makita 2030 jointer/thicknesser

[kakashi]

As I work in a single car garage, space is always an issue. I've been after a jointer/thicknesser combo for ages as they don't come up to often (particularly Japanese ones).

Having been beaten to the post on a Hitachi p12ra a few days ago, I've since found a Makita 2030 combination machine not far from me.The bloke who has it says the rollers need to be replaced and it needs a general tune up and has offered it to me for $200. I may be able to get the original ones repaired for less than buying replacements but I'm not sure yet.

I'm wondering if this is worth a punt and if anyone here has experience of this machine?

[Yxoc]

Kakashi,
I can't help with advice - I know very little about machines. But I am at the phase where soon it would be very nice to have one or two to do some of the grunt work. I guess a planer/thicknesser would be a first purchase and then (maybe first even) a bandsaw. Is that what others think? The planers and thicknessers that you have been looking at, what size of stock can they handle? I am guessing that price goes up exponentially as the size of stock that the machine can handle goes up linearly?

btw - where do you reside, are you stateside?

Derek

P.S. I am working in a single car garage sized space as well.

[kakashi]

Yes I'm stateside mate.

I'm not big on a workshop full of machinery as I prefer working with hand tools and I'm limited with a 6800x4200 space. The only machines I'm willing to allow room for are jointer/thicknesser and a band saw. Everything else is of the portable type.

The makita will do 300mm wide thicknessing and 150mm wide jointing. Unfortunately both Makita and Hitachi stopped importing these types of machine over here so when they do show up they're either knackered or $$$. I preferred the Hitachi as it was more compact but I was beaten to it.

IIRC, you're in Oz (?) so you may have a better chance of getting a decent combo machine from Japan.

[Chris Hall]

I would steer clear of those older machines. They are only 110v, for one thing, which makes them light duty. And because they are 110v. they scream pretty loudly when running, and they can't take much of a pass, especially with wider boards. The little jointer that comes with them is of limited use, though at least it is mounted to the side. As you noted, most of the ones you'll find are knackered, and this wouldn't be such an issue if parts were available, which they are not, for the most part. You can get rollers recovered, spare drive belts, brushes, that sort of thing. Bearings are likely proprietary.

Makita and Hitachi still make these sorts of combo machines, though they don't export to the US.

Here's the Makita 2035 with 318mm jointer, 318 planer:

2035.jpg (19.59 KiB) Viewed 2702 times

[Yxoc]

so Chris, are the combo machines otherwise a good idea or are they a big compromise over having a dedicated jointer and thicknesser? And do you need a powered dust collection system with these or can a simple bag collection be used in the first instance?
Cheers
Derek

[Chris Hall]

Derek,

I think the side-by-side arrangement of jointer and planer, as in the above-pictured Makita, is a reasonable solution. I would say it is best to avoid the type of machine in which the jointer tables are on top and must be flipped out of the way and the chip hood folded over, like a Hammer A-31 or similar. I think that a 12" jointer is really the minimum useful size for carpentry and furniture work, and a 16, 20 or larger is to be preferred. Whatever size of jointer you have, the planer needs to be at least as wide in capacity.

The amount of chips a planer can spray without collection is impressive. A dust collection system is a must - the only exception I know of is a Dewalt portable planer which has a built in fan so that a plastic bag can be attached directly. Those are lighter duty planers however, and only 12.5" wide. Good to have on a jobsite.

Some jointers can be used without collection, providing there is a hopper or some sort of tray below the machine where the chips can pile up. Some jointers however are designed to work only with dust extraction - like my Martin for instance. If you try to joint wood on it without the dust collector running, the chips soon start spraying out around the cutterhead.

~C

[Jack_Ervin.]

All,
I have a Dewalt DW735 which has a fan as stated above which will extract chips quite effectively. I tried to port them into a 30gal. garbage can thru a collector top but succeeded in filling my shop with chips thru the exhaust port. The shop vac that I have is an industrial Clark and has 2in. hose but will not keep up with the volume. I have resorted to housing it in a friends shop where he has a dust collector that will handle the chips. Before I took it out to his shop, I did some thicknessing outside and spewed chips quiet a way from the planer. Also, it is very noisy. My shop is 12X16 and too small to use it and house a dust collector inside.

This is not intended to be a solution but my experiance and information as to how ineffectively this is for this small of a shop.

jack

[Yxoc]

Thanks for the replies,
Like Kakashi I have a small workspace at the moment and it seems as though even a modest jointer/planer setup will have a large footprint. sigh...

[Chris Hall]

Is there a place in your area where you could take material to have it jointed and planed? When I worked out of my kitchen in Leverett for those couple of years I would take material down the road to a millwork shop and they would help me out, sometimes for free, other times for $20~30.

The only thing with jointing and planing wood is that it should not be assumed that this is best accomplished in one pass. Joint, and plane, let the wood sit a day or more, and joint and plane again. You may have to repeat this process another time or two in some cases. Some pieces of wood, if of known, trusted stability, can be jointed and planed in one go, but anytime you plan to rip off a bunch of material to dimension a board, or will plane down a bunch in dimension, it makes sense to allow time and thickness so that the dimensioning down can be completed in a series of smaller steps instead of one big step.

With woods that have tension and move with every pass of jointing and planing, it is best to set them aside once you know that (hard to do once you have X amount of hours into it). It's also good to have cut spares of each part so as to be ready for this sort of eventuality, and just carry on.

[Yxoc]

Chris,
Until last year I lived in the greater Sydney region and there was definitely workshops nearby at the time that could dimension stock for you. I moved north to a more regional location and haven't been able to find a similar facility in recent searches. I will keep looking as that would be an easy solution in the short term.

Derek