Roger Floyd
08-29-2017, 3:38 AM
My first post here but many of you have been invaluable to my understanding of jointer planer combo machines.
A special thanks to Jim Becker and Erik Loza for sharing your Minimax expertise.
It all started last year when I needed to joint, surface and Resaw some wide rough 8/4 Afromosia boards. For this I had to use a friend's shop and pay him some shop hours. He had a Grizzly 12" combo machine with the helical head. It was the first time I'd seen one and despite the indifferent opinions I have read here I was rather impressed. So when more projects started coming my way that needed that capacity I started exploring my options.
This is where I learned about the highly regarded Minimax and Tersa heads but I was really sold on the helical head technology. The Jet JJP 12HH looked better than Grizzly and the Hammer A3-31 even better. I considered the Hammer and might have stretched for that if people I met hadn't said such nice things about the Jet. I ordered one on line during their recent 10% off sale. That's a story for another day. In short I got scammed and was sent a non helical head version. By the time I resolved this and got my refund I had missed the sale and even a nice used one on Craigslist.
I decided to try, try again but as I was leaving for a couple of weeks thought it best to hold off until I returned.
Meanwhile on Craigslist... this FS 35 Smart with mortiser and a bunch of cutters. Hmmm, might as well ask, and ended up chatting to the owner and agreeing to buy it for the price of the Jet. It was obviously in good condition judging by photos and video that he supplied. I sent a deposit by PayPal and said I'd arrange to pick it up at the end of the month. It all went smoothly. I rented a trailer, borrowed an engine hoist and drove a couple of hours to pick it up.
Today I moved it into its permanent position in my shop and ran a new outlet there. The mobility kit is excellent but I won't need it very often.
I cleaned it up a little and polished the beds that were a little tarnished but not rusty.
Things I have found:
I was surprised to discover that the Tersa has 4 knives on this unit.
I am delighted with the quality, weight, and finish.
I didn't expect two speeds for the planer rollers.
I didnt expect that the massive tables would be so well sprung that I'd have to push down on them to lock.
The fence slides beautifully on a massive steel rod.
It's a 2006 model with the original knives, never turned.
Powered it up and it hums perfectly, dime wouldn't fall over on the outfeed but got blown over on the infeed.
8/4 rough cherry came out square removing 1/32". I did see a tiny bit of tear out but no snipe. I'll switch the knives tomorrow and order some fresh ones and though I doubt I would have ordered a mortiser, I look forward to using it.
I feel as if this machine was meant to be in my shop. I found a Euroguard on EBay yesterday for Technomax FS 35 new in box for $120 and bought it. This one came with a US style but not installed. I have a bunch of old massive cherry lumber that this jointer can tame as well as a few hundred feet of 70 year old local high school bleachers that are old growth vertical grain Douglas Fir, 10" wide and 17' long. The 14" Resaw capacity on my bandsaw also matches this machine's capacity.
Thanks again for helping make this happen.
A special thanks to Jim Becker and Erik Loza for sharing your Minimax expertise.
It all started last year when I needed to joint, surface and Resaw some wide rough 8/4 Afromosia boards. For this I had to use a friend's shop and pay him some shop hours. He had a Grizzly 12" combo machine with the helical head. It was the first time I'd seen one and despite the indifferent opinions I have read here I was rather impressed. So when more projects started coming my way that needed that capacity I started exploring my options.
This is where I learned about the highly regarded Minimax and Tersa heads but I was really sold on the helical head technology. The Jet JJP 12HH looked better than Grizzly and the Hammer A3-31 even better. I considered the Hammer and might have stretched for that if people I met hadn't said such nice things about the Jet. I ordered one on line during their recent 10% off sale. That's a story for another day. In short I got scammed and was sent a non helical head version. By the time I resolved this and got my refund I had missed the sale and even a nice used one on Craigslist.
I decided to try, try again but as I was leaving for a couple of weeks thought it best to hold off until I returned.
Meanwhile on Craigslist... this FS 35 Smart with mortiser and a bunch of cutters. Hmmm, might as well ask, and ended up chatting to the owner and agreeing to buy it for the price of the Jet. It was obviously in good condition judging by photos and video that he supplied. I sent a deposit by PayPal and said I'd arrange to pick it up at the end of the month. It all went smoothly. I rented a trailer, borrowed an engine hoist and drove a couple of hours to pick it up.
Today I moved it into its permanent position in my shop and ran a new outlet there. The mobility kit is excellent but I won't need it very often.
I cleaned it up a little and polished the beds that were a little tarnished but not rusty.
Things I have found:
I was surprised to discover that the Tersa has 4 knives on this unit.
I am delighted with the quality, weight, and finish.
I didn't expect two speeds for the planer rollers.
I didnt expect that the massive tables would be so well sprung that I'd have to push down on them to lock.
The fence slides beautifully on a massive steel rod.
It's a 2006 model with the original knives, never turned.
Powered it up and it hums perfectly, dime wouldn't fall over on the outfeed but got blown over on the infeed.
8/4 rough cherry came out square removing 1/32". I did see a tiny bit of tear out but no snipe. I'll switch the knives tomorrow and order some fresh ones and though I doubt I would have ordered a mortiser, I look forward to using it.
I feel as if this machine was meant to be in my shop. I found a Euroguard on EBay yesterday for Technomax FS 35 new in box for $120 and bought it. This one came with a US style but not installed. I have a bunch of old massive cherry lumber that this jointer can tame as well as a few hundred feet of 70 year old local high school bleachers that are old growth vertical grain Douglas Fir, 10" wide and 17' long. The 14" Resaw capacity on my bandsaw also matches this machine's capacity.
Thanks again for helping make this happen.