Thread: Which thicknesser?

Hendo, Save your pennies and get the Dewalt... Top machine IMHO....Cheers, crowie

They sometimes come up in the forum "market place"....

Hi,
if you are aftre a table top thicknesser for sure DeWalt is the one

Genuine question: what is so good about the Dewalt?
For the same money you can get one of the others with a helical cutter.
Also is the Dewalt in metric?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Have a look at this for a comparison between the Dewalt and equivalents of the others you are looking at.
You do get a 3 knife cutter head and two speed feed on the Dewalt which should give you a smoother cut.

I also have the dewalt, fantastic little unit. Minimal sniping, especially when used with an extra board. I find that the supplied blades do a really good job, and I think it can take off a bit more than others.

Also having the option of getting a Byrd shelix cutter to replace the current cutter head is pretty nice, whilst also being ~600 USD

All up I describe it as the best in its class, that is "portable" lunchbox thicknessers although it is 40 odd kilos!

I convinced my mate to replace his old carbatec with one and he couldn't be happier

Answering the question about a metric reading yes it has one but it's pretty average.

I put an igaging digital readout on mine which was pretty easy to do, and now it's very simple to get accurate (0.1mm) cuts.

I had an old Hafco thicknesser (T 330, 2 speed, digital readout) and after I nicked the blades with a nail I found out how much the replacement blades cost.

I decided to replace it with the T13S with the spiral head.

This is a much lighter and better designed machine.
It is so much quieter and there is virtually no sniping so I don't see the value in the dewalt model.

It has a metric scale which is pretty poor and it is an imperial machine (one turn of the handle changes the height by 1/16"). I replaced the scale with a digital readout and when the HSS inserts wear out I will replace them with the carbide ones.

I am as stated above I'm a Dewalt fan...
I had a Made in Taiwan unit maybe something similar to the other one in the video; it was very, very noisy and I was always dressing the blades...
The Dewalt is way quieter and after 4-5years of use the original blades are still working well.
The chip fan is great for blowing the shaving directly onto the garden and if I use the dusty with it I get almost no shaving on or in the machine.
I have the infeed & outfeed tables which are great for longer boards.
Back on the video, That's the first negative review I've seen or read on the Dewalt, all the rest from other woodwork sites that I've found have been very positive...
Cheers, crowie

I also have the dewalt but I installed the Byrd shelix cutter head which makes the already great machine an even better one.

To be honest having now owned the dewalt I wouldn't consider another machine in the same weight class.

Joel

Thanks everyone for the info on the DeWALT, which I already know is a good machine.
As I said in the original post, I can't afford to buy it.

So, back to my question, any thoughts on the other 3 which are in my price range?

Hendo.

As far as the 3 lunchbox style thicknessers on your list go they will all work pretty much the same. I would pick one with the anti kickback fingers.
Regards
John

Snipe is the big issue with this class of thicknesser - you'll find endless threads on here about it. I'm not familiar with the specific models you mention, but if any of them have a cutterhead lock (the older JET version used to, but I can't see this on the model you mention) I'd pick that ahead of the rest.

That current JET model looks surprisingly similar to the old cheapie Ryobi AP13K thicky that I started out with, aka the screaming snipe monster......thankfully I've moved on to a big combo machine (JET JPT-310).

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

if any of them have a cutterhead lock (the older JET version used to, but I can't see this on the model you mention) I'd pick that ahead of the rest.

The old Hafco had a cutter head lock, and really needed it, the new model doesn't.

It uses 4 screw threads, one in each corner, doesn't have a lock and doesn't need one.

Have a look at this one; Carbatec TH-BX330P

$900 plus delivery.

I have the previous model, the CT330X which I can't see any differences between the two apart from the colour. You'll find a few threads on spiral headed thicknessers in this forum just type in CT330X in the search box. This isn't a true spiral or helical head but it does give a superior finish to MOST straight bladed machines. Also; Australian Woodworkig Review did an article back in 2015 on this model, plus a H&F spiral headed machine and the Dewalt 735. The Dewalt just edged its way to the top on the strength of its two speeds but there were other complaints; foremost being the infeed and outfeed tables were optional extras.

If you go for this model do what I did and replace the blades with tungsten carbide straight away. There was a forum member who imported them; "SJ Tools" I think his name or store was? Anyway; you'll find him in the threads if you go through the thicknesser ones I've already mentioned.

Oh; buy a dust extractor as well. It can be a cheap simple one but you've GOT to pull those chips out of the machine or it will bog.