Re: 12" or 16" Jointer /Planer
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I don't believe Hammer offers Tersa but I don't follow the Hammer market.? I'd rather buy higher end used.? Dave
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From: [email protected] on behalf of David Luckensmeyer
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2021 6:10 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [FOG] 12" or 16" Jointer /Planer
Dave:
Good points. Can the Hammer machines even be ordered with Tersa?
Lucky
On 13 Jan 2021, at 9:05 am, David Kumm < davekumm@...> wrote:
You also need to look at the design of the planer when judging what type of blades work best.? Machines that lack chipbreakers and a pressure bar, both near the knives, benefit more with helical heads.? Tersa and straight knives need those more than the shearing
cut of the helical or spiral do.? I'm not sure the Hammer planer has the same design as the 700 or better planers so a Tersa on a 900 or Format is a whole different animal than one on a Hammer.? Dave
Dave you are correct regarding the type of material you mainly use having an effect on finish quality. Say if you had exclusive access to clear, straight grained softwood, or mahogany,
you get a quality better finish from straight knives.
If you are a fine woodworker then even if you are using top quality softwood, you are still going to have to handplane or finish sand for the best surface.?
If you are doing entry level, high volume production work in softwood, and can get good quality wood, I'd go for conventional blades.
If you work with many different woods, hardwoods, highly figured woods, less than perfect grain or knots, regular blades can give you serious tear out. After planing some fiddleback
purple heart, for a small tabletop, with regular knives, I needed to spend the best part of a full week scraping, then sanding the top smooth enough to get a top quality finish.
Not something you want to do when time =money.
Horses for courses, when we're talking about specificity. For many and varied tasks I'd choose a helical cutterhead, for its versatility?
?Hamish.
Hamish - I agree will everything except helical head.?
Too many people say that like it¡¯s a no brainer. ?It¡¯s not. Depending on what your main material is , it might leave a worse finish.?
As fir quickness of setting / changing blades , a Tersa head or similar is 10 to 50 times faster for changeover and doesn¡¯t require a torque wrench.?
Dave
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How serious of a hobbyist are you? Wanting to invest in a Hammer machine makes me think you are either a very serious hobbyist, small scale professional,? or someone with plenty
of money looking for something to spend it on.
If you are serious, yes definitely Hammer, great machine. I would also suggest?that you buy a model with a helical cutterhead. Less fiddly and less time consuming, changing blades
when compared with straight, one piece knives.? Longer blade life with solid carbide.
The newer cutterhead allows you to plane knotty, or seriously figured timber, or long boards that change grain direction several times, without any tear out. This means significantly
less time, effort needed for finishing. I mean light years difference. I cannot emphasise this enough.
If you have the funds I would invest in the 16" model. I have the 12" model. Yes it is rare that I need to plane or thickness a board wider than 12". I do sell my work occasionally,(not
enough to be a full time maker), and there are times when I really need that extra capacity. Having to do a work around, manually increases the labour time unnecessarily, and increases the cost of the job, cuts into your margins.
Hamish
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