Ridgid R4330 - Would this be too much for it to handle?

[Bob Haskett]

I am currently looking at jointers and planers. I was wondering if 8/4 Hard Maple and 8/4 Purple heart would be to much to mill in a Ridgid R4330 planer.

I am looking at doing this project for roughly 10 people.

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-7-a-cut-above-part-1/

And it calls for milling 8/4 Hard Maple and 8/4 Purple heart down to 1 and 5/8 inches thick.

[Chris Bruno]

I can't speak to the Rigid, but my guess is that you won't have any trouble.

I've been building a 64"x30" workbench using some reclaimed hard maple slabs from an older voc school. I had to cut the slabs down to send through my Dewalt 13" - the two large pieces were a hair under 12" wide. I sent them through the planer, and within 3 passes on each side had a nice clean surface. Took about 10 minutes. I've got to imagine that the Rigid is in a similar ballpark as the Dewalt from what I've read...

-Chris

[Bill Huber]

No problem at all, I have the 4330 and have made a lot of cutting boards on it. I even do the end grain, very small cuts at a time but it handles it if done right.

[Jerome Hanby]

I run hard maple through fine. I hate turning all that wood into curlies so I've always taken very light passes...