Replies

1. 
   PlaneAround | Mar 09, 2007 05:06am | #1

   I purchased mine at Lee Valley; they're on the net, as you're undoubtedly aware.

   Planeround in Ottawa

1. 
   sasquatch55 | Mar 09, 2007 01:23pm | #2

   Great source! Thank you.

2. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 09, 2007 04:45pm | #3

   "55"

   I have a suggestion and a question:

   Try a hardware store for a "plumbers boot". (I think that is what it is called.) I had the same problem connecting my odd-sized Laguna BS outlet to a 4" hose. The boot is a rubber thingy to connect drain pipes of varying sizes. Worked like a charm and Aspen hardware stores should carry them - but, nothing in that town is cheap! I'd guess $4.00.

   The question: I'm seriously interested in a combo jointer/planer. How do you like yours? Do you have any comments or suggestions?

   Frosty

1. 
   sasquatch55 | Mar 09, 2007 05:32pm | #4

   Good idea (plumber's boot), and I'll give it a try.As I mentioned, earlier, I can't understand why these guys (Italian woodworking designers/manufacturers/importers) wouldn't standardize on something like the size of their dust/chip exhaust ports. My bandsaw (MiniMax MM16) hooked up to the four inch hose supplied with my Delta collection system, but the jointer/planer (also a MiniMax tool) doesn't work with the 4" hose; it's exhaust port is substantially too large. The four-inch standard plastic piping is too large to fit inside the port, and too small to slide over it.Frustrating -- espcially given that MiniMax is making a pronounced effort to market these European "combo-units" (vastly popular on the continent) to the UK and USA.Why not include an adaptor fitting with the machine, since you know your American clients are going to be trying to make a connection to 4" piping? It's annoying invest $4,000 in a woodworking machine, and then have to jury-rig some kind of bubble-gum and bailing-wire solution that's cobbled together with purchases from the local Ace Hardware.Rinky-dink...As far as the MiniMax combination unit is concerned, I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't even tried it out yet. Just finished cleaning the cosmoline off of it and adding the 30A 220v wiring and plug. I plugged it in, spun it up, and shut it back down after verifying that the knives were spinning in the right direction. That was about ten days ago, and I've been busy with other stuff, since then. The fit and finish of the machine is very nice, and it's extremely quiet in operation. I don't want to start using it to joint boards without dust control, however, because the 12" jointer will eject a lot of dust/chips, and it's situated about 5' from the door to our kitchen (wife has "license to kill," and my momma didn't raise no idiots...)The bandsaw is unbelievable. I hooked it up to the Delta dust-extraction last night and did some re-sawing with it. Lots of fun working that 1/2" blade through a log and admiring the straight, smooth cut it produces. Also fun to open the doors of the unit, top and bottom, and find it completely free of dust. The Delta dust collection system is terrific, too.

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 09, 2007 10:22pm | #7

   "Rinky - dink"I think you'll find the 'plumber's boot' ot Fernco fitting is really a slick-fix - but I agree it shouldn't be necessary.My youngest son has a home in Snowmass. Is this where you hang-out?Frosty

1. 
   sasquatch55 | Mar 10, 2007 03:31am | #8

   We're down Hwy 82 about 10 miles northwest of the Snowmass turnoff.Our house is above El Jebel. You turn at the Wendy's (quaint, I know...), and head up El Jebel/Upper Cattle Creek Rd. Take a left on Paseo Drive, and then the first left onto Caballo, and we're near the end of Caballo, perched on a cliff overlooking Mt. Sopris and the valley floor below. I guess, technically, we're in Missouri Heights, but we're only about two miles from the Wendy's, about 5 miles from Basalt, 10 from Snowmass, and 20 from Aspen. I installed one of those old-timey Nat'l Park binoculars (weatherproof -- the kind you used to put quarters in as a kid...), and it's outside one of the upstairs guest rooms on a deck. You can go out onto the deck at night, and see the snowcats grooming the ski runs on the flanks of Snowmass -- see their lights and tracks moving methodically up and down the slopes.It's a great place to live: All the benefits (skiing, fishing, hiking, biking) of the valley, without the crowding and pushiness of Aspen and up-valley life. El Jebel and Basalt offer a lot more to do (nights/weekends) for families, because there's a "megaplex" ("MovieLand"), and other retail amenities that would be too expensive to locate and support (pay rents on) up-valley in the immediate Aspen area. Aspen has the celebrities, the tourist bars, the "Disneyland" feel, (and the prices to go along with it), but Snowmass is drop-dead gorgeous.Your son is living in a wonderful place.

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 10, 2007 04:46pm | #12

   "55"My son doesn't "live' in Snowmass, he has a second home there. I will forward your location to him to see if he can zero in on it, I'm not that familiar with the area. (We have another relative with a place out there, who hosted a 75th B'day party for my sister. I managed to get lost on those mountain-side roads every time we went out. I forgot my GPS.) Aspen is really a "Big Money" town. I have never seen so many inter-continental private jets in one place before. I think there was some big conference.Frosty

2. 
   CarlJunior | Mar 09, 2007 09:01pm | #5

   Try a hardware store for a "plumbers boot".

   I believe that's actually called a Fernco coupling.

   http://www.fernco.com/coupling.asp

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 09, 2007 09:13pm | #6

   Wow. That's great! That's exactly what I need to connect my Hammer Combo machine to my DC.

   Rich

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Mar 10, 2007 05:55pm | #13

   Morning Carl...

   Thanks for the tip on what that rubber coupling is called. I have used them for years and have to pick up one at HD today to reduce a 5" dust port to 4" on a new planer.

   I'm going to intentionally ask the very young lady in the plumbing department there for a "Fernco" coupling. Then as she gets on her mobile phone to call the front desk to ask where to find it, I'll just walk over and pick up the one I need and head to the cashier. And of course I will be laughing all the way to check-out.

   My lovely says that I am mean to those "expertee" sales people at the Box stores! ha.. ha...

   Regards...

   Sarge.. jt

3. 
   PADDYDAHAT | Mar 10, 2007 05:12am | #9

   Mr. foot, the DC parts that I use are from Lee valley, Woodcraft, Highland hardware and Rockler. Woodcraft and Rockler run good sales and all four are on line, just check them out.

    A suggestion, get a big old galvanized trash can on your next trip to the hardware or big box store and order a Lee valley cyclone top for it with 4" ports. Your planner will fill your dc bag so fast that you will cry and the joiner will only be just half as bad. When the trash can is 3/4 full put a large trash bag with the draw strings over the top, snug it up and tip the contents onto the bag. You can do this a few times if you get the stretchy bags and squish them down inbetween loadings to compress the curls of shavings. They are great bedding for horses and the saw dust that goes to the dc is good mulch for the garden(except for the black walnut which kills everything).

   I thought I was nuts moving to the foothills of the Clinch Mts. in East Tn., you have me beat by more than 30 miles but the view from my porch must have been used as the model for the pc screen saver with the green meadows, blue sky and the shadow of the mts. in the upper right("PRICELESS"). I have grocrey and gas within 5 miles but the nearest package store is 26- DUH! I am in a dry county, no booz, bars or pool rooms but we must have 2,000 churches. All the best, Paddy

1. 
   sasquatch55 | Mar 11, 2007 04:42pm | #20

   Thanks, Paddy, for the advice about turning my Delta unit into a modified 2-stage unit. A great solution.I ordered the clear top with the 4" ports, and also ordered (from Rockler) 4 sections of 10' long clear piping. I'm having more fun than a barrel of monkeys running framing lumber through my 12" jointer, and watching the tornado of shavings spiraling around in the Delta collection bag. But, you're right: The bag has already accumulated several inches of shavings, and I'm nowhere near bored by the sight of the swirling chips. More expensive than an aquarium, but equally entertaining, and no fish-food to shell out for.I need to learn about "blast-gates," and other neat stuff. This moving dust around at high-speed is a hugely satisfying pursuit. I think if the ol' lady had suspected that this would keep me out of the house, she'd have used the egg money to help me outfit the garage a long time ago. Beats the hell outta listening to "Rosie" flap her yap on "The View". :)

4. 
   Hastings | Mar 10, 2007 04:27pm | #10

   I have a Felder combo and a Laguna bandsaw with pretty much the same problem, i.e., you are mixing metric and imperial. The Felder has three ports 120mm, 80mm and 50mm. I was able to get fittings from Oneida. For example, I have 6 inch ducting down the wall to a 6" blast gate. Then a 6" flexible hose to a 6" to 120mm coupling (looks like a funnel). Similarly, the bandsaw goes from 5" to 4" also with a neat coupling from Oneida. I also needed some metric couplings and hoses, which are available from Felder (don't know whether Minimax also sells metric hoses etc.).

   I think your Minimax combo outlets are probably metric. Just go to Oneida's web site and you should find the parts you need for a neat solution. Oneida have great service, I also bought their 2HP Super Gorilla.

   Hastings

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 10, 2007 04:40pm | #11

   HastingsWhy did you choose the Felder (as opposed to tne MiniMax) and are you happy with it? I am spooked by the 'a la carte' pricing I have read about on this forum.Frosty

1. 
   Hastings | Mar 10, 2007 05:58pm | #14

   Frost:I am a new to woodworking and our recent move to Mobile, AL presented the opportunity to build a small workshop (16x22) and do some more serious woodwork. I tell you this lest you place too much relaiance on my response. There are many, many other on Knots who can speak with a depth of knowledge and experience that I do not have.I soon realized that individual machines would not work in my workshop. My web research found these combination machines that I never knew existed. My wife and I decided to go to the IWF in Atlanta to see what was available and get some advice (remember I was completely clueless).We visited all the usual suspects for individual machines but we were really set on the combo with MiniMax at the top of the list. We ruled out the Knapp as too expensive and also the Felder for much the same reason. A hands on visit to both Felder and MinMax showed that the "fit and finish" of the Felders were just much better than MM, so much so that my wife noticed. Felder also had a great deal on the CF731, which they were phasing out. So we took the show deal. Long story short, the machine was damaged in shipping so I ended up with the CF741. Great support from Felder throughout this.The shop is now up and running and I'm starting to get some time on the machine. It takes time to get into the "routine" of changing functions along with the hosing for dust collection. While I've still not perfected it to the standard of a NASCAR pit crew, it's pretty easy and getting easier all the time.I am presently working on a shop/practice set of drawers and I just love the quality of the output. Everything is so square and true it really is a joy to use. I did spend considerable effort making sure that everything was aligned and set-up to three decimal places. David Best has published a book called the "Unofficial Survival Guide" which is pretty much essential. In general, and Felder in particular, the manuals are just terrible. Fortunately, the Felder Owners Group (on Yahoo) is there, like Knots, with a wealth of information and experience.All that said, I have a sneaking suspicion that I would probably being saying the same things had I gone with a MM.Also, I only had one bite at this cherry. I would not be able to go back to the lady wife and say I needed to upgrade! So I really really needed to get this right the first time, even if it cost more.Felder's philosophy on extras is that they sell a basic machine that can be precisely customized by the owner to meet the needs of his particular situation. While one price "packages" make the initial purchase easier, you may end up with stuff that you don't need. As I get more experience, I can see how that works; on the other hand, I am always getting stuff from Felder!Finally, a word on safety. The Europeans have much more stringent laws on safety and so their machines have had to build in safety in way that American equipment simply doesn't acknowledge. I really love all the safety. It's a joy to stand four feet away from the saw blade (with riving knife and crown guard dust collecction) pushing wood through on the sliding table. If you abide by all the normal rules, it's pretty hard to hurt yourself.And by the way the dust collection is great.Obviously I have a bias for the Felder.Hope this helps.

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 10, 2007 06:22pm | #15

   Hastings, That's an excellent summary of all the salient points of all those issues. Rich

1. 
   Hastings | Mar 11, 2007 04:49pm | #21

   Rich:Coming from you that means a lot. I have copied a number of your postings because they are so informativeYour contributions to this forum make mine pale by comparison.Cordially,Hastings

2. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 10, 2007 06:44pm | #16

   " I would not be able to go back to the lady wife and say I needed to upgrade! "The above statement in your post proved to me that you are "a man of truth!" - and a realist.Thanks for the detailed response. I too have a compact shop - but still have produced many projects - some sizeable. The idea of a combo jointer/planer will kill two birds: a 12" jointer and I'll gain some floor space. I have MM lit and CD; same for Laguna (I've ruled them out.) I'm waiting for the Felder material.It is not an easy decision.Frosty

1. 
   JerryPacMan | Mar 10, 2007 09:12pm | #17

   You might consider the Grizzly G0633 J/P that will be available in the spring.  It is a carbon copy of the MM FS30 right down to the poke through decals covering the lifting holes.  It is $2000 less than the MM and has a couple of improvements that I like.  It uses dual drive belts and has a center mount fence.  I am tempted but I will wait for some early user reports.  I do like the Felder/Hammer products.  BTW the Felder/Hammer saws do come with a Euro guard as standard equipment.  I do not think you could buy any saw without a blade guard because of liability issues.

   http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0633 

   Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .

2. 
   sasquatch55 | Mar 11, 2007 04:27pm | #19

   Thanks, buddy; I'm headed to Oneida, even as we speak.Appreciate the tip.

5. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 11, 2007 03:16pm | #18

   "55"

   I wrote my son - it sounds like you live in heaven. See below for his response:

   Dad,

   He lives in the growing town of El Jebel, about 10 - 13 miles down valley. He is not to far from the take out of our Blazing Adventures raft trip on the Roaring Fork this summer. After putting in at Snowmass Canyon, we finished the trip at the Fed Ex depot in El Jebel / Basalt.

   Missouri Heights is gorgouse because it is above the valley floor. The binoculars sound great. He probably has a great view of my favorite mountain, Mt. Sopris. It is about 13,000, but it is so dramatic because it has not other big mountains around and it just rises from the valley floor. You can see it from Glenwood Springs - 25 miles away after you get off I-70.

   Makes me want to be out there again. I guess I have to wait 14 more days!

   My best to all,

   Tim

1. 
   sasquatch55 | Mar 11, 2007 05:20pm | #22

   Tim is right.We're directly across the valley from Sopris. Mt. Sopris is not one of Colorado's many "Fourteeners," but it is probably the most spectacular mountain in all of North America (save, perhaps, Mt. Hood, as you travel along the Columbia River en route to Portland, OR).Sopris evokes that most trite of all mountain references, "Majestic," because -- exactly as Tim pointed out -- she rises from the valley floor near the town of Carbondale (ten miles from us) and shoots straight up; Sopris has one of the largest-- if not the largest -- "vertical rise" in North America. She features a stark face of stone and snow that ascends well over 6,000' in a very small "footprint" of horizontal distance. If you compare this area, for instance, with the Swiss Alps, the mountains here are taller (many of them soar over 14,000 ft., as compared with the Alps at 13,000'), and many also have equally spectacular vertical rises. The Matterhorn, located near the Swiss village of Zermatt, is famed throughout the world for its picturesque appeal, but it's not as tall as Mt. Sopris, and only just edges Sopris out for the "vertical rise" crown. There are lots of Swiss-German-Austrian settlers in the area, because the Roaring Fork Valley (and Elk Mountain Range) remind them of "home".Colorado is the "highest state" in North America; her average elevation is over 6,800 feet, and the people who live here tend to be (probably owing to oxygen-deprivation) fiercely independent. The voters here, for instance, rejected the Winter Olympics in '76, and I'm pretty sure that's unprecedented anywhere, anytime. They threatened to lynch the governor (and miscellaneous mayors, councilmen, and other reprobates), if they brought this pollution and unwanted development-causing-sideshow to the state.From our back deck (picture taken from deck this fall), we can look out at Mt. Sopris, Mt. Daily, Capital Peak, Snowmass Mountain, the back of Maroon Bells, and almost all the way up-valley to Aspen.Every morning there's a parade of wild turkeys, mule deer, and sundry coyotes, bobcats, Elk, foxes, and other critters. Haven't seen a bear yet, but they're a nuisance in Aspen, and we have sighted one lion. A neighbor just down the road came out of her bathroom, wrapped in a towel, and was greeted by the sight of a mountain lion with her front paws propped up on the window ledge on the other side of the bedroom. When the cat saw her, she dropped back down to the ground and ambled off with two cubs in tow.It's an amazing place to live; the word, "privilege" springs to mind.

   Edited 3/11/2007 10:37 am ET by sasquatch55

   
1. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 11, 2007 09:38pm | #23

   All that and woodworking! What a blessing.FrostyLet me know how you solve the DV issue. I'm about to order a combo j/p.Frosty

6. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 15, 2007 02:54pm | #24

   '55'

   I have further information on the adaptor DC fitting. I am about to order the MM j/p and was puzzled by the 4 3/4" OD of the dust outlet. I checked with Oneida Air and found they have a 120 mm adaptor (4.724"). If the plumber's boot did not work on the j/p you can go this way.

   Frosty

1. 
   sasquatch55 | Mar 15, 2007 03:21pm | #25

   Thanks, Frost-man.Do me a favor, and ask for "Brad"Brad Tucker
   Sales, Mini Max USA
   Austin TX / Tustin CA
   Direct: (866)573-8052
   [email protected]Brad is a hell of a guy. Honest. Responsive.Also, he's a serious woodworker and knows the industry, inside and out.Ask him about which blades he recommends (replacement knives) for the FS 30 planer/jointer -- if that's the one you're interested in. I love mine, but it came with the Tersa knives (the HSS "high-speed steel") set, and I'm wondering if I should've ordered the cobalt knives as an upgrade.I think the HSS knives are about $80, and the cobalt blades aren't that much more, but they're supposed to be much tougher, more chip-resistant. My steel knives chipped, almost immediately, when they hit a commonplace knot in a test-case 2x4 that I pulled out of my framing scrap-pile.I don't think we should have to fuss with culling and cutting out all the knots that we're likely to come across in woodworking. Knots are an inevitability, and often add to the character of the projects we're building. If we're limited to buying knot-free wood, it's going to up the cost ante, big time, in what is already a very expensive hobby (profession), and I'd like to think the cobalt blades will make this less of a concern.Good luck to you.

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 15, 2007 03:35pm | #26

   You get up early for a Mountain Time man!The person who replied to my MM inquiry was "Sam B...". He does woodworking in, or with, the MM people. The suggestion about the knives is good. I'll ask. Bummer about the knot problem.Frosty