Thread: Makita 1806B Planer 170mm cut

The Triton planar attachment does this, it is mounted at 90deg to the benchtop.

Thanks Groggy.

What about this behemoth! A 19kg, "hand held 320mm planer. Yeahright.

Now that's a plane. Can do twice to three times the work in one pass.
In my hands how much damage could I do?
At least it comes with a decent length power lead - 33ft about 10 metres. Obviously designed for your rough cut boards.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Thanks Groggy.

What about this behemoth! A 19kg, "hand held 320mm planer. Yeahright.

I could use one of those to trim the fuzz off the end grain on the bench

Hi all,

the 1806 is a nice machine for freehand jobs, with a very neat finish. But at 15000 rpm i find the speed a bit too much for hardwood. The older Holz Her and Mafell machines turn at around 12000 (albeit with a slightly larger diameter drum), which reduces the chance of blade overheating and early dullness. There is a pedestal construction to be had as an accessory for the 1806 and for the odd stationary job this suffices. But for precision work the adjustable front sole is not quite long enough to securely lay down a large workpiece before feeding it.

The 320 mm planer is no joke, by the way. I believe the story was that Makita Duisburg purchased license rights or teamed up with Maschinenfabrik Fellbach to make this model. Here is the German version, which shows some similarities:

ZH 320 E

There is a pic showing a guy working with it and i've seen one on display, its for real. There are even larger ones than this, operated on three phase power.

greetings

gerhard

Thanks Gerhard, that's exactly the sort of info I was looking for. There's a unit for mounting it upside down, but that won't solve the short toe problem.

Thanks, Brett

I was also interested in this planer.

Does anyone have experience using it for cleaning up and flattening wide slabs?

Yes, Enak, Justinmdf has used it.

Apologies FenceFurniture I have only just seen this thread.

It's a good bit of gear. I have one.

Have you seen the price though?

Makita 1806B | eBay

In regard to using it upside down as a jointer I have not done that. I have used a 150mm Ryobi in that way and it is OK, but you can buy a decent size jointer for less than the cost of the mighty mak and if that was my purpose I would go down the jointer road as you end up with a much longer bed which is superior for straightening timber.

I bought the 1806B for dressing 150/200mm ironbark and it does that well, but you have to keep the blades sharp. As soon as it chatters, you must sharpen the blades.

Give me a phone call if you want more info. You have the number.

Regards
Paul

Great, thanks Bushy! I know what you mean about a bigger bed for less dough, but there's a couple of things going on here. The first is that I have a 5x3m Barn that already has a 3600x800 bench, a second smaller (sanding, rasping, planing) bench, 900mm shelving, 900mm cupboard, 1500mm shelving and a few other bits and pieces. Yeah, I'm kinda short of space.

I'm determined to build my own tools, to my specifications, for my space, for my budget, and for the greatest flexibilty that I can produce.

The first project that I'm working (jusy started really) is the Router & Saw Table (you can see a prototype here). Just about to build it into a box that can be placed on a very low bench, with an MDF sheet in between for laying T_Track to achieve X & Y axis movement of the top box on the base (to accommodate bigger cut or sheet sizes). Enclosed box, prolly with 4-5 inch computer fan. Etc, etc.

Where the planer comes in is that I want to build an interlocking unit for planing and thicknessingthat makes uses of the additional benchspace that the previous table has. Kinda like a massive Festool CMS table if you like, but for 20% of the cost, and more functional (for me).

I'm not even sure if I want to mount it upside down for jointing. I reckon if I have the planer on a little trolley thingy that sits astride the timber (which is clamped on position) to be planed, then it will reference off the bench top, and therefore (assuming the bench is flat) be nicely flat. Flip the timber over and thickness it down. There are some logistics here that I need to work on, but that's the basic principle. Granite would make the best reference top.

I'm perhaps trying to achieve something with a lot of pitfalls, but until I hit the wall this is the plan, and I've hugely been encouraged by the success of even the prototype R&S Table!

All input from all quarters appreciated (think I'll start a WIP thread).

Cheers, FF

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Where the planer comes in is that I want to build an interlocking unit for planing and thicknessingthat makes uses of the additional benchspace that the previous table has. Kinda like a massive Festool CMS table if you like, but for 20% of the cost, and more functional (for me).

I'm not even sure if I want to mount it upside down for jointing. I reckon if I have the planer on a little trolley thingy that sits astride the timber (which is clamped on position) to be planed, then it will reference off the bench top, and therefore (assuming the bench is flat) be nicely flat. Flip the timber over and thickness it down. There are some logistics here that I need to work on, but that's the basic principle. Granite would make the best reference top.

The problem with using a hand held planer upside down in a bench is that the leading sole plate is the one that is adjusted and the rest of the bench isn't going to move with it. I have a small 75mm Ryobi that has attachments so it can be used upside down as you can see in the pics below. I have never used it in this mode

My old 150mm ryobi did have a similar attachment but I made an improvised stand. It was ok but only for small pieces of timber and you had to be aware of the danger as there is no guard as on a jointer. I used a push board made out of an old brickies wooden float so soft hands were well protected from super shap blades.

I could see the 1806 being used on a trolley and I would consider using seal bearings for wheels. Rise and fall would be the main problem, but I am sure it could be done. The soles of the 1806 are 180mm for the front and 305mm for the rear.

I have included a pic of the 1806 next to a 14volt impact driver for reference to give some idea of it's physical size. Incidentally I have no hesitation in using it and I mention this as some have expressed trepidation in other threads. I bought it to plane spottedgum roof rafters, which is similar to the reason I had the Ryobi except those rafters were ironbark.

For these hardwoods I increase the sharpening angle. It makes the blade a little more robust and reduces the tendency for pick up, but not completely in difficult timbers. I have my own sharpening machine so this aspect is not an issue for me.

So in hardwood it is ok so long as you keep up with the sharpening.

I think those larger 12" hand planers are intended for the US market and I think the Makita I looked at was 60Hz. Makita also make a 16" handheld circular saw. I suspect, but don't know for sure, that they are intended for use on log cabin construction where they use softwoods, but in reasonably large dimensions.

Possibly somebody can confirm or deny that this is their intended purpose. I could certainly imagine those tools struggling with hardwoods of any type let alone nuggety Aussies trees.

Regards
Paul

FF

Just some thoughts and pix for your multi purpose table. I used to use a table I made up to house a table saw and table router. I also used to place an entry level (euphemism for cheap) thicknesser on it as required.

I used the thick HMR chipboard commonly used for kitchen benches. I found that it still sagged so I reinforced it with lengths of angle iron down the sides. I recessed the saw and the router into the table. The saw was held in place with suitable countersunk machine screws while the router was held by timber buttons.

This allowed the relatively easy removable of the machines for handheld use.

The second router hole was for the orginal Hitachi router, which finally expired after many years of abuse. I replaced it with the Triton because of the ease of bit changing above the table.

Sorry for the state of the bench. As I don't use it now it has spent some time out in the weather.

I too used saw horses to support the bench. These I made up out of scrap materials. I know I didn't really have to tell you that.

I have posted these pics in case it gives you construction ideas. It might just reinforce what you don't want to do.

Regards
Paul

Good on you Paul, thanks very much for that. I can see that you've gone to some considerable effort, and it's very much appreciated.

What you're showing there is pretty much what I have in mind. Reckon I'll use two sheets of MDF separated by 80-90mm ribs of Spotted Gum to maintain rigidity.

What you say about the front sole being the adjustable one is what is changing my thinking towards the trolley idea. The other nice part of that is that there would be no re-configuration from jointing to thicknessing - just flip the plank over and carry on. It also gives rise to being able to joint/thickness any width of timber that will fit on your bench, presuming that the overlap cuts from the 1806B are ok (can't see why they wouldn't be).

I'll prolly get into trouble for a hijack soon, so I'd be stay schtoom until I start the WIP thread!

Thanks again, FF

FF

It's my pleasure. I seem to remember you doing something similar for me . I hope it is of some help.

If you space the MDF with battens, remember to put sufficient solid material wherever you plan to mount your saw and router. Consider making your battens the same thickness as the mdf and then you can use offcuts where you insert the saw and router

One other comment is that you could provide for two saw positions. One for ripping material while the second was placed for cuttting wide boards. On that bench of mine, the saw position was for ripping, but a saw placed at right angles where the routers are placed could be used for cutting manufactured boards such as chipboard, ply and mdf.

Equally there is no reason why you can't have two router positions and two routers. This allows them to be set up without having to change bits. Only problem is it does require two routers. Normally we tend to go for large routers in table mounted devices anticipating w will be using raised panel bits and the like. However the second router need not be large as it will most likely be used for rounding over and bevelling and similar low load operations. Not hard work for a router.

Regards
Paul