Advice on machines

Hi guys

After a bit of advice on choosing a surface planer/jointer and a thicknesser

I’ve looked at some pretty ordinary 2 Nd hand stuff, and that helped me decide what I DONT WANT ( toolex 6 inch 😂)

The normal timber I’ll be using will be 60-140 mm x 40-50 mm , occasionally maybe some bottom rails for doors 200-250 x 50

Probably cedar and New Guinea rosewood.

I’ve thought about Sherwood, and hafco, but pretty much all you see for sale is hafco and Sherwood 🤔

Now I’m between Leda and powermatic!

I’m thinking powermatic with that slick shelix cutter head 8 inch jointer ( biggest available here) and the 20 inch thicknesser with same head

Or the Leda 12 inch jointer ( because it’s bigger! Everyone says ‘bigger is better’ it has spiral head but not shelix, and doesn’t do the shear cut like the Byrd, but it is 3 phase!


And their 20 inch thicknesser with same spiral
Does anyone have any experience/ input before I pull the trigger, I’d love to buy once!

Thanks guys

hi mate I'm a professional joiner, the son of a master joiner, so I know a bit.
I bought a carbatec 10" combination machine with the spiral head for use here at home, and am very impressed with it. About the only thing I could fault is it lacks bit of power, but it runs up rosewood an hardwood really nice. Just have to remember it's not a full pro grade machine, and treat it accordingly, but for use here at home it's proven to be excellent.
My shop machines are a 6 foot 8" Jeffwood jointer, and a 15" wadkin bursgreen two speed thicknesser, they are as old as me but still cut beautifully.

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Originally Posted by riverbuilder

hi mate I'm a professional joiner, the son of a master joiner, so I know a bit.
I bought a carbatec 10" combination machine with the spiral head for use here at home, and am very impressed with it. About the only thing I could fault is it lacks bit of power, but it runs up rosewood an hardwood really nice. Just have to remember it's not a full pro grade machine, and treat it accordingly, but for use here at home it's proven to be excellent.
My shop machines are a 6 foot 8" Jeffwood jointer, and a 15" wadkin bursgreen two speed thicknesser, they are as old as me but still cut beautifully.

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Thanks River builder!

Yep I might stay away from ‘hafco’ for a professional operation, mainly because every other jointer for sale seems to be hafco, toolex and the odd Sherwood.

I’m thinking if I spend a bit more ( triple 😂👍🏻) I will hopefully get something I won’t regret every time I use it.

How do you find 8 inch for proper paid work, not hobby work? Is eight inch enough or should I sacrifice a bit of quality in the cutter head and get 4 inches wider, longer tables and three phase power for 2 k more?

I’m kind of leaning towards powermatic thicknesser and 12 inch Leda jointer now, but I’ll need to save up a bit more! 👍🏻😂

Or with your wealth of knowledge will 8 inch powermatic be fine for windows/doors?

Many of the hafco (Hare & Forbes machinery company) machines have exact equipment comparable in the Carbatec line up. I am not sure you're actually reading the tealeaves from a few of the posts above. Personally, in Sydney, given both have B&M stores you can go into and sniff and smell the equipment, and you can go back and harras a sales guy if something goes wrong, I would say they are reasonably even money options. You will however find at the higher end scale that you'll see more Carbatec options than at H&F. I'd start getting a decent wish list prioritised and then you can start looking at the specifics (or getting more feedback here). I don't think there's really much value in jumping between brands, and Powermatic in my opinion has a great reputation but will bring a price, where if you think a Leda jointer will suffice then why not go Leda thicky too?

Many of the options will come down to $$ spent now to save you time later in the process. If you need to joint a 10" wide slab, that's two passes on a 6" or 8" jointer; but it's 1 pass on a 12". Does the time you save there allow you to make another piece, get another piece out the door, or does it just allow you to enjoy your Saturday afternoon a bit more? How often will you be doing that - if you only need it once a week, then that's a long payback! (what I am trying to say here is - many pther people's scenarios aren't going to be directly transportable to your situation, that only you know the details of - so you're not going to get that one post here that will give you all the answers you need, you'll still have to work through the thought processes yourself)

Good luck with it - looking forward to see what you end up with !

Not sure about my wealth of knowledge, but we’ve never had an issue with needing a bigger jointer, worked at a few shoos with big ones and 80% of the time you’re spinning 10” of knives that never actually do any cutting ����♂️, this is an indirect cost which after the in it investment of buying, transport and set up, it also costs more to sharpen longer knives.
If youre only doing the odd bottom rail which is wider than 8”, It would be better to dock it to rough length and put it through the thicknesser a few more times on both sides, easy to flatten a 900 long piece like that, then shoot the edge on the jointer. Personally, I prefer the older solid iron european and English machines, but I am really impressed with the little carbatec combination machine, it is eminently suitable for my use at home, and I can stick it in the barge and take it to site when needed. But, as others have said, the multi edged spiral heads are the go, quieter, and they break the chips up smaller, which helps with extraction, a lot. Good luck ��

Thanks again guys, I’m thinking now with limited space, and most new machines are basically ‘junk’ maybe good condition ‘old’ is The way to go?

I’ve got the chance of a casadei FS 41, 1 owner from new, looked after and still with all original tools and manual. Still got original blades and spare blades. It’s 4 HP 3 phase.

I can have it delivered and down the road fit a shelix head for LESS than that powermatic thicknesser.

I just don’t have the funding to screw up and waste my money on ‘junk’ I basically get one chance to make a smart decision.

Is quality ‘old’ the way to go?

Yes. Definitely.

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Originally Posted by riverbuilder

Yes. Definitely.

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I bit the bullet and paid for the machine today !
$3300 including GST, $330 delivered

This is the machine

New 2017 weldy EX2 Manuel Plastic Welders in Ermington, NSW Price: $2,695

Think it comes Saturday or Monday 🤞

Wow, that's a fantastic piece of machinery. Congratulations.

Kind regards,
Lance

Nice mate, you’ll love it, just keep your fingers clear when lowering those tables! They look heavy. Best of luck.

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Originally Posted by riverbuilder

Nice mate, you’ll love it, just keep your fingers clear when lowering those tables! They look heavy. Best of luck.

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Lol! Absolutely! He says this beast is 560kg! But apparently that’s a good thing as it makes everything more stable and produces a better cut. He’s making me a little video of changing operations etc. real nice guy ! The work he’s done in his shop looks amazing!

Website RST INTERIORS, guy really is a master craftsman

He says the tables are VERY HEAVY! But there is a massive spring and it’s pretty easy and effortless

I’ve got Carpentry and site joinery 31 yrs, working in a workshop with equipment like this zero except a bit as an apprentice 😂

Have you ever seen a guard like that? Segments that you fold over I imagine?

My machine, man was kind enough to do a tutorial, changing operations looks super easy and quick, I do want to retro fit a shelix head down the line when funds allow for it!

Excited 😆
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