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Andy Hall
 
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Default DW733 Portable Thicknesser - mini review

On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 17:03:34 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

wrote:

For anyone looking for a full-on planer-thicknesser I bought the
scheppach hms260 about a year ago (after umming and ahhing about a
dewalt and electra-beckum instead) - and found it ideal (I would change
nothing about it) right up to it's maximum dimensions (though 300mm
width would be useful now and again, the price stepis significant).


Nice looking bit of kit... I think a bigger workshop would need to be on
the menu first in my case though! ;-)


Not necessarily.

You can get quite a long way with a 150 or 200mm planer - you don't
necessarily have to have a 300mm one.

For example, a typical 150mm planing machine is only about 550mm or so
deep and can go right against a wall.

I have a 300mm planer/thcknesser on the combination machine, but to be
honest, it's relatively infrequent that I am planing wider boards than
150mm. In the thicknesser, the usual thing is to run more than one
board through to save time.



How do people cope with thicknesser only? Surely the moment you
encounter some bowed boards you're stuck with an irregularity only a
surface planer can remove?


You are right that there are some things a planer will do that a
thicknesser won't, but I find that thicknessers are still very useful in
their own right for all sorts of job.

You can extend their application with a bit of imagination as well - so
things like making a fence that you can clamp boards to prior to passing
the whole thing through the thicknesser will allow square edge
preparation.


I've done this in the past. You can get fairly reasonable results,
although if it's with a wide board held vertically you have to be
rather careful because it will tend to tip sideways. The problem
comes in pushing the fence down and keeping it pushed down if the
piece is long and the temptation for hands to get too close to the
business area.

If you are careful, take time and don't try to push your luck, it can
be done. However, once you've used a planer, you wouldn't want to do
it again :-)

Nevertheless, for a lot of DIY purposes, having just a thicknesser and
being able to buy sawn or CLS timber and prepare to wanted size is a
time, material and cost saver.


Cup and curl are not too diffficult to deal with, but a
seriously bowed/bent board is a more trickey proposition. The answer to
which might be use it for something else, and find more suitable board!



--

..andy