need quick review of surface planers
alwaysoverbudget
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
well i think the old delta 12.5 is just about to bite it. i can’t guess how many feet of red oak it’s planed [including a few feet of teak that took the blades and spit them out]no complaints for 250. but it’s time to get a new one ,maybe in the next day or 2.i’ve looked a the hitiachi, looks pretty nice but i notice lowes doesn’t carry blades for them, that could be a problem. looked at rigid also looks ok i’m just a little leary of ridgid even though some guys swear by them. dewalt,i have such bad luck with yellow! what do you have that you like? also anybody use carbide blades in a planer? it seems my blades get a little rough pretty quick in red oak. thanks larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Replies
I sold all my heavy wood shop equipment about 6 years ago when we moved but I still needed a portable thickness planer. After much research I jumped and bought the Ridgid. That was 6 years ago and it really has served me well. It's easily adjustable and the knives change very quickly. Since then I understand that Dewalt has come out with a newer beefier model that's supposed to be really good. Product and tools change so quickly anymore. I was pleasently surprised at how well Ridgid makes their tools.
looked at the ridgid a little more at hd today. do the blades have some sort of guide system or pins they go on ,so you don't have to adjust them? larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Yes they do. The blades just basically pop in, and they are reversable and disposable.
I have used the newer DeWalt, 3 knife 2 speed planer a fair amount. A pretty nice machine as long as you keep the knives sharp. It has a fan that ejects the chips, so standing on the outfeed side is out of the question unless you connect a vacuum cleaner. It's very easy to change knives and they are reversible.
Here's my take:
I know a couple of guys that run the Ridgid, and they think it is great. I have used one now and again, and it seems ok.
The new Dewalt seems to have had lots of problems; I wouldn't buy one until they get the glitches fixed.
I had a 12.5 inch Delta and ran it till it died.
Replaced it with the newest Delta (13 inch). Nice machine, but heavy. And it has bells a whistles them seem attractive -- but I find I never use them. Cuts no better than the 12.5 inch.
If I were doing it again, I would buy another Delta 12.5 inch. It is way lighter, and easy to carry around. The cut quality is as good as the newer model. The 2 speed and thickness feature on the newer model are just eyewash (for me),and the 12.5 is much cheaper (including the blades).
The other thing to consider is the style of blades. I prefer disposables rather than blades that can be resharpened. It is certainly more convenient, and unless you are set up to sharpen the blades yourself, the cost between the two styles is probably a wash.
With the disposable blades. Are they carbide inserts? I have those on my portable planer and was wondering.
Disposable blades are HSS. You can get carbide blades for some planers, but they are woefully expensive. I'm not sure whether or not they are available for the Delata planers. You are not running manufactured products (MDF, plywood) through a planer, so HSS blades work fine and are generally more cost efficient.
I did a lot of looking around when I made the same decision, and despite my anti DeWalt bias, chose to give it a try. I liked the 3 balde and the two speed concept, and felt teh type of lift mechanism was theoretically superior.
I have cut a bunch of mahogony decking, and the ease of use and the cut quality were great, with snipe being fairly reasonable.
However, the feed was suspect, and I found myself assisting the boards as they were being cut. I queried the DeWalt guys at the big Homebuiding show in Jan, but of course they all acted like I had rocks in my head and blamed the material.
So, the Jury is out on the feed issue. I would be interested to hear whether others have experienced it.
It is big, stable, but rather heavy. And the chip extraction is hilarious! Even if you position a 30 gallon garbage can in the path it all blows right out! It's wild!Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
Makita. 'Nuff said.Free the Sancho!
every thing i own makita,i like but noone around here sells planers or blades. maybe i should look at ebay see if they are on there. larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
i looked on ebay and these things are only bringing about 175-200. so i may just do that and stick with the delta and keep my old one for parts.i like looking at some of the bells and whistles on the new planers,but i know your right about using them-you plane wood with it what else do you need? thanks larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
I just got a sales sheet from Rockler, and noticed they are selling the Delta 12.5 for something under $200, whereas the newer 13 inch is $379.
I have the Ridgid and like it, though I don't do a lot of planning and have not tried the others. What I do know is that when I use the Ridgid it feeds well and planes smooth - that is what I want in a planer. Haven't even used it enough to have to change the blades though, so I certainly can't speak for the ease of that or longevity of the machine. I bought the Ridgid based on a a fair amount of research at the time I needed a planer.
I set the thing up on one of those Ridgid Miter Saw stands. Works pretty well in that it gives me infeed and outfeed rollers that adjust for distance from machine.
From what I have read on planers lately, you will likely be happy with one from just about any one of the major players - think you are going in the right direction weighing in availability of blades and service.
A friend of mine bought the beefy looking Dewalt. He's had some trouble with it and told me he wouldn't buy it again. I have the old 12.5" Delta and it has served me well.
I too have the beefy Dewalt. I havent used it as much as I want to but so far no complaints. I have heard about some feed problems but havent experienced it......yet. The exhaust is crazy. Its like a snowstorm. BTW take portable with a grain of salt. That is one bulky machine. I think its about 97lbs.
Edited 3/7/2005 7:29 pm ET by MSA1
I have occasional light duty use for a surface planer, but I'm finding it hard to justify the $350-$450 for the better featured planers. Is the Delta that sells for around $200 any good at all? I realize I shouldn't expect super performance, but is it even worth spending $200 on? On one hand, I would have a $400 planer forever and would likely eventually want to replace the $200 model, but on the other hand, I'm short on cash!
What to do????????............
I have the older model of the Dewalt, not the new three blade/two speed model which is very heavy, and am happy with it. It does what I need done, whether it's oak, poplar, whatever and changing blades is a cinch. And it's portable. I have a Rockwell planer in my shop, which is for sale, that I don't use anymore. I think that says enough.Jim"I want a good clean fight. No head butts, no rabbit punches, and no hitting below the belt. Break when I say break, and protect yourself at all times."
I generally hog down stuff on my big grizzley and just skim at the older Dewalt.Ruff cut lumber is just tuff on those feed rollers on the portables.Dewalt is okay, some feed issues, definetly have to dust collect the chips or like most planers they get embossed into the fresh cut board. Wish still had my old jet and a penny for every foot that went thru there but the new bearings fix was to close to a new rig.
mike thats what i have that is about shot. but for the price and if a guy is not going to make a living with it it's been fine. i bet mine has had 20-30 thosuand feet through it, uaslly red oak. the other day i put new blades in it and it still cut real nice. what happened to mine is it started rattling and i ignored it. turns out the pully on motor was loose and had wallerd it out.so i jb welded it and put it back together. that was about 6k-7k feet ago but its going again. larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
I used up one of the old 12" Deltas and a 12 1/2" Dewalt, and have many hours on another 12 1/2" Dewalt. I have also used a Makita a lot, and if my Dewalt died today the Makita is the one I would get. Light (relatively), no bells and whistles but works great. A few more bucks but Makita stuff always lasts forever.