Does anyone have experience with the European planer/jointer comination machines. I am thinking along the lines of Minimax and Rojek. They have much shorter tables than dedicated jointers, so I was wondering if that is a drawback for folks. If anyone has a 12″ version, about how much depth do you need to operate the machine in planer mode?
Thanks,
Matt
Replies
There's no question that a long bed is preferable for a jointer.
I have an old Inca and the shortish bed is a problem, but not an insurmountable one.
Usually, one picks a combo machine because of space limitations in your shop. And that problem usually trumps the difficulties with a short bed.
I don't understand the last part of your question -- about the depth you need to operate the machine in planer mode.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
In yahoo there is a Felders group and there is also a Minimax group. A quick google will turn them up.
Matt,
I own a Minimax FS-41 16 inch j/p combo unit, I have had the unit for about 9 months and think it's great. The FS-41 has Tersa knives which can be changed in 3 minutes the unit also has a digital depth indicator on the planner which allows repeatable thickness planning from setup to setup. Change over from function to function takes about 1 minute on the FS-41.
The overall length of the tables is 80 inches, which so far has not been an issue for me (only a hobbiest), but shorter never the less than a dedicated 16" jointer like a Invicta DI-42 which has an overall length of 100".
Edited 9/8/2005 10:33 am ET by BOBABEUI
I have a Hammer A3-31, which is a 12" jointer-planer. I've had it for about six years, and use it a lot. The table length is five feet or so. I make furniture, where I rarely need to joint a board longer than 7 feet or so (that is a long table), and this table length works just fine.
I bought mine after kicking the tires at a trade show. However, I think a better method would have been to visit some other woodworker who has one operating in his shop. You'd get to talk to somebody who runs one, and probably get to operate it too. That would be very informative before you drop several thousand dollars. You could join those Minimax or Felder/Hammer forums, and ask there if there's anybody near you who would like to show off his machine. Or maybe a sales rep could find a customer near you.
Edited 9/8/2005 6:01 pm ET by Buxton
I have a Laguna XSD 310 -- 12" jointer/planer. Its great as a jointer and converts easily to the planer but then resetting it to a jointer again is a royal pain. There is no depth gauge for the planer. I'm in the market for a stand alone planer. I'll never buy another combo!
Norse
Matt - I have the full blown Felder combo with the 16" J/P. I am a hobbiest and primarily build furniture. I would do it again but would go with the separate J/P and slider/shaper combos. You need to be aware that on J/P combos in doing the conversion between operations, you will need to lower the planer table completely and raise it back again to the thickness you want to plane. This must be done to flip the dust collection hood back and forth. If you do not have the electric drive motor option to do so, this will be a real workout with a lot of turns of the handwheel. I got the drive option with the digital thickness readout so this is a very quick and easy operation to perform. Consider this when you purchase.
I would also echo one of the other posters to contact the vendor(s) that you are considering to locate a similar machine in your area and see the machine in operation. I know that I have gotten a number of these type calls and my impression is that most folks are willing to give you the unabashed honest feedback on the machine and the company you are considering.
Steve
My Hammer 12" has a hand crank to raise and lower the planer bed. I don't find it to be a problem. But then my machine is probably a third the price of your 16" Felder, so we've clearly chosen different points on the features-versus-cost curve.
I agree there is a price to pay for features and only wanted to point out that this is a consideration. Turning a handcrank to move the table up and down 10" every time I wanted to change functions wasn't very appealing to me. I just hold a switch and within about 12 seconds or so the movement is complete. Since this changeover is a relatively frequent operation for me, I wanted this convenience. I guess I am just getting lazy in my old age.
Thew,
I asked about the Rojek a while back but have not heard much about it. I think I also posted a discussion here on Knots about it. Let's see if anyone has it now!
By the way people, the names -- just a coincidence...
I have owned a Rojek KPS 300V for about 4 years. It has 3 3.6hp motors and covers 5 functions; tablesaw, shaper, slot mortiser, and the jointer/planer.
The jointer/planer is 12" x 54" long. I regularly cut and joint boards 8' long and it works very well. Like I said, I have had it about 4 years and it's a great machine. The casting and assembley are done in the Czech Republic. The motors are Italian as I believe are the controls. It is well made, very heavy and I have used it quite a bit. The cutter head is 4 knife and the steel in the knives is good quality.
If I were buying again I would buy the same machine with a different sliding table set up. The one I would recommend is a "format" type slider that puts the work closer to the blade. When I bought mine I did not know enough about them to know the difference. Tech Mark is their distributor in the US and they are a very good company to deal with, located in North Little Rock AR
regards
john
I picked up a Robland 310 used recently.
Space is at a PREMIUM in my shop and it was a good
fit for me.
Switching between jobs is a minor inconvenience, but
it has taught me better planning and organization during
my projects such that I move as much wood through each
phase of the milling process as possible to reduce the
number of changes actually required.
The 12" is great for face jointing and the planer has
a considerable amount of depth.
Thank you all for your responses. I do think I will pursue seeing one in action, as I did not fully consider the time to change between machines.
I have a 12" jointer/planer from Andreou Machinery out of New Jersey. I found the company on woodweb.com while surfing machinery dealers. Not sure where this machine is made, but so far it has been a wonderful addition to my shop.
I got the machine for its space-saving features; one combo taking the space of a 6" jointer and 12" planer. The Andreou has 63" long tables, 3 horse single phase motor and came with an add-on mortiser. Change-over from jointing to planing has not been a hassle, since I usually do all the jointing first, then plane to thickness. But it does require lots of elbow grease to lower the planer whenever changing back to the jointing mode. Since I am only a serious hobbiest, and not running a commercial shop, this has not been a problem. But one of those Felders with the power raising feature should would be nice. Maybe later after some luck with the lottery.
Good luck and watch those fingers.
Does anyone have more experience with the new jointer/planer combination machine made by Rikon?
I had come across the Andreou Machinery site as well, but was not able to find out anything else about them. Aside from the [expected] changeover hassle, were there any other negatives about the machine? I'm specifically interested in the build quality, parallelism of the tables, ease of blade change, etc. Needless to say, there are no published comparisons of this machine to the better known alternatives of Minimax, Felder, and the like. Thanks in advance.
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