I agree completely with your assessment of this machine. I have bought one recently after a lot of research. All the others are in imperial, such a pity. Removing the dust chute is reasonably easy for me. I have two thumb screws left over from a Makita mitre saw ( which died a long time ago). They are M6, so I have changed them to M5 and can now use them successfully to secure the chute.
I have the same unit; for storage the dust extraction adaptor comes off and stores underneath the cutter head, the power cable coils up and sits on top of the cutter head and the in/outfeed tables fold up. Taking the DE adaptor on and off only takes a minute.
Darren, sadly I think you nailed the short comings of both our WA based wood enthusiast stores, rebadging!!! Still, a good video, I had not thought it through enough as to why helical cutters are so quiet…doh!
Machining the stepped block to metric sizes is a ten minute job on a milling machine. Any local viewers with a mill? Do not give up just because a problem is metallic- makers make in all materials. I would do it for you, but transport to/from the UK would be a problem...
@@DarrensWorkshop On second thoughts, I am guessing that the dimensions are not that accurate- you could probably do a fair job with a hand file and a Vernier caliper...
That looks like a segmented head, not a helical head. The carbide insert cutting face is parallel to the wood, not slightly skewed. In a helical head they're rotated a bit, just like skewing a hand plane
Hi Matthew, I have seen the heads with the skewed blades you are talking about. The ones I have seen have been named Shelix, a contraction of Sheer and Helix. With the Carbetec machine, there is no sheer, but the cutters are still arranged in a spiral pattern as shown in the video. I think this is one of those times when naming may vary depending on the manufacturers marketing department.
Having base 12 measurements is an upgrade. It gives you a 3 and an extra 2 to work with. Base 10 just has a single 2 and a relatively useless 5. Base 16 gives you all the 2s you could ever ask for.
The fractions used by most woodworkers (halves, quarters, etc) are actually binary( each division is a power of 2). Expressed in hexadecimal format, 27/64ths becomes 0x6C. The next size up is 0x70- how many people can instantly reply that the size up from 27/64ths is 7/16ths? Just changing how the numbers are represented removes many of the issues with 'fractions', and removes several sources of error. It is also shorter- 2 3/16" can be written as 2x3. But if we cannot move people from imperial fractions to metric decimal, there is little hope of getting them to change the base they use.
@@MatthewMakesAU My comment was not about choosing a new base for numbering, but to better represent the one that is being used (binary, represented as hexadecimal). What characters would you use for the extra numbers? Even borrowing upper and lower case letters you would need two more- and would be double using unit symbols. This is one that is never going to fly- there is a big difference between measure ratios and base used. 60 is a ratio in both time and angular measure (the latter largely replaced in science by radians, and the former avoided by using only seconds). Imagine learning your multiplication tables in base60! (4 times E = u etc) BTW 600 is not a round number in base60 (it is A0).
@@DarrensWorkshop in the context of planer cutters, this unit is not a helix. The term helix refers to the angle of the cutter attack. These cutters are at zero degree, in a spiral pattern. Helical cutters have an angled attack.
I agree completely with your assessment of this machine. I have bought one recently after a lot of research. All the others are in imperial, such a pity. Removing the dust chute is reasonably easy for me. I have two thumb screws left over from a Makita mitre saw ( which died a long time ago). They are M6, so I have changed them to M5 and can now use them successfully to secure the chute.
Great review
Thank you
Awesome review, thanks
You’re welcome. Have a great day SK.
I have the same unit; for storage the dust extraction adaptor comes off and stores underneath the cutter head, the power cable coils up and sits on top of the cutter head and the in/outfeed tables fold up. Taking the DE adaptor on and off only takes a minute.
Darren, sadly I think you nailed the short comings of both our WA based wood enthusiast stores, rebadging!!! Still, a good video, I had not thought it through enough as to why helical cutters are so quiet…doh!
I guess that we are just not a big enough market to warrant retooling the production line in China.
Machining the stepped block to metric sizes is a ten minute job on a milling machine. Any local viewers with a mill? Do not give up just because a problem is metallic- makers make in all materials.
I would do it for you, but transport to/from the UK would be a problem...
Good advice, Thank you Mike.
@@DarrensWorkshop On second thoughts, I am guessing that the dimensions are not that accurate- you could probably do a fair job with a hand file and a Vernier caliper...
That looks like a segmented head, not a helical head. The carbide insert cutting face is parallel to the wood, not slightly skewed. In a helical head they're rotated a bit, just like skewing a hand plane
Hi Matthew, I have seen the heads with the skewed blades you are talking about. The ones I have seen have been named Shelix, a contraction of Sheer and Helix. With the Carbetec machine, there is no sheer, but the cutters are still arranged in a spiral pattern as shown in the video. I think this is one of those times when naming may vary depending on the manufacturers marketing department.
That's right, it's a spiral head but not a helical head
Helix and Spiral mean the same thing.
@@DarrensWorkshop You're absolutely right about the marketing department getting in the way of clear naming!
I don't think that timber was 3.3mm, more like 33mm.
Having base 12 measurements is an upgrade. It gives you a 3 and an extra 2 to work with. Base 10 just has a single 2 and a relatively useless 5. Base 16 gives you all the 2s you could ever ask for.
The fractions used by most woodworkers (halves, quarters, etc) are actually binary( each division is a power of 2). Expressed in hexadecimal format, 27/64ths becomes 0x6C. The next size up is 0x70- how many people can instantly reply that the size up from 27/64ths is 7/16ths? Just changing how the numbers are represented removes many of the issues with 'fractions', and removes several sources of error. It is also shorter- 2 3/16" can be written as 2x3. But if we cannot move people from imperial fractions to metric decimal, there is little hope of getting them to change the base they use.
Base 60 is the best of all worlds, which is why many countries work in a 600 mm standard block size
Base 60 is also one of the first numbering systems.
@@MatthewMakesAU My comment was not about choosing a new base for numbering, but to better represent the one that is being used (binary, represented as hexadecimal). What characters would you use for the extra numbers? Even borrowing upper and lower case letters you would need two more- and would be double using unit symbols. This is one that is never going to fly- there is a big difference between measure ratios and base used. 60 is a ratio in both time and angular measure (the latter largely replaced in science by radians, and the former avoided by using only seconds). Imagine learning your multiplication tables in base60! (4 times E = u etc) BTW 600 is not a round number in base60 (it is A0).
how well does this unit go with hardwood like iron bark or casurina?
Hi Peter, I haven't used those woods specifically, but the thicknesses works well with Jarrah and that is very hard.
Does the threaded height mechanism require any lubrication?
Hi Mal, eventually they will benefit from a little grease. At the moment there is still enough on them from the factory.
its a spiral head, no Helical
Hi, the words helix and spiral are synonymous.
@@DarrensWorkshop in the context of planer cutters, this unit is not a helix. The term helix refers to the angle of the cutter attack. These cutters are at zero degree, in a spiral pattern. Helical cutters have an angled attack.