Opinions - Suggestions on Planers

[Bob T]

I've only been a member a few weeks and hope this is the best location for this post. I have done a little woodworking over the years using only a table saw, power hand tools, and hand tools. I'm presently in the process of redoing the exterior of my home and after trying to find some 1" actual thickness trim boards decided to use 2x4s and rip on 10" table saw. After a trial rip, due to safety, etc, I have decided that this would be a good justification to add a planer. I would like to have the ability to use rough cut walnut, oak, cherry, etc.

After a few weeks of reviewing information on this forum, etc, I feel that I have enough knowledge to be dangerous. I feel that the members here have a vast knowledge of woodworking tools and would appreciate any suggestions, opinions, etc. I will list my concerns/questions below.

1. Should I buy an inexpensive lunchbox planer now and later upgrade to one suitable for good woodworking? (wait to find good used planer)
2. If I go with an inexpensive lunchbox: All have bad snipe; ryobi hard to find blades; what is best inexpensive?
3. If I don’t go inexpensive, what width: lunchbox, 15” or 20” ?
4. Is the Dewalt DW735 best lunch box? But blades dull easily and are expensive.
5. If I go larger than 13” best to skip 15” and go to 20” ?
6. More important to have 15” with spiral/insert cutterhead or 20” with straight blades? (maybe add Shelix to planer at later date)
7. Comparison of Grizzly & Shop Fox spiral/insert cutterhead verses more expensive Bryan Shelix cutterhead.
8. Advantages/differences of more expensive Powermatic verses Grizzly or Shop Fox.
9. Advantages/difference of Shop Fox verses Grizzly.
10. Any concerns of buying new online: Best prices online; few local suppliers in western NC.
11. Do prices on 15” & 20” usually increase after end of year? (Do I need to purchase new before the end of the year?)
12. Suggestions on best way to locate good used planers. (CL, this forum, Iwanna, ebay)
13. Suggestions/source on how to load/transport used heavy planer in western NC. (I do not have a truck or trailer)


Any input will be greatly appreciated.

[FONT=&quot]Thanks in advance.[/FONT]

 

[Bas]

1. Should I buy an inexpensive lunchbox planer now and later upgrade to one suitable for good woodworking? (wait to find good used planer)
Nothing wrong with that strategy. You can always keep the lunchbox planer as a secondary machine, or sell it on CL and get back ~60% of what you paid. It means you can start woodworking now and not have to wait for a deal.

2. If I go with an inexpensive lunchbox: All have bad snipe; ryobi hard to find blades; what is best inexpensive?
I'm not sure all of them have bad snipe. Mine (Ridgid) certainly doesn't. If you don't like the Ryobi, the Delta, Craftsman and Ridgid are decent for the price.

3. If I don’t go inexpensive, what width: lunchbox, 15” or 20” ?
Lunchbox planers are always ~13". 15" or 20" - depends on what boards you decide to use, and whether you want to plane things like glued-up panels.

4. Is the Dewalt DW735 best lunch box? Yes. But blades dull easily and are expensive. Not the cheapest, that's for sure. As for dulling easily, that appeared to be a problem about 12-18 months ago, but not anymore.

5. If I go larger than 13” best to skip 15” and go to 20” ?
Again, depends on what you want to do with it. For planing boards, 15" will be plenty most of the time. Boards wider than 15" tend to be uncommon & more expensive.

6. More important to have 15” with spiral/insert cutterhead or 20” with straight blades? (maybe add Shelix to planer at later date)
Never had one, but people rave about it.

7. Comparison of Grizzly & Shop Fox spiral/insert cutterhead verses more expensive Bryan Shelix cutterhead.
Don't know

8. Advantages/differences of more expensive Powermatic verses Grizzly or Shop Fox.
Don't know

9. Advantages/difference of Shop Fox verses Grizzly.
Grizzly is sold direct, Shop Fox via dealers. Whether that's an advantage or disadvantage is a personal preference.

10. Any concerns of buying new online: Best prices online; few local suppliers in western NC.
I would not have any concerns buying online. Delivery can be a hassle, but so can pickup.

11. Do prices on 15” & 20” usually increase after end of year? (Do I need to purchase new before the end of the year?)
Usually. How much depends on many factors. Companies like Grizzly will typicaly set the price for a whole year (printed catalog), and raise prices in January. But it varies.

12. Suggestions on best way to locate good used planers. (CL, this forum, Iwanna, ebay)
You covered the most iportant ones. Auctions are also a good source.

13. Suggestions/source on how to load/transport used heavy planer in western NC. (I do not have a truck or trailer)
Get a friend with a truck or trailer.

My $.02.

 

[Marlin]

I would say go for a good one now if you will get a Grizzly. Their prices are supposed to increase next year and you can still get 8% off using eBay live.

This one is $795 - 8% eBay live + shipping ...

http://www.grizzly.com/products/15-Planer/G0453

You can also look used. With the way the economy is going a lot of people can't afford to keep their wood working tools. So bargain for you and helps them with some cash.


Abd lastly see if there is a wood worker near you? Maybe you can use theirs if you don;t need it a lot and just buy them some knives?

 

[Charles Lent]

It's a bit tough to answer your questions because I have no idea how much future woodworking you plan to do or what finish quality you expect.

That said, I think the Dewalt 735 is the best lunchbox size planer that's available today. The finish quality, even on the rough setting, and an almost lack of snipe, make it better than most planers that are presently available in any size or price category. If you can't tolerate snipe, then this is the planer for you. I can remove the snipe line (almost not visible) with light quick pass of the ROS using 100 grit paper. My previous Delta 12" planer was good for 1/8" or more snipe on the last 4" of every board. I had to waste 4-6" of every board because of this.

Dewalt's latest blades are made much better than the early ones that got all the complaints. The newer version of them holds up quite well. Higher quality longer lasting blades are available from Infinity Tool. They even carry carbide blades for the 735, although I prefer to use steel blades, as I seem to keep chipping my blades by hitting hard knots, and I would hate to do this to a set of carbide blades. The steel blades for the 735, both from Dewalt and Infinity are double edge, so you get to use them twice. My latest set of Dewalt blades (a gift) has planed about 2100 lineal feet of a mix of oak, walnut, fir, and poplar, and I'm still on side one, with no chips so far, and they are still cutting acceptably.

If you buy a 735, be sure to buy the chip collector accessory, or have a cyclone dust collector available. The 735 has a chip blower built in to it that will spread chips everywhere if you don't have some type of collector attached to it. This blower works so well that there are almost no chips left around the planer.

Charley

 

[Travis Porter]

1. Should I buy an inexpensive lunchbox planer now and later upgrade to one suitable for good woodworking? (wait to find good used planer)
Depends on how much planing you are going to do. I would personally start with a used lunch box.
2. If I go with an inexpensive lunchbox: All have bad snipe; ryobi hard to find blades; what is best inexpensive?
They don't all have bad snipe. All planers have some snipe. Most I have seen get good reviews. DeWalt 735 seems to be the most popular.
3. If I don’t go inexpensive, what width: lunchbox, 15” or 20” ? 15"
4. Is the Dewalt DW735 best lunch box? But blades dull easily and are expensive. - I won't say it is best buy, but it seems to be the most popular.
5. If I go larger than 13” best to skip 15” and go to 20” ? I went from a lunch box to a 15 and then to a 20. I had my 15 for around 10 years, but I wish I had bought a 20 to start with and skipped the 15.
6. More important to have 15” with spiral/insert cutterhead or 20” with straight blades? (maybe add Shelix to planer at later date) - SHELIX!!!! Definitely a better cut.
7. Comparison of Grizzly & Shop Fox spiral/insert cutterhead verses more expensive Bryan Shelix cutterhead. Shelix seems to be better, but that is just what I have heard. I have a Shelix, and it is amazing compared to straight knives.
8. Advantages/differences of more expensive Powermatic verses Grizzly or Shop Fox. - I don't think there is much difference. I have compared my Powermatic to a Shop Fox and they look almost exactly the same. The bases are a little different, but I would say they are the same machine.
9. Advantages/difference of Shop Fox verses Grizzly. - I think they are about the same.
10. Any concerns of buying new online: Best prices online; few local suppliers in western NC. - Buying online is about the only way you can do it anymore. Might check Asheville hardware or the source (Rick on this site) as I do believe in supporting local retailers. It is nice to have local support and be able to touch and feel in advance.
11. Do prices on 15” & 20” usually increase after end of year? (Do I need to purchase new before the end of the year?) - Don't know.
12. Suggestions on best way to locate good used planers. (CL, this forum, Iwanna, ebay) - Craigslist is good. Also watch www.woodweb.com and ebay. Look beyond your local area on craigslist. Check Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston Salem, and Charlotte.
13. Suggestions/source on how to load/transport used heavy planer in western NC. (I do not have a truck or trailer) - rent a truck or trailer. Get a furniture dolley.

On your 1" thick siding material, it is available, and is common. FWIW, I would buy polyurethane trim as it does not rot.

 

[Keye]

If you decide to go bigger than lunch box and you are going to make furniture I would recommend a 20" planner. Most panels in furniture are 17" to 19". Obviously a dinning rome table top is over 20" but most of the time you will really be glad you have a 20" and not a 15". How am I so sure, experience.

Snipe can be controlled with good technique. Support the board properly going in and coming out and you will not have snipe. I have won a few beers proving this.:icon_chee

None of use can help you decide how much money you are going to spend. I will say if you make it hurt a little now it will hurt much less when you are in the shop making sawdust.:eusa_danc:eusa_danc

 

[Larry Rose]

I'm with Bas go with the Rigid. I've had one for several years now and I'm totally satisified. This is my second lunch boxer (first a Ryobi:thumbs_do) and I also was pondered waiting for a 15 to 20 inch model. The price is not bad, snipe is not a problem and changing the realitivly cheap knives is quick and easy. Mine gets a lot of use.

 

[JimD]

I guess it depends on what you do with your planner but I get very few boards that are wider than my 10 inch Ryobi AP10 bought used recently for $100. It came with the original knife sharpening jig and setting jig. I bought another set of knives for $25. For dressing rough cut lumber, my 10 inch is normally sufficient and certainly a 12 or 13 inch planner should work to plane over 90% of the rough cut lumber you will find. What it cannot do intact, it can do if you make it narrower and my experience is you will rarely need to do that. Straightening an edge on a jointer would make many wide rough cut lumber boards narrow enough.

What you won't be able to do is to take a little off a wide glueup instead of sanding the surface. I'd rather spend 10 minutes at the planner than half an hour with a sander but I do not have the space nor do I want to spend the money for a wider planner. I typically do not get the grain in a glueup going the same direction so I would not necessarily put it thorugh a planner even if I could (it might chipout).

Other than width, the other limitation of the small 120V planners is they will not cut a lot off wide hardwood boards. My AP-10 seems happy taking 1/64 to maybe 1/32 off cherry boards 9 inches or less wide. Usually I do 1/64 or so which is about 1/4 turn of the height adjustment - sometimes 1/2 turn or about 1/32 (I think a full turn is really 5/64). On softwood you could probably do more.

I've made one full kitchen with raised panel doors and several bedroom sets and sets of kitchen tables and chairs. I have a bit of experience, in other words, to back up my view that a smaller planner will do most of what you really need for hobby woodworking. I'm pretty happy with my AP-10. Sniping is partially the planner and partially technique. Having infeed and outfeed support a little above the planner bed helps and will nearly eliminate it if the boards are straight and not real long. On longer boards lifting up as they are about to exit helps. I do not think any planner can be immune, it is how well do they support the wood and possibly locking down the cutter head helps (which my Ryobi does not have).

I'm cheap so being able to sharpen and reset blades easily is a very desirable feature to me. It's pretty simple with the supplied gauge of my Ryobi. I doubt more recent models come with this but I don't really know that. I just take the knives off, put them in the gauge, and then run them over my little water cooled grinder until they are sharp (it has a 1000 grit stone). I did it once when I got the planner (they were terrible) and have not had to do it again yet. I've planned probably 40-50 bd ft.

Jim

 

[PurpleThumb]

Another option is to purchase your material planned to order at Mt. Sawyers in Fletcher. the Kuels are super people and will work with you. If you join the WNC Woodworkers, we meet in their shop.

 

[McRabbet]

Bob,

There are several other woodworkers in the area and I'd offer to help if you need a few boards planed. Here's a few suggestions: Like Travis suggested, use the new technology PVC trim boards if you can as they do not rot. Do not use 2 x stock asit will not hold up at all and will rot out in a few years. If you must use wood, I'd suggest Southern Yellow Pine as it will hold up fairly well and you should be able to buy 5/4 (full 1" planed) from a good lumber yard -- be sure to prime the ends very well.

As for a planer, I have a Dewalt DW733, the first lunchbox they made (had it about 10 years) and it has held up very well (I did break a compression roller drive sprocket a few weeks ago and replaced it for $3.18). Check the Pawn shops (wear old clothes) and Iwanna.com for leads. If you want a big new planer, I'd suggest you go to Blume Supply in Charlotte or buy a Grizzly (I have 5 Grizzly tools and they work very well). Shelix is best; Grizzly spiral carbide cutter is very good and 3-4 knife heads aren't bad. And as Purple Thumb has suggested, Mountain Sawyers can supply lumber at good prices (see their name in the Woodworking in NC> Sawyers list on the brown menu bar up top).

And if you're interested in getting together with other local woodworkers, join us in the Western NC Woodworkers Association (I'm President) and we'll find someone to help you out for sure. You just missed our last meeting on Saturday the 13th, but we'll meet again in January. Just PM me if you're interested.

 

[JimD]

I've bought a bunch of wood planned since my only other option was a manual feed INCA 8 5/8 planner until getting my 10 inch Ryobi recently. It is a decent option but there are at least a few drawbacks. First, the wood may not still be flat. The local guy I buy from stores wood outside in tent buildings so they see ambient humidity and evidently it is a bit different from what they were when planned because wide boards will not be perfectly flat consistently.

Second, the thicknesses are not all the same. They are close but not exactly the same (but then my Ryobi doesn't lock the cutter head so I get a little variation there too).

The quality of the planning is worse than I can get with sharp knives and taking off only a little each pass. This may be the biggest difference. The steel pressure rollers of larger planners also leave marks the rubber rollers of my Ryobi doesn't seem to.

I cannot always find the thickness I want in the wood I want.

Having the ability to plane lets you use sources other than dealers who will plane for you.

If you get it planned as you get it from the supplier, it should eliminate the humidity change related cupping. If their knives need attention, you could notice that on an early pass (if they let you watch) and finish yourself if you have the option. Planned wood is a pretty good option - particularly if you have no planner.

Jim

 

[TracyP]

Ridgid R4330 does all I need it to do. I would buy one in a heartbeat, Got mine as a gift last year.

 

[merrill77]

A few years ago, I lucked into a 3hp 15" delta clone pretty cheap - about the same price as the better benchtop planers. On the downside, it needed some serious cleaning and a tuneup (sharpened blades and a few adjustments). On the upside, it hasn't so much as hiccuped at anything I've thrown at it and I'm pretty sure it'll outlive me. It has a 3-knife cutterhead.

You didn't detail your intended uses, but for me, a planer was something I was willing to spend extra to get something "industrial strength".

 

[Splint Eastwood]

I don't recall any mention of "Refurbished", direct from manufacturer.

Often times these are open box returns, repackaged and resold with guarantees and now (this time of year) free shipping.

This takes a little or a lot of the risk out of buying "used".

CPO Outlets, Amazon has a section for refurbished, etc......

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Keye]

Oh what the heck, let me throw in another 2 cents.

Can you make a complete bedroom set with a luchbox, you betcha. I did. It included a queen size bed, chest on chest, triple dresser and two four drawer bedside chests. I figured out you can make wide boards by gluing narrow boards together. The one thing I have not been able to figure out is how to make them longer when they are to short.:rotflm:

 

[Jon]

I started with the DW735 and it was a good planer as long as the knives were sharp and it seemed like they got dull fast and it can only take a little off at a time. The Dewalt is also very loud

I now have a Delta 15 with Shelix head, I bought it used and I cant praise it enough. Its not loud it can handle Hard maple and take 1/8 off and not even slow down. I would say go ahead and get a 15 at least with Shelix.

Do you know about the IRS Auction in Georgia?

 

[mlzettl]

Bob,

Is your main goal to plane lumber for the outside trim on your home, or are you looking to accomplish that as well as doing interior work, furniture, etc. in the future? If the latter is the ultimate goal, then you need to consider getting a jointer and a planer. As any experienced woodworker will tell you, it is not possible to make a flat board with a planer alone (at least without a special made jig or fixture.) There are many discussions of this subject on any woodworking forum that you might care to visit.

I would suggest that you consider one of the combination machines available if you have a limited budget or space restrictions. For what your near term needs are, I would think that you could accomplish everything that you want to do with a 6" jointer and a 12" planer. You may find in the future that you want more capacity, but this is a reasonable starting point.

I think the thrust of my argument is that if you are relatively new to woodworking, it's better to start by learning proper technique from the outset. If you start by just buying rough sawn lumber and running it through a planer, you will ultimately find that this is unsatisfactory for furniture work, as you will discover that you are trying to build things with stock that is twisted, cupped, or bowed.

As I stated to begin with, if all you want to do is plane boards for outside trim work, then just a planer will be fine. If your future aspirations include furniture or high quality inside trim/cabinetry, you will end up being frustrated and disappointed with a planer alone.

Sorry if I have complicated the decision for you, and there may be other factors that influence your decision making. Also, others may disagree with me, so it's just my opinion. In any case, good luck with your project, and we look forward to hearing about how you proceed.

Matt

 

[JimD]

For outside trim, you may also want to consider pressure treated southern yellow pine. This time of year, you may find some reasonably dry in the big box stores. It takes paint well and is not damaged by water and insects. A planner will work on it easily.

Jim

 

[Gofor]

The DeWalt 734 is about 75% of the cost of a 735, but will still do both your trim and furniture grade work. 3 blade, 1 speed, about 80 lbs (movable by one person), and will give a silky-smooth surface. Good for a first one or a second/back-up. Lowe's occasionally puts them on sale for under $400.

I like mine, and have run 8" wide oak, walnut and pine with no problems.

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