Carbatec 13 inch thicknesser review

[hellofellow]

The depth stop is just a stepped block. A set screw hits up against the steps and prevents the cutter going any lower. If you pull the side panel off you can easily see how it works. I hardly use it.

My thicknesser has now had a lot of timber pass through it and I remain very happy with it.

And how did you find leveling the table?
I can not make it perfectly level, as I said it just sits just below the table regardless of the stop screws ( which just change the angle)?

[mark david]

This in anteresting point you make.
I would be intersted to know if it a true spiral head or is it like their top of the range machines which are not true spiral heads but merely have a spiral groove milled in it.

The 10x8 combination machine I purchased fro them is a true spiral head, the cutters are offset from the axis of the cutter head and shear correctly accross the timber,
I have put a variety of hard timbers throught it including some very wildly figured and very hard Tasmanian blue gum and it is possible to get a finish so good it almost doesnt need sanding.

I have had one of these machines for about 9 months now, for occasional weekend use. I have minimal previous experience with electric thicknesser planers so that should be taken into account in my comments. I have been very happy with the noise levels and general performance of the machine. However, the speil abut the spiral head and that it doesn't affect ornate/twisted figure/grain doesn't really hold true. I have found that if your wood is hard and has very ornate figure this machine will rip chunks out of it like any other simple blade thicknesser. MAYBE a bit less, but still bad. Careful, thin layer thicknesser then drum sander is required. Or else a good hand plane and lots of elbow grease!

A possible maintenance issue concerns the base plate. In mine it is no longer quite flat but has developed small "optical dimples" so it may be a bit lightweight /thin for what I am doing, though I would not think that is hard work.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

The cutting head has a helical/spiral line of rotateable and replaceable tungsten carbide cutters. Is that what you mean?

[asheddie]

I also have this machine. I have found it to be very good but not without some issues. My locking knob doesn't do anything and also found some devastating tear out on hard figured timbers. Apart from this its been very reliable.

[Arron]

I also have this machine.
In comparison to my old H & F T13 - which I guess is its lineal predecessor, I find:

Snipe is about the same (ie bad).
The 'snipe lock' - which is just a carriage lock that some marketing type decided to rename, is close to useless. It appears to only lock the extreme rhs of the carriage - and only weakly.
Dust collection is about the same. There is a 100mm port on the right but there are sufficient restrictions on the exit track that its really just a 50mm port. At least it stops you having to purchase an adaptor.

Those are the cons that disappointed me - I just wanted them on record because I have read reviews of this machine that over-rated the snipe thing.

Generally, though its a good machine. The holy grail for me is a woodworking machine that renders the next step in the processing chain redundant. This machine leaves a surface (on non-figured timber) suffiently smooth that if I take the stock to a drum sander loaded with 240 grit then the sander makes it worse not better. I therefore usually buzz the stock quickly with a ROS fitted with 320 grit, which improves the surface sufficiently to justify the step and because its a fine grit I dont have to worry that its rounding over the edges too much - so I guess the thicknesser is producing a surface finish that is somewhere between 240 and 320 grit. The side to side and end to end difference in stock thickness is usually not more then 0.1 mm - which is good too and better then I was getting out of its predecessor.

Also, its quieter then it predecessor. I sometimes use it without ear protectors which I would never have done with the T13. Idling, its about the same, but under load it doesnt generate that terribly load squeal, which is important in our noise-sensitive neighbourhood.

Cheers
Arron

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Yes, I have had the machine for about a year now. Overall, for a portable machine it gives a great result. I have now had the opportunity to compare some dual cutter machines and I must say that Carbatec has an absolute winner in this machine by comparison. It is quieter and cleaner in its cut - ideal for a weekender like me or a retiree. The finish is so clean that little or no sanding is required, unless you have really twisted grain and nothing that I have seen does that perfectly. I have read on the forum some debate about whether this is a "true" spiral cut machine or not. I don't have the expertise to answer that, but, for the cost and size i do know that it does a great job.

The only thing that would make me part with this machine is a need for a jointer and a space limitation so that a combination machine (with a spiral head) might work better for me at sometime in the future.

Regards

David