Planer Thicknesser

In 1989 I bought a Woody HM160 planer thicknesses and used it regularly up until today. It ran wonderfully for over thirty years and the only things that I replaced were the blades and two drive belts. These became increasingly difficult to source until I discovered that Mafell made an identical machine. My old machine is coming towards the end and when I saw this one on offer I thought it was time to replace it. It arrived today and I’ve just run a piece of oak through it and found the finish quite acceptable. The machine is obviously modelled on the Mafell design and I’m hoping that it will last as long as my old Woody. If it does I will be 109 years old by then. The only thing I would fault is there do not seem to be any instructions on how to change and set the blades. I don’t need them but anyone new to this type of machine might need some instruction to get it correct without too much trial and error. But in truth at £245 it was a bargain…

Great machine for the price. Small footprint and good performance. Quieter than expected.

Received delivery of my planer thicknesser today, excellent service.
Never used one of these before but as I use a lot of recycled wood I thought it would be a good investment. Tried it with a really shabby piece of pallet wood. Wow, even with the first pass set at 1mm it prepared that piece beyond my best expectations. All of a sudden, projects that I would not have entertained are easily achievable.
I love the look and finish of Rutlands tools. They look posh and make me feel like I know what I'm doing. I have a small metal detection wand that I use with all my recycled wood prior to using the T/P. I recommend this little bit of kit so that I can keep my T/P in its prime.

where to start. i have been after one of these for a while now but the price tag put me off. i did not want to go for another brand that it available elsewhere. so i waited. when it came down to £200 in the black friday deal i snapped it up. boy am i glad i did. 10 mins setting up. 10 mins working out the adjustments. 10 mins swapping out the extractor/safety unit. first the planer. ran some pallet wood along it. kept running it to take of .5mm to 1mm. after a couple of passes, you could se it starting to smooth out. once i finished the wood needed no sanding. it was super smooth. i then flipped over to the Thicknesser. once i got the adjustment right again through multiple small passes the finish is superb. no need to sand. the fence is about 1deg out. but it isnt a great problem for me & i will play with it to get it square. as others have said the extraction/safety device is a bit fiddly. but it only takes a couple of mins to do, it he fence is slid fully towards the planer adjusting knob. all in all i am delighted with this purchase. it is solid, well built, fantastic price i got it for. the bed is totally level. no gaps anywhere on it. using a set square & spirit level. it was delivered on time exactly when Rutlands said it would be. it even comes with a push block, and a spare drive belt. rutlands have really excelled themselves with this piece of equipment. if you are in the market for a planer/thicknesser. buy it

Compact, well built and a great performer. Don’t confuse this with similar looking but cheaper tools, even if some casings are shared, having had both, this is miles ahead. The fence isn’t quite as robust as I’d like, however with a little bit of time spent setting up it runs straight and true. So far I have used this on oak, larch, C16 Pine and Tulipwood for a guitar body. I am very happy with the results, great finish and if you are careful feeding your work piece into the rollers, snipe is minimal to nonexistent! I got this with the Black Friday offer at an absolute steal, but would’ve been happy to pay full price. Excellent customer service as always. Thank you again Rutlands!