Portable spiral cutter Thicknessers

[orraloon]

Evanism,
Thanks for doing the leg work on this. I may even get one now and I suspect some others will too.
Like you I dislike being exploited. The old we charge what we like because we can opertunity is usually short lived and does not do the sellers reputation any good either. I do hope some of the marketing class monitor this forum.
$1.56 whistle a happy tune.
Regards
John

[woodsurfer]

thanks fellow thickie owners, I showed a blade to a mate this morning who is the real deal qualified industrial sharpener,without measuring the blade, he said he can get tungsten 4 sided blades for $30 something for ten, they are standard 12mil , but sounds like carbatec have gone off standard size to suck us in to their product, so Evanism , please advise, cheers rossco

[Pearo]

The replaceable knives are the trauma.

The HSS ones have only two faces, not the regular four. Worse, they are ever so slightly off in size to all standard knives.

They have deliberately made them this way to capture sales. Had I known before purchase, I would never have chosen the machine (Carbatec CT330x). I love the machine, but utterly despise to the core of my soul being held to ransom.

I bought it upon release and CT didn't have any info on the blades at the time. A glance to confirm and they looked "normal"..... But a vernier at a later date proved otherwise.

So, I did research. Deep research. found other American models that are identical, found their carbide replacements no better in price... So let's go find the core manufacturer..... Of to China!

Dredging for ages, I found them. I wrote and can acquire the carbide cutters for only $1.56 each

Yes, you read that right. $1.56. With free postage.

One caveat, you need to buy in multiples of 10. Whoopi Bang! Ah! They will also do significantly better prices for 500 or more.

So, we can see that the 17 middlemen between manufacturer and consumer double through the pricing multiple times.

This thread has reinvigorated my desire to upgrade to carbide as I flipped the HSS blades last week...so, I'll reconfirm all the numbers to ensure 100% and then post the details of the manufacturer.

Evanism, I would be happy to fund a bulk purchase of 500 if we can snare them cheap. I am QLD based but if we can find a way to distribute them to each state as required it would also save a heap on shipping. I also do trips to NSW and VIC on my motorcycle so could always do personal deliveries!

[Chris Parks]

The replaceable knives are the trauma.

The HSS ones have only two faces, not the regular four. Worse, they are ever so slightly off in size to all standard knives.

They have deliberately made them this way to capture sales. Had I known before purchase, I would never have chosen the machine (Carbatec CT330x). I love the machine, but utterly despise to the core of my soul being held to ransom.

I bought it upon release and CT didn't have any info on the blades at the time. A glance to confirm and they looked "normal"..... But a vernier at a later date proved otherwise.

So, I did research. Deep research. found other American models that are identical, found their carbide replacements no better in price... So let's go find the core manufacturer..... Of to China!

Dredging for ages, I found them. I wrote and can acquire the carbide cutters for only $1.56 each

Yes, you read that right. $1.56. With free postage.

One caveat, you need to buy in multiples of 10. Whoopi Bang! Ah! They will also do significantly better prices for 500 or more.

So, we can see that the 17 middlemen between manufacturer and consumer double through the pricing multiple times.

This thread has reinvigorated my desire to upgrade to carbide as I flipped the HSS blades last week...so, I'll reconfirm all the numbers to ensure 100% and then post the details of the manufacturer.

Eavanism, I am confused, easily done I will admit. Has this machine got knives in it or segmented small carbide cutters?

[safari]

I also have the Carbatec thicknesser which I am very happy with. I had a snipe problem to start with but eliminated this after spending a couple of hours getting the infeed and outfeed tables aligned spot on.

I would also be interested in a group buy.

[Evanism]

thanks fellow thickie owners, I showed a blade to a mate this morning who is the real deal qualified industrial sharpener,without measuring the blade, he said he can get tungsten 4 sided blades for $3 something for ten, they are standard 12mil , but sounds like carbatec have gone off standard size to suck us in to their product, so Evanism , please advise, cheers rossco

There is another thread where I covered this, somewhere. Obviously they are 2 sided, not four, but I'd recon your mate would be a better guide than me... My knowledge is only looking for a better supply of an identical item - not expertise!

Care must be exercised, they are not 12mm, which is standard, but something obscene like 12.3 or 12.6mm with two flat sides.

If you can get 10 for $3, I'd recon I'll order 150 on the spot!

For the other commentators, please don't take my findings as any form of guarantee! They might not be right. I'd really love to find that these inserts/cutters (I mistakenly called them knives above) are just "odd" rather than unique ill be happy... But so far after looking at rather mind numbing technical cruft, it is not.

More on the morrow gents (and ladies)

[woodsurfer]

Hi All, my Saw Doctor mate showed me a blade that is common to industrial machines, it is the same size, 14mmby 2mm,also used on router bits now tho ive never seen one, anyway its 4sided tungsten so it will outlast by 5 times but is brittle and will break if hitting a nail, I haven't trial fitted it yet, the RRP is $40 for ten,maybe im missing something but these should be readily available, Cheers Rossco

[woodsurfer]

O.K,upon inspection the C/T blade is 14.3 and the replacement is 14mm.i fitted the one replacement blade. it fits neatly and as all are working(sharp) edges one must register against the ridge , but this works ok.the replacement wasn't new or sharp. I corrected the infeed and outfeed tables and put in a long , through table I always use. the machine worked perfectly and planed a wide redgum floorboard wthout tearout although all blades are dull. wether or not having an unused sharp edge against the ridge will dull it before use I don't know, there is no dot so maybe you could scrape a x or texta dot.there was the faintest track on the board but this may just be a result of uneven torx screw tensioning .cant take any responsibility for unforseen result but it appears that these blades are ok and a saving on the C/T product and longer wearing with tungsten and 4 edges, will post the supplier tomorrow, dont know ATM, Rossco

[Evanism]

Woodsurfer, this is excellent news. I only just came to the shed to look at it.

So, to confirm, you put the FOUR sided 14mm into your Carbatec CT330x?

And you can get 10 carbides for $40?

If so, thats very good as my price isn't, on the big picture, too far off.... and my source is quite exotic (My Mandarin is HIDEOUS)

This might help us: https://www.carbidedepot.com/formulas-insert-d.htm apparently its some sort of international standard... so if we can decrypt exactly what we have then it will help ordering. Its a pretty fancy world in Carbide Inserts!
e

[woodsurfer]

correct Evanism, only one blade ATM, but will purchase a full set from my Saw Doctor mate,thats his retail price so you shouldn't pay more, will get the maufacturer/ distributers IDtomorrow, Rossco.

[woodsurfer]

Looked at the Carbide Depot site, way over my head, just showed the blade to the man and he gave me what looks to be near identical,so must be a common size, Rossco

[woodsurfer]

Looked in the Carb I Tool catalog on line , indexable inserts for router bits, 14x14x2 30 degree angle, box of 10, im going to try them, has anyone else gone down this route? cheers Rossco

[woodsurfer]

I finally got the carb I tool l inserts and fitted them to the machine .I was obvious there would be a problem as they over rotated on the final turn off the torx driver,very slightly,without the flat section against the ridge. Started It up, and the finish had a series of ridges the width of an insert. they could be removed fairly easily with sanding scraping , planning. but more work. The machine was notably quieter with the carbide inserts . So the search goes on for the 2 sided inserts at a reasonable price, any luck anyone? Rossco

[centron-sg1]

Hi, I have the Hafco Woodmaster T-13S and am very happy with it for what I need. Dust extraction is great, very little snipe (eliminated with a simple board across infeed and outfeed) and quite precise adjustments, Very clean cut in all kinds of wood so far, I will note, the cutter heads are only sharp on 2 sides and I do notice a "very" slight depression from the new cutter head edge when I have needed to rotate one. This only lasts for a little while until it dulls a bit inline with all the others, Very easy to change and the spares are not particularly expensive. Plenty power and capability for the hobbyist... Hope this helps....

[woodsurfer]

Hi Centronsq1 thanks for the reply, looked up your machine on line appears similar to the carba tec, although carbatec is not true spiral. the cost of your replacement inserts is even more expensive $69 for 10 or $207 for pack of 3. they appear identical if they are14mm sqr x2mm.I have contacted carb I tool to see I they can source from their euro supplier of inserts,I believe we are paying over premium price ,also the tungsten carbide bits are a better value, Rossco