which planer?

[Troy John]

Im looking to see who owns a grizzly G0453 15" planer and if you have had any problems? Im about to pull the trigger on a new one but Im torn between the grizzly and powermatic?
Any real life experiences?

[Stan Mitchell]

Just got one a few weeks ago when Grizzly dropped the price to $850 shipped.

I've run a bunch of wood through it already with absolutely no problems and terrific results.

A lot of bang for the buck on a 15" planer.

[scott vroom]

I've had my 4053X for 3 weeks and have run lots of stock through with a reasonably smooth finish and zero snipe. It's my first planer so I have nothing to compare it to. I got the spiral cutter head and I am surprised at how quiet it is.

[Erik Christensen]

had for about 6 months - works great

too good in fact - I also got a jet drum sander that has seen zero use as the planer leaves things so smooth a pass through the drum sander is a waste of time

just be aware of the chip collection - even the small 15" planer can fill a 55 gal chip drum to overflowing in 15 minutes

[Cary Falk]

Just got one a few weeks ago when Grizzly dropped the price to $850 shipped.

I've run a bunch of wood through it already with absolutely no problems and terrific results.

A lot of bang for the buck on a 15" planer.

How long does this sale last for? Is this the 09woodm code thing?

[Ray Newman]

'Bout 5 years ago, I bought the Sunhill 15" Planer Model CT-382A planer. It is on sale now for US $749.00.

It is a very robust and heavy machine. Hasn’t let me down yet.
It was made in Taiwan by GeeTech, who produces a great number of look alike planers and jointers.

One thing that I recommend, before buying any heavy powere tool very carefully check out the shipping charges. Rates vary and can raise the so-called “sale” prices significantly.

http://www.sunhillmachinery.com/en/home-shop.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=161&category_id=49

[Kevin Barnett]

I have had it for a year. No issues. Does what it is supposed to very well.

My two cents on the Griz vs. Powermatic...Resale is probably greater for the Powermatic right now. However, the gold isn't what is used to be and Griz tools get better and more innovative every year. There may not be much difference in resale in 5-10 years. If it arrived damaged, i'd rather deal with Griz customer service.

[Jim Riseborough]

I have had mine for about 6 months too. works great with the shelix cutter. make sure you plan on dust collection, or the cuttings get into the wood and under the rolers. I bought the harbor freight job and stuck a plastic can under it, works great. $1550 though with the head, but i cant imagine using just knifes now with the shelix.

Heres how I got mine unloaded and into my basement.

http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=4247074&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&vc=1

[Stan Mitchell]

How long does this sale last for? Is this the 09woodm code thing?1) 12/31/09

2) Yes

[Troy John]

Jim, they sell the cabide insert head seperate?
How hard was it to install or how hard would it be to swap out the
straight knife cutter head? This would be a future investment.

[Jim Riseborough]

Troy, it took about 2 hours to trade it out, this was on a new machine, and didnt need any special tools, at least that I didnt have. It really went in nice.

[richard poitras]

The power matics are on sale with tail gate to your house for $1870.00 thats the PM15HH with the Byrd head :eek:. Does any one know were the Pm's are made China or Tiwan?

[Cary Falk]

The power matics are on sale with tail gate to your house for $1870.00 thats the PM15HH with the Byrd head :eek:. Does any one know were the Pm's are made China or Tiwan?


Are you sure about that? The flier says the 15S is $1899 and the 15HH is $2499.

http://content.wmhtoolgroup.com/promotions/3t09/3t09_pow_flyer.pdf

[richard poitras]

Cary, yes I am sure I could not believe it myself. I talked to the sales department and that price includes tail gate delivery so you can get a PM15HH for $1870 .00 or the Grizzly G0453Z for $1,678.00 tail gate delivery on both with the Spiral-Cutter head. The Grizzly has their own head and the Pm has the Byrd. “That’s only a difference of $192.00 dollars?”

For those’s that have one or the other how’s the / or is there any snipe problems with your machines?

Richard

[george wilson]

I have a 15" Bridgewood planer that is the same as the Grizzly,just rebadges. Probably the PM is the same,too,just painted differently. Mine has the original type cutterhead,and planes smooth as silk,much smoother than the full size 20" PM we had at work. I elected to weld on a 6" outlet on the hood before I ever put it into use,just in case wide chips piling up very rapidly could jam the 4" outlet. Maybe it works fine with the 4".However,I had 6" pipe going to the dust collector,and a shame to waste it by necking it down to 4" in my eyes.

I bought the Dispoz a Blade unit for mine,but haven't put it in yet. I am thinking of going to a 20" 4 post model,but have been concerned about the extra weight on my shop floor.

Any way,the 15" unit has done beautiful work. You can hardly see the planer marks at all,and I am very particular.

[Rob Holcomb]

I bought the Grizzly G0453 15" planer about 6 months ago. It works very well and I've had no problems with it at all but I'm not a big fan of the chute where the chips leave the machine and enter my dust collection unit. The chute comes straight out rather than going off on an angle and I'm constantly fighting to keep the 4" hose out of the way of the boards that are passing through the planer. Especially the narrow pieces. They tend to catch on the ribs of the hose and either the board moves off to an angle which causes some snipe or the hose falls off the chute.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0453/images/4

[guy knight]

Cary, yes I am sure I could not believe it myself. I talked to the sales department and that price includes tail gate delivery so you can get a PM15HH for $1870 .00 or the Grizzly G0453Z for $1,678.00 tail gate delivery on both with the Spiral-Cutter head. The Grizzly has their own head and the Pm has the Byrd. “That’s only a difference of $192.00 dollars?”

For those’s that have one or the other how’s the / or is there any snipe problems with your machines?

Richard

dont forget the 5 year warranty and better resale if you ever want to upgrade better motor too

[Kieran Kammerer]

Cary, yes I am sure I could not believe it myself. I talked to the sales department and that price includes tail gate delivery so you can get a PM15HH for $1870 .00 or the Grizzly G0453Z for $1,678.00 tail gate delivery on both with the Spiral-Cutter head. The Grizzly has their own head and the Pm has the Byrd. “That’s only a difference of $192.00 dollars?”

For those’s that have one or the other how’s the / or is there any snipe problems with your machines?

Richard

I am not sure you were given correct info. The 15 S is listed as having a spiral cutting head with three blades which I think is a completely different arrangement than the Byrd cutting head with numerous cutters listed on the 15HH model. In the flyer, the 15HH is much more expensive than the 15S model (same on every other seller's site). When I initially started to look at these planers, I was very confused about the terminology. I would love to get some other people's input/read on the difference in the 15S and the 15HH.

[David DeCristoforo]

The 15s uses a continuous knife, not the segmented knives like the Byrd head. Look at the owner's manual for the 15s here:

http://www.cpopowermatic.com/documents/manuals/powermatic/1791210.pdf

and take a look at the replacement knives here:

http://woodworker.com/fullpres.asp?PARTNUM=134-966&LARGEVIEW=ON

Personally, I would prefer the continuos cutter. I used to work on a machine that had one of the "original" Neuman helical heads and I think the continuous knife produces a superior surface. Replacements are around a hundred dollars a set so the segmented cutters may be cheaper if you factor in four cutting edges per chip.

[Kieran Kammerer]

Thanks David. Makes sense. I still think despite what was said earlier, the sale prices for the two diffrent Powermatic planers is not he same. Kieran