Planer

[CallMeTut]

Not having much money... I'm looking at getting a planer as cheap as possible but not just throwing my limited funds away. I'm looking at either the Delta 250 bucks (lowest cost) the Dewalt about 350 or Grizzly's 245 or 375 dollar machines.
Any comments one what you would shy away from?

[Woodworking Plus]

Hi Tutor
I've been happy with my Delta 12 inch planer. I can honestly say that I have tortured it and it has held up well. I like the easy blade change and the head locking system. I would suggest that you mount it to a permanent
station and make a removable auxiliary bed that extends past the factory infeed and outfeed tables to help eliminate snipe which is common with all small planers. I use a piece of 1/2" melamine with a cleat on the infeed side to secure it in position.

[USMC1126]

I have a Dewalt 733, I found it at a yard sale with all of the posts rusted and seized. I bought it for $50, cleaned it up and it is still going.

[yost69]

i have dewalts 13" i think it is a 735, but not sure. have not had any problems as of yet.

Ben

[lucky788scroller]

Of the ones youve mentioned, I would choose the Dewalt DW735. its got a 3 knife cutterhead, and two feed speeds , two things that are great to have. My second choice would be a tossup between the Delta 22-580 planer (because it has two feed rates) or the Ridgid TP1300LS (which is what I have now, and has a three knife cutterhead, but only one feed rate). All of those are very good machines from what I have ever read or seen.

[Rolf]

I have the Dewalt 735. Besides the features mentioned above it has a serious blower to remove the chips. Just connect a hose from it to a trash bin covered with cloth ( or the chips will be everywhere.)

[JohnB]

Ok Fella's now I am going a bit green with envy.
A Dewalt here is about $1200.00.
I have a GMC commonly known as a POS, and it set me back $400.00

[miniwoodworker]

Tutor, tell us approximately how much planing do you expect to do? How wide are the boards that you'd like to plane? What type wood?

I'm trying to see if your usage justifies going for more than the Delta planer. I tend to buy based on what my actual usage will be. Sometimes I've bought the cheapest thing I could find at Wal-Mart. Other times I've bought the very best that I could stretch my budget to get. Even if that meant waiting until I could save more for the kitty.

Two examples: When I bought my table saw I bought a 3hp cabinet model, even though I could have bought a much cheaper saw. On the other end, I bought a cheap drill from WalMart for pilot holes for screws. (With 2 drills on a power strip, there's no bit switching, when there a a ton of screws to drive.)

So do tell us more about what you expect your demand on the planer will be.

John, it's hard to beleive what some things cost you. It's a shame, (grumble, grumble, sigh), especially after seeing the work you do. Sure wish there was something I could do about the situation.

Lee

[CallMeTut]

I cut bb ply 1/8 inch... but A little over two years ago I was given a tree that my logger uncle found for me after a twister came thru... black walnut, I had it cut down and it's been drying in the rafters on my rickety ol' garage. It's in planks about 8 feet long and anywhere from 1 inch thick to a couple of 4 inch slabs.
I don't intend to use the planer to cut the wood down to specific thicknesses but to first and foremost clean up the wood from the saw marks from the milling. Maybe just taking both sides down 1/8 inch. I know the wood is hard (I cut a hunk off a 2 inch slab for a person who makes canes)... but I have a few hundred board feet that needs cleaned up.

[miniwoodworker]

Uhmmmm, if that's probably your only use for a planer, check with a local cabinet shop to see what they'll charge to joint and plane that BW for you.

A planer, alone, may not be enough to get truly straight boards of the same thickness from end to end from rough sawn wood. Depends on how much warp, twist, bowing you had during drying. You may also need to run the lumber through a jointer.

Don't know costs in your area, so take this with a grain of salt. It may be much less expensive to have a cabinet shop clean it up for you.

If you find the cost to be too high, or you want to do it yourself, for a one time type project, I'd buy the Delta. Then, practice on some scrap stuff. And follow Mike's advice, especially with the auxilliary bed.

Finally, be sure to run a metal detector over those boards before you send them through the planer. You never know if someone drove a nail in for some reason or a hunter shot at the tree. Use an air compressor to blow off each board, as the possiblity exists that some sand or dirt got embedded during the milling process. That stuff is rough on knives, too.

Good luck with your decision. Sure wish I had a stash of black walnut dried and ready to dress. IMHO, you're one lucky person to have that wood in your stash!!