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We had a (significantly older) Axminster planer - thicknesser at work where the tables could be pivoted out of the way.
As I remember it, we rarely did - the planer guard was long enough to cover the blades when thicknessing with the table down, which was most of the time.
The table only needed lifting to feed short lengths into the thicknesser, i.e. so short that the table was in the way of feeding the timber. Rotating the table for thicknessing also required a different guard fitting on our machine - it would only be done if a longer piece couldn't be found or if the wood was expensive or in short supply. -
By all accounts it's a very good unit with the big plus of having a helical cutting head.
That said I wouldn't trust the lifting table mechanism either. It will be fine for the first year or two but as with all things like this the more it's used the more slop will increase in the mechanism. It's one more thing to go wrong and waste time calibrating - let's face it a planer that doesn't plane square is a VERY expensive paperweight.
It will cost more but I'd be tempted to get this planer with this thicknesser for the following reasons:
- You can have the two machines running at the same time, or at the least not waste time converting between planer and thicknesser
- Higher capacity thicknesser.
- Easier to calibrate planing plate.
- You can have the two machines running at the same time, or at the least not waste time converting between planer and thicknesser
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MrE
Bobbo
@moocher
one for @bobbo or @Airhead perhaps
looking to upgrade our workshop thicknesser from a metabo one, to possibly this Axminster one.
The strange method of the tables swinging up out of the way to go between planing and thicknessing causes me pause for thought. Need I worry?
Any other suggestions?
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