At a current catalog price of $499 it is good value if that is how much you have to spend. BUT ....
The machine is a clone of the delta thicknesser at about $300 cheaper. The trade off is in the quality of the parts used. I have no personal experience of the delta thicknesser. But I do own a delta 10 inch compound slide mitre saw. The quality of this machine is first rate (better than makita). If their thicknesser is of the same quality then it must be a very good piece of equipment.
I have had a few problems with the machine.
1. The handle which you turn to raise or lower the cutter head snapped off due to a poor manufacture.
2. A feed roller bearing seized. This caused the drive chain to the rollers to snap. This was due to poor lubrication of the bearing. But at the time that it happened the machine had not had very much use and the bearing should not have needed lubrication.
3.The drive belt to the cutter head, which is made of a cheap reinforced nylon, melted. This in turn melted the housing which surrounded it. This was caused so far as I can make out by the pulley on the cutter head shaft coming loose. Whatever the cause this pulley was doing a fair dance on the shaft. The bearing itself was okay. I hope a new pulley will fix the problem.
4. I makes enough noise to wake the dead. All thicknessers make a lot of noise but mine excels at it.
I have since discovered that delta parts will, in many cases fit the machine,though they are more expensive. For example I have replaced the nylon belt ($12) with a delta belt ($42). In future, should it require more servicing I will use the better quality parts.
It would appear that the machine is okay provided that a few things are attended to.
If I were setting up the machine again, straight from the box I would lubricate the feed roller bearings. I would also check all nuts and bolts. I will be putting loctite on the nut holding the pulley in place when I put it back together this time around.
Would I buy it again? Not if I had the money to buy the delta machine. I do not know if it would have been any better, but I suspect it would be. Am I happy with it? If it works for an extended period of time now without any problems I will be since when it is working it works really well.
In another thread I asked about changing the belt to the cutter head.
Well there is a small pulley which comes directly off the motor. Near this pulley is a philips head screw. This screw can be backed off. This allows the motor to pivot. Then the tension on the belt can be slakened off while the belt is replaced. Then the motor can be levered up to correctly tension the belt for use.
I would be very interested to hear from others who use this machine. Carbatec sell heaps of them and they are probably making their owners fairly content.