Replies

1. 
   Ricky_Yu | Jun 14, 2003 12:40pm | #1

   You can't go wrong with the bigger machine, especially if you can afford it. While it may be true that the smaller machine will handle the vast majority of your boards, you will be glad you went bigger when you come across those extra wide planks. I'm not familiar with Sedgwick, but it might be the case that the 16" machine sports a longer bed and more powerful motor than the 12" and that could be an important benefit when dressing boards of any width.

2. 
   SgianDubh | Jun 15, 2003 02:44am | #2

   Jim, solid looking machines with a good reputation, although I've not used one myself so can't vouch for Sedgwick. As you're British we can use UK terminology with impunity here, ha, ha and of all the combination  machines out there, the planer/ thicknesser concept makes the most sense. One cutterhead, one motor, smaller footprint, etc.. I've been using them on and off all my working life.

   By using the same cutterhead, automatically thicknessing capacity matches surfacing (jointing)  capacity, which is logical. Buy the widest you can afford and have space for is my advice. The wider machine will allow you to flatten and thickness wider joined up planks to make table tops and cabinet sides, etc..  Occasionally you'll find it useful to flatten wide boards straight from the timber yard too.

   I usually glue up narrower planks to make table tops, etc., out of stock that’s a bit thick to start with, resurface it to get one face flat, and then thickness it to the specified dimension to guarantee as much as possible that parts are true-- a wide and long board can be tough to handle on a big machine of course, but there are usually ways to manage.

   Inevitably you eventually reach the width limitations of your surface planer (jointer) and of your thicknesser. It’s quite common for people to own a narrow surface planer (jointer) and a thicknesser with a much greater capacity. Thicknessers used in their normal manner don’t get panels flat, merely thinner, and both sides parallel—the old, banana in, banana out, just a thinner banana maxim, ha, ha. Panels or planks too wide to handle over your surface planer (jointer) can be got flat by other means prior to thicknessing in a much wider capacity machine, by using using hand tools for one. 

   With a 16” wide planer/ thicknesser you can build up a 32” wide panel from two parts of previously joined, trued and thicknessed narrow stock leaving just one final join line for finessing, with hand planes and scrapers, for example, whereas a machine with a 12” capacity would require three panels and two join lines. Slainte.

   Website                I just didn't like being 'me', so my alter-ego is back, ha, ha.

3. 
   RANGERP75R | Jun 15, 2003 05:44am | #3

   Jim

      If you got the cash, I agree wider is better. I have been eyeing the Sedgwick line in the mag Sgain turned me onto. It is nice looking equipment. If you get it, I would appreciate it if you e-mail or post back as to your observations once you get it up and running.

   Good luck...

   sarge..jt

4. 
   patricks13 | Jun 15, 2003 09:49pm | #4

   I have a 12" jointer, 13" planer and 12" height capacity band saw in my shop. They seem to be a good size for most of the wood I find. I do have a couple of boards that are 24" wide right now but I bought those from an independent mill. Most of the boards I find at the commercial wood dealers tend to be under 12" wide. If you have unlimited funds get the biggest you can find. Personally I am always getting new tools for my shop. I bought a Brown and Sharpe Universal and Tool Cutter Grinder 2 days ago. Paid $150 off E-bay, it came with $300 worth of grinding wheels and it was within driving distance. A great tool for sharpening jointer blades, chisels, plane irons and whatever. I am going to bolt a router to it and make it a mortising machine. Why do I mention this? Because there is always going to be something extra to buy for the shop. I try to gauge my tools to most useful for the money spent. How often are you going to mill boards over 12"? Not very often. Are you going to need more tools in the future? Yes.
5. 
   watkinsjd | Jun 16, 2003 07:23am | #5

   Jim,

   One of the advantages of a wider planner is that you can run more boards through it at the same time without taxing the machine.

   I rarely have material wider than 12 inches to deal with but I frequently plane 2 or 3 boards at the same time to increase production.  If you are planning a lot of 3-6 inch boards this could be a consideration.

1. 
   SgianDubh | Jun 16, 2003 08:28am | #6

   That's only really the case, Doc if the thicknesser has a sectional in-feed roller that can effectively handle the multiple feeding of pieces of varied thicknesses. Sedgwick doesn't claim their machine has such a feed roller in their adverts, although it might, but if their machine did have such a roller, I suspect they'd make a special point of telling us.

   The danger of multiple feeding with most thickness planers is that most of them have a solid (i.e., a single drum) in-feed roller. The feed roller is set just a hair below the circle described by the rotating cutters which remove the marks left by the teeth, and the and chip breaker lifts slightly as the wood passes under it. The roller grips tightest on the thickest piece of wood being passed through. The backward force from the rotating cutterhead is enormous, so if parts of different thicknesses are multi-fed, the thinnest parts are not gripped effectively leaving them liable to being kicked back-- this can happen even if only a single piece is fed, and is most likely to occur if the part is too thin to be gripped by the feed roller. I can personally vouch that kickback from a thicknesser is vicious, especially if it gets you just under the nuts-- my sex life was a bit restricted for nearly a fortnight afterwards, ha, ha.

   The safest way to feed multiple parts through a thicknesser with a single feed roller is one piece at a time, irregardless of the machines actual width capacity. Even parts all previously sawn, or thicknessed in the machine, to a uniform size are more liable to kickback if multi-fed. Slainte.

   Website                I just didn't like being 'me', so my alter-ego is back, ha, ha.

   Edited 6/16/2003 1:30:59 AM ET by Sgian Dubh

   Edited 6/16/2003 6:54:33 AM ET by Sgian Dubh

1. 
   BG | Jun 16, 2003 05:10pm | #7

   Sgain,

   Since we're spending Jim's money, I'm wondering if a wide belt sander wouldn't be of greater utility than an extra wide jointer (16") ..especially as it relates to flattening wide boards that have been glued up? 

   Of course Jim has not indicated what he'd like to build, but I see few pieces of lumber that wide at my wood emporium.  I'm trying to figure out when and where that capacity would get used...except for glued up pieces..

1. 
   SgianDubh | Jun 16, 2003 05:43pm | #9

   BG, A stand alone surface planer with a 16", 20" or greater width capacity is fairly rare, but this is where the planer/thicknesser has some advantage over the stand alone machines. If the manufacturer is offering a 20" thicknessing capability, the surfacing capability almost has to be the same.

   The only exception that I've come across to that in a combination machine is a Japanese tool, maybe Makita, I don't recall, that has a narrow surfacing table off to one side of the thicknessing table. The configuration there I hazily recall was something like a 24" long cutter block with maybe 16"  knives at one end for thicknessing, and 6" long knives at the other for surfacing. I could have that wrong, but I think there was a discussion about one of these machines here recently. Someone had found one for a good price and was looking for information.

   Thickness sanders share the same characteristic as thickness planers-- they're not designed to get planks flat-- so the same maxim applies, banana in, banana, out, just a thinner banana. That's not in any way a criticism of the tools. They're extremely useful, and whilst it's not always critical that solid wood panels are perfectly flat and true, sometimes it does matter, e.g., often a table top can be lived with if it's a bit out, but a cabinet part usually needs to be pretty much spot on to ensure eventual squareness in the cabinet-- e.g., drawers and doors generally won't fit or operate properly in an out of true cabinet. Slainte.Website                I just didn't like being 'me', so my alter-ego is back, ha, ha.

2. 
   RANGERP75R | Jun 16, 2003 05:43pm | #8

   Sgain

      Makes much sense to me. I will probaly never have a planer wide enough to consider running multiple pieces through, but if given the opportunity; I'll pass after absorbing your statement. ha..ha..

   sarge..jt

6. 
   jimgailer | Jun 18, 2003 11:52am | #10

   Thanks for the help everyone. I have placed an order for the 16 inch machine from Axminster power tools (decent discount and free delivery next week).

   Jim (in the UK)

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Jun 18, 2003 07:19pm | #11

   Jim

      How soon before we can set up a schedule to bring our wood by your place to be jointed. Looks like I need to caulk that jon-boat that been sitting out neglected. ha..ha..

   Have fun... and ocassionally, make something to keep the spouse happy also.

   sarge..jt