Woodmaster Tools?

[John Miliunas]

Anyone out there use or own any "Woodmaster Tools"? I'm particularly interested in feedback on their 4-in-one piece. The one with the planer, sander, gang-rip and moulder combo. I know there must be some hastle involved with switching from one function to the other, but it may be a more economical answer if the functions are reliable and the machine of higher quality. Any info would be appreciated. :cool:

[Eddie Severt]

John,
I have had one of these for several years, the 18 " one. The variable feed speed and two motors let you get really smooth surfaces very easily. The gang saws let you rip even crooked wood to straight and exact width easily. The molder makes great crown molding. Yes, it takes a little time to change modes, but after some practice it gets easier. This is a heavy tool with very little vibration and will hog off 3/16" in red oak 9" wide and never slow down. Hope this helps. They are very good with tech support, also. Send for their free video.

[John Miliunas]

Eddie, exactly the kind of info I was looking for! Thank you! A couple detailed questions, though: 1) By "smooth surfaces", is this primarily as it relates to the planer or sander function? The reason I ask is because, even if one of these is in my future, I'm still kind of leaning toward a Performax for the drum sanding functions. 2) How effective is the dust/chip collection on it? I understand the need of keeping any tool of this nature relatively close to the DC source, but curious as to how well this part of it performs. Thanks again for the info, as well as any additional details you can provide! :cool:

[Ernie Kuhn]

John,
I've had the Woodmaster 712 for over 12 years now. The chip "collector" was a separate order piece when I bought mine and had to have a rectangular hole cut our of the top of the shroud. I collect about 90% of the chips using a one hp Sears dust collector with 4" hose. Runs on 220 v for the 5hp cutter and 110 v for the variable speed feed rollers. Setup time can be considerable when changing over from one function to another but a bit of prudent work process planning mitigates most of it.
Wouldn't trade it. Performax sander may be less cumbersome or involved for changing out sanding paper. I don't power sand with the Woodmaster since the thickness planer does so well for a surface finish if, you dont try to hog huge amounts of wood for the finish cuts. I'd buy another one.

[Eddie Severt]

John,
I'll agree with what Ernie said. You can slow the feed down enough that you get a near perfect finish with the planer. I haven't used my sander, but I see no reason it wouldn't work as well as the other attachments. If you use a cyclone, you should get good results.
Eddie

[John Miliunas]

To repeat, exactly the type of info I was looking for! I also went out to their website last evening and requested more detailed information and video, if available. One of the main reasons for considering this is, the place we're looking at buying has LOTS of trim. Sadly, it's all el-cheopo, contemporary profile, Mohagony (I think) and worst of all, painted the exact color(s) of the room(s)! Icky! In addition, my current planer is an old "lunch box" Ryobi, pretty light duty and starting to show its age. Looks like this would be a good opportunity to upgrade, add and give the place a much-needed facelift, all at the same time. Now all we need to do is sell our current place, so that we could get in there. Thanks again for all of your information! :cool:

[Matt Gregor]

Just wanted to share my expereince with my Woodmaster 718 combo machine I have been using for about 4 years now. I have the unit with the upgraded power head motor (7.5HP) and I have to tell you there is nothing that slows this machine down. I use the machine predominatly in the planer mode then for moulding (www.lmgmouldings.com is my part-time venture). The planer litterally cannot be matched for now much it can cut in a single pass, the variable speed infeed is a signifigant feature. Dont let the 1/6hp rating fool you on the infeed motor. First of all its DC (much stronger in torque than A/C motors).

Although the pro pak included the drum sander too although I have NEVER used that featuyre. Switching from feature to feature I would say is not a 5 min task as advertized but within 15mins can be done after you have performed the switch a few times and got used to it.

Two negatives, one of which is shared by ALL non-dedicated gang rip machines, is that when using the ripping function you MUST have a single true straight edge on the plank that runs parrallel to the left fence edge. Unlike what I thought when I purchased it (no different than RBI and others) is that you cannot just take a rough cut plank in the center of the unit with gang blades setup and let it run thru and expect a perfectly straight blank. This is an added step required that I think is not clearly defined by any manufacturer when selling their gang rip feature of a combo machine.

The other negative is saw dust collection. Just by the nature and openness of this machine, it will NOT collect (even with the after-market upgraded dust hood) more than 65-75% of the chips. This is also using about 4 times the minimum recommended CFM suction. This bothered me at first but after a while just got accustomed to cleaning up in front and behind the unit when done. I added a floor-sweep attachment to my collector system and it doent take that much effort.

Moulding has been first rate. I cut up to 1 1/8" thick in a single pass all the time on red oak, using a single cutter. I am running VERY slow feed speeds but if I were to get additional matching cutters I could increase the feed many times. Since I am a small outfit and do it mostly for personal the speed doenst bother me.

The unit is built well, usually when I run it I am going for 2-3 hours straight without turning it off. The motor will get so hot that you cannot touch it by hand but she keeps on going great.

I would definetly get it again in the future, even knowing the dust collection drawback. I hope this long book helps....

[Mark Singer]

John,

Check and see if there is a Neander codless version of this:D
Man your all over the place:eek:

[Tyler Howell]

John,

Check and see if there is a Neander codless version of this:D
Man your all over the place:eek:
Yah! John's a master with the Knuckle dragger stuff. Next get some rounds and hollows, Cabinet scrapper and few card scrappers you'll be all set.:p

[Ted Shrader]

Hi Matt -

Welcome to the Creek. It is a great place to hang out and share ideas.

Thanks for your input on the Woodmaster. Helps to build the data base here.

John M. was looking for info on this back in March 2003. Don't know if he ever got one, though. Have to assume he didn't because he didn't post pictures. :) :) :)


Welcome,
Ted

[Steve Clardy]

John. I've got the 18" version with all attachments. I use it for molding only.
I have a 20" planer, so don't use it to surface with.
I have a 24" dual drum sander, so don't use the sanding head attachment.
Never have used the rip attachment. For me it's faster to rip a few boards on the table saw compared to setting up the woodmaster for ripping. If I had a couple hundred rips to do, then that would be different.
One fine machine. I really like the variable speed for doing molding and handrails.
And the dust collections sucks. If I ever get some free time to rebuild the hood, I am sure it could be improved. But till then, I just expect a mess to sweep up.
A ways back I posted a lot of pics making handrails with this machine.
They have excellent service if problems arise, which I haven't had.
Steve

[Aaron Heck]

I've always dreamt about the 718 with all of the attachments (pro Pack, I guess they call it). I see several of you use it primarily for molding. Do you mind if I ask, is there any money to be made in that area? Sounds like it'd be a cool part time business.

[Jerry Todd]

John,
I have owned a new woodmaster 35" drum sander going on two years. Great sander, am very happy with it. Could not manage without it. Give them a call as they have a polcy of putting you in touch with a woodmaster owner in your area. I live in North Florida and received a call from a woodworker in South Georgia. By the way they have great customer support. My 220 sander motor gave me some problems the first week and they shipped me a new one right away with a prepaid paperwork to return the original. They are the best.
Jerry

[mike lucas]

I have to disagree with the 65-70% of dust pickup. I have the 25" and after planing 1,000 or even more board feet of lumber, and the chips and dust that did not pickup, could easily fit in a one gallon can. While there will be a couple hundred gallon in the dust bin.