New thicknesser trials

[Finger Dicer]

Last night my daughter dropped off a brand spanking new 12" thicknesser.

I lub my daughter :) .

Its a brand I hadnt seen before but is produced by http://www.positecindustrial.com/ProductsBenchtop.asp these folks, for Mitre 10 NZ and possibly Aus as well tho I find no Australian reference to it.

It was on special at $419.00 NZ dollars (about $390.00 aus).

Cobra at Mite10 NZ http://www.mitre10.co.nz/products/item.asp?iCategoryID=5&lSKU=256882&loggedin=False

She wants me to make her a tallboy using Macrocarpa. Rough sawn mac is available here from the local mill at $3.15 per metre including GST.
(They also offered me a 3 cube packet of 150 x 25 shorts at 1 metre to 2 metre lenghts for $350.00 so I will buy some at that price. :)
The one major tool/machine I dont have is a thicknesser, so she said she would buy the thicknesser as a payment/birthday pressie for me
Now who am I to argue with an offer like that;) .

I took it for a test drive this morning. Apart from attaching the height handle and making sure nothing was amiss it set up for use right out of the box. To start I poked a couple of lengths of d4s 100 x 40 radiata thru and ran it down to 37 mm. No problem. All sides square and equal in thickness.

The same with a couple of 25 x 75 roughsawn Tassie blackwood boards, and to finsih some 25 x 50 macrocarpa. The finish on all pieces was excellent, all sides square and true. Very nice. A bit noisy on the blackwood but thats to be expected. Noise wasnt as great a factor as I had anticipated...but ear protection is still a must.

All in all I look forward to a long and enjoyable use of this machine.

[BobR]

If it can continue to stand up to the workload then is sounds like a good buy. Not much information on their web site. What sort of warranty did you get with it.

Bob

[Finger Dicer]

The warranty is 3 years..2 years manufacturer warranty and a further year with mitre10 cover, basically its an extension of the manufacturers warranty.

Its a ryobi or gmc machine I think thats been rebranded, which isnt surprising really as most are more than likely made in the same factory, but with slightly different specs.

Works very well tho so hopefully I should get plenty of home use out of it.

It will however be replaced with one of these.... XCA508 Xcalibur 508mm Thicknesser http://www.thetoolshed.co.nz/index1.htm (http://www.thetoolshed.co.nz/index1.htm) check under workshop machinery, scroll the page and click on the picture for planners and look at the bottom of the list for more details. This retails for $1600.

It is going to have to wait a while because my next aquistion is this... XCA10RAS Xcalibur 250mm Slide Table Saw Bench..same thing as before using the above link, under saw benches. This retails for $1399 and is an intro special.

[barnsey]

Can I have the phone number of your daughter - I'll love her even more than you do if she's gunna buy me pressies like that :D :D :D :D

OK, I hear the sounds of discontent - could she maybe call my missus and extol the virtues of such an approach.:o :o :o

Just thought I'd ask you lucky boy ;)

Jamie

[Finger Dicer]

Just a bit of an upadate.

I have just finished machining several metres worth of Tasmanian Blackwood....which is a lot harder than what I normally use.

The new Cobra thicknesser handled it all with ease. Most passes through the machine were at 1.5mm cut depth.
The biggest pieces were 2.4metre lenghts of 150 x 50.
Machined on both the wide faces then one side through the table saw then back to the thicknesser. So long as I was careful with the tablesaw I finished with nicely d4s on all sides and square to boot :)

I was expecting a fairly large amount of snipe but this wasnt the case. Any snipe at all was barely noticeable and was docked off anyway as all lenghts were 100mmm longer than required.

No extended tables or rollers were used, it was basically set up and used out of the box. Like all thicknessers its fairly noisy when operating. About the same as a circularsaw when not loaded and twice that when working. Ear protection being a must.

One of the best features and I was surprised at this...dunno why really ...was the quality of the machined surface. Smooth to touch and with very little evidence of planning marks unlike bought timber. It required very little belt sanding to have a smooth surface, which is great as it will mean less sanding = less dust = less cost.

Good results all round.

The only real letdown is the height guage could be a lot easier to read, but I have that pretty well sorted now anyway. Using the machine and being familiar with it I guess. No sign of kick back either.

All in all I think its fair to say that for the money, daughter has bought well.

[Ross]

Did it come with the dust shute to attach to an dust extraction system?

Ross

[Finger Dicer]

Unfortunately it only came with the dust shut cover so at the moment the shavings go on the floor.

To be honest this doesnt bother me much as number one son gets the job of sweeping up. Good for the soul doncha know :)

Once I have a dust extraction system sorted I will make a extraction head for it based on the one I saw here in the forums using a 4" plastic pipe. Seemed really simple and efficient.

[KevM]

:eek:
Fingerdicer,
Take care when machining or stirring those shavings up on the floor.......blackwood dust is carcinogenic.

regards

Kev M