First planer help

[Will Brauneis]

I have a mostly all hand tool shop and after hand planing a warped 19x54" board square and having to remove about 3/4 of maple of the top and bottom i realised i desperately need to get a planer for any future projects of that size. I have a fairly low budget but i would like to get a good sized and quality planer that i wont have to upgrade in the near future. I also would like to get one with a spiral cutter head to reduce tear out because i deal with a lot of figured wood. I found a 15" Powermatic 1791210 Model 15S for $1300 which seems like a good price but i could get a grizzly 20" for about 2200. I'm torn between the price and width capabilities, its not uncommon for my lumber yard to have boards over 15" in width so its either buy or cut wood to fit my planer or buy a planer to fit the wood.

I thought i would run this past you guys and get your opinion. If you can recommend any other brands of planer along those guidelines feel free

Thanks for the help

[Dave Lehnert]

A wood planer will not in all cases make a board flat. If the board has a twist in it it will go through the planer following the twist. In other words, you will still have a board with a twist. Just thiner.

The correct method is to run one side of a board through a jointer then run the jointed side of the board face down through the planer.

[Tony Bilello]

Given the choice, I would go with the 20' Grizzly first. The Grizz cant stand up to what the Powermatic can, but will still give good service. I just picked up a used 20" Grizz today. I build furniture and I needed something that could handle wide boards. 8" boards are quite common and 2 glued up would not fit the 15". Most Dressers, chests, hall tables, and desks are 16 to 19" wide. Generally, I buy my lumber planed for a few $ more. I tell them to plane to the point at which the surface is just smooth and stop there and make all the boards the same thickness. Then after glue-up, I will final thickness them myself.

[johnny means]

I would assume that since you squared a board by hand that you don't have a jointer. If this is the case, maybe you should be looking at what combination of jointer and planer you can afford to buy. IMO a planer is useless without a jointer except for thinning premilled lumber.

I would be weary of blowing my budget on a planer only to find out that it really is not a stand alone machine, but half of a woodworking system. Kind of like buying a table saw and having no fence.

If you are even considering something in the 2K range both Jet and Grizzly make combo machines aimed at that budget. A friend of mine just bought the Jet 12" combo machine and it appears to be a quality tool ,with good capacity, at a great price. I own a 20" Felder combo machine and can say that I love the whole concept and the fact that I got a large capacity jointer and planer without the price tag or space requirements of two large machines.

[Tom Hintz]

I trust that you know that regardless of the machine or tool used, you will still have to remove however much wood is needed to correct a defect. Your 3/4" removal experience will be repeated if you have the best jointer and planer in the business if that is how severe the defect in the board is.
That said, I have the Powermatic PM15HH planer with the true Byrd helical head and just cannot be happier with it. I have a full review of this machine with details, photos and a video at the link below if more info on it would help.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/pm15hhrvu.html

[Myk Rian]

You don't NEED a jointer. A piece of 3/4" MDF and some wedges can be used to make a board flat using a planer. It's called a planer sled.

[johnny means]

You don't NEED a jointer. A piece of 3/4" MDF and some wedges can be used to make a board flat using a planer. It's called a planer sled.

I guess we could all say we don't need car, also . There's nothing impossible about that 15 mile jog to work everyday. Sounded to me like the OP is looking to mill his lumber without it being a PIA. Don't even get me on the safety issues of sticking piles of scraps into a planer. Rigging up planer sleds is impractical and unsafe, it can reallu screw up your machine if something slips and is just further proof of the need for a jointer.

[Joe Mioux]

You don't NEED a jointer. A piece of 3/4" MDF and some wedges can be used to make a board flat using a planer. It's called a planer sled.

ditto the above comment.

I know some acomplished furniture makers with High dollar equipment who do not own jointers. They don't see the need for one.

joe

[Tony Bilello]

ditto the above comment.

I know some acomplished furniture makers with High dollar equipment who do not own jointers. They don't see the need for one.

joe

Ditto the above comment

I had a large commercial shop many years ago and did not use a joiner. I just bought a used one yesterday for my new shop because I just couldn't turn down the price. I seriously doubt if I will use it much, if at all. Time will tell.
Correcting defects such as cupping or twisting before running through a planer can be quickly done with a hand plane or an angle grinder.

[Mike Cruz]

You don't list where you are, but there is a Woodtek 20" Planer in the SC Classifieds right now for $800. GO GET IT!

BTW, dittos on a planer not making a warped board flat. You either need a jointer (but on 15" plus boards, a 6 or 8" jointer isn't going to help that much) or a sled for the planer.

Without the sled, and/or jointer, the up side to the 20" planer is that you only have to hand plane ONE side! :)

[Will Brauneis]

Thanks for the input guys. As for the lack of jointer i would either hand plane one side flat or make a sled. The cost of both machines just isn't in the cards right now. I would like to get a combo machine but the largest reasonable ones i found were 12" and that's just not wide enough for the lumber i have. I went to the local woodworking store yesterday and they had a steel city 15" on sale for $900 so i picked that up cause the price was sure was right and it will do most of what i need to at the moment. I can always put what i save on that to a larger planer in a few years if i need to.

Once again thanks for the help everyone