The journey of a minimax jointer/planer

[mreza Salav]

(It's a long read).

Last time I used my lunch box planer my wife banned me from using it anymore as it is LOUD. I also was thinking of upgrading my 6" jointer. Given that I'm tight on space I decided to get a combo machine. Searching the craigslist I found this 14" Minimax jointer/planer combo in Las Vegas. It is the FS-350 model and comes with TERSA cutter heads (it came with two extra sets of blades).

I was going there anyway for a conference. So after talking to the lady who was selling it I got some more info and decided to buy it. After a LOT of thinking on how to get it to my shop in Canada (given that I live in an apartment in downtown Chicago right now) I thought the best option was to ship it here to Chicago and store it in the storage.

A lot of preparation went into this process, including taking measurements of my 58"x41"x32" storage box, the machine, the quotes of shipping it here, how to crate it, etc etc. I also spoke with Jim Becker as he has an identical machine. I would like to thank Jim here for answering all my odd questions :)

I flew to Vegas last week and instead of spending my money in slot machines and spending my time in casinos, I spent my money on this machine and my time crating it.
Here is the machine in its original place:

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It's beast! the beds are about 72" and it weighs around 800lb. So it was not going to fit in my small storage area. I had decided to take the beds off already. After removing a few wrong bolts i figured how to take the beds off by removing just two bolts. Then got a few sheets of OSB and a bunch of 2x4 and 2x6's and started crating it. I didn't take many photos as i was in a rush to get it done. it took me a lot longer, partly due to the fact that even without the beds moving it up a ramp to the crate wasn't easy. It came with a mobility kit but boy with the beds on I could barely move it and without the beds still was difficult to move it on the ramp.

Here is the photo of it in the crate (partially done).
I made two shelves that were secured on the machine itself and to the crate from the sides to store the beds.
Sorry the photos are bad as I took with my cell phone.

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There was a 4" step from the shop to the drive-way and I was hoping that the truck would back up on the drive way and have his lift-gate just in front of the door so that he could scoop up the crate with the pallet jack.
But once the driver came he said he is not allowed to go on the driveway and I had to take the crate off that 4" step! http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/images/smilies/mad.gif

So there we go, I had to uncrate the machine, take the crate out and put the machine on it (fortunately the floor of the crate was just about the same height as the floor shop, so i could roll the machine on to the crate again).

Anyway, the freight company came again on Wed and picked it up. It arrived this morning to Chicago. Here are a few pics of it in the back ally of our building:

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After about an hour of work I took it out of the crate and onto a dolly I had made and it went off into the storage room (or should I say box). It barely fit with very little room around to store the crate pieces so that next summer when I want to move back to Edmonton I put it back on the crate.

I am hoping I can ship it with our household stuff but I have not figured out yet how to put the crate on the shipping truck as I suppose those moving companies don't have a lift gate. But I'll worry about it once it gets closer to that time. I'll also have to figure out how to get this thing down the basement into my shop. It's even heavier than my sawstop.

Right now I'm happy that the first leg of the journey went smoothly without any damage.

The whole thing might sound crazy but I think I got a good deal on it and it's a way better machine than the typical 8" jointer +15" planer I was going to buy. So it was worth the efforts (so far!) http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Van Huskey]

Great snag! Glad it made the first leg of its trip fine!

BTW I am getting all red Xs, no pics.

[mreza Salav]

Thanks Van. I fixed the photos, it should work now.

[Jeff Monson]

Thats quite a saga you and the j/p have been through so far. It will be worth it when its finally home, thats a great looking machine.

[John Morrison60]

Mreza
Congratulations, you will love using that machine.
I found an fs30 (12 inch J/P) on CL, and found myself self-shipping
with a 450 mile road trip in a truck with a small trailer.
I also had to take it down to my basement shop.
I made a "sled" out of a 2x3 piece of ply, and a guide rail with a
2x10. That worked good to go down stairs. but the lift through a
doorway still required some extensive muscle.

Good Luck

John

[michael case]

You could store it in my shop!

[Van Huskey]

Thanks Van. I fixed the photos, it should work now.

Yep, and she sure looks "purty"!

[David Hawxhurst]

I am hoping I can ship it with our household stuff but I have not figured out yet how to put the crate on the shipping truck as I suppose those moving companies don't have a lift gate. But I'll worry about it once it gets closer to that time. I'll also have to figure out how to get this thing down the basement into my shop. It's even heavier than my sawstop.

Right now I'm happy that the first leg of the journey went smoothly without any damage.



you should have no problem shipping it with your household goods. just be sure to let them know in advance that you have a 800lb machine. i've moved some heavy machinery every time i move. movers are not always happy about it but they move it. the machines have made it threw the moves better than some of the household goods.

[mreza Salav]

Thanks. It's quite a wait until I get it to my shop and start using it! ;)

[Van Huskey]

I wouldn't think shipping with household items would be an issue either. Some of the large "commercial" type fridges like Sub Zero are of similar weight. We had a SZ Pro 48 in our last house which I think was over 900 pounds, so I would guess miving companies have to deal with such items on a regular basis.

[Ruhi Arslan]

you should have no problem shipping it with your household goods. just be sure to let them know in advance that you have a 800lb machine. i've moved some heavy machinery every time i move. movers are not always happy about it but they move it. the machines have made it threw the moves better than some of the household goods.
Not to sound pessimistic but make sure to have a phone numbers for alternative heavy equipment/safe mover company numbers handy when your household being loaded/unloaded. I had a safe weighing 800lb when I moved from San Diego to NJ. Although both loading crew and unloading crew knew (I verified twice with corresponding parties each time) I had a safe, they showed up with nothing to handle it. To load they used brute force but unloaders looked like Home Depot parking lot pick-up crew (they didn't know each other's names) so I didn't allow them to do what they wanted to do; sliding it down the ramp. I ended up begging a safe mover to come right away, costing me $500 extra.

Congratulations on the purchase, btw.

[Greg Portland]

Have it written into the contract that they have a liftgate on their truck. This will eliminate problems that Ruhi had. Also, go over the damage insurance with a fine tooth comb. By default they only pay up to a certain $/lb (~a few hundred dollars for that J/P). Full coverage will cost quite a bit extra.

[mreza Salav]

I'll ask for a lift-gate. That way, I will put it in its crate again.
If that's not doable, I might take a few more pieces off (like the planer bed and motor) and put them into smaller boxes that are individually manageable by a couple of guys.

[Gary Curtis]

My table saw (sliding table) was easily shipped 640 miles to my new home near the Oregon border. I worked for FedEx, and so the shipping came at a 75% employee discount.

When you contract for the shipping, ask for:

a) a lift gate truck
b) a pallet jack

There usually is about a $25 charge for each of these conveniences.

My saw weighed just over 700lbs in the crate. It was no problem for a single FedEx driver to handle it. We chatted, and he told me he does at least one of these heavy machine transports every week.

Don't approach this challenge like a naive consumer. Call a local machine dealer and ask who does their shipping. They might be able to piggy-back your SMC onto another truckload going to the same place.

My Festool dealer has the same Jointer/Planer you purchased. You will be pleased with the work it does.

Gary Curtis

[Jim Becker]

Congratulations, M! I'm glad you got it out of Sin City and resting in Chicago.

You should be able to get your crate taken by your movers. It's their job to worry about getting it on the truck and trust me, those folks know how to deal with heavy things. In this case, probably either with a pallet truck or that first and a couple dollies under it to role it up a ramp. But Gary's suggestion to ask around about equipment shippers is a good one. Just be sure to disclose that it has to transit to Canada...it definitely changes the dynamic. If it can go with the furniture, it's one less thing to deal with separately in that respect.

[mreza Salav]

Here is part two of this thread:

We moved back from Chicago to Edmonton in June. The day before movers came I took out the pieces of the J/P from the little storage I had stored it in (it went in with no space left around!) and started crating it in the receiving area of the building; I had arranged for a pallet jack/lift-gate truck to pick it up but when they came it was a box-truck with a long ramp. So it took 5 big guys to tilt the crate to put dollys under it and roll it up the ramp; I was glad I had secured everything inside as tilting the crate about 40 degree would have been disastrous (sorry for the bad quality photos, my cell phone is old/crappy):

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Here is the thing still on the truck at destination, we opened up the crate and loaded it on to the big cart/dolly I had made and then in our garage:
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I started removing other pieces (planer bed and the motor) to lighten it up. I have removed the motor and the planer bed too, plus the thick column below the planer bed:

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Basically I opened it up to its bare bone but even just the base itself was way too heavy. Hired two guys (plus the help of myself) to get it down the basement. Will worry about how to get it out of there later! Even with all the pieces removed it was still very heavy.
Here is just the base with the jointer bed, planer bed, motor, cutter head assembly, etc all removed but in the shop:

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I started assembling pieces back together, with the cutter-head and planer bed:

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continued...

[mreza Salav]

Then the motor and belts/chains. It was nice too see the belts are made in Germany
(the machine itself is made in Italy).
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And finally the jointer beds and fence:

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It's a very well-built machine and a little bit too heavy for my like (hard to move it with it's mobility kit). Fired it up and runs nicely.
The only thing I haven't figured out yet is: the dust chutes are 120mm and I got 120mm to 5" reducers with the machine but installing them isn't trivial as those
pieces get in the way of each other, unless I don't close the planer chute completely. It's a minor issue though.
Have to set up my cyclone too and do a bit of electrical work to have the J/P and the cyclone running. Then redo the duct work, etc. Lots of work to be done yet but at least
this beast is in its place.

[Mike Heidrick]

Congrats on the beauty.

A nice spiral pipe drop and a section of flex to allow for changeover and you will be perfect.

I found the ruber couplings sold in the plumbing isle make quick connect fittings for 120MM to flex easy.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have a SCM 520S planer with a Tersa head, and one of the things I love about it is the noise level. It is quiet! With it running you can talk in a normal tone standing right next to it, and even when planing it is quiet as long as the knives are sharp.

Very nice machine, congrats......

Next new machine in my shop will be an F1.

Larry

[Jim Becker]

Hey...looks just like mine!! (Except for the "pork chop" guard...I bought a Euro guard for mine-- and the fact that your's is MUCH cleaner. LOL) Congratulations on finally getting that beautiful machine home and ready to rock 'n roll in your shop!

[mreza Salav]

Thanks Jim.

Since then I have added a remote digital read out for height adjustment to the planer. Used it a bit today (still haven't setup my cyclone). It's a great machine and the chips it spews out are huge!