Thinking about getting a planer...

[CaseyForrest]

Ive never had or used one, but if I get into selling wood, Id like to be able to have at least 2 sides surfaced.

Who all has one, and what do you have?

How do you go about planeing a board? Do those 3 1/4 planers do any good? Id like to get one of the table top planers, will do up to 12" to 13" wide, and 6" thick, but dont have a clue.

 

[flht01]

The latest issue of Wood #173 November, published by Better Homes and Gardens, has a side by side comparison of the popular table top planers. Let me know if you have trouble finding this issue.

I've got a delta #22-580 13" tabletop but don't have enough personal experience with it to comment. Maybe one of the more experienced users will chime in.

 

[bookerdog]

rigid 13

I know they give the rigid 13inch table top planer a good review. Grizzly also has a 12 1/2 inch planer that gets pretty good review and I think the price of the grizzly is only 225.00

 

[daemon2525]

Casey,
I have a DELTA 12 inch tabletop and have had for years. I could not be happier. At the time it was 399$ and then years later I saw one on clearance for 199$. I could bury my house in the chips that it has made.

I have no exprience with any other brand than a large belsaw, which is obviously more powerfull.

My only complaint is that you are not suppose to sharpen the blades, just use them once (till dull) and then flip them over. Then you are suppose to buy new.

I use to have an uncle with a surface grinder (whatever that is) that would do a good job sharpening them. He is old and cannot help me now.

I have tried to sharpen them myself and cannot figure a good way to do it, so now I have to keep buying new and it gets expensive.

That is my only complaint.

I take that back.. I have used a MAKITA and the blades were locked by a groove in the blade so that even if you could sharpen them they would not work because then they would be to (narrow)short to clear the roller.
The DELTA blade sits on springs and you push it down with a guage to the correct depth. WHen the blade gets narrower as you sharpen, it does not matter.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Thanks for the quick replies...

The rigid looks nice, as does the Dewalt, and the Delta...

How concerned do I really need to be about either 3 knives over 2? Or 66cpi over 90cpi? Is it really going to make that big a difference that some 100 grit on a sander cant fix?

Also, whats the process of planeing a board? Lets say youve got a 1.5" x 6" x8'.......which side do you plane first? Can you plane all four sides on a table top planer, or do you need a jointer to do the 1.5" sides?

 

[dustytools]

Casey there are several good planers on the market today. If I were going to buy a new one today I would go with the DeWalt especially if I were going to use it a bunch.I have a friend that runs a cabinet shop who just bought one and it is SWEET. Has three cutters versus the two on most lower end planers. Believe me the extra blade makes a lot of difference. Ive got an older model Delta that I would probbably be willing to part with, Trouble is it is so heavy that the shipping would more than likely cost an arm and a leg. Send me a PM if you might be interested.

 

[sawinredneck]

Find Grizzly tools Casey, if you are serious about this, you will kill a table top unit in a week!!!
Andy

 

[CaseyForrest]

Thanks for the offer Dusty...You are probably right, shipping would probably be enough for me to say thanks anyway!!!

I like the Dewalt, but at close to $600 out the door, thats allot of money!!!

I dont forsee myself using it allot, just enough to be able to make a couple hundred extra bucks a month selling wood that would otherwise go in someones OWB.

Ill have to fondle the Delta and Rigid units at HD.

 

[daemon2525]

1. I cannot tell about 2/3 blades. Mine has two and works fine.

2. You will not need 100 grit sandpaper on anything that comes out of my planer.

3. Yes you will need a jointer for the short sides.Or a nice tablesaw with a Woodworker blade.

4. I start with the ugliest side and get it close to straight and then flip it every other time until one side is perfect, then work the other side until it is good also. I'll bet You'll get different opinions on this one.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Find Grizzly tools Casey, if you are serious about this, you will kill a table top unit in a week!!!
Andy

I know what you are getting at...I wont be doing any high production work...Just a few linear feet a week, nothing major.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I guess what I really want to do is be able to remove the chain marks from the slabs after milling. I thought about a belt sander, and I guess that would be allot cheaper.....just that having a planer would be neat!!

 

[daemon2525]

Find Grizzly tools Casey, if you are serious about this, you will kill a table top unit in a week!!!
Andy

I agree, MAYBE, I do not sell lumber. I just use it for my own use. HOWEVER, I know that I have planed 4 to 5000 board feet with mine. Some of it was pretty ugly. My uncle had a bad habit of making boards that were 1.5 on one end and .75 on the other. With a woodmizer. He ran it dull or too fast or something.

I know very close to how much I have planed because I buy my lumber in 400 board foot units. (about a pickup truck full).

I do not know if 4-5000 board feet is considered a lot. You be the judge.

 

[sawinredneck]

My reasoning for the larger planer is due to the width and length of the boards it will take a toll quickly on the smaller units!
Andy

 

[daemon2525]

I am agreeing with you. I was just trying to tell how much my unit has produced. For someone who does 1000 bdft per week, I'll give the Delta a couple of months! LOL!

I'll also agree that my machine is not as happy with 10-12 inch boards as it is with 6 or less. I have had some 12 inch wide water oak that I was just sure was my last board!!! It groaned a little. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[trimmmed]

I agree, MAYBE, I do not sell lumber. I just use it for my own use. HOWEVER, I know that I have planed 4 to 5000 board feet with mine. Some of it was pretty ugly. My uncle had a bad habit of making boards that were 1.5 on one end and .75 on the other. With a woodmizer. He ran it dull or too fast or something.

I know very close to how much I have planed because I buy my lumber in 400 board foot units. (about a pickup truck full).

I do not know if 4-5000 board feet is considered a lot. You be the judge.

I agree with what you are saying about the 12" Delta, I've had one for for 8 years or better and it has taken all the nasty stuff I've thrown at it in stride.

Casey, a small planer will work fine for what you need, a belt sander is half the price but 10 times the aggravation and 10 times as slow. I'm happy with my Delta, but most of the portable planers have gotten pretty good reviews.

Now to clarify, you just want to pretty up the wood you are selling, i.e. get rid of the chain marks and show off the grain and a planer is perfect for that. That said if you want to make square boards, you would need a jointer and tablesaw as well. A hand held powerplane would be nice for your edges and alot cheaper than a jointer as well as easier to use. I have a Dewalt 3 1/4" that I am very happy with.

 

[aquan8tor]

Thanks for the offer Dusty...You are probably right, shipping would probably be enough for me to say thanks anyway!!!

I like the Dewalt, but at close to $600 out the door, thats allot of money!!!

I dont forsee myself using it allot, just enough to be able to make a couple hundred extra bucks a month selling wood that would otherwise go in someones OWB.

Ill have to fondle the Delta and Rigid units at HD.

Although $600 is a lot of money to you, and to me as well, overall it really isnt a lot to pay for a planer. Big units that are wider--say 20-24" are thousands, not hundreds. I've got a friend with a 24" helical cutter XTREMA that I'm sure set him backa few thou. But, Jeff'll probably have it for his lifetime, and will use the hell out of it.

 

[Big Woody]

Here is what I highly recommend.

Nothing like trying to run a decent size board though a small planer and have it moving all over the place.

 

[woodshop]

I know what you are getting at...I wont be doing any high production work...Just a few linear feet a week, nothing major.

Casey just understand that those tabletop 12 inch planers, like everything else, have their niche. You can certainly run "a few linear feet a week" through them. Even then though, if that lumber is 12 inch wide rough lumber, the thing is just not going to hold up to that for a long time. The motors in those planers were never designed to take on that kind of a load for any more than the occasional board or two. Also, as was already mentioned I think, if you want to get that rough board to S2S, you will need a jointer also in conjunction with that thickness planer. A planer won't straiten out a twisted board. If you run a twisted board through, it will thickness that board, but it will follow that twist. For truly flat boards with no twist, you have to get one side flat first on a jointer, THEN run it through the planer to make the board same thickness over its whole length. For S4S (where not just 2 sides, but edges also, all 4 sides surfaced), you will then put that planned board back on the jointer to get one good strait edge, and then table saw to rip the board to the same width. Quite an investment in woodworking tools I realize. However, thems the cold hard facts. That's what it takes to turn $2 a ft rough lumber into $6 a ft lumber ready for a woodworking project.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have a 20" Newel and a 13.5" Rockwell.....

For homeowner use, a bench top planer will last a while, but if you really are going to sell lumber, you better set your sights a LOT higher than that! Bench top planers work at a snails pace, and are VERY noisy too....

My brother took the cutter head berrings out of his BT planer, planeing rough sawn lumber in less than a years time... He now has a full size planer...

Rob

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

I've had the 13" Ridgid planer for over 5 years. I can say it's a good machine for it's intended purpose... and then some. I've planed thousands (yes, thousands) of LF of #2 SYP 1x- (soft but full of rock hard knots) as well as numerous hardwoods in mine and it still functions as well as it did when new. I have also used the Delta 12.5 and DeWalt 13" planers and both are good machines as well, especially the Dewalt. For the occasional flattening of a few boards, I can say a bench top planer will work just fine. You can easily build a jig that will make one function like a jointer to flatten one side then run the board normally to take it down to the desired thickness. Then a straight edge, a good circlesaw and a steady hand is all you need to make "poor mans" S4S. It does work, I've done it. If you have a table saw and/ or jointer, that's just icing on the cake.