Bench woodworking machines

[maltaron]

I am thinking of buying a small planer/thicknesser and a 10" saw bench for occasional use. Has anyone any experience of Erbauer and Titan tools (available from Screwfix) They are both quite low priced and I wonder if that means cheap & nasty.

 

[r896neo]

I invested in a planer thicknesser a couple of years ago and was going to buy a bench top one for 200 ish studied all the various options and i have to say they were nearly all crap. The biggest probelm is the fence and lightweight tables, I ended up looking for a few months and buying a 2nd axminster one with cast iron tables and fence for 300. It is awsome and i'm so glad i spent a bit more as i can imagine the benchtop ones are a pain. If you only have 150-200 to spend then just look for the one with the best fence, Definately do not buy one you have seen and touched in person! as for the table saw i'd say the same, look for a decent 2nd hand one or just buy a good hand held circular saw and plenty of clamps.

 

[ellal]

bought an erbauer planer/thicknesser a while back....and after one use returned it. Blades supplied were so bad they pitted on soft wood almost immediately, and was then told that screwfix/b&Q don't stock replacements..I'm sure I could have got them somewhere, but couldn't be bothered with the hassle..

Ended up getting a charnwood W588 (£220 - 8"x6"), and have been happy with it..I'd recommend getting an 8" model instead of the smaller one, as it's more versatile for not that much more.

One thing I would say about the cheaper machines is that unless you have a dust extraction machine, the dust hood/guard seems to get clogged up very quickly. I've ended up making up a small device to keep the microswitch down without it - but don't tell 'elf and safety'...

 

[r896neo]

the extractor problem is true of big machines as well, you can barely use the thicknesser without one