Thread: Sherwood 13 inch Segmented Spiral-Head Thicknesser

Originally Posted by chambezio

I have a 60+ yearold Jeffwood Thicky with conventional 2 blade set up. To reduce snipe my out feed table is a little higher that the machines table. It doesn't totally stop it but reduces the incidents a lot

I used the same approach on my older Sherwood lunchbox thicknesser. It helped reduce the depth of snipe but never came close to eliminating it. This new machine is leaving little sign of snipe on Jarrah and Merbau (haven't trialed softwoods). That is straight out of the box, with no attempt made to alter the infeed and outfeed table heights. The only minor fault I picked up before turning this new machine on, was a small end chip on the cutting edge of 2 out of 26 blades. If they become a later problem, I will switch those blades around to a fresh cutting edge. I also purchased 12 new replacement blades for this machine. All of them look to be in perfect condition.

Stewie;

Thanks Derek....in my experience snipe is something that is not constant. By that I mean that you can run a succession of boards through the machine. Out of a handful of boards snipe may only affect 2. Then the next bunch you put through the snipe may be on most. The way past the problem is make sure the timber is over length so you can remove the affected snipe

Can I say in this opportunity, that I admire your work!!! Its always a pleasure to see your creations

While its nice to have a good machine thicknesser on standby for dressing longer stock closer to final dimension, the use of more traditional tooling still dominates most of my time in the workshop.

Stewie;

Can anyone guess the type of wooden plane I am making.!!! What timber am I using for the main stock.!!!

Stewie;

I'll take a guess. You are making a stock standard bench plane using a veritas wooden plane kit made from a laminated plane stock of pinus radiata

No cigar for that effort Kuffy.

I'll hazard a guess at a fillister or rebate plane? No idea of the timber species though.

On the money Chief Tiff. Moving Fillister Plane. The timber species is Tiger Myrtle. Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle - Highly Prized & Incredibly Rare Available in Slabs, Boards & Much more

Originally Posted by planemaker

no I do not work for Timbecon. I paid full price for this machine, and no discount was offered to shill it to other prospective buyers. If your wanting a tool review, look elsewhere.

Stewie;

I have to ask, why have you posted about the machine.

I'm at post #20 and I'm yet to read anything from Planemaker that can't be found in the sales brochure.


Now I have no objection to "this is my new toy" type of posts, but this thread was pretending to be some sort of review

Shouldn't a hand plane build be under "hand tools - unpowered" rather than "jointers, moulders, thicknesser etc" so it's easier for people to search for later?

Hi Stewie
can you please explain the bit I've bolded

Originally Posted by planemaker

There are a number of design improvements on this new machine that address the causes of snipe. These includes a heavier duty 4 post carriage support, the segmented cutter-head, wider feed rollers, a granite plattern, and a longer and more robust design within the infeed and outfeed tables.

how does a segmented cutter head reduce snipe?

also, in your opening post you appear to have posed a picture of the machine showing it's segmented knives along with two boxes of knives.
Can you please comment on how easy it was to install the knives given that each knife requires two bolts.

are the knives double sided?

and I would appreciate comments on the dust extraction. In the pic you posted of a stick being planed by the machine, there doesn't appear to be any chips coming out of the dust port.
I'm sure others with a possible interest in purchasing the machine would also be interested.

Originally Posted by ian

Hi Stewie
can you please explain the bit I've bolded
how does a segmented cutter head reduce snipe?

also, in your opening post you appear to have posed a picture of the machine showing it's segmented knives along with two boxes of knives.
Can you please comment on how easy it was to install the knives given that each knife requires two bolts.

are the knives double sided?

and I would appreciate comments on the dust extraction. In the pic you posted of a stick being planed by the machine, there doesn't appear to be any chips coming out of the dust port.
I'm sure others with a possible interest in purchasing the machine would also be interested.

Ian; you may want to take a closer look at whats coming out the end of that saw dust extractor chute.

Stewie;

Just to get back to the item at the start of the thread and without diversions to snipe and/or whatever......How good is this thicknesser? Does it work as advertised? How cheap or expensive are the replacement cutters and how long do they last when thicknessing Oz. Hardwood? Snipe is a common problem with many thicknessers, I allow for it, leaving the board over-length when I start thicknessing then dock to size when finished, it's not a problem in my world but it obviously is for other people. If the cutterhead isn't "helical" in cutter positioning, what do we call it? Should it be called "segmented cutter positioning" or something like that?

#Just to get back to the item at the start of the thread and without diversions to snipe.

Excellent advise.

#How good is this thicknesser? Does it work as advertised?

I have not been disappointing by this new machines performance.

#How cheap or expensive are the replacement cutters and how long do they last when thicknessing Oz. Hardwood?

Replacement cutters are $55.00 for a pack of 6. Tungsten Carbide steel. Double sided cutting edge. Should suit Oz hardwoods.

#If the cutterhead isn't "helical" in cutter positioning, what do we call it?

Segmented cutter-head.

regards Stewie;