thicknesser advice.....please

[JDarvall]

I'm getting to the point where I want to buy a thicknesser......never had one before......up to now got by with jointer,table saw rips and then by hand plane......money is the biggest issue.......I've got the carpatec catalog out and the cheapest is the 'carba-tec 12-1/2' thicknesser.....$349........

Am I wasting my money if I by this ?..... Does anybody own one of these ?
The next one up is about $800.........

Appreciate any feedback .......thanks

[E. maculata]

G'day Mr Tripper or is that Ripper :eek:
I've got the carbatec 12.5 thicknesser there were 2 models at the time & I bought the CT 317 a few weeks ago after reading about a couple of issues with the alternative model, followed by a search of the forums which confirmed my choice.
It's a good honest machine so far, just multiple light passes with our northern timbers though seems to be the go , otherwise I feel it may have a coronary.
This model is sold elsewhere under many different brands manufacturers model # MB1931B.

[JDarvall]

Thanks E.maculata........ thats the only kind of advice you can trust.........

Might be worth a go then...as long as it works for a little while after purchase.....I suppose,,like everyone else,,,,I get a bit nervious with the cheap stuff........

I noticed 2 pictures over in the catalog the Delta machine boasts that its snipe resistant........My understanding of snipe is that overcut that seems to happen a few inches at the end of your pass...(am I right ?)......it happens sometimes with my de-jointining machine and I'm not always sure why..... ..anyway,,,,,does snipe occur a lot with thicknessers ?

and P.S ......I'm really quite straight you know......Mr Tripper only couple times a year...Mr Ripper everyday(tablesaw).......but I do love appricots

[DarrylF]

The bottom end thicknesser is $299 on show special at the Carbatec stand.

[fletty]

My Carbatec likewise has been a good honest machine but, a word of advice, buy at least 1 spare belt when you buy it. I have lost 2 belts to date and the first is the most spectacular! the belt slides off the ribbed pully, butts into the plastic cover and melts both. There is an early indication ... the smell of hot plastic.
The Carbatec appears to come from the same (Taiwanese?) factory as the Delta but the Delta appears to lock onto all 4 columns to minimise snipe but the Carbatec only locks onto 2.
I have just bought a Carbatec 15" thicknesser but that is because I need the width rather than a lack of confidence in the 12", it is still going, still giving a good result.
Fletty

[JDarvall]

Thanks Fletty........ I didn't know that about the delta....but at over twice the price I wonder how much it improves things ?........ta

[bsrlee]

I -was- going to buy one of the Delta clone thicknessers from Carbates at the WWW Show, but it seems to have been dropped from the 2005 catalog & there were nil on the stand. I can't really afford the full price Delta, so I might be going to get a Ryobi or a GMC.

[SWR]

Bsrlee,

You could do worse things than get the GMC unit. I have had one for about 6 months now and, so far, it has performed faultlessly and not missed a beat. I have given it some nasty timbers to work on (3mm single pass on kauri) and it sails thru all presented so far. There is a stack of very similar/identical machines in the sub $400 range - plenty to choose from. I chose the GMC for a few reasons - 2 year no questions warranty is very hard to beat, the TP2000 has a 2000 watt motor (the best pat of two and three quarters HP) where most of the others have a 1500 watt motor. This, and the fact that basically all of the sub $400 models all appear to come out of the same factory, abeit with a different colour paint (love that sherwood orange!).

I know that there is a little anti GMC sentiment occasionally on the forum, but I believe that there tools are getting better (witness their latest biscuit joiner) and for the part time hobbyist like myself, it's better than having nothing at all.

Only 51 weeks to the working with wood show....


Scott in Peakhurst.

[E. maculata]

I -was- going to buy one of the Delta clone thicknessers from Carbates at the WWW Show, but it seems to have been dropped from the 2005 catalog & there were nil on the stand.
I looked at one (delta clone) at carba-tec in bris a few weeks ago, I think it was the last in stock, and from memory it's the ct-340,That's the one a few of the lads have been fighting with :rolleyes:, the other one under $400 is the ct-317, which is pretty well identical to the ryobi, GMC, sherwood, et al, I paid on the day $295, figured that was as good as gets $$$ wise :)

[JDarvall]

I looked at one (delta clone) at carba-tec in bris a few weeks ago, I think it was the last in stock, and from memory it's the ct-340,That's the one a few of the lads have been fighting with :rolleyes:, the other one under $400 is the ct-317, which is pretty well identical to the ryobi, GMC, sherwood, et al, I paid on the day $295, figured that was as good as gets $$$ wise :)

I'm just about to commit to buying the low priced ct-317 ....... and I'm just a little paranoid with buying anything on the cheap side,,,, so I thought I might just check with you guys just one more time.....

have anyones ct-317 spat the dumby yet ???

ta fellas.....

[arose62]

I bought the Hafco version for $299 at the WW show, but unfortunately haven't been able to give it a real workout yet.

However, the pieces of old, dry, yucky, rubbish-looking (according to SWMBO) wood I've run through it have all come out looking much, much nicer.
As you'd expect.

The blades were parallel out of the box, but the thickness scale was about 1 mm out - no biggy.

Go for it, I say!

Cheers,
Andrew

[JDarvall]

I bought the Hafco version for $299 at the WW show, but unfortunately haven't been able to give it a real workout yet.

However, the pieces of old, dry, yucky, rubbish-looking (according to SWMBO) wood I've run through it have all come out looking much, much nicer.
As you'd expect.

The blades were parallel out of the box, but the thickness scale was about 1 mm out - no biggy.

Go for it, I say!

Cheers,
Andrew

Thanks Andrew for your words........yep, I'm sold on it now
but should it turn out to be a dud, ITS YOUR FAULT !!!!!! :mad: :mad:

nah, kidding of course,,,, should be fine, if not, thats life eh ? ;)

seeya

[J. Stevens]

Has anyone had any experience with the Ryobi unit?
J. Stevens, Brisbane

[dereg]

I am going back about 2 years when I bought a Delta thicknesser from Carbatec in Melbourne.I was going to buy the Carbatec model which looked to me like a Delta clone. The salesman talked me out of buying it because he said that had had trouble with them.
As I say it is some time ago and models may have changed and problems may have been fixed. However I am glad I paid a few hundred dollars extra and bought the Delta because it works very well and has had no problems whatsoever.
regards
Dereg

[Stubchain]

I have a Ryobi thicknesser. For what I'm doing it has worked pretty well, all the timber I have used has come out very parallel. I tried way to get rid of the snipe but gave up because I made things worse. The snipe on my machine is about 50mm from the end and about 0.2mm deep, not much to worry me about.

I did notice a small bit of tear out when trying to take off too much material, I run it now at about 1mm passes or less, I also make a final pass at about 0.25mm, this cleans things up very well no mater what direction the wood is fed in.

I made a jointing jig as well for it. Came out pretty good but will probably not use it much as I'm about 3/4 of the way with my savings for a jointer.

[Barry F]

Hi Stubchain

Would appreciate any details on the jointer jig for the Ryobi

I'm about to buy the Ryobi anti kickback Thicknesser for $395 from Bunny's (The equiv GMC costs $345 however I think the dust collection port and the anti Kickback feature is worth the extra $50 -

Before I buy - does anyone know of a cheaper source for this Ryobi ?

All the Best

Barry

[Redgy]

Mitre 10 were chucking in an extra set of blades as well for $399 total....not cheaper but a better deal.

[jow104]

Check out the stock of replacement blades before you buy a particular brand.

I had a shock here in the UK, 6 month delivery quoted on non resharpenable blades.

[Stubchain]

Hi Barry,

The jig is not complicated. It was just a 1.2 metre x 300mm melemine shelf with a couple of bit of wood screwed to it. I sandwiched in all the strips I wanted to edge joint then ran it through the planer. The wood acted as a bit of a vice. It is only good if you have enough pieces to make it worthwhile.

[martink]

I have the delta 12 inch thicknesser and have flogged the hell out of it, hardwood and softwood. The only problem I have had with it was when I hit a nail:eek: Damn good kit and I'm glad i have spend the money:D

Martin.

[Shannon]

Hi there Apricotripper,

Am starting to look around again at thicknessers, and was wondering if you went ahead with your purchase, and if so how have you found it?
It seems that for the moment - and my needs - this is the size thicknesser I require. Plus there seems to be quite the large $$ jump to the next level.

Appreciate any comments when you have some time.

Cheerio.

[JDarvall]

Hi there Apricotripper,

Am starting to look around again at thicknessers, and was wondering if you went ahead with your purchase, and if so how have you found it?
It seems that for the moment - and my needs - this is the size thicknesser I require. Plus there seems to be quite the large $$ jump to the next level.

Appreciate any comments when you have some time.

Cheerio.

Hi shannon. I couldn't get the carpatec model at the time. They'd run out. Saying that the next shipment was in september. Which means the shipment would now be in. may have a few left.

I didn't wait. I bought that ryobi model talked about earlier, from bunnings, of all places. It seems to working quite well. I don't like the anti-kickback idea though. Feels like it gets in the way. Spose I could pull it off.

It does, however, produce a little snipe over the last couple of inches of your pass. Not too bad. Wish it wasn't there, still its bearable, especially if you do all your final cutting to length AFTER thicknessing, such that you can cut away the snipe.

Important thing I learned recently about the thing when you get one, is to keep the trays well waxed. Surprisingly it can make all the difference. eg. Once the timber I was thicknessing jammed. I blew out all the shavings and dust, greased up the tray with some wet wax. (like that U-beaut stuff) and after that it worked fine.

Goodluck with your decision. :)

[Bodgy]

I've had my Ryobi for about 6 months now, and I've no complaints.

It was accurate out of the box and the only time it hasn't performed was when I put a piece of 250mm board thru and inadventently set the cut to high.

I was told that whilst the GMC, Orange and Carbetech units are identical, the Ryobi is better than GMC due to more rigorous QA.

I paid $399 at Mitre 10 and got maybe $50 freebies in addition.

[keith53]

What about looking at a second-hand "real" thicknesser? Not a toy one. I've got a 15" cast iron unit that's built like a brick sh*thouse. You can find these things at a reasonable price second hand.

Best thing is they're usually so heavily built that a bit of a "tune up" now and then brings them back to new performance wise. I did this to mine a few months ago, following step-by-step Major Panic's excellent article on thicknesser tuning. (Do a search on the forum). I came to the conclusion that it wasn't setup properly when I bought it 10 years ago. Its now better than it was when I got it new and, best of all, no snipe. Only drawback is the 200 kg+ weight. I reckon it'll see me out.

If you've got the room and suitable access, this would be a better long-term choice.

[LineLefty]

Guys, timbecon have a new 8inch combo unit for $499. Only 32kgs so it's pretty light but worth a looksee.

[outback]

Guys, timbecon have a new 8inch combo unit for $499. Only 32kgs so it's pretty light but worth a looksee.


Do they? Really?

[LineLefty]

Yeah, I'm serious, check their website.

[Bodgy]

Timbecon also have the usual suspect 12 inch thicknesser for $319 on special.

If they actually have it in stock and manage to ship this year, its a great buy.

NB, this is the same as all the other (Ryobi etc) just different colour.

[outback]

Yeah, I'm serious, check their website.

I am only questioning stock availability. I have yet to find them carrying anything I want in stock.

[jow104]

Slightly off thread but I have had some pleasing use from my cloned type Planer /thicknesser, I ignored the manual and got thicknessing down to
.. 5.5mm the other day. Boards were around 6" wide by 2ft. long.

So those cloned machines are good value.

(havn't had any snipe for some time either, I usually put my hand under the exit table and just lift the out coming piece very slightly)

[Termite]

(havn't had any snipe for some time either, I usually put my hand under the exit table and just lift the out coming piece very slightly)
Damn, my secret is out. :D
Starting to get a bit cool over there mate.;)

[Auld Bassoon]

I bought a 12 1/2" thicknesser from Timbecon a little over a year ago. It's a standard Chinese clone, but has served well to date.

I've put quite a few metres of varying widths of stock through it, and although there is often some snipe at the end of a board, I cut to size after thicknessing, so it isn't an issue.

I've read a few gripes about Timbecon on this BB, but I must say that I've enjoyed, generally, very good service and delivery from them. However, the thicknesser was a trial: Timbecon shipped it when they said they would, but along the way from WA to Melbourne, the unit was dropped (the case was crushed) and an essential cast iron component was fractured.

I spoke with Timbecon, and they said that they'd sent another unit straight away, and asked me to send the damaged unit back, using their courier account. This I did.

About a week later, the replacement arrived - and guess what? It too had been dropped, and the same casting was broken, albeit on the other side:mad: .

Repeat steps related to first consignment.

This time Timbecon had a "discussion" (I can imagine :eek: ) with the courier company, and the second replacement unit was delivered on a huge pallet, nestling in rose petals (well, perhaps I exaggerate:rolleyes: ). They even threw in a set of replacement knives gratis for my inconvenience :)

My only gripe with the unit is that it upsets the neighbours dog horribly :p

Cheers!

[jow104]

AB, It's a pity you cannot program them to play a rhythm:)

[GregLee]

I have the Ryobi version of the chinese thicknesser. I bought mine second hand from the Ryobi repair centre in Sydney for $150. It came with 3 months warranty and an extra set of blades. Ryobi get a few warranty returns every now and then. Mainly from people who have no idea what they are doing with a thicknesser in the first place. Most of the time it's blunt blades or they don't like the snipe. Ryobi normally have spare blades in stock for $30.

I have pretty much eliminated the snipe with this thicknesser by using a tip mentioned in this forum of using a 300mm Melamine sheet as a throughfeed table. On most hardwood you would be struggling to get more than a 1mm pass. And yes a final .25mm pass seems to be a great way to finish things off.

[Shannon]

Cheers for getting back to me apricotripper - and others - was wondering if you guys know off hand what the model number of the Ryobi is?
I am still thinking that the carbatec version may be the go with their 10% discount coming up, but you never know, bunnies might just have a sale soon as well.

It seems from reading the post and others that they are basically the same unit anyway, except the ryobi has anti kickback.

Cheerio.

[Bodgy]

Mate, if you insist on running dual threads you must monitor them.

See my post in your other entry. $319 from Timbecon is the best going around. Same machine.

[Shannon]

Mate, if you insist on running dual threads you must monitor them.

See my post in your other entry. $319 from Timbecon is the best going around. Same machine.

Bodgy, I am afraid I am missing something, it could be my adled brain, but I trawled through my recent posts, and this is the only thread I could see that I have spoken about thicknessers in. If I have asked for best price in another thread, can you let me know where it is... no sarcasm here, I'm serious.

The only thing I could think of was a reply you sent this arvo that went like this -
Timbecon also have the usual suspect 12 inch thicknesser for $319 on special.
If they actually have it in stock and manage to ship this year, its a great buy.
NB, this is the same as all the other (Ryobi etc) just different colour.

but that was part of this thread, not a duel one???

I'm just after a model number of the ryobi so I can have a look at it is all. I am not that offay with the look of them yet, so do not want to assume that I am looking at the correct one, unless most companies only have one model in the 12" that is, then I understand what is going on a little better.

Cheers from the cunfused punter.

[Sprog]

My only gripe with the unit is that it upsets the neighbours dog horribly :p


That would be a bonus surely :D :D :D

[Bodgy]

Bodgy, I am afraid I am missing something, it could be my adled brain, but I trawled through my recent posts, and this is the only thread I could see that I have spoken about thicknessers in. If I have asked for best price in another thread, can you let me know where it is... no sarcasm here, I'm serious.

The only thing I could think of was a reply you sent this arvo that went like this -
Timbecon also have the usual suspect 12 inch thicknesser for $319 on special.
If they actually have it in stock and manage to ship this year, its a great buy.
NB, this is the same as all the other (Ryobi etc) just different colour.

but that was part of this thread, not a duel one???

I'm just after a model number of the ryobi so I can have a look at it is all. I am not that offay with the look of them yet, so do not want to assume that I am looking at the correct one, unless most companies only have one model in the 12" that is, then I understand what is going on a little better.

Cheers from the cunfused punter.

Shannon, your are correct and I apologise. Just goes to show one should not make posts after dinner and a bottle of red. Sorry.

The thread was very similar and I assumed wrong.

I've only ever seen one Ryobi thicknesser, dont know model #

For the $319 machine go to www.timbecon.com.au (http://www.timbecon.com.au).

Have a look at the 12" thicknessers at Carbetec etc and you'll see they are all suspiciously alike. Inc the GMC and Ryobi.

[barnsey]

The Ryobi is Model # AP13. ;)

If you care to watch the auction houses eg Grays or ebay you will find that they go through there at times.

Ebay have a seller who obviously has the rights to resell the factory refurbished warranty returns. There is one there now and a "buy it now" option at $290.

Please don't bid against me on this one though. :mad: :mad: :mad:

At close on $100 off I'm sure I can get it to dress the 1/3 cu m of red cedar I've got sitting in the racks:D

[Shannon]

Thanks Bodgey,

No worries about the mix up - I'm just glad that my mind had not let me down by not remembering that I'd posted twice:)

Thanks for the link etc.

Barnsey, thanks for the ebay tip - I'll refrain from bidding at the moment. Hope you are successful.

Cheers

[barnsey]

Hi Shannon,

Thanks for keeping your end of the deal - I got it for the $275:D

There are a couple more listed now if you are interested;)

Jamie Barnes

[Shannon]

Congrats Jamie,

I had a squiz at the ebay deal and saw that you were on top of the heap, I might jump back on there in a while and see what is happening.

Happy thicknessing:)

[dreinoga]

Anyone bought the Ozito Thicknesser? From what it looks like it is the same as the Ryobi, with the anti kickback, but at a price of $289 from Bunnings looks like a much better deal.

[Ishin]

Hi...I too have seen the Ozito Thicknesser at Bunnings and note that it seems the same as the Ryobi..even with the anti-kickback feature...apart from the fact that it's a low end machine....why wouldn't I buy this instead of the Ryobi as they appear to be the same???...after all its'a a good $110 cheaper at $285....does anyone have any advice or experience with it or just a general comment as it would be appreciated??