Thread: Sherwood 13inch Benchtop Thicknesser with Helical Head

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd post a review after a few months of regularly using my new thicknesser. There's very little online about these machines so thought I'd post a review and that it might help others in making a decision.

I won't go into a huge amount of detail on the specs as this can all be found online, will mostly be my thoughts about the unit itself.

The first thing I'll say about this unit is despite it being a benchtop machine, it's heavy and feels really solid and well built. I don't have it permanently set up in my shed so I make sure when I get it onto the bench I'm running a lot of timber through it to save me having to lift it out again!

As usual with these machines, the infeed and outfeed tables aren't great, they're easily adjusted and I've got them about as good as I think they can be. The plan in future for me would be to have the thicknesser permanently set up and build my own infeed and outfeed tables. But for now, they're ok.

The depth guide is really accurate and consistent, no issues to report with it.

The quality of the cut made is seriously excellent. I typically make boxes, chopping boards and some furniture items and my most recent grazing board (silky oak and myrtle) I'm making for someone went through in just one pass and the finish on the board is so good it barely needs sanding. It's excellent and hasn't struggled with any wood varietes I've thrown at it.

SNIPE - Well, it's not too bad. I find that either holding the timber up whilst feeding it in, or feeding it through at an angle pretty much eliminates any snipe. YMMV but with some adjustments and careful infeeding the snipe is practically non existent.

Overall, definitely recommend this machine to any DIYer or weekend warrior like myself, it's an excellent unit. You definitely need a dust extractor though

Feel free to ask me any questions.