I might rethink the Newman planer, but not beacuse of the 3 pahse. Its an industrial machine, meant for hogging though miles of lumber. It will, when set up well, produce a good finish, but it will want you to chew off larger cuts per pass than I personally ever need to chew through for this work, or for my limited production runs of sash and doors. Its applicability depends on exactly what you want to do with it. I would suggest you carefully detail what you are trying to accomplish with it before you jump. If kissing off small amounts of stock to balance the cut front to back, is important to you (as it is to me), you will probably be dissapointed. Sometimes shooting for the maximum width of cut as the one defining aspect of "what you need" ignores other issues which will trump the width capacity. The 14" Powermatic 50-'s-70's vintage is a favorite and cherished machine in small cabinet shops. It can be rebuilt well if its not up to snuff right now. The only limit would be its resaw capacity. Again define what you are looking for before deciding to jump. Regarding the 3 phase question: 20 years ago when I was getting serious about my woodworking I made the decision to bring 3 phase machinery into my shop. The reasoning was 2 fold: 1-the level of machinery available was much heavier. Heavy, when set up well means long term service and..for me this is the real trump...stability. Vibration free cuts means a level of accuracy and control which will redine the accuracy and speed of what you can produce. It will also redefine how you think about and approach a project or task. I never use any of my heavy machinery up to its industrial capacity, but after calibrating any of these machines I know I can walk up to any one, any day, and produce a dead flat or square operation, with minimal blowout and minimal setup and fussing. Further I have control of the precision of the setups throughout any of the limited runs my projects entail. So the industrial capacity, for me, is not about running 1000's of board ft of stock, its about stability of setup and cuts, as well as trouble free operation. 2- 3 phase capability means you are not competing with hobbyist cabinetmakers for the used machinery. Not only are you not competing with them, this machinery, because of its 3phaseness is often begging for a purchaser...again not because of quality of the machine per se, but because of the 3 phase I run a rotary converter, which I turn on when I'm using the 3 phase stuff. My largest HP combo, an SCMI 1-1/4" shaper, is a 5 hp machine with 1hp powerfeed. The converter is a 7hp old GE motor with capaitor etc setup for the 3 pase leg (put together by a local electrician who knew what he was doing). There is HP drop, but it has never effected any operation in the entire time I've used 3phase, and I pay no attention to it. If I was running a lumber yard, and large bd ft of stock..maybe, but maybe not...I don't bother worrying about it at all. Another point for the 3 phase is that these motors are so simple they simply don't wear out like single phase motors, assuming good bearings. As you can probably guess, I am no fan of chinese import machines. The electronics are very questionable, repair parts in the long term are questionable, resale value is very low, and the purchase cost is higher for less machine than well chosen 50's-70's vintage cast iron . The only caveat with the 50-'s-70's vintage cast iron is that you need a good nose for used machinery and be willing to do your own calibration and/or some restoration. One last point. The "restored" machines offered by many dealers are painted up to look pretty, but often need anything from fine tune calibration to major work. I never trust them! Look over the machine, don't be impressed with the paint job and bargain them down with a vengenance...especially in this economy! Jim I Grandpianosolutions.com (under construction) Shirley, MA (978) 425-9026 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090413/99dbe369/attachment.html>
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