I'm considering buying the Performance Power planer which B&Q sell for
around £120. Has anyone had any experince with this machine?

Can I use this machine to accurately thickness timber by making
multiple passes? And assuming the fence is at an accurate 90 degrees
to the planer bed, will opposite sides always be guaranteed parallel?

Thanks,
Mark.

On 19 Dec 2003 16:18:36 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

I'm considering buying the Performance Power planer which B&Q sell for
around £120. Has anyone had any experince with this machine?

Little benchtop 6" wide surface planer / jointer ? Axminster sell a
similar thing.

Can I use this machine to accurately thickness timber by making
multiple passes?

Not a hope - you'll end up making wedges.

And assuming the fence is at an accurate 90 degrees
to the planer bed,

Bad assumption. On these little jointers, it's also a problem to hold
the timber flat against their tiny fence.

will opposite sides always be guaranteed parallel?

No. Even if they were, it still wouldn't work - you'd just get
lengthwise wedges instead of crossways wedges.


If you're looking to save money by buying rough timber, then buying a
_thicknesser_ is a good idea, but you won't do it with a jointer.

--
Smert' spamionam

On 19 Dec 2003 16:18:36 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

I'm considering buying the Performance Power planer which B&Q sell for
around £120. Has anyone had any experince with this machine?

Can I use this machine to accurately thickness timber by making
multiple passes? And assuming the fence is at an accurate 90 degrees
to the planer bed, will opposite sides always be guaranteed parallel?

Thanks,
Mark.


You really need a thicknesser to do that.

These start at about £300 for a small portable one - e.g. Axminster
CT344.

You can get small combined planer thicknessers starting nearer £400,
e.g. Axminster CCNPT.

However, these are really entry level hobby grade machines so tend to
be limited on capacity and possibly accuracy. It really depends on
how much work you want to do and how accurate is accurate.





..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy Hall wrote in message . ..
On 19 Dec 2003 16:18:36 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

I'm considering buying the Performance Power planer which B&Q sell for
around £120. Has anyone had any experince with this machine?

Can I use this machine to accurately thickness timber by making
multiple passes? And assuming the fence is at an accurate 90 degrees
to the planer bed, will opposite sides always be guaranteed parallel?

Thanks,
Mark.


You really need a thicknesser to do that.

These start at about £300 for a small portable one - e.g. Axminster
CT344.

You can get small combined planer thicknessers starting nearer £400,
e.g. Axminster CCNPT.

However, these are really entry level hobby grade machines so tend to
be limited on capacity and possibly accuracy. It really depends on
how much work you want to do and how accurate is accurate.


Thanks for replying.
The CCNPT looks like it may fit the bill.

In terms of accurate - it has to be bang on - I want to be planing 90
degree edges on my timber - not 89 or 91! Surley even the smallest
tool should be capable of this?

Also, the CCNP spec mentions that it may need a 16amp supply if the
voltage is 'on the low side'. What do they mean by this?
Am I correct in assuming that the machine can be run from a
single-phase domestic supply?

In message , Mark
writes
Andy Hall wrote in message
...
On 19 Dec 2003 16:18:36 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

I'm considering buying the Performance Power planer which B&Q sell for
around £120. Has anyone had any experince with this machine?

Can I use this machine to accurately thickness timber by making
multiple passes? And assuming the fence is at an accurate 90 degrees
to the planer bed, will opposite sides always be guaranteed parallel?

Thanks,
Mark.


You really need a thicknesser to do that.

These start at about £300 for a small portable one - e.g. Axminster
CT344.

You can get small combined planer thicknessers starting nearer £400,
e.g. Axminster CCNPT.

However, these are really entry level hobby grade machines so tend to
be limited on capacity and possibly accuracy. It really depends on
how much work you want to do and how accurate is accurate.


Thanks for replying.
The CCNPT looks like it may fit the bill.

In terms of accurate - it has to be bang on - I want to be planing 90
degree edges on my timber - not 89 or 91! Surley even the smallest
tool should be capable of this?

Surely, this depends on your ability to set it up correctly


Also, the CCNP spec mentions that it may need a 16amp supply if the
voltage is 'on the low side'. What do they mean by this?
Am I correct in assuming that the machine can be run from a
single-phase domestic supply?

--
geoff

On 20 Dec 2003 09:55:51 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

These start at about £300 for a small portable one - e.g. Axminster
CT344.

CT330 is a much better machine than the CT344, and current prices are
barely different. The tables are longer and there's a head lock to
reduce snipe.

Thanks for replying. The CCNPT looks like it may fit the bill.

It's a very good deal for the money, however (like most combined
machines) it's narrower than a dedicated thicknesser. Most of my
boards are between 10" and 13" in width, so this is a feature I really
need.

In terms of accurate - it has to be bang on - I want to be planing 90
degree edges on my timber - not 89 or 91! Surley even the smallest
tool should be capable of this?

The tool may be capable, but you may need a taller fence to hold the
timber square enough.

1 degree accuracy is unusual in woodworking. You'll also need to use
quartersawn timber here, as shrinkage is enough to warp by a degree or
two.

Also, the CCNP spec mentions that it may need a 16amp supply if the
voltage is 'on the low side'. What do they mean by this?

They mean that taking a 10" slice off oak is damned hard work ! If
the voltage is low, then heat lost in the motor is higher for a given
output. This machine is a bargain for the price, but the tables are
bendy and the motor is on the diminutive side. If you're going to be
thrashing it, I wouldn't buy a CCNPT.

Am I correct in assuming that the machine can be run from a
single-phase domestic supply?

Yes. But run a ring main or a heavy gauge radial through your
workshop, not just a string of extension leads to the garden shed.

--
Smert' spamionam

"Mark" wrote in message
m...
Andy Hall wrote in message
. ..
On 19 Dec 2003 16:18:36 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

I'm considering buying the Performance Power planer which B&Q sell for
around £120. Has anyone had any experince with this machine?

Can I use this machine to accurately thickness timber by making
multiple passes? And assuming the fence is at an accurate 90 degrees
to the planer bed, will opposite sides always be guaranteed parallel?

Thanks,
Mark.


You really need a thicknesser to do that.

These start at about £300 for a small portable one - e.g. Axminster
CT344.

You can get small combined planer thicknessers starting nearer £400,
e.g. Axminster CCNPT.

However, these are really entry level hobby grade machines so tend to
be limited on capacity and possibly accuracy. It really depends on
how much work you want to do and how accurate is accurate.


Thanks for replying.
The CCNPT looks like it may fit the bill.

In terms of accurate - it has to be bang on - I want to be planing 90
degree edges on my timber - not 89 or 91! Surley even the smallest
tool should be capable of this?

Also, the CCNP spec mentions that it may need a 16amp supply if the
voltage is 'on the low side'. What do they mean by this?
Am I correct in assuming that the machine can be run from a
single-phase domestic supply?

Classic is to run such things in a shed at the bottom of the garden on the
end of a long length of cable - you'd be amazed what a voltage drop you can
get down a couple of hundred foot of 2.5 T&E !

Andrew

geoff wrote in message ...
In message , Mark
writes
Andy Hall wrote in message
...
On 19 Dec 2003 16:18:36 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

I'm considering buying the Performance Power planer which B&Q sell for
around £120. Has anyone had any experince with this machine?

Can I use this machine to accurately thickness timber by making
multiple passes? And assuming the fence is at an accurate 90 degrees
to the planer bed, will opposite sides always be guaranteed parallel?

Thanks,
Mark.


You really need a thicknesser to do that.

These start at about £300 for a small portable one - e.g. Axminster
CT344.

You can get small combined planer thicknessers starting nearer £400,
e.g. Axminster CCNPT.

However, these are really entry level hobby grade machines so tend to
be limited on capacity and possibly accuracy. It really depends on
how much work you want to do and how accurate is accurate.


Thanks for replying.
The CCNPT looks like it may fit the bill.

In terms of accurate - it has to be bang on - I want to be planing 90
degree edges on my timber - not 89 or 91! Surley even the smallest
tool should be capable of this?

Surely, this depends on your ability to set it up correctly


I would have hoped so...but the suggestion from some seems to be that
no matter how much care you take in setting up and squaring the fence
and beds, you will never get an accurate edge.

Does anyone agree or disagree with this?

On 21 Dec 2003 15:10:38 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:



I would have hoped so...but the suggestion from some seems to be that
no matter how much care you take in setting up and squaring the fence
and beds, you will never get an accurate edge.

Does anyone agree or disagree with this?


The sizes of the fences and the beds play quite a part because if you
can't support the work properly you won't get clean and accurate
results.

Another key factor is how sturdy the mechanics are.

If you look at woodworking machinery in general, you find that as you
move up through the ranges, apart from becoming larger, they become
substantially heavy as a result of the use of cast and machined
components.

If you want something to dabble with and produce some level of result,
then a hobby grade machine may be good enough to do some jobs.
You could then go for a better machine later, accepting that the first
one has been a learning exercise.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy Dingley wrote in message . ..
On 20 Dec 2003 09:55:51 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

These start at about £300 for a small portable one - e.g. Axminster
CT344.

CT330 is a much better machine than the CT344, and current prices are
barely different. The tables are longer and there's a head lock to
reduce snipe.

Thanks for replying. The CCNPT looks like it may fit the bill.

It's a very good deal for the money, however (like most combined
machines) it's narrower than a dedicated thicknesser. Most of my
boards are between 10" and 13" in width, so this is a feature I really
need.

In terms of accurate - it has to be bang on - I want to be planing 90
degree edges on my timber - not 89 or 91! Surley even the smallest
tool should be capable of this?

The tool may be capable, but you may need a taller fence to hold the
timber square enough.

1 degree accuracy is unusual in woodworking. You'll also need to use
quartersawn timber here, as shrinkage is enough to warp by a degree or
two.

Also, the CCNP spec mentions that it may need a 16amp supply if the
voltage is 'on the low side'. What do they mean by this?

They mean that taking a 10" slice off oak is damned hard work ! If
the voltage is low, then heat lost in the motor is higher for a given
output. This machine is a bargain for the price, but the tables are
bendy and the motor is on the diminutive side. If you're going to be
thrashing it, I wouldn't buy a CCNPT.


I certainly won't be thrashing it, but if the tables are 'bendy' then
it's surley useless for even a single one-off use? Or do you mean that
the tables may flex under the weight of e.g. 10" oak?

Am I correct in assuming that the machine can be run from a
single-phase domestic supply?

Yes. But run a ring main or a heavy gauge radial through your
workshop, not just a string of extension leads to the garden shed.

My plan would be to simply plug it into the ring main that serves all
the sockets in my house. Will the machine be constantly tripping the
MCB when the motor starts to struggle?

On 21 Dec 2003 17:53:24 -0800, (Mark)
wrote:

I certainly won't be thrashing it, but if the tables are 'bendy' then
it's surley useless for even a single one-off use? Or do you mean that
the tables may flex under the weight of e.g. 10" oak?

All tables are bendy. They're cantilevers, that's their nature. If you
mean immeasurable movement, spend a couple of grand and get a
Sedgewick.

My 6" jointer is cast iron. The tables on that will sage if you sit on
them, and the fence certainly wobbles. You just have to get used to
using it in a way that doesn't place a heavy side load on the fence.
Obviously this needs a little more care than just slamming the boards
through, so it's not the sort of machine you'd buy as a jungle gym for
your workshop rock-ape.

What's your budget here ? The CCNPT is a bargain for its price, but
if I were buying a combination, for the amount of work I'm going to
give it, I just wouldn't expect to pay less than a grand.

My plan would be to simply plug it into the ring main that serves all
the sockets in my house.

Should be fine. Just avoid voltage drop problems (caused by long thin
radials or extension leads).
--
Klein bottle for rent. Apply within.