Proxxon Micro Planer DH40 - owner feedback??

[rtropp]

I would like to get some feedback on the Proxxon Planer.  One of the features that make it attractive for me is the autofeed.  But, I have read at least one review that gives the autofeed very low marks saying it does not operate consistently.

 

Thanks,

Richard

[NMBROOK]

Hi Richard

I have contemplated one of these myself.On one of the videos on you tube featuring Dr Mike(this was not shown in his DVD),it is explained there is a minimum thickness for the feed to work.He gets around this by putting two pieces on top of one another,one is planed and the other is a packer to allow the feed to work with thinner material.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[rtropp]

One of our members is a Proxxon dealer and I have asked him the minimum thickness that can be fed through the auto feed.

 

Richard

[Bob Blarney]

It certainly looks compact, but it doesn't say what the minimum thickness it can go down to.  Generally, about 1/8" is the minimum for a planer, but I've seen wood blow apart at that thinness.  To go to 1/8" or thinner, I would stick the stock onto a 3/4" MDF backerboard with double-stick woodturners' tape.

[rtropp]

Nigel, I cannot find Dr. Mike video on YouTube, could you help with a link?

 

I checked with the Proxxon dealer and his belief is that you would get auto feed all the way down to the metal.  I suspect that the user experience by Dr Mike would be some real world advice.

 

Thanks,

Richard

[tkay11]

I posted the full set of links at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/5592-model-ship-building-secrets-dvd/?p=272804

 

Tony

[rtropp]

Tony,

very helpful, I appreciate the effort in creating the index.  Helped me find the proxxon video quickly. I will be using your index a good deal more in the future.

 

They are saying that the thinnest the plane can go is 2.4 mm, or 3/32 of an inch.  The jig they demonstrated that allows thinner planing is very simple. I suspect it might require some finish sanding. 

 

The attraction is that auto feed.  On the Byrnes thickness sander, it takes a number of manually fed passes to go from 1/4 to 3/16" and their is some skill and steadiness required to make an even, smooth cut without chatter marks.  Could be my hands are too weak or I just need more practice.  Its just that the auto feed really looks helpful for speeding up and easing the process

 

I would not get the Proxxon instead of the thickness sander, but could be they would work well together. In fact, if I had the room, I would consider a compact planner that has greater capacity and is half the price and use the Byrnes to bring it down to final dimension and finish.  But... I do not have the room.

 

Richard

Edited March 6, 2015 by rtropp

[tkay11]

I noticed they also passed stuff through several times, and I seem to remember (not sure) that someone said that the finish was very smooth. Have to check.

 

Tony

[dvm27]

The Proxxon planer is a first class piece of machinery. It cuts smoothly and consistently and the auto-feed feature is outstanding. You can affix the wood to a sled (thicker piece of wood) with a couple tacks of glue to facilitate the process of getting very thin pieces.

Edited March 7, 2015 by dvm27

[rtropp]

Some additional notes:

 

I used the Byrnes sander again to continue thinning a piece of cherry that was 3" by 1/4" by 24".   A couple of things that I noticed that, as with most things, with repeated use I get more skillful.  Also, I may not have been aggressive enough with my cuts which could be why the task is going slowly. I have contacted Jim Byrnes to ask his advice on how aggressive I should be able to set the cut.  I'll post that when I hear back.

 

One benefit is the size of pieces you can cut.  As I try my hand at bashing or scratch building, I find I am using wood sheet that is 4"-5" inches wide.  This is especially useful for the larger bulkheads.  It also reduces the number of planks that have to be milled.  The Byrnes can handle 6" while the Proxxon is limited to 3 7/32". Not a deal breaker but nice to have my options open.

 

Ok, one of the big, really big, benefits of the Byrnes sander.  My "workshop" is our sunroom.  That makes dust control a priority.  Being cautious I had been using the sander outside on the patio but that is pretty much a pain, especially in bad weather.  Yesterday was one of those bad weather days, so I bit the bullet and used it inside with my shop vac attached to the dust port.  I worked the piece I described above.  I used six inch wide 80 grit for the more aggressive thinning then changed the belt to six inch wide 220 grit. (cut from sanding belts from Home Depot.)  No dust escaped.  None at all.  When done there was a very small amount of dust around the sanding built but the vac took this up with ease. As I watch the videos of the Proxxon, I am pretty sure I would only be able to use it outside. 

 

 Not sure what it cost to replace the blades on the Proxxon, or how often that is required.  The sanding belts are only a few dollars each for the 6", which I prefer.  Changing sand paper could not be easier.  About 3 minutes my first time. 

 

Still, that auto feed is a compelling feature. 

 

Richard

Edited March 7, 2015 by rtropp

[tkay11]

Other owners of the Proxxon suggest that as it is a planer rather than a sander there is much less dust. I also have heard that one of the problems is that shavings get trapped inside the casing sometimes, so you do need to clean it out periodically. It's very popular amongst European model makers -- as are most of the tools made by Proxxon. That goes for miniature furniture makers as well as model ship builders. It's far too expensive to import Byrnes machines here. So it's a bit hard to compare them. If I lived in the US, I might well be going for Byrnes machines. I'm very happy indeed with my Proxxon saw, sander, wood lathe and small drill -- but I am just a beginner and I have yet to test the limits of these machines.

 

Tony

[dvm27]

Both machines have their use in the workshop. For thicker billets that need to be quickly reduced the Proxxon planer is perfect. It makes very fast and smooth cuts. For dimensioned wood that is close to final thickness I use the Byrnes thickness sander. You could get by with just the Byrnes sander but it is designed to remove a few thousandths of an inch at a time (hence it's use as a precision tool).

[rtropp]

I heard back from Jim Byrnes.  It looks like I was taking too small a bite with each pass.

 

I was taking between .001 and .0025 with each cut.  A cut of just .001 depth  would take about 62 passes with the amount I was trying to remove.  Jim recommends roughing it down with about .005 a pass flipping the stock every pass.  Then 2 finish passes. That would take about 12 passes.  A lot less.

 

Greg, I think your comment is to the point. Each tool has its purpose and while I could work with just the Byrnes, the Proxxon would be a nice addition. 

 

When I looked at the Youtube video suggested by Tony, the Proxxon seemed to spit out a lot of shavings and without any way to contain them.  Greg, is that your experience.  I would like to use it in the house if possible.

 

Thanks

Richard. 

[rtropp]

What would be a "reasonable" depth of cut for the proxxon?  The maximum dpet for the Byrnes is .005" per pass.

 

Thanks,

Richard

[dvm27]

It is easy to contain the planed shavings, Richard. Just aim them at the wall and scoop them up later. Works for me!

 

Specs are listed on their site http://www.proxxon.com/us/micromot/37040.php. I believe you can remove up to 1/32" (0.8 mm) per pass or as little as 0.1mm. The blades are reversable which extends their life but I have honestly not changed them since I purchased it almost a decade ago.

[Mike Y]

Bought the Proxxon DH40 recently. Got tired of reducing the thickness by sanding.

Tried to imagine making all the deck skeleton (beams, carlings, ledges, etc) without a way to quickly get a desired thickness. Meh!

 

The tool is ugly, but does the job. It is not quiet, but not very loud either - the sound level and type of noise is exactly like the kitchen meat grinder

After purchase, make sure to carefully wipe away all the oil from the table - otherwise the wood will get really dirty.

Apart from that, mine was pretty well configured on the factory.

 

To test, I had 10kg of light pear from Lumberyard - I could not use it before, because it had a very rough finish, which is not suitable for use until you spend hours sanding it. Thanks, nope. It was collecting dust for a year, and now I can finally use it!

Same piece split to two halves, original wood is on top, and the bottom one is after two passes on DH40:

 

 

The result is quite smooth, so only finishing sanding (with 400-600 grit and higher) is required.

 

It does not produce any dust (hence, no vacuum port on the tool), only wood chips:

 

The auto feeder function works like a charm!

 

All in all, the result is very satisfactory. And this is the only thickness planer of this size. The only downside is a price.. Damn expensive!

 

[mtaylor]

Is the Proxxon the only "small" planer out there?   I have a full-size Porter-Cable but it's pretty useless for what we do.

[Mike Y]

Is the Proxxon the only "small" planer out there? 

As far as I know - the only one (maybe excluding some chinese crap copies, was not looking on them).

There are few thickness sanders of a similar size, but sander is not an option for me - too many dust.

[mtaylor]

Thanks Mike.  I was just wondering.  I prefer a good planer to a sander for the same reason.. dust although the current shop vac does get almost all of it.   Plus, a planer's finish just looks so much nicer than the sander's.

[Bill Tuttle]

Goodness, that is a very expensive piece of machinery.  I have used the Dewalt 735 for sometime and prior to that had a Dewalt 734 that was less that $400.00 and would plane, using a sled, down to 1/8 of an inch.  You would also have a piece of equipment that would help mill your own lumber for scratch building or larger projects later. You can remove a lot of stock with these but as you would expect they create a lot of shavings. I couldn't get by without mine.  

[texxn5]

Let me know if I can be of any assistance. I think you guys have things figured out. Please let me have some feedback on how things work out.

John

[Mike Y]

Goodness, that is a very expensive piece of machinery.  I have used the Dewalt 735 for sometime and prior to that had a Dewalt 734 that was less that $400.00 and would plane, using a sled, down to 1/8 of an inch.  You would also have a piece of equipment that would help mill your own lumber for scratch building or larger projects later. You can remove a lot of stock with these but as you would expect they create a lot of shavings. I couldn't get by without mine.

 

Bill, thanks for the info. I really missed this one when selecting the planer.

It is, however, too large. Proxxon has no competition when it comes to small tools designed for people who work in a tiny room corners.

If you have a full scale workshop - buying proxxon planer or bandsaw makes little sense, there are better options if you can afford a larger size.

[Mau]

Hi Mike,

 

I had to change the blades of my PROXXON DH40 and I'm still having some difficulties with the height adjust. Any advice?

 

Mauricio

[Mike Y]

Mauricio, sorry, I haven't changed or adjusted the blades in my planer yet, they are good enough so far.

[tkay11]

The best thing to do is to send an email to Proxxon. Whenever I have a question I write to Proxxon in Germany (in English). They always reply quickly and are very helpful.

 

Tony

[Mau]

Thanks guys. I did write to Proxxon but no response yet. 

 

I started agaun from scratch and I think I obtained an acceptable result.

 

Mauricio