Mini Max S41 Classic

[James M Ireland]

Hi All,

I'm in the market for a new thickness planer and have been impressed with the euro machines. Although I've been able to find lots of info on the Hammer A3s I haven't read as much about the Mini Max FS machines. Does anyone have a newer Mini Max FS41? What are your thoughts?

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I currently have a 15 year old Delta 8" jointer (DJ-20) which I upgraded to a Byrd head last year and I'm happy with the performance. I also have a DW735 planer, which I wish had more capacity. I'm considering selling the DJ-20 and going with the FS41. The other option would be to keep the Delta and buy a thicknesser only (Mini Max S41 or Hammer A3-41D). I've never needed a jointer wider than my Delta, but could sell the 8" and upgrade to the combo unit for the same out of pocket as just buying the thickness planer. What would you do?

Thanks
James

[Ralph Butts]

Paging Mr. Loza to the blue courtesy phone.

[Erik Loza]

Paging Mr. Loza to the blue courtesy phone.

LOL...

SCM Group doesn't bring in the S41 Classic into the US for the reason that it's a tough sell over here, the market being so heavily saturated with Asian budget-oriented units. I could certainly order one if a customer wanted it, however. We have been selling the bigger S41 Elite-S recently.

Regarding the jointer/planers, I know that there are number of FS41 owners here on SMC and hopefully they'll chime in. Unlike stand-alone planers, we do sell a lot of jointer/planers here in the US. The FS41 Classic (there are actually three FS41's in the Minimax lineup: The Classic, the Elite, and the Elite-S) is identical to the 12" FS30 Classic, just having the wider capacity. Here are a couple of really good videos of the FS30 Classic. The guy in the video explains the rationale for going with a jointer/planer over separates and the Tersa cutterhead, which is standard on the US machines as well. All the info would apply to the FS41 Classic, of course...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM_oDGmOb0g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrJb1CDEGk0

Best,

Erik

[James M Ireland]

Thanks Erik. My dealer in Canada seems to import the Classic line with Tersa head. He could order the Elite S but I gather that it would be a long wait.

I've watched Jord's video but I'm still not sure about a couple things on the FS41 Classic:
1) Does the table lift in one section like the FS41 elite S or in two sections like the FS30 Classic Jord has?
2) Do you have to remove the fence to change from jointing to planing mode on the FS 41 Classic? (The FS41 Elite S doesn't require you to remove the fence as you can see in the youtube videos).
3) Do you find that the jointer beds require adjusting often? The bolts under the tables look like it might not be the easiest to adjust (I'm used to the eccentric cams on my DJ-20).
4) Does the FS41 Classic come with the 4 post support under the thicknesser table or is this only on the FS41 Elite S?

[Erik Loza]

James, please see replies in blue, below...

Hope they help,

Erik


Thanks Erik. My dealer in Canada seems to import the Classic line with Tersa head. He could order the Elite S but I gather that it would be a long wait.

I've watched Jord's video but I'm still not sure about a couple things on the FS41 Classic:
1) Does the table lift in one section like the FS41 elite S or in two sections like the FS30 Classic Jord has? Two sections, just like the FS30 Classic.

2) Do you have to remove the fence to change from jointing to planing mode on the FS 41 Classic? (The FS41 Elite S doesn't require you to remove the fence as you can see in the youtube videos). No, the fence can stay on when you lift the tables. It just has to be pulled forward, toward the operator. Some owners do find it simpler to just remove the entire fence, however. Your choice, really.

3) Do you find that the jointer beds require adjusting often? The bolts under the tables look like it might not be the easiest to adjust (I'm used to the eccentric cams on my DJ-20). No, not really. It would have to be really abusive use to knock them out of alignment. "Normal operation" does not, in my experience, cause them to go out of whack. At least not based on personal experience and on feedback from 10+ years worth of owners.

4) Does the FS41 Classic come with the 4 post support under the thicknesser table or is this only on the FS41 Elite S? Only the Elite-S has the four posts. Standard Elite has two, the Classics have one post. That being said, the single post design is PLENTY strong for this level of machine. It's the same design that has been used for decades on the FS30 and CU300, which are some of MM's best selling machines of all time.

[Peter Kelly]

Thanks Erik. My dealer in Canada seems to import the Classic line with Tersa head. He could order the Elite S but I gather that it would be a long wait.
If the lead times in Canada are too long you could look at the Casadei version of the J/P(s). The "Classic" MiniMax and Casadei machines all come off the same production line at SCM's shops in Rimini.

http://www.canadianwoodworker.com/webstore/wecs.php?store=canadianwood&action=display&target=PFS30
http://www.canadianwoodworker.com/webstore/wecs.php?store=canadianwood&action=display&target=PFS41

[James M Ireland]

Erik,

Thanks. That helps a lot. I think I might try to stretch the budget to the FS41 Elite S and sell my DJ-20 and DW735. I'm not so fussed about the power lift thicknessing table but the parallelogram jointer table is something I've grown to really like on my Delta. If I can't get my budget all the way up to the Elite S I'll probably try for the FS41 Elite.

Peter,

That's great advice. I'll look around at the other options.

[Erik Loza]

Erik,

Thanks. That helps a lot. I think I might try to stretch the budget to the FS41 Elite S and sell my DJ-20 and DW735. I'm not so fussed about the power lift thicknessing table but the parallelogram jointer table is something I've grown to really like on my Delta. If I can't get my budget all the way up to the Elite S I'll probably try for the FS41 Elite.

Peter,

That's great advice. I'll look around at the other options.

James, you can't go wrong with an Elite-S but you won't have any problems adjust the standard FS41 Elite (or Classic, for that matter). Not sure how it is up there but statistically speaking, I sell more FS30's than anything and don't really ever get complaints about them going out of adjustment. In my opinion, adjusting an FS30 or FS41 Classic or standards Elite is much faster and easier than adjusting an FS41 Elite-S, due to the enormous size of that machine. The jointer bed is about 8' long, which I think might be the biggest of any jointer/planer on the market. Yes, someone might be used to adjusting the parallelogram of their benchtop unit but I will tell you that it's a lot more tedious on a machine of that size. I'm not trying to talk anybody out of an Elite-S (my colleage here in the Austin area has one in his shop, in fact...) but if were talking actual performance, there is nothing that the the Elite-S will do that the standard Elite won't, but at several thousand dollars cheaper. Same 4-knife Tersa head, same fence, same motor and drive speeds. Just some food for thought and best of luck in your search.

Erik

[Len Rosenberg]

I just started using a new FS41 Elite, and am thrilled with it so far. It is a major upgrade from my Powermatic 8" jointer. So far I've only jointed and planed hard maple, but it has done a superb job, with almost no adjustment needed out of the crate.

And kudos to Eric Loza for first rate and responsive after sale support. Could not ask for better follow up and assistance......

Cheers,

Len

[James M Ireland]

Thanks for the input Erik and Len.

I think I've settled on the FS41 Elite if it will fit within the budget.

Erik's info about ease of adjusting, along with my dealer telling me that they have only had to adjust one in the entire time they've sold SCM/Mini Max (16 years) made the parallelogram table not so important. The sales manager at our local dealer is down in Los Angeles this week checking out the SCM open house. His pencil was much sharper than the service manager I talked to today so I'll be connecting with him next week to see how the numbers look on the Elite vs the Classic. The classic had a nice promotional discount that I'm hoping the Elite will have as well.