“HAFCO” brand opinion request

G’day looking for combination planner/thicknesser with a budget of around $2500/$3000, I see HAFCO combos popping up in my searches quite often - looking for some honest feedback/opinions on the quality of product.

Many thanks,
Jake

Hi Jake , My take on the Hafco stuff is that it comes multiple manufacturers so you need to view/get feedback/test the particular model your interested in.
Until recently I owned a Hafco bench top thicknesser ( T13S ) , this model is/has been sold under a few different brands around the world so I was able read a good amount of reviews before buying it. The unit performed surprising well for it's price ( has since gone up ) , but nothing prepared me for how loud it was.

Thanks Barra,

I’m still trying to feel out the best quality product or bang for buck. As you mentioned with Hafco being made by multiple manufacturers- that would explain the hit-or-Miss type reviews I’ve been seeing.

.. back to the drawing board!

My Men's Shed has the Hafco W611 PT-245S Planer & Thicknesser. We have had it for a few months and apart from the on/off switch being faulty from the get go, it has been very good.

It is 10A where almost all others we looked at were 15A, that may or may not be an issue for you. Nonetheless it works very well, including a few weeks ago some gnarly burl that was as hard as a rock and dry as a bone.

W611 - PT-254S Planer & Thicknesser Combination - Spiral Cutter Head | Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse

The on/off switch was replaced by Hafco, they came out and did the replacement within a day of being informed of it not working.

One thing that irks me, is that the white handle on the right rear (standing at the feed in end and ninth picture in the series) is the one that you turn to move the planer in-feed table up or down. The indicator for just how much or little you are attempting to plane, is on the left rear, but you cannot watch it as you turn the handle. You need to move it a bit, check and so on. Having someone to watch the indicator is a help. This is not a big deal, but is something that could be better, I thought.

All in all, this is the machine that I would purchase if I was in the market for one for home use. It is cheap enough, big enough and certainly powerful enough to do pretty much anything I would need at home. It gets used daily at the Shed, and so far, is looking to be a very good purchase.

The wheel kits that Hafco offer, light and heavy duty are sort of too big for this unit as it is very skinny. We purchased the heavy duty mobile base and cut it, closed it up and it is a dream to move around. A wheel kit is a terrific idea for these as they really are heavy, but so easy to move with this kit and there are no stability issues when fitted to this unit.

W931 - MBW-4 Mobile Base - Heavy Duty | Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse


Mick.

G’day Mick, thanks for the insight mate. It’s funny, I was only thinking today of how I would set up the unit to allow me to move it around my garage - as I’m anticipating a bulky unit. One way or another I’ll have to fit wheels to it.

My concern is spending 3k at the start of getting my business together (I’m a carpenter and have just started going out on my own) and purchasing the wrong unit! I’m trying to gather as much information as possible so I don’t have any buyers regret.

It’s always a hassle getting setup with any business unfortunately - that’s why I’ve turned to you guys for your invaluable advice!

Having had to deal with warranty issues to do with a machine bought from Machinery House, I would suggest trying to buy an older unit of a better brand, if it's the first unit you purchase it will almost certainly be the wrong unit in a couple of months/years. The HAFCO units just aren't up to spec, if you look at the manufacturing of them you will see for yourself, sloppy bearings, plastics sprockets, unreliable tuning methods.

My 2 cents.

Cheers
Ross

I have the Carbatec 10" combination planer and thicknesser with the spiral cutterhead, seriously for the money I cannot fault it. it produces a great finish.

I had te carbatec thicknesser for 7 years of hard use and found that the only issue was the on / off switch. Finally died and purchased the machinery house thicknesser, hasn't had much use the carbatec machine is by far the more robust of the two.

Bit of an update, have found a PT300 Hafco for 2K I’m practically brand new condition. I’m going to pull the trigger on it & get stuck into some work.


W613 - PT-300 Planer & Thicknesser Combination - HSS Blades | Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse

Unfortunately it was damaged upon inspection. Back to the drawing board!