Thread: thicknesser addvice???

The first thing to realise is that the cheap blades are probably disposable, so choosing on that basis alone is a false economy. The bigger machines usually have blades that can be sharpened many times.

For what it's worth, I have a portable job that I bought from Hare & Forbes and it's fine for me. Very noisy. If I had the cash I'd buy a big heavy sucker with an induction motor but there's other things I'd spend the dough on first.

Do a search on thicknessers, there are hundreds of posts on them.

How much timber are you going to be planing? The bigger units are faster and more durable in the long term, hopefully designed for commercial use and running many cube of timber thru them. The blades are more expensive but they should be resharpenable locally for maybe $20? After a few sharpens they will be worn too much and you need a new set.

I have a Dewalt 733 portable and it works great for home workshop quantities. With wide boards you have to make multiple passes, they will plane 30cm wide OR cut 3mm deep (not both). My shop is a single garage size so having the planer portable is a big plus, it can be stashed under the bench when not in use.

Big workshop and tons of wood - go for the heavy duty unit. It may need 3 phase power as well.
Home workshop, get a portable. The finish is often better with the portable units as the slower feed means more cuts per cm = better finish. (but it takes longer)

Cheers

Ian

what about extra small workshop and tons of wood !... the big machine was what i originaly intended to buy as i will be using for it business ...something like the hare and forbs T-381, T-380a, (which ever is not 3 phase), or any other similar brand , i think most of them are just clones of each other...

Why not a combo jointer/thicknesser. Under a grand, 10" width capacity and great for the home workshop. Do a search on ML-392 and you'll be reading for the rest of the day.

I have the DeWalt 735 which has it's own dust extraction fan. I hooked this up to a 44 gal drum with a filter on top - works a treat.

Jet also have a 13 incher for about $1200 that accepts shaper blades - may be worth checking out.

Gumby
I'm in the same boat as La huerta and looking for both a jointer and thicknesser.

Would you still recommend the ML392 despite all the problems I've read about them? Cos that is my big hang-up at the moment. Hold on and buy a combo or buy a thicknesser now and a plain jointer later. You can get a ryobi/gmc thicknesser for about $400 and a jointer from carbatec for about $600 or so, meanning the cost is much the same for the two options.

Sorry to hijack the thread

Trav

i heard that the ml392 was a real problem but the other 2 machines i mentioned were exellent, i would not even look at a gmc there not worth 2 bob...just thinking , if i get a lenth of timber and it is crapy on both sides will a thicknesser follow these imperfections and copy them to the side being planed, or is it just a matter of running the timber through a few times on bith sides to take out the bumps and than doing a final plane through...

You do need one flat side. The thicknesser squeeses the timber over a short distance - it will not take out twist or large undulations.


If you have the room the general consensus is that two separate machines are the go (except that the people with combo's swear by them ). Also, you can make a sled for the thicknesser that will support a twisted board so you can joint one side in the thicknesser. Not that practical for lots of work tho'. I use wind sticks and the Makita planer to get within mm, then stick em through the thicknesser rough side down, then flip 'em. Works a treat. I would rather use a 10" powerfeed jointer though . LV scrub arrives in 8 sleeps - I will be using that on the next job!

I'd prefer a better thicknesser, but GMC is all the budget will stretch to.

Perhaps I'm better off waiting until I can get a combo. :confused:

Trav

Trav i know how you feel, i was almost going to buy one of the big machines a while ago but just could not come up with the $$$, so back to hand planing for a while, starting to get a little cash together so i will try again, i got a 18 in bandsaw and a 12in tablesaw , both second hand, and both heavy duty, most likely saved about $1700 buying used compared to the same machines new, so i may still continue on that path, you can get a lot of tools for you $$

sounds like a combo is the way to go for me , and i can plane the tapers on table legs after removing the waste with the bandsaw too, my bandsaw resaws 10in so a 10 in combo would be spot on...

As TassieKiwi says .... ya gotta have one flat side!
I've had an 8" jointer and a 12" thicknesser for some years, in fact 3 12" thicknessers, each one succeeding the one before it as they succomb to Ozzie hardwood. I've now splurged on a 15" thicknesser from Carbatec and bought it on the "show special" weekend prior to Sydney WWW.
I'm finding that I now put the crooked boards through the thicknesser on a sled and I'm only using the jointer for crooked edges.
I also found that my 12" thicknessers died of shattered sprocket or melted belt syndrome before I'd needed to sharpen the blades.
Fletty

Originally Posted by Trav

I'd prefer a better thicknesser, but GMC is all the budget will stretch to.

Perhaps I'm better off waiting until I can get a combo. :confused:

Trav

The GMC is an excellent thicknesser for HOME use. I have had mine for a while, abused the crap out of it and it still works very well. At $299 from the Melb WWW show last year, it cannot be beat for what it does. I've put pine, oregon, redgum, jarrah, you name it its gone through it. It has saved hours of handplaning and hours of sharpening plane blades!

Do a search on GMC thicknesser it is the only GMC tool that hasn't had negative feedback, the reason is ,it is identical to the basic units H&F, carbatec and Timbecon are all selling. Its a generic thicknesser, not a GMC design.

If you are using it for home it is more than adequate, you will need to buy the dust chute available from Timbecon for around $50 or make your own for proper dust extraction. Ryobi now makes a model with the builit in outlet for a DC but it is more expensive.

regards

Marios

PS Timbecon has the ML92 combo for $849 at the moment, pretty good value!

For all it's so called problems, the ML 392 is a good machine for the price. The table width alone makes it great value. I don't expect a $2000 machine for $900 so i'm happy. The timber comes through really well, straight and flat. No regrets. I don't think anybody on here has had an issue they haven't solved (although the fence is crap, but as I said, for the price.....)

just read up on some threads for the ml392, mmmm, it's a bit of a worry, and what if it breaks down , it will be quite a challenge getting into the workshop , i don't want to be taking it back and forth to get it repaired, and i need it all the time so if it has a problem i will get behind on my work...at least if i got a gmc at bunnings they are great with warranties , they replace the machines straight away , so no time lost...