the Delta 12" lunchbox planer at Lowe's...

[Mike Package]

...a decent first planer for a noob? Model TP305

lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=36274-70-TP305&lpage=none

Assuming the size is enough for me right now, any reason to avoid this machine as my first planer? I would be using it to plane blanks for my guitars - 5/4 and 6/4 hard maple, 4-5" wide and 25-30" long, and 8/4 ash, basswood, maple, alder, poplar - 7-8" wide and 20" long.

I've been searching and reading about the snipe issues. If I had to start with pieces a few inches longer and then trim them down afterwards, I wouldn't mind.

I'm on a shoestring budget and CL has been a bust lately.

Thanks for the input!

-Mike

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I don't own a planer. I've been researching. It's next on my list. My .02.

Try to find a 3 blade. The 13" Dewalt is pricier, but is a 3 blade. This will come into play if you're planing high figure woods. (Luthier wood) Naturally a helix would be best, but you already said your funds are limited.

The Ryobi AP1301 was ranked best buy at around 200 bucks. (2 blade) For the budget minded. Yours was not tested. (2009 Buyers Guide)

[Matt Armstrong]

I was patient and picked up the "old" version of the TP305, the 22-560. I only paid $60 for mine and it runs fine. I had to get new blades but the cut quality is really excellent.

3 blades may be better, but so is a non-portable planer, longer outfeed tables, a helical cutterhead, a wider planing capacity, and a drum sander and maybe a CNC mill.

Just consider the price. If you can afford the TP305, I dont' think you'll be dissapointed at all. Being able to plane material is really rewarding...

[Ray Dockrey]

I also have the 22-560 that I got on clearance for $125 and it is awesome. The TP305 was the replacement for it and I don't think you will be disappointed. Sure I would love to have a three head machine but I got what I could afford. I get no snipe and the finish is excellent. I don't know what more I could ask for other then a wider planer but i don't have the room nor the money to get something like that right now.

[Curt Harms]

I'm not sure about that. I think the TP305 is more closely related to the 22-540. No cutterhead lock on either the -305 or the -540, and I think they both have 2 posts rather than 4 though i'm not sure about that. I KNOW the 22-540 was a sniping little rascal, the the -305 is as well. I don't think the 22-560 was a sniper, and I know the 22-580 is not a sniper even if the cutterhead is not locked. When I had the 22-580 I don't think I ever used the cutterhead lock and very seldom had any detectable snipe. There's more to snipe/no snipe than just the cutterhead lock.

HTH

Curt

[Mike Gager]

i have the tp-305 and its fine but i do wish i saved a little more and got a dewalt 735 or even the ridgid planer

the tp-305 IS a pretty bare bones planer, it doesnt have a lot of the extras the more expensive planers have, some may be missed others might not. also i havent had any problems with it but ive heard a lot of other people complain about excessive snipe

[GERALD HARGROVE]

I had one and it served me well for several years. Be prepaired to work when planing on this machine. I used a friends 15 inch Shopfox the other day, and I think I could have kicked back and let do all of the work. By the way, my delta craped out when a freind used it, but I got my moneys worth out of it.

[Ray Dockrey]

I'm not sure about that. I think the TP305 is more closely related to the 22-540. No cutterhead lock on either the -305 or the -540, and I think they both have 2 posts rather than 4 though i'm not sure about that. I KNOW the 22-540 was a sniping little rascal, the the -305 is as well. I don't think the 22-560 was a sniper, and I know the 22-580 is not a sniper even if the cutterhead is not locked. When I had the 22-580 I don't think I ever used the cutterhead lock and very seldom had any detectable snipe. There's more to snipe/no snipe than just the cutterhead lock.

HTH

CurtI stand corrected then. I thought it was the replacement for the 22-560. Without the cutter head lock I am sure snipe would be an issue.

[Lee Bidwell]

I just finished planing about 80 bf of maple and cottonwood with this planer, and there are some pros and cons.

Pros: The knives sit on registering pins, so they are easy to change and no alignment is necessary. Also, the knives are double edged and reversible. The othe major pros are the price and portability. I keep it tucked under my workbench when not in use.

Cons: As mentioned above, the cutter head does not lock and will rise a little from the set point when you pass the first board through. Mine snipes pretty bad on the front end. I am using it straight out of the box and haven't messed with roller alignment, so some of this may be my fault. You can keep the trailing end of the board from sniping if you are waiting on the outfeed side to remove the board as soon as it clears the cutter head.
Also, someone mentioned being ready to work. This is defininety true. I wouldn't try to take off more than 1/32" per pass, and make sure the knives are working down grain. Otherwise, the board will bind and the knives will create a burn mark. Once enough of the board is safely out the outfeed end, I have to move over there and pull the board slightly to prevent binding. This is fine for a few boards, but if you are running a large stack of lumber, you will be tired by the time you are done.
Finally, a con not mentioned is the lack of dust collection. In fact, there isn't even a way to safely rig one since, to access the dust chute, you have to remove the cutterhead guard, exposing the knives. If you've got a lot of planing to do, be prepared to dispose a huge pile of sawdust.

All in all, its not a great planer, but, for the money, if you can live with the snipe, it gets the job done.

[Curt Harms]

.....
Finally, a con not mentioned is the lack of dust collection. In fact, there isn't even a way to safely rig one since, to access the dust chute, you have to remove the cutterhead guard, exposing the knives. If you've got a lot of planing to do, be prepared to dispose a huge pile of sawdust.

All in all, its not a great planer, but, for the money, if you can live with the snipe, it gets the job done.

Actually, there is;). I've done it on my 22-540 and on a buddy's 305. For mine I took a piece of 2 1/2" shop vac solid tube cut a slot lengthwise about 3/4"-1" wide long enough to fit over the end of the dust hood. Used metal straps bolted to the tube and to the hood. Tape one end of the tube shut, hook a hose up to the other end. For my buddy's 305 he has a D.C. with 4" hose so I used a piece of 4" PVC pipe. Cut the slot, put a cap on one end, hook the other end up to the D.C. fasten with plumber's strap or whatever you have handy. Works well:). I wish I had pics but I don't, sorry. Using a Shop Vac as a dust collector convinced me I needed a real D.C. Boy it don't take long at all to fill a 16 gal. shop vac with a planer.

HTH

Curt

[Bruce Wrenn]

I've got a couple of the Delta 22-540's. One each of type 1, and type 2. The biggest difference between the 22-540, and the 305 is blade length, 12" on the 22-540, and 12 1/2" on the 305. The blades on the 22-540 aren't indexed, but are set using a gauge. Nice thing about not being indexed, they can be "touched up", and shifted to get rid of a nick. I have had my original 22-540 since 1995. It has done thousands of feet of edging for my cabinets, that I build. But my stock comes already planed to 13/16" from the supplier. I do have two other planers, A Delta 15", and a REAL planer, a Rockwell 13". The Rockwell probably weighs a thousand pounds. The motor is the size of a five gallon bucket. Currently here locally a Delta 22-540 (type 1) is for sale. Asking price, with an extra set of knives, $140.

[Perry Underwood]

Why not consider the Grizzly G0663 or G0505? The G0663 is (slightly) under #200 now.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/category.aspx?key=490000

[george wilson]

We had a 20" Powermatic planer in the toolmaker's shop.I bought a 12" old model Delta lunchbox planer at an auction.I found that it would plane some woods cleaner,with less tearout than the large planer.I used to just take it outside,and run figured wood through it. I bought one to use at home as an adjunct to my larger planer. It makes nice mulch when used outdoors.

When the millwork shop got a new Northfield planer,it scraped the wood more than cutting it,and would plane curly maple amazingly well. It had nearly vertical carbide inserts in its cutterhead,though not the type usually seen in Byrd and similar heads. The cutters could be ground with a grinding attachment several times before replacing them.

[Dell Moore]

Mike,

I own a TP305. and I was able to by a dust collector for it that works great. The collector was from Delta and ridiculously easy to install.

I think it does far better than an "adequate" job. If it's was you can afford, and you want a planer, I think you will be very happy.

Good luck,

Dell

[Mike Package]

Thanks everybody for the input. To give you an idea - right now I plane my guitar pieces by putting them in a homemade jig - a ply platform with pvc rails down each side. I stick the piece to the platform with carpet tape and I put a wide sled bottom on my router and just glide the router back and forth. Taking about 1/16" deep x 1/4" wide on each pass. I can't really imagine ANY power planer being more tedious than this - right? Although the upside is, I get an excellent finish even on figured maple.

I've been practicing my hand planing technique too. I just don't have the skill to get things as flat as I need yet, and taking 1/4" or more off each piece is a workout and a half.

[Curt Harms]

As I remember back, I recall a few things that helped with snipe. I had my 22-540 on a rolling stand. A foot or so from each table I had a roller slightly higher than the tables. This helped elevate the stock entering and exiting the planer. Some people took a 12" wide piece of melamine about 5'-6' long and put a cleat on the bottom front and back about midway on the melamine so it didn't pull thru the planer. Level and support the melamine so it functions as an infeed/outfeed table. I have no experience with this but saw it in magazines and in online postings. It seemed to work. As Ray and others said, don't take too much at one time; it's hard on the machine and will probably not do a good job. The last thing I can think of is running the piece thru twice when you get to the final depth. I found that sometimes reduced the snipe. Light cuts and technique seemed to go a long way toward good performance in my experience.

HTH

Curt

[Mike Package]

Thanks again for all the input. I went ahead and upped my budget a bit and picked up the Ridgid 13" 4330. The biggest difference being that the 13" allows me to run some of my 2-piece glue-ups through after being glued whereas 12.5" often wouldn't be enough. And the 4330 is a three-cutter versus the 2-cutter low-end Delta, and has DC port.

Now to set it up. Oh, how glad I will be to not be planing via 1/2" router bit anymore!! :):):)

[george wilson]

You are lucky to be living in this age of cheap machinery. I did not have a planer for many years. When I did get one,it was a really screwed up old Parks 12",which I kept for years. Back then,only American machines were to be had,and they were very expensive,even for poor ones.

The jointer I had was an old Army surplus Boice Crane 6" short bed.It,and the Parks planer both had had the tables really messed up by some fool with a body grinder. I just couldn't afford better stuff,but made them work.

[Larry Rasmussen]

And find it quite usable. I downsized from a Grizzly 15" that I had put a shelix head in. I downsized much of the shop which was expanding over outside of my half of the two car garage and ended up selling the Grizzly. Frankly I needed some extra cash then as well. I replaced it with the Rigid. We have a Home Depot card which we use once in a while for a larger project when the one year no interest financing comes around, other wise the card sits in the drawer. Has worked out quite well for bigger puchases. My few mos with it have been trouble free. Plus if you every get the Shelix itch Holbren gives Creekers a 10% discount last time I checked so for a mere 400 or so bucks you can shelixize your lunch box planer.

Byrd Shelix Head for Ridgid R4330 13" Planer (http://www.holbren.com/product.php?productid=4673&cat=0&page=1)
http://www.holbren.com/image.php?type=T&id=4673 (http://www.holbren.com/product.php?productid=4673&cat=0&page=1) See details (http://www.holbren.com/product.php?productid=4673&cat=0&page=1)

Item #: B4298
Price: $439.00

[Blake Barr]

I REALLY did not like mine... it sniped like crazy and dulled fast plus it came with no dust/chip collection. I felt like I was ripping someone off when I sold it for $150....

Do yourself a favor, at least get one with 4 posts...