Is bigger better?

[Hank Walczak]

I'm going to be in the market for a thickness planer soon. What I want to know is if there is any practical reason to go with a 13" planer over a 12" one? If most of the features are present in both of them, is the cost difference (Machine and replacement knives) worth it? Anything a 13" can do that a 12" won't, besides handle a board 1" wider? FYI, I've only got a 6" jointer.

[John Miliunas]

In the grand scheme of things, you're probably right. There really is little difference or need for *most* projects. However, you're sure to hit that one special piece which needs that 1/2" or so more and you won't have it! :( I had a 12" Ryobi before and it did a great job for me. But, when I went to upgrade, I wanted the 3-knife cutterhead of the Dewalt. The fact that it had the extra inch width, was a "bonus". This is just another case in WW tools where, get the biggest you can afford to buy and place in your shop. If you can comfortably manage the bigger one, I'd say go for it. This is, however, nothing more than just my opinion and YMMV! :) Good luck in whatever you decide on! :cool:

[Betsy Yocum]

Hank - I've been looking at the new DeWalt 13" planer and see that it can be switched between fine cut and a rough cut. You can take that final pass with 179 cuts per inch whereas the Ryobi is something like 69 cuts per inch. It also appears to be a much heavier machine with a wider base and seems to be more compact than the Ryobi.

I'm with John on the fact that you may never need that extra inch but buying the biggest you can afford will eventually pay off. With the holidays coming up - you just might be able to get a bigger machine (DeWalt or otherwise) a bit cheaper as well.

Just my two cents.
Betsy

[Jim Knauss]

Hank,
I'm fairly new to woodworking and have been purchasing tools on a whats needed most and what can I afford basis. 2 years ago I bought a Dewalt 733 12.5 inch 2 knife planer. The new 3 knife wasnt out yet. It's a nice little machine, BUT........ I have found for most my projects I use a lot of board feet of rough lumber which I have that is 5/4. It takes FOREVER to bring it all down to 4/4 at 1/32 at a pass. Which is what the machine seems to like. So needless to say I also am also planer shopping for a 15 in. 3 h/p planer and hope thats big enough. I would like to take at LEAST a sixteenth at a wack, and 1/8 would be better. So for my two cents worth, I guess it depends on what you are doing and what you expect to do.

Hope this helps,

Jim Knauss

[Mike Cutler]

Hank. All things being equal, I'd go with the 13", like the others said "you never know".
I like the "Lunchbox Planers". The Dewalt I've seen seems to be a rugged machine. I wouldn't let the size of the jointer influence your decision, while the two machines are generally used in conjunction the sizes aren't relevant. Of course with a jointer, bigger is always better.
Jim. I have a Jet 15", 3 HP planer. It will take a 1/16" off at a whack, but it can be a hard whack depending on the material. I've never tried to take an 1/8" off at one time.That's alot of force and pressure on the feed rollers in my opinion. If the material is really hard, maple, oak,hickory or brazillian cherry I have to go lighter. If the material is "rough cut" it may involve more passes. Just something to keep in mind.

[Betsy Yocum]

Hank,
I'm fairly new to woodworking and have been purchasing tools on a whats needed most and what can I afford basis. 2 years ago I bought a Dewalt 733 12.5 inch 2 knife planer. The new 3 knife wasnt out yet. It's a nice little machine, BUT........ I have found for most my projects I use a lot of board feet of rough lumber which I have that is 5/4. It takes FOREVER to bring it all down to 4/4 at 1/32 at a pass. Which is what the machine seems to like. So needless to say I also am also planer shopping for a 15 in. 3 h/p planer and hope thats big enough. I would like to take at LEAST a sixteenth at a wack, and 1/8 would be better. So for my two cents worth, I guess it depends on what you are doing and what you expect to do.

Hope this helps,

Jim Knauss
Jim - I currently have the Dewalt 2 knife 12" planer. I tried to take more than necessary off on each pass and ended up with not so good results. When I realized that if I took off less and just increased my passes I got much better results. This took longer on the planner end but saved me time in the sanding end cleaning up tear outs etc. Long and short - even if the bigger machine could do the 1/8 cut - I'd still back down and do a smaller cut.

Just my two cents.
Betsy

[Stan Smith]

Although I have a Jet 13" planer, I sort of went the other direction. I got a Delta dj20 joiner. For stuff 8" or less, I don't even bother with the planer. In my area, it's hard to find straight lumber so I usually have to join everything anyway. If I have to glue up a panel, I usually use the jointer with appropriate width's. I do use the planer to take down some stuff, but I use my MM16 bandsaw more and then run the stuff through my Performax.

[Clint deal]

For a little more money I'd recommend the grizzly 15" planer. When or if you start making raised panels the extra width will come in handy.
Grizzlys' open stand 15" model goes for around $700 shipped
Clint
http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?ItemNumber=G1021

[George Tokarev]

Old woodworker, new poster. Real question is whether to go plastic or iron. If you're doing rough lumber regularly, you need to seriously consider iron, with bed rollers and real 2-3 HP induction motors. Serrated steel infeed is nice on rough stuff, too. If you do 100-200 bf a year, maybe plastic, with care, will do.

As to width, what you buy will never be enough. Just ask yourself how many times you've attempted glueups which exceeded your clamp supply.

Wider is an excuse for a thickness sander.

[Mark J Bachler]

Old woodworker, new poster. Real question is whether to go plastic or iron. If you're doing rough lumber regularly, you need to seriously consider iron, with bed rollers and real 2-3 HP induction motors. Serrated steel infeed is nice on rough stuff, too. If you do 100-200 bf a year, maybe plastic, with care, will do.

As to width, what you buy will never be enough. Just ask yourself how many times you've attempted glueups which exceeded your clamp supply.

Wider is an excuse for a thickness sander.


Yea. what George said.

[Ted Shrader]

George -

Welcome to the Creek! A great place to hang out and exchange ideas. :)

Hank -

As far as width goes, as the others have said wider opens a more options for you.

I started with a 12" lunchbox and put a lot of hours on it. Picked up a PM 15" a couple of years ago. Was going to get rid of the lunchbox at the time, but have hung on to it. I pull the lunchbox out for the occasional small job. The 15" comes out when there is a lot of stock to do or <b><i>wider</i></b> stock.

Regards,
Ted

[Hank Walczak]

I've narrowed my planer choices down to two. The Delta 22-580 13" 2-speed and the Dewalt 12.5" 3 knife units. To make it easy I'll open up a poll to see what the preferred choice is.

[Chris Padilla]

The 580 is very nice but that third blade on the DeWalt *might* get my vote...not sure though. :)

[christopher webb]

well i can tell you all about the 13'' dewalt i own one in my home shop and it's a great machine, for the price as well as what it can do....it has some great features like the two speeds , 3 blades which are reversable, and snipe control, and the last thing is the dust blower on the machine, this in it's self is worth the machine, and the cost....it's more than just the inch that makes the machine better, plus it looks good , it looks as thought it is mean and ready to chip away at that 13'' red oak board with ease...good luck on your choice .

[Stewart Crick]

Hank,

I'm too lazy to read all the other replies, so if this has been said I apologize. Don't let your jointer limitations cloud your planer selection. With a 13" planer you can mill 13" boards, even though you only have a 6" jointer. There was a sled featured in FWW couple of months ago. The sled, which you build out of MDF, allows you to face-joint the reference side flat. Then you remove the board from the sled and plane the other side parallel.

Stu

[Ted Shrader]

Hank -

With the choice narrowed down to those two, go with the three blade Dewalt. It has lots of other features, too.

Regards,
Ted