Steel City 40200H 13" planer

[Navin Rao]

Anyone own this planer?
toolking.com/products/15601000.aspx?googlebase=40200H

I was looking at either the Makita 2012NB or the Dewalt 735 and came across this as an alternative choice. Any thoughts would be appreciated, especially if you own it (noise, dust collection, snipe, performance so far, etc.).

Thanks.

[Thomas Williams]

I was hoping someone would be able to comment. I have looked at this planer at the local Woodcraft, and wondering how well it did work. It appears to be very similar to the Ridgid which usually gets high marks from those who own it.

[Adam Cavaliere]

I wish I had that one. I have the previous one with the 3 blades. Overall, I like the unit a lot. I know it isn't exactly the same, but I think the Steel City brand is a good one and their customer service is GREAT. I'd keep that in mind when deciding upon which one to get.

[Fred Hargis]

Someone else (somewhere) asked about this same planer. It looks like the inserts are HSS instead of carbide. I'm not sure how long they would last.......

[Navin Rao]

Thomas ... I was hoping to get some feedback before making the trek to see one in person. It was released earlier this year so not very many posts on it at all. I have seen some good reviews online, but was hoping for some input from folks here.

Its about the price of the Dewalt 735, and I was wondering if the helical cutters will make that much of a difference.

[Darius Ferlas]

I saw it demoed by a local retailer. I was very impressed with the quality of the cut. After all it's got the helical cutter head (the inserts are HSS). Dust collection is average, so a dust collector is a must.

I was also impressed by how much quieter it was than my Ridgid planer. It's kinda important to me as I live in a residential area and I'd prefer to stay on good terms with my neighbors.

Considering all things I think it's reasonably priced and it just bumped DW735 down one notch on my wish list.

[Navin Rao]

Here is the other recent thread I came across that is of relevance ... http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116782

Darius ... thanks for the info. I do my work in a two car garage in a townhouse complex, and I too would like to remain on good terms with my neighbors. The info on the noise is really useful.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I work at a Woodcraft store, and we sold the couple we had rather quickly. The customers are very happy with them. Though there isn't a tool test on them yet, I did observe that they are IDENTICAL to the Ridgid planers which are known to be good machines. (I mean truly identical. The only thing different are the colors and the helical head.)

Also, in the shop at the store we have a Steel City 16" planer with a helical head. The SteelCity helical design is very different than what you will find on a Jet or Powermatic machine, but it still works well with a huge reduction in noise.

Hutch

[Navin Rao]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered the Steel City planer which arrived today. Other than the now commonplace damaged box and the hassle of getting the broken dust chute replaced, I'm pretty pleased. (Aside ... I really have come to appreciate vendors who package things well ... or maybe the fedex guy was just annoyed at the 87 lbs he had to lug to my door).

The helical head is quiet. This is the first lunchbox planer I have owned, but the rigid and dewalt 735 I have played with were very loud once a board was being planed. There is barely an increase in noise when you feed a board through this planer. We will have to see how the HSS helical head lasts. When using a Rigid 3-blade planer, I got some major tear out with a small knot in a test board. One of my test boards I used with the Steel City planer had a larger knot but I did not find any tear out. I assume this is the helical head design.

No snipe with the boards I have fed through, but the snipe lock seems flimsy. I will have to keep an eye on that.

Dust collection is mediocre (compared to some of my other tools). I estimate 60-70% with the broken dust chute (might get better once I get it replaced). My plastic oneida dust deputy attached to a plastic bucket worked like a charm. This little beauty is going to save me a lot of money on vacuum bags, especially with this new planer.

The design of the dust port is poor. It installs with three hand knobs, but then you can't fold up the outfeed table with the dustport attached.

So far ... it fits my needs of something quiet and portable. I now need to build a rollaway stand.