Thread: Best value combo thicknesser jointer

The Scheppach machines are now made in China - and available from Hare& Forbes in Archerfield.
The woodfast machines are also now made in China and also available from Hare and Forbes. Suggest you wait for the wood show in May and have a good compare

when I was an absolute beginner I stumbled across carbatec in auburn nsw and saw all these goodies..... they had a 14 inch sheparch bandsaw in the showroom and i immediatley salivated like a pavlovian dog. I now look at shepparch as a bit of a "30 foot" brand. what I mean is they look great from 30 feet away but when you get close and give it a workover its never quite as good as it looked when you were 30 feet away.

I am dead against pressed steel construction on heavy duty machinary - cast is best IMHO. I understand that shepparch have a three phase line with different livery and a diff name - not sure if its still available but Carbatec did used to carry it.

for the sake of discussion and for instance I reckon the carbatec badged (cloned) varierty of bandsaw that the taiwanese make is far better than the current range of shepparch. if you want name type brands or euro construction (CE compliant) instead of shepparch get a Hammer. then of course if you have cash get felder etc.

woodfast I understand is also just the rebadged gear you get from carbatec or hare and forbes etc... if you go to some of the english mags you can see the same gear in different livery and brand name but its so obviously the same stuff...

I dont know why you think this thread is of real value - its just me spraying shepparch gear... get any book or vid and they will tell you the same thing in the first five pages/minutes.

Originally Posted by Zed

I dont know why you think this thread is of real value - its just me spraying shepparch gear... get any book or vid and they will tell you the same thing in the first five pages/minutes.

Well you've just saved Psych and me from spending $40 on a book that we could be spending on a combo

And i probably won't be getting a Scheppach machine now, although i'll wait to see YeahNah's review (if you haven't converted him).

Originally Posted by Zed

for the sake of discussion and for instance I reckon the carbatec badged (cloned) varierty of bandsaw that the taiwanese make is far better than the current range of shepparch. if you want name type brands or euro construction (CE compliant) instead of shepparch get a Hammer. then of course if you have cash get felder etc.

Interestingly enough the hammers and most of the felders tilt up to access the thicknesser too... surely it can't be too bad of a system?

http://www.felder-group-australia.co.../products.html

you get what you pay for. hammer and felder are high end systems, you expect them to work. mid range and low range is different right ?

I reckon even old felders show wear and tear...

its not my intention to convert anyone - just sharing my own bigoted opinions.

Originally Posted by Zed

this is my machine.

How much for one of these? and where do you get em?

i paid 5.4k retail (inc GST) for mine. I got it from Hanz in Melbourne. dunno if he's still in business. I suggest if you want Holz gear you check the Holz profi webe site and see who ther local distributer is. thats What I had to do 3 or so yrs ago when i was in the market.

FWIW ; I went thru the same processes that you guys are going through now. I splashed out and got what I did becuase I have a personal "buy once, buy well" policy. I've never regretted this policy and enjoy using the machine every time I play with it.

Hmmm, this is very topical for me right now...

My GMC thicknesser just went the way of the dodo - well, it is not completely dead, but certainly trying to die.

I do have a Chinese 6" jointer that has a cast iron fence - but I think that it needs a bit of a recondition too. I got it secondhand. It may just need the belt replaced and maybe a couple of bearings though.

However, when I look at the larger more industrial thicknessers out there - the price difference between that and a jointer thicknesser seems minor - especially given that I could sell an existing tool.http://www.carbatec.com.au/machinery...15-thicknesser

http://www.carbatec.com.au/machinery...r-cabinet-base

http://www.carbatec.com.au/machinery...er-thicknesser

Of course, it is all relative. Now, I know that Derek wasn't fond of the WoodFast - but it looks like a pretty good machine to me - although maybe the Jet is actually a better purchase - but as far as distributors to Tassie goes it is "coming soon"...

I would love to be able to rationalise a Holz Profi - but I just can't right now - it is more than twice as expensive.

Anyway, to me it seems like the Woodfast is not a bad option??

Cheers

Cam

i was in the carabatec shop the other day and the bigger jointers and thicknessers are very solid no nonsense units. you couldnt go wrong with them out of the box. the 12 jointer especially is a very slick unit. to be honest if I get rich i'll buy a dedicated jointer and dedicated thicknesser.

By the sounds of that you would suggest that I get a thicknesser and stick with my jointer for now (after a bit of tuning)?

The one thing there is that my jointer is a 6" unit which means that I can only dress 6" timber (unless the planks are flat).

The thicknesser I like the look of is the 15" thicknesser. Big sturdy thing.

But as I said, for a fairly small amount of money more I could get a 10 or 12" thicknesser and planer combination unit.

Cam

Does anyone actually HAVE either the JET JPT-310 or smaller JPT-260 combo machine??

I'm trying to decide if one of these will be my next upgrade, so looking for feedback from users.

One big decision is whether to splash out on a 3-phase version of the larger JPT-310 (I have an unused 3-ph socket in my shed),or save $1000 and go for the slightly smaller JPT-260. The smaller machine isn't available in 3-phase, so I'd have to get a sparky to put in a 15A point for it (hopefully at a cost <$1000......)

Any user feedback on these combo machines would be muchly appreciated !

Also - has anyone used a ML393?

I see a few old comments, but nothing recent.

Here is one for a good price - if it is worth the money in the first place...

http://www.moonahmachinery.com.au/default.asp?cid=48#

Cheers

Cam

Originally Posted by CameronPotter

Also - has anyone used a ML393?

I see a few old comments, but nothing recent.

Here is one for a good price - if it is worth the money in the first place...

http://www.moonahmachinery.com.au/default.asp?cid=48#

Cheers

Cam

Cam

Seems to be the same Chinwanese design as Sherwood/Timbecon. I suspect the main issues will be which factory it came from what and which shortcuts were employed. I reckon you won't know that unless you kick the tyres

Yeah - I thought that it was the same as the Timbecon - but cheaper.

I know that it might be a risky purchase - thus the questions... I have a table saw from the same dealer and it seems to go nicely.

Originally Posted by jmk89

I reckon you won't know that unless you kick the tyres

...at 320kg+ I reckon that I might break my foot