Thread: Got The Thicknesser !!!

Originally Posted by la Huerta

just picked up my new gmc thicknesser...i'm a bit exited as i have never had a thicknesser before, so could anyone give me some addvice on anything that i should do or know before i begin...

I'm in the same position Senor, except I got a Ryobi - they threw in a workbench and a roller stand - but I beleive all the 'value' thicknessers come from the same factory.

Nervous about stuffing the thing up, so any advice welcome. Its unpacked, but as yet unthreatened by fibrous organic matter.

Bodgy

Sounds like me after last year's WWW show. My suggestion: switch it on and feed a piece through. Admire the shiny new surface.

My Ryoby was ready to go pretty much out of the box: just screw the handle and dust chute on, and away you go.

I'm going to make a DC port before I use mine in anger. See

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=18415

and

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=15661

What sort of money are the gmc priced at? Regards AL

Originally Posted by 46150

What sort of money are the gmc priced at? Regards AL

When I was looking the GMC was around $360 at Bunnies. I got the Ryobi at Mitre 10 for $399 with a cheaps**t workbench and quite a good roller feed stand chucked in. It was a special but they still had some last time I was there.

Bodgy

I bought my thicknesser at the Sydney show, but due to a busted shoulder, haven't been able to use it until now.

My approach was to grab the grottiest, oldest, most forlorn looking bits of free timber I could find (fence posts, or bits of pallet from factories), and run them through. Then, look at the new timber and estimate how much it would have cost you to buy. Pat thicknesser on the head, and thank it for saving you the money.

I even took before-and-after pics, in case you think I'm not really suffering from "Kid With A New Toy" syndrome.

As for advice:
1) don't stand directly in line with the timber being fed in. If the blades do catch and fling it out (particularly with smaller bits), the wood can puncture you as effectively as a bullet. There's a thread on here where a member who's an ambo (I think), tells of having to treat this injury.

2) If you do get a nick in the blades, grind a millimetre or two off the end of one blade, and move it across so the nicks in all the blades don't line up any more.

3) Use a DC if indoors.

4) Search for Major Panic's post on setting up a thicknesser, if you want it really accurate.

Pics are: Before-and-after, and a close-up.
Can anyone identify what species my board is?
Any suggestions of what to make from it?

Cheers,
Andrew

1) Read the manual, and find out how many turns of the handle to advance 1 mm, or how many mm a full turn changes the thickness.

Put this on the thicknesser somewhere, until it's lodged in your memory.

2) Be prepared for the leading and trailing edges of the piece of wood to be "scalloped" a bit more deeply ("Snipe"). You can tune the machine to reduce this, if it's happening, or you can thickness, then dock the ends off.

Cheers,
Andrew
Member #3 of the "I've just got a thicknesser" Club.

(5) Find a use for SACKS full of planer shavings, well if you are going to run a couple of hundred meters of wall pannelling any time

ian

Originally Posted by Bodgy

I'm in the same position Senor, except I got a Ryobi - they threw in a workbench and a roller stand - but I beleive all the 'value' thicknessers come from the same factory.

Nervous about stuffing the thing up, so any advice welcome. Its unpacked, but as yet unthreatened by fibrous organic matter.

Bodgy

I got a Ryobi one a week ago. Quite amazed with it. I sent a 3 metre long piece of hardwood 2x4" through it and it worked fine. Because at a glance it still looks a bit like a toy. Have noticed a little snipe though an inch or two near end. That doesn't bother me though.

I bought a Ryobi AP13 planer thicknesser about 16 months ago, locally. After the usual shopping around.

There a quite a number of identical machines with different paintwork and badges, including Morgan, Cobra, Carbatec and a couple of others I can't remember.

I've been very pleased with mine. The first major job was recycling some 100 year old NZ Kauri t&g flooring which had been covered with layers of paving paint. (Probably lead based).

Anyway I thought I needed new blades about a month ago because some soft damp pinus was coming through a bit furry. They've arrived (NZ$45), and lo and behold they are double sided, and if you look in the manual (the Ryobi one anyway) page 5 and 6 where they deal with removing and installing the blades, the diagram shows double sided blades, but does not mention the fact in the text!!!!

If you look at the thread "Ryobi AP13 thicknesser sharpening" you will see
that I raised the question of sharpening. There was a very useful reply from "Ashore" who supplied a sketch of a jig to help the process.

All this is pretty academic fo me at the moment until SWMBO gives me a reprieve from long overdue garden maintenance.

Sorting out the Ryobi's blades is the next job (I hope).

By the way I was in the Carbatec showroom in Auckland this afternoon, and while looking at the Carbatec version of the same (we were talking about dust collection) the guy said that keeping the rollers clean is vital. Failure to do so results in the out-feed roller not feeding properly.

Cheers,

Rob

I got this 15 inch thicknesser it works a treat

Originally Posted by Ian007

I got this 15 inch thicknesser it works a treat

Wowzers! Didn't know GMC made machines that big! How much that set ya back?

Originally Posted by Bodgy

I'm in the same position Senor, except I got a Ryobi - they threw in a workbench and a roller stand - but I beleive all the 'value' thicknessers come from the same factory.

Nervous about stuffing the thing up, so any advice welcome. Its unpacked, but as yet unthreatened by fibrous organic matter.

Bodgy

You could start by checking the knives are sharp by running your arm through the thing. If it neatly takes the hairs off your arm its sharp...if it wrenches your arm off the knives need dressing.

Originally Posted by zenwood

Wowzers! Didn't know GMC made machines that big! How much that set ya back?

Thats what I was thinking.

But your really going to have to do something about that floor ...... just too clean. IMO.

CRICKEY!!! what fun this gmc thicknesser is , ran a couple of lenths of oregon through and it came up looking like new timber, i only cut to about 1mm max , so ran each side through a few times untill i was happy with the thickness, i got a ryobi metal detector too so i won't reck the blades, wise investment!...the gmc will save me hours and hours and hours and hours of hand planing, no offence to you hand plane lovers but MACHINES RULE!