Axminster quality?

[Eric D Matson]

I am looking at buying a euro cutter head and some profiles for my shaper. I was looking at axminster's website. I got sidetracked, like I often do, and found a lot of tools seem reasonably priced. Has anyone ordered from there? Have you had good luck? Are there any other places I should look?

Thanks

Eric

[Peter Kelly]

I think those manual-feed Euro cutter heads from Axminster are all made in the same factory in Switzerland as the ones from Laguna, Amana, FS, etc.


I have the orange CMT version, quality is very good.

[Sean Troy]

They have always been top quality in the past. I don't think anything has changed.

[Erik Loza]

I think those manual-feed Euro cutter heads from Axminster are all made in the same factory in Switzerland as the ones from Laguna, Amana, FS, etc. ...

Flury?

Erik

[jack forsberg]

There made by Whitehill . Whitehill us been supplying tooling to the UK including companies like Wadkin for over 80 year.

http://www.whitehill-tools.com/

[Peter Kelly]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axcaliber...r-head-ax20842




http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.asp?pars=HK~693~2

These are made in Luton by Whitehill?

[Andrew Joiner]

Peter,
I'm out of the loop on modern tooling.
Why 4 knives? Do you run them like that? Do they all have the same projection?
It looks like the reversed bevel would burn.
Thanks

[Peter Kelly]

There are actually only two knives that do any cutting with this style of head. The other two are limiters that project about 1mm less and just there to prevent kickback when hand-feeding.

[Peter Kelly]

Flury?

Erik

Possibly? Almost as mysterious as the German company that makes the vacuum hoses for Festool, Bosch, Starmix, Nilfisk, etc.

[Erik Loza]

Possibly? Almost as mysterious as the German company that makes the vacuum hoses for Festool, Bosch, Starmix, Nilfisk, etc.

All that OEM stuff that Euro mfrs. use is a huge mystery. For example, try to find who actually makes the Euro-style (or "GL") guides that we all use on our bandsaws. Or the Euro-style jointer guards (not Suva, the "common" ones). I've tried, and I can't. It's like they only exist in spare parts catalogs or you have to actually buy the machine to get them. Someone must make them, right? But who? I need a beer now.

Erik

[Warren Lake]

Illuminati

[Alan Beech]

Axminster in the UK have a 5star reputation for customer service and always doing the "right" thing for customers. Thats been hard won over the past 25+ yrs.

Axminster sells the same brand names as everyone else and usually are the Uk Wholesaler for such as Lee Valley/LN etc.

They manufacture their own lathe chucks and have created the UJK branded tools. I have walked around their multi-storied automated warehouse and it took over 4 hrs.

They are a trusted company in the UK and will ship to anywhere in the world.

regards
Alan

[jack forsberg]

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axcaliber...r-head-ax20842




http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.asp?pars=HK~693~2

These are made in Luton by Whitehill?

I believe CMT is Swiss or Italian but yes Whitehill make Axminster tooling.

[Joe Calhoon]

For those that have ordered how are the shipping rates to the US? Do you get a bill from US customs? Can you pay by credit card?

The not so great conversion from Pounds to USD is better now with the referendum. I ordered some Wadkin spares and metric chisels from AMS a while back and shipping and customs was as high as ordering from Germany or Italy. Just wondering if they might have better shipping rates.

[Eric D Matson]

So I have done some checking around and pricing. I have decided to check out Axminster and Dimar. I used the same 3 profiles and the associated insert cutter head as my basis. A couple differences are the Axminster cutter head is aluminum and the Dimar is steel and the bore is 30mm and 1-1/4" respectively. They both accept 40 or 50mm knives and have the same pinning and screw dimensions as most insert cutterheads. The price for the Axminster cutter head, 3 profile knives and associated limiters, and shipping/customs is $232.35 USD. The price for the Dimar cutter head and the same 3 profile knives and limters is $501.45. I forgot to ask Dimar for shipping charges. I think I am going to give Axminster a shot. It sounds like they value customers and offer decent quality.

Links are to the cutterheads:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axcaliber...r-head-ax20842
http://dimar-canada.com/pdf/MultiProfileCutters2.pdf