Thicknesser advice

[BMKal]

I have the H&F thicknesser with the straight knife blades. Was not a smart purchase. A set (pair) of knife blades does not last very long at all and, even using the sharpening jig I have made, the blades are quite difficult to sharpen because they are so thin. I mainly use it on pine and pallet wood - doubt it would be any good at all on something like jarrah. Have been thinking of replacing it for a while now.
Until reading this thread, I was thinking of buying a Sherwood, but now the DeWalt is also on my shopping list (probably at the top of the list now).
Agree with the comment about the noise of the H&F - have had comments from the neighbor 2 doors up the street when I run it. Because my shed is open on one side, the entire neighborhood knows when I am using this machine.

A good dust extractor is a must. I have a Sherwood portable unit but that is too small for using with the thicknesser. I have recently installed a larger 2hp dust extraction unit with a large cyclone on a 44 gallon drum. That works much better, but I have even managed to "bog" the cyclone when feeding pine through the thicknesser.

[EagerBeaver71]

Other considerations,

I believe Timbecon have released an updated version of their 13" deluxe thicknesser, to overcome a few gremlins.

If you plan on using figured woods a true spiral cutter head offers far superior results.

What have they updated?.

[Hodgo]

I have the H&F thicknesser with the straight knife blades. Was not a smart purchase. A set (pair) of knife blades does not last very long at all and, even using the sharpening jig I have made, the blades are quite difficult to sharpen because they are so thin. I mainly use it on pine and pallet wood - doubt it would be any good at all on something like jarrah. Have been thinking of replacing it for a while now.
Until reading this thread, I was thinking of buying a Sherwood, but now the DeWalt is also on my shopping list (probably at the top of the list now).
Agree with the comment about the noise of the H&F - have had comments from the neighbor 2 doors up the street when I run it. Because my shed is open on one side, the entire neighborhood knows when I am using this machine.

A good dust extractor is a must. I have a Sherwood portable unit but that is too small for using with the thicknesser. I have recently installed a larger 2hp dust extraction unit with a large cyclone on a 44 gallon drum. That works much better, but I have even managed to "bog" the cyclone when feeding pine through the thicknesser.

I have heard that some dust extractors cant keep up with the DW built in blower resulting in clogging and possible overheating

[Treecycle]

The good thing about Thicknessers with a segmented head is they are less likely to clog as the chips are very small compared to straight blades where the chips can be quite long if you are machining wide boards. The long chips can bridge the opening of the dust extraction hood as a lot of the hood outlets are only 50 dia and have an adaptor to take your 100mm extractor hose. This is more prevalent when using small dust extractors or vacuum cleaners as the airflow volume is quite low and once the port gets a few chips bridging it the others will just bunch up behind them causing a complete blockage.

[EagerBeaver71]

I was using my shop vac for a while to collect the chips. Then I decided to try my 2hp Carbatec Dust Collector, the results are night and day, apart from collecting a huge amount more, you're not having to empty the blasted shop vac every 5 mins!.

[truckjohn]

As others have noted - dust collection has to be a key part of the discussion. These things generate a MOUNTAIN of chips/dust, and that will absolutely overwhelm some systems, thus causing damage to your thicknesser.

One other option for a thicknesser is a drum sander. I run a Jet 22/44, and I love it. The finish is 60-80 grit sanded straight off the unit. When set correctly, these things sand flat and true. Thin/narrow stock is never a problem. 1.5 mm veneer is not a problem. Neither high figure, not burl are a problem... I think their one problem is sappy wood. The sap can stick to the sanding belt, and clog it, causing burnt wood and ruined sanding belts. I have seen this cause issues with blade thicknesser units, though. The ONE caveat is that you absolutely cannot run one of these without good dust collection.