Powermatic 15 Planer

[Paul Ryan]

Just wanted to check. Is $450 for a 5 year old powermatic 15 planner a decent price?

This is the older style planer without the heilical cutter head and with the roller in feed and out feed tables. It is a single phase motor.

[bob cohen]

That would be an awesome price. Makes me think there is something wrong with the planer. Will you have opportunity to test the unit. Search ebay for comparable listings. I think your find most ads asking for 1000

[Quinn McCarthy]

I am not sure it is a great price but it is a great planer. I have had one for quite a few years.

They go for 1200-1300 new. That is less than half of new.

Is it in good shape?

Hope that helps.

Quinn

[Bruce Page]

Great price on a great planner.
I bought mine about 10 years ago and still going strong.
The roller infeed/outfeed can be tricky to set up.

[Larry Crowder]

I just sold a PM 15 mfg in 1997 last week for $750. Had 3 different buyers wanting it.

[Chip Lindley]

Grab it Paul! Very decent price for a PM 15 if it has no issues. You can recoup your investment anytime you wish! $450 gives you lots of wiggle room for an insert cutterhead and still be wayy ahead! Hmmm...

[Paul Ryan]

Well guys I just got back from picking it up. It is actually 4 years old, as far as I can tell and 06 model. Anyway it is in real good shape and planes very nice. It also included another set of powermatic knives, I think those go for over $100 new. He had it listed on craigslist for $500, I got him down to $425 because it was missing the in feed and out feed tables. And the outfeed roller needs adjusting. It turns but is not grabbing the wood. What do you recomend doing about the missing tables. Do I call powermatic or try to devise something myself?

I checked before I called the guy and couldn't find anything like it on ebay to compare for pricing, that is why I asked. Thanks for the help. This should replace my ridgid 4330 nicely.

[Bob Lloyd]

Paul, I think that is a great price and worthy of a gloat!!!

[Steve Kohn]

I would look at doing 2 things to that planer. Change the head out to a Byrd Helical and find some cast iron tables to add to it.

I don't know if the modern CI tables would bolt straight up to your planer, but someone else a while back had a machine shop drill and tap holes to allow him to do that.

[Mike Black Milford, MI]

Paul,

I would think you should be able to order the infeed and outfeed tables and hardware from a Powermatic retailer near to you or possibly directly from Powermatic.
I have the Grizzly G0453 version of that planer. You are going to love yours!

[Ed Parker]

I too have the Grizzly version of that planer, G0453. Brand new, just put it together last weekend. It ALL looks 100% identical, and I would bet the cast Grizzly in/out tables would fit perfectly and be much less expensive than Powermatic ones. (Grizzly shows them @ $99/ea.) The tables have oversize holes anyway to allow for adjustments and variances in the castings. Add a can of yellow spray paint and you won't know the difference !!:)

[Ed Parker]

Powermatic tables are $127/ea from ereplacementparts. Again, I would swear they're identical to Grizzly, but $54 is pretty cheap insurance. Plus, they show shipping to MN @ only $7.20?

[Paul Ryan]

Thanks guys that is what I was checking out last night. It looked to me that the green tables would fit. But I found out that the yellow ones weren't a whole lot more. I haven't decided what to do yet. I am itching to get it off the truck, but my help isn't comming until tommarow night. I may have figure out a way to grunt it off my self. I need to add another outlet for this machine now so that will take some time as well.

[Bruce Page]

Paul, I have thought about upgrading my PM15 with the newer PM 15-S tables but didn’t know if they would bolt up cleanly.
Please report back if they do or not.

[Paul Ryan]

Bruce,

Right now it appears I am leaning toward the grizzly tables. If you look at the G0453 tables they are $99 each. If you check out the G0453Z the planer with the helical head the tables are $85. I called grizzly tech support today. The guy I talked to said both machines use the same tables and he didn't know why the prices were different. So it saves me a bunch if i buy the grizzly tables. The machines appear identical. Powermatic says the 15 and 15HH/S can use the same tables. So I am going to see if a creeker can measure the bolt spacing on their tables to make sure they will fit.


Those of you that own the powermatic planer with double sided knives have you had them sharpened or must you buy new. And if so where do you buy them. The knives on the machine I bought are good, but the spare set are dull, the local shapening service wants $55 to sharpen, but I havent been happy with his jobs in the past. And the other place I have been using won"t sharpen double sided planer knives.

[Michael Peet]

Nice find, Paul. CL never seems to have anything good around here.

Mike

[Bruce Page]

I see some good stuff once in a while around here but never anything that I need.

[Chip Lindley]

Congrats on a real gloat! You pretty much stole that one!! Powermatics usually bring a premium, more so than other virtually identical brands.

Before you spend on cast iron tables, ask yourself if you want to devote that much space to extension tables which cannot be folded down or quickly removed.

I have found that I don't miss extension tables at all. Unless a long table supports the whole length of a long board when it emerges from the outfeed, why bother? Short extensions really serve no real purpose IMO.

I always move to the outfeed side to support the board, slightly raising it upward as the board end passes the infeed roller and cutterhead. Snipe is totally reduced that way. Otherwise, if a board is allowed to feed freely (extension table or none) the board end is left to snipe as it pleases.

[Mike Cruz]

Sweet grab! I would think definitly worth what you paid, even with having to spend a few bucks on gettin' her purring.

[Paul Ryan]

I have found that I don't miss extension tables at all. Unless a long table supports the whole length of a long board when it emerges from the outfeed, why bother? Short extensions really serve no real purpose IMO.

I always move to the outfeed side to support the board, slightly raising it upward as the board end passes the infeed roller and cutterhead. Snipe is totally reduced that way. Otherwise, if a board is allowed to feed freely (extension table or none) the board end is left to snipe as it pleases.


Chip,

I have been wondering the same thing. Do I really need the extension tables? I haven't even got to adjusting it yet. It is still in the back of my pickup. I have been real busy. My help to unload it should be comming tonight. It is a real nice size right now with out the extra almost 3' the tables add. The only reason I could see needing a outfeed table would be for a long board. And for a lot less money, I can buy the outfeed bracket that the roller tables use and cut a piece of plywood to mount in the bracket for the table. If I cover the plywood in poly they remain real slick.

I am not a grizzly lover by any means. But I cant understand why this machine and the equal Jet cost so much more than a grizzly. They are identical, probably made in the same plant. The only thing I can think of are better materials and quality control on the powermatic and jet. Or more than likely just paying for the name and color.

[Paul Ryan]

After tuning up this planer I found out why I was able to pick it up so cheap. Other than the fact is was missing the infeed and outfeed tables, which I am not going to replace the planer works great no snipe with out the tables. When I checked it over before giving the guy money, I noticed you had to pull the board out of the planer once it cleared the infeed roller. I assumed the outfeed roller had to be adjusted and it would be good to go.

Once I got the planer unloaded and started messing around with it and adjusting the outfeed roller it planed like $%^&. I got chopy cuts, tearing of the grain all sorts of nast stuff that didn't happed when I checked it over. I decided to start from scratch take off the dust hood, adjust the knives, spring tension, chip breaker, and infeed and outfeed rollers. Well low and behold the new knives that were installed were installed incorrectly. They were set way to low, whoever installed them didn't know how to use the alignment tool. I bet the knives were atleast 1/16 of an inch lower than they should have been. So I reset them adjusted both rollers and now it planes perfectly. Thanks for the encouragement to grap the planner it was well worth it.

[Greg Wittler]

Nice Score Paul, I picked up a Jet 15"er in Nov. for 500 and it planed perfect and was extremely clean and has the infeed & outfeed Rollers, but still I would say you got the better deal, Maybe its the Mustard color.

Greg

[Chip Lindley]

A belated reply Paul. A long, very portable outfeed table would earn it's keep while planing long boards. That's the only way to go! I don't have any space to devote to a rigid setup.

You pay extra for that gold PM paint! (now yellow) Historically, PM was an industrial/professional brand, same as Rockwell/Delta. But that was over 20 years ago, before manufacture in China. Today, there may be enough difference in fit and finish to notice, (doubtful) but the main difference is color of paint. You still have a nice gloat on your hands there! Enjoy!

[Jeff Monson]

Great buy Paul, you bought that at a price most pay for lunchbox planers. I check the MPLS craigslist about once a week for deals on ww tools, I got a really nice workbench and a router table from there. Enjoy, thats a planer that will last a lifetime.

BTW I dont have infeed or outfeed tables on my hammer planer and it works just fine.

[Van Huskey]

You pay extra for that gold PM paint! (now yellow) Historically, PM was an industrial/professional brand, same as Rockwell/Delta. But that was over 20 years ago, before manufacture in China. Today, there may be enough difference in fit and finish to notice, (doubtful) but the main difference is color of paint. Enjoy!


It be mustard not yellow! ;)

What PMs are manufactured in China, the only one I know that is made in China is the PM2800.

I find it interesting you are commenting on the overall quality of the tool when you aren't even sure of the fit and finish, something you could determine after a few minutes in a showroom, to determine overall build quality you would need to actually pour over the tool and use it. I am the first to admit PM quality is not as high as it used to be, but that is true for most of the machine manufacturers, BUT my hands on experience which is not huge but exists tells me they still have an edge that goes far deeper than paint color, now whether the price premium is worth it for the extra you get is a very personal thing.

[Jeff Nolan]

I wouldn't put a Byrd cutterhead on this planer... as good as the Byrd system is, the spiral knives that come with the 15S are nothing to dismiss, they cut super clean and are very quiet, which pretty much zeros out the 2 advantages that the Byrd head offers. The Byrd will last longer because of the 4 sided nature of each cutter but if you pay attention to what you feed through this machine you should get a year out of those knives and you can buy a lot of knives for what it's going to cost to retrofit a Byrd on it.

UPDATE: in reading Paul's last note it seems clear that this planer does not have spiral knives (which index for proper alignment), so if that is the case I would in fact invest in a Byrd cutterhead.


I would look at doing 2 things to that planer. Change the head out to a Byrd Helical and find some cast iron tables to add to it.

[Sam Layton]

Paul, great deal on the planer. Instead of purchasing new in/out feed tables, you should try a sled. You can make a sled that will give you 6" or 8" for the infeed and outfeed. Just use 3/4 ply, or melamine placed over the bed, overhanging for the infeed and outfeed. Lower the bed rollers, you don't need them. Block the sled so it will not pull through. Now you have whatever size infeed/outfeed you need.

Sam

[Paul Ryan]

Sam,

That is a good option. If I need to I may just do that. It would be nice to have a long outfeed but not attached. I am in the same camp as Chip. I dont have space to spare in my shop, with a fixed infeed and outfeed tables. I think the sled might be a perfect option for days of heavy use. Thanks

[Paul Johnstone]

Bruce,

Right now it appears I am leaning toward the grizzly tables. If you look at the G0453 tables they are $99 each. If you check out the G0453Z the planer with the helical head the tables are $85.


Paul,

I did a quick check, and it appears they are not completely identical
The grizzly with cast tables says it has 42 1/8" long table (total)
The powermatic with cast tables says that it is 48" long.

Does that 6" make a difference? I don't know, but I am just trying to be helpful.

[Glen Butler]

Paul here is another little tickle. Someone locally is selling a helical cutterhead that fits your planer.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=9347272&cat=&lpid=

Seems to be a good price.

[Paul Ryan]

Thanks Glen,

I am going to hold out for now. I have 2 sets of knives that are new and another set that can be sharpend for $55. I got real good life out of the knives on the ridgid planner, so I will wait untill these get dull and see what is out there then. Thanks for the heads up. Now if I could find a head for about $200 I would grap it. But I have a feeling that wont happen anytime soon.

[Greg Portland]

The new Powermatic planers have an option to add the Byrd Shelix cutterheads.


I am the first to admit PM quality is not as high as it used to beSome of their new equipment (bandsaw, etc.) is very heavy duty looking. Time will tell if it's a cosmetic improvement or if they are back to industrial quality...