planer

[mason0366]

Been think of buying one. Just wondering what best to look for in one. good and bad points?

[BaldEagle]

Obviously the amount of money you plan on spending on one.

1) My first thought would be what kind of work are you planning on doing.

2) Check out the different sizes and costs. They come in 12" to 24", 110/220 single phase, to 220 three phase.

3) Width of boards you plan on planing.

Those are just a few basics I would be concerned about. I have a 12 1/2" Delta. My second one, wore the first one out and got a deal on this one. I also have a Jet 16/32 drum sander that works for wider boards if the need arises.

Delta, Jet, Power matic, Grizzly, just to name a few.

Good luck.

Wayne

[sotan]

The Dewalt DW735 is an excellent planer. I upgraded to this model and it is just excellent in every capacity. It has a fan to blow out the chips and it is so powerful, it completely inflates my dust collector through 15' of hose. Also it has a 3 knife cutterhead, positive stops and 2 speeds for dimensioning and planing. Read reviews - there are a bunch out there that compare various planers.

Good luck!

[CRMITCHELL]

The Dewalt DW735 is an excellent planer. I upgraded to this model and it is just excellent in every capacity. It has a fan to blow out the chips and it is so powerful, it completely inflates my dust collector through 15' of hose. Also it has a 3 knife cutterhead, positive stops and 2 speeds for dimensioning and planing. Read reviews - there are a bunch out there that compare various planers.

Good luck!

I had the Delta and it did a fine job. Then I ran across a closeout on the Dewalt 735 at Lowes (it was a mistake that they were correcting as I walked up to the display) and I got it for about 1/2 price. It does an even better job, and can handle heavier cuts that the Delta could not.

My point is that both did whatever I asked of them so long as I keep in mind their limitations.

[woodchuck1954]

As stated before, What are you planing? What is your budget? You can spend $300 and up to several thousands of dollars.

[Shop Dude]

Not trying to sidetrack the thread but I had a question on the Dewalt planers.

Thought I heard someone say the blades were expensive to replace. Can they be sharpened ? How often do the blades need to be sharpened or replaced ?

I too will be getting a planer down the road and wanted to be sure about the Dewalt blades.

Another planer I am considering is the Grizzly G1037G 13" . The 15" Grizzly might be pushing the limits of my pier foundation and wood flooring.

[Jerry M]

Shop Dude--

I use a Dewalt 735 planer. The blades are made to be disposable. They use an indexing pin for alignment (rather than jack screws) so any variation in sharpening would throw off blade alignment. I've never tried to calculate planing feet/blade but they seem to go dull at about the same rate as standard knives (I've used several other planers).

The planer does a great job---and produces the least amount of snipe of any planer I've used. The two-speed feature is also useful when dealing with troublesome, chip-out prone wood. Not familiar with the Grizzly, so I can't compare for you.

[Shop Dude]

Shop Dude--

I use a Dewalt 735 planer. The blades are made to be disposable. They use an indexing pin for alignment (rather than jack screws) so any variation in sharpening would throw off blade alignment. I've never tried to calculate planing feet/blade but they seem to go dull at about the same rate as standard knives (I've used several other planers).

The planer does a great job---and produces the least amount of snipe of any planer I've used. The two-speed feature is also useful when dealing with troublesome, chip-out prone wood. Not familiar with the Grizzly, so I can't compare for you.

Everything else I have heard about the planer is very solid. The blades then seem to not be an issue.

Thanks.

[Valkyrie]

I can tell you the 735 knives don't particularly like hard maple. I recently built a baby bed and went through a set of knives (both sides) in the process. Overall, it is a solid performer as long as you respect it's limitations.

[AnselmFraser]

If you can get 3 phase to your workshop we would recomend getting industrial machines made 50 years ago , you can pick them up cheap and they were made for 10 hours per day contnuous running . They also add character and history to the atmosphere of your machine shop ......