Christopher Charles
08-16-2023, 6:27 PM
Hello all,
I spent much of the late winter and spring looking for a used Minimax or Felder J/P, which is tough here in the interior Pacific Northwest. I'd basically given up and was about to order a new Felder, but decided to hold off while traveling abroad in June (many thanks to Derek's compatriots as we had a lovely visit to Australia!). On one of the last days there, I checked craigslist on a whim and found a MM FS30c listed for a nice price "only" 2.5 hours away. Long story short, I made it back, the machine was still available and I was able drive down, rent a trailer and bring it back home. The chap was moving across country and was also was selling his cyclone, so I ended up with a nice unexpected upgrade to an Oneida V-3000.
506168
506169
The machine is from 2013 and has a Tersa head. I had planned to get a spiral head, but had done enough reading here to know that folks go either way and the only clear advantage to spiral is noise reduction (and that the Tersa head is quieter than a standard straight knife head). In fact, in correspondence with Sam Blasco, he recommended a Tersa head over spiral for finish. I suspect that's also the reason the machine wasn't snatched up straight-away. The tables are dead flat (I couldn't get a 0.002 feeler under a new LV straightedge anywhere on the jointer tables) and the machine was in a hobbyist shop-all good!
I purchased a Bora PortaMate 3550 beforehand and built it around the machine after purchase and used it to roll it up on a rented trailer. The trip home was uneventful, as was unloading. Another couple weeks passed thanks to another trip and some additional delay because I need to add a 30A circuit to the shop.... However, I was able to sort out and order a couple upgrades during that period.
First, I wanted to try a euro-style guard, but the Minimax list price is $460 (cough!). Sam Blasco pointed me to this unit instead:
https://www.scosarg.com/itech-tx-style-planer-bridge-guard-310mm
With international shipping, the total was ~$230 and since the porkchop mine came with had a crack in the plastic at the hinge, I took the excuse to order the guard (also knowing that if I didn't do it then I probably never would!). Overall the iTECH design is good and bolted directly to the machine with the supplied bolts. The downside is the 310mm wide version I bought has an arm that was a bit short, which required a bit of modification with some aluminum 80/20 and HDPE. There is a 410 mm version available but I'm unsure if the arms are the same length or not. The knob on top also broke (and was probably cracked during shipping), but I've found the plastic screw adds just the right tension so the guard is firmly in place but can be slid back for edge jointing.
506170
506171
506172
I also knew going in I wanted an analog dial depth gauge like those popular on the Hammer J/Ps and which seem to be standard on many of the new Minimax machines. The Hammer/Felder upgrade is pricey but the Italians set a new standard. Here are the part #s and price:
0772963400C - handwheel @ $111.00
07L0072747H - Metric position indicator @ $339.00
506173
506174
Thanks to some of the kind folks here at SMC, I became convinced the MM and Felder indicators were the same, so ordered the Felder position indicator and MM handwheel. One concern is that the pitch of the threads has to be the same on both, but I'd tested beforehand and the MM has 2mm/ rotation as does the Felder indicator. The Felder indicator is $99 in metric and I should probably have just ordered the Felder handwheel as it is metal not plastic, but I was in a hurry and didn't get around to measuring the shaft size.
Regardless, the handwheel and indicator combo works brilliantly, was easy to calibrate, and produces spot-on thicknesses.
Lastly, I added a Fernco 1056-44 plumbing adapter for the 120mm-to-5" dust collection hose (non-intuitively, the adapter is for 4" pipe). Worked great after (quite a bit of) whittling of the inside of the adapter for the 120 mm connection to the J/P with a sharp knife.
I have been able to put the J/P through the paces and a couple observations:
-Folks complain about the end-mounted fence and flex, but I'm not sure how one would be flexing the fence if using decent technique unless using a really large-heavy board.
-The finish is glassy with new knives and the knives are fast to change and reasonably inexpensive (~$45 for a set of M-whatever with two sides). I hand plane nearly everything but plan to flip knives between "rough" and "finish" sides.
-The planner can take ~0.5mm cuts before the feed roller marks start to show. Apparently the Hammer machines can take less without issue but I don't anticipate that as an issue for me but something to be aware of.
-The build quality is excellent, better than my Agazzani bandsaw and seemed better than the Hammer edge sander I was able to see in person (the Felder showroom in Brisbane had only one Hammer machine).
-Used machines are still out there for a good price (in my case ~1/2 new) _if_ you put in bunch of work to look and that's your jam. I am also committed to buying used as much as I can because cast iron has a lot of embedded carbon, but that's purely a personal thing.
-The step from a Jet 6" jointer and DeWalt 735 planer is a BIG one :)
I'll add some pictures and a few more details soon, and many thanks to all on SMC who helped with their reviews of machines and answers to my questions!
Best,
Chris
I spent much of the late winter and spring looking for a used Minimax or Felder J/P, which is tough here in the interior Pacific Northwest. I'd basically given up and was about to order a new Felder, but decided to hold off while traveling abroad in June (many thanks to Derek's compatriots as we had a lovely visit to Australia!). On one of the last days there, I checked craigslist on a whim and found a MM FS30c listed for a nice price "only" 2.5 hours away. Long story short, I made it back, the machine was still available and I was able drive down, rent a trailer and bring it back home. The chap was moving across country and was also was selling his cyclone, so I ended up with a nice unexpected upgrade to an Oneida V-3000.
506168
506169
The machine is from 2013 and has a Tersa head. I had planned to get a spiral head, but had done enough reading here to know that folks go either way and the only clear advantage to spiral is noise reduction (and that the Tersa head is quieter than a standard straight knife head). In fact, in correspondence with Sam Blasco, he recommended a Tersa head over spiral for finish. I suspect that's also the reason the machine wasn't snatched up straight-away. The tables are dead flat (I couldn't get a 0.002 feeler under a new LV straightedge anywhere on the jointer tables) and the machine was in a hobbyist shop-all good!
I purchased a Bora PortaMate 3550 beforehand and built it around the machine after purchase and used it to roll it up on a rented trailer. The trip home was uneventful, as was unloading. Another couple weeks passed thanks to another trip and some additional delay because I need to add a 30A circuit to the shop.... However, I was able to sort out and order a couple upgrades during that period.
First, I wanted to try a euro-style guard, but the Minimax list price is $460 (cough!). Sam Blasco pointed me to this unit instead:
https://www.scosarg.com/itech-tx-style-planer-bridge-guard-310mm
With international shipping, the total was ~$230 and since the porkchop mine came with had a crack in the plastic at the hinge, I took the excuse to order the guard (also knowing that if I didn't do it then I probably never would!). Overall the iTECH design is good and bolted directly to the machine with the supplied bolts. The downside is the 310mm wide version I bought has an arm that was a bit short, which required a bit of modification with some aluminum 80/20 and HDPE. There is a 410 mm version available but I'm unsure if the arms are the same length or not. The knob on top also broke (and was probably cracked during shipping), but I've found the plastic screw adds just the right tension so the guard is firmly in place but can be slid back for edge jointing.
506170
506171
506172
I also knew going in I wanted an analog dial depth gauge like those popular on the Hammer J/Ps and which seem to be standard on many of the new Minimax machines. The Hammer/Felder upgrade is pricey but the Italians set a new standard. Here are the part #s and price:
0772963400C - handwheel @ $111.00
07L0072747H - Metric position indicator @ $339.00
506173
506174
Thanks to some of the kind folks here at SMC, I became convinced the MM and Felder indicators were the same, so ordered the Felder position indicator and MM handwheel. One concern is that the pitch of the threads has to be the same on both, but I'd tested beforehand and the MM has 2mm/ rotation as does the Felder indicator. The Felder indicator is $99 in metric and I should probably have just ordered the Felder handwheel as it is metal not plastic, but I was in a hurry and didn't get around to measuring the shaft size.
Regardless, the handwheel and indicator combo works brilliantly, was easy to calibrate, and produces spot-on thicknesses.
Lastly, I added a Fernco 1056-44 plumbing adapter for the 120mm-to-5" dust collection hose (non-intuitively, the adapter is for 4" pipe). Worked great after (quite a bit of) whittling of the inside of the adapter for the 120 mm connection to the J/P with a sharp knife.
I have been able to put the J/P through the paces and a couple observations:
-Folks complain about the end-mounted fence and flex, but I'm not sure how one would be flexing the fence if using decent technique unless using a really large-heavy board.
-The finish is glassy with new knives and the knives are fast to change and reasonably inexpensive (~$45 for a set of M-whatever with two sides). I hand plane nearly everything but plan to flip knives between "rough" and "finish" sides.
-The planner can take ~0.5mm cuts before the feed roller marks start to show. Apparently the Hammer machines can take less without issue but I don't anticipate that as an issue for me but something to be aware of.
-The build quality is excellent, better than my Agazzani bandsaw and seemed better than the Hammer edge sander I was able to see in person (the Felder showroom in Brisbane had only one Hammer machine).
-Used machines are still out there for a good price (in my case ~1/2 new) _if_ you put in bunch of work to look and that's your jam. I am also committed to buying used as much as I can because cast iron has a lot of embedded carbon, but that's purely a personal thing.
-The step from a Jet 6" jointer and DeWalt 735 planer is a BIG one :)
I'll add some pictures and a few more details soon, and many thanks to all on SMC who helped with their reviews of machines and answers to my questions!
Best,
Chris