Thread: thicknesser advice.....please

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Originally Posted by 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 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 , 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

Originally Posted by E. maculata

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 , 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.....

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

Originally Posted by 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

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

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

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

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.