Thicknesser advice help!

[lewisc]

Hi all! Any advice is welcome.

I need to make a decision about a thicknesser in the next day. It's for a school workshop. We mostly work with Pine, occasionally Jarrah. Some of the projects we make include a foot stool, chopping board and folding chair but nothing that would be wider than 350mm. We have 3phase and a 15amp plug. My budget is $2750. I have been looking at Carbatec and Hafco machines as these fit in my budget.

My questions are:

1. Should I go for a wider (508mm) machine for versatility?

2. Is it worth getting a spiral cutting head?

3. Should I get a 3 phase machine (which limits me to a 508mm machine with no spiral head unless I can wrangle some more $$$)?

4. Are there any other brands as good/better than Carbatec and Hafco for the money?

These are the 2 machines I am considering that fit in the budget:

http://www.carbatec.com.au/carba-tec...cknesser_c2660

http://www.carbatec.com.au/spiral-he...knesser_c20861

Or this Hare and Forbes if I can scrape some more $$$.
http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/W415S

Many thanks for wisdom!

[Evanism]

There is an absolute ton of second hand 3 phase gear for sale in WA. It's like there's a full scale economic collapse occurring.

Try the auction places, such as http://www.gregsonsonline.com.au/

They are selling such thicknessers for $500 to $1000.

Also try http://www.machines4u.com.au/browse/...cknessers-105/ and Gumtree.com.au and the other auction places.

[Albert]

Wider the better ! Spiral, well if you can afford it on the wider model then go for it but I prefer wider than spiral regardless, but this depends on what you do.

3 phase is better. Not sure if it had enough grunt to do anything bigger than 15 inch wide


Why not write up a business case, ask for $25k and buy a SCM L'incincible 630 class....

[fletty]

Hi Lewis,
As you are purchasing on behalf of others I would suggest that warranty will be important in case something goes wrong so I would recommend

• 380mm (15")
• 3 phase
• spiral cutter (the noise level is dramatically lower in your teaching and supervising environment)
• New, generic brand (carbatec, H+F etc)

I have the 15" carbatec which I converted to spiral cutter and it's one of the best things I've ever done.
Yes, it would occasionally be good to be wider BUT it's a good lesson for tomorrow's woodworkers to learn how to design within the capability of the tools they have to hand.
fletty

[lewisc]

Thanks.

I would get the 15" spiral head if it was 3 phase. Does it make that much difference?

Our school is about 9hours from Perth so it's a bit hard to get in and check out the auctions. As much as I would love to go to the auctions, the warranty would be better to have.

[fletty]

The spiral cutter gives, in my opinion, a much better finish especially with wild grain. I had some forest oak that resulted in terrible tear-out with the parallel blade cutters, in fact it was unusable but, with the spiral segmented cutter, i got a beautiful smooth surface ready for sanding.
I think however, that the biggest benefit in a teaching environment will be noise level. You can't carry on a conversation beside the old parallel cutters but you can with spiral!
If your choice was spiral with single phase only, I would take the spiral over 3 phase.
fletty

[lewisc]

I just ordered the Carbatec 15" spiral head. I should have it by Friday. Can't wait!!

Is there much involved with the setup?

[fletty]

On mine the actual machine came fully assembled and 'only' had to be lifted on to the cabinet BUT it is bl**dy heavy and so I hired an hydraulic engine hoist to lift and place it.
I guess your choices are 4 brawny students or you might even find the nearest hire place might do it as a free by for the publicity?
fletty

[dunamis]

We use the spiral head carbatec at our local Mens shed. Been using it for a couple of years and its brilliant. Only just worked out that the head is not parallel to the bed so there's about half mil difference in thickness across the width. Worth checking.

[PaulL]

Dunamis' point about the spiral head not being parallel is very important and apparently quite timely for your delivery.

It is worth researching just what needs to be checked and adjusted and taking some time to do it properly. Only the will you and the users be satisfied with the purchase.

There have recently been good articles in AWR and The Woodworker on how to do the setup.

Paul L

[Zed]

I have the 15 inch carbatec spiral 3hp. goes well. tune it and you are sweet. having said that a higher end machine may be better for schools where rough treatment may be more prevalent by students.

[lewisc]

Sunday will be an exciting day! I've already got a few projects lined up for it. I've been watching a few videos about the spiral heads in the last few days so it should be a smooth setup.

Zed

I have the 15 inch carbatec spiral 3hp. goes well. tune it and you are sweet. having said that a higher end machine may be better for schools where rough treatment may be more prevalent by students.

My students are only allowed to use the scroll saw, disk sander and drill press. I let one of my year 10 boys have a go on the sliding mitre saw but only under direct supervision. It's not worth the risk to let them use the big machines. One-on-one is ok but having a full class can be a riot.

[Ticky]

You will not be disappointed. I have a 15"3hp 240v with straight cutters & it is brilliant. I would convert to spiral in a heartbeat if I could afford it.

I have never found it to be under powered but I tend to take pretty light cuts with my thicknesser & my jointer (12")

Make sure you have a good Dusty hooked up to it.


Steve

[issatree]

Hi lewisc,
I'm not sure, but I think you wood have to take the Spiral Head, as the others a well above the 110 Decibels, which wood not be good for Kids.
We have just received our SH T'nesser, in our Mens Shed & the noise difference is amazing. The small Ryobi nearly drove us crazy, & blunt blades don't help.
I think you should include a Wave Metal Detector, Approx. $100. Finds all the Nails & Stones, before going through the Machine.
Lewis here too.

[dunamis]

I would set a limit on how much they can plane off in one go. For hardwood 2mm max for a full width board is about all you can do. Any more and it will bog down.