MiniMax FS-30
Bennett Leeds
> Anybody have any comments on the MiniMax FS-30 planer/jointer. I need a heavy
> duty machine that takes up a minimum of space ... It's $2500 and twice the
> weight of the INCA.
Well, twice the weight doesn't equate to twice the performance or even
twice the robustness. It does equate to longer and wider, though.
I used to own an Inca 550. I now own a MiniMax FS-350 (13.75" width, 72" long
jointer tables). The 12" wide FS-30 is of a pretty similar design to the
FS-350, but there are differences, so try to compare the two MiniMax units
to see if what I say holds true.
First, let's talk capacity. The Inca is 10.25" wide, the FS-30 is 12".
Jointer tables on the Inca total 42" in length, on the MiniMax they're
around 55"-60". For furniture making, the Inca is certainly wide enough,
and almost long enough. If you're building things like doors where you
need 7' long straight stiles, you're pushing it with the Inca.
Second, let's talk about change-over. On the Inca if you're not doing dust
collection you've got nothing to do. However, for any serious planing,
you'll want dust collection, in which case to go from jointer to planer
you're removing the outfeed table (prehaps moving the jointer fence out of
the way first, but this isn't necessary if the fence is at the normal far
side position), and then you lower the planer bed enough so you can swing
the dust chute into place. To go back to jointing, you have to lower the
planer bed (unless you've been planing 5" thick stock) to make room for the
dust chute, swing the dust chute back down, and then reinstall the outfeed
table. There's an adjustable stop you can set on the table, but even without
it alignment to the knives is dead easy.
This sounds like a lot of work, but in practice it takes less than 45
seconds (although that's longer than it takes to change the knives!). And
again, if you're not dust collecting, there's no change-over.
On the MiniMax, to go from jointer to planer you've got to first move the
jointer fence all the way forward so that you can swing the jointer tables
up out of the way. The dust hood then swings up into place. Since the dust
chute is only for planing, there's less stuff to do than the Inca, but if you
build a dust box chute for jointing, then you'll have to lower the planer bed
to remove it. To go back to jointing you swing the dust chute down, then
release and lower the tables, then move the jointer fence back. If you're
using a shopbuilt dust chute, you put that in place (which means lowering the
planer bed) before swinging the tables back.
Although this sounds about as complicated as the Inca, it takes a bit longer,
mostly due to how long it takes to raise and lower the planer bed. On the
Inca, the hand crank is on the top, but it slips off revealing a hex shaft.
I put a socket on a cordless drill and used that to raise and lower the
table a large amount quickly (so that I got change-overs done in about 20
seconds). That's not do-able on the MiniMax. My MiniMax change overs take
about a minute, and about 25% of that is tediou planer bed height cranking.
As for robustness, you might argue that cast iron will hold up better than
anodized aluminum, but having owned both (my tablesaw is anodized aluminum,
my bandsaw is cast iron), I'd say that both scratch about the same but
that the aluminum is flatter to start with and moves less. If you're
going to be using big heavy timbers, the Inca's mechanism for holding the
jointer tables in place might give, but then the table length sort of
precludes big long stock anyway.
As for performance, out of the box the Inca will produce smoother surfaces
will less tear-out. The 3 knife Inca 560 produces over 120 cuts per inch
whereas the MiniMax produces around 85 cpi. The tersa cutterhead on the
Inca uses special knives that auto-align very accurately in my experience -
more accurately than you can set manual knives without a LOT of trial and
error, so that helps the finish. But, the big difference is in the feed
rate - the Inca has two speeds and the slow is really slow. Heck, even
the fast speed is slow. I jerry-rigged my MiniMax such that I run the
feed rollers not from a cutterhead take-off but from a drill clamped to
the cabinet that has a pulley chucked in and an automotive belt to a
wooden pulley I made. With a router speed control, I can get feed speeds
down to 2 feet per minute. You need sharp knives to avoid burning at this
slow a speed, but it does wonders on really knarly woods - even better than
the Inca.
If you like the cast iron construction of the MiniMax, the unit you should
be comparing it to is the 12" Robland. Size form factor, same price range.
Laguna sells a variable speed unit for the Robland that does what my
home-rigged unit does, but uses the Performax's drive motor instead of an
old Sears drill. However, this speed option costs more than most portable
planers!
- Bennett Leeds
ben...@mv.us.adobe.com
Bennett Leeds
> {...}
Despite the length of my previous post, I left out some information.
I've been unhappy with the jointer fence on my MiniMax. It took 4 trys
before I got one that was flat enough. It's aluminum, but I suspect its
not anodized, as it occassionally leaves black marks on the wood. The
mechanism for adjusting the angle is cumbersome.
The Inca jointer fence was better, but smaller. It too, is aluminum,
but it never left black marks. The angle adjustment was better, but
still not great. Some of the older MiniMaxes had cast iron fences. I
don't know if that includes the FS-30 or not.
I've not seen a Jointer/Planer with a really good jointer fence (I've
not looked closely at the Felders). Compared to what's on the Delta
DJ jointers, for instance, they look pathetic. This is really the biggest
drawback to a J/P combo unit, not the change-over time.
- Bennett Leeds
ben...@mv.us.adobe.com
HarvZee
I got used. Its set up sounds very similar to what Bennet described in
his posting. Farris machines sells them for about $1500. The capacity is
10.25" for the width of the jointer bed and I believe the beds are about
48-50" long. I know they are somewhat longer than the Inca's because thats
the main reason I bought it. The dust collection is very well designed
and works well both in joining and planing mode. The cutter head uses two
knives and is of fairly conventional type. Disposable knives can be
bought from Farris for about $20, quite a bit less than Inca. Also, my
machine comes with a joiner knife-setting jig.
I only have two complaints. 1) The anti-kickback dogs that precede the
feed rollers in the planer greatly limit the depth of cut. I haven't yet
found a way to adjust these. 2) The boards, after coming out of the
planer are not perfectly even in thickness. This I think is due to some
imprecision in the 4 screw'chain mechanism used to raise and lower the
planer bed.
My advice is to get a over/under machine if you are really pressed for
space. The other alternative - and not really a bad one - is to joint by
hand and use a planer for thicknessing the stock.
Thomas Dalzell
>From: Richard Glidewell <glid...@tiac.net>
>Subject: Re: MiniMax FS-30
>Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 10:38:58 -0800
>tom spelce wrote:
>>
>> Anybody have any comments on the MiniMax FS-30 planer/jointer. I need a heavy
>> duty machine that takes up a minimum of space ... It's $2500 and twice the
>> weight of the INCA.
I would buy a General 8" jointer, and a griz or simmilar 16" planner for
less than that dough.
Thomas
>I don't know the Minimax, but urge you to look at the Hitachi F1000. It
>is a combo 12" planer / 6" jointer. Very well made and about as
>compact as a machine this sturdy can be.
>I put heavy duty casters on the wooden rails (after planing them,
>natch) that my F1000 was shipped with, so I can roll it up against the
>wall when I ma not using it. It has served me for 8 years with no
>troubles. I've seen them for $2200+ lately.
>Dick G