Steel City Helical 13" Planer

[Joe Angrisani]

I have an opportunity to buy a Steel City 13" helical planer for $400. For those of you who follow prices: does that seem like a fair price? Also, what's the general consensus on the long-term staying power of Steel City? (I have read "the post" in the Lumber Yard)

...Joe

[Curt Harms]

Check on the makeup of the cutters, it looks like they're HSS, not carbide. Their web site says "26 HSS Indexable Inserts (4-sided/2-sided)" HSS inserts are not going to be as long lasting as carbide and I'd wonder about being able to sharpen them so they'd be disposable. will you be able to find replacements in 5-10 years?

[glenn bradley]

They are HSS and 2-sided IIRC. I'm not sure I see the gain except maybe smoother cuts on highly figured material. If curly material was your main focus it might make dealing with lots of small HSS cutters worth the effort versus 2 or 3 knives. I would have to see the results as the cutters are also few in number (26 HSS vs. 74 carbide for example). "Spiral" is the sexy term right now in cutter heads and I think that's the selling point on these(?).

The indexed carbide heads in my jointer and planer do leave a beautiful surface but for $400 I would be tempted to pick up a DW734 with 3 knives and a carriage lock instead (probably because I own one and am comfortable with how it performs). Hopefully a Steel City owner will chime in with some actual experience over time with the machine.

P.s. The carbide inserts in my jointer have been used almost daily for just shy of 2 years and I am still on the first edge. I would have sharpened a set of knives 3 times and then replaced them in the same time period on my old knifed machine.

[David Weaver]

False economy if the heads are HSS. If they offer carbide inserts, then it would be less of an issue, but even if they did, i'm guessing it would cost you a small fortune to get them and replace the HSS heads.

I would pass it by.

[David Weaver]

Just looked up the inserts for giggles - $60 for 10 of them at highland and the machine takes 26 of them. They cost more than carbide inserts (i know each of them is bigger...still)

Awful. Definitely pass it by.

[Maik Tobin]

I have owned the Steel City planer for about a year. I replaced a dying, 10 year old Delta 13 inch machine. Thus far, I have planed about 500 bd of lumber with the Steel City. Last weekend, I turned the cutters for the first time (probably should have done it earlier). My Delta went through knives like crazy. As long as the board being planed is appropriately supported and the cutter lock is used, snipe is not an issue. I work with mostly cherry, walnut and maple, including curly maple and cherry. This is where the machine is quite good. As long as I take small swipes, there is very little chipout. The machine does, however, require some care. The rollers need to be cleaned more often than I did with my Delta, but that is no big deal.
Overall, I am happy with the machine and would suggest that at $400, it is a very good buy. The savings in not having to buy new blades every 100 bf will be substaintial. I trhink I paid $500 for it.

[Joe Angrisani]

Thanks Everyone....

In reading online this morning, I see there were both 4-sided cutters and 2-sided cutters. You can tell from the serial number so you don't actually have to see the machine. Planers with serial numbers starting with "SM" use the 4-sided #40935 cutters. Planers with serial numbers starting with "SM2" use the 2-sided #40930 cutters. Also, while it's hard to tell from product pictures I came across, it looks like the 4-sided cutters might have curved edges, while the 2-sided cutters have straight edges. Four sides and a shearing cut sure sound better.

The seller said in an e-mail late yesterday that he had an extra set. I don't know if that means a bag of 10, or a full set of 26 (or three bags of 10?) I wrote him this morning for clarification. If it's two-sided cutters, and a single spare bag of 10, I think I'll pass. If it's 4-sided with 10 spares, I might be tempted. If it's 4-sided and a full set of spare cutters, I'll jump. Looking down the road, $180 for enough new cutters for the whole head is kinda pricey.

Two things concern me (well, three with the HSS vs Carbide thing): First, the "unusual" head design with only "one edge per revolution" seems odd. Every other helix cutterhead I know of presents two cutting edges per revolution. But I admit my lack of knowledge on the subject. The other concern is what the Steel City situation will be 5 years down the road. As one site I read this morning said, "It would be a pretty expensive paperweight if parts are unavailable."

That said, a used DeWalt 735 still gets my attention, and there's always plenty of those around. I dunno.....

[David Weaver]

I agree with the paperweight part. It's not like the other cutterheads where the cutters are available from a bunch of different makers. Interesting idea in a planer, but they just chose to try to cut costs in the worst place (the material selection for the cutterhead inserts).

I've got a delta planer, and with some patience, I've never paid more than $25 for a set of planer blades, and for a hand tooler, they are fairly easy to touch up freehand a couple of times with a diamond hone as long as you mind how much you take off of them, how evenly you do it, and what the geometry is after the honing.

[Maik Tobin]

I did not realize you were looking at a used machine. In that case...$400 is to much. You can buy a new one for $500. Also, I don't know anything about 2 sided or 4....mine is 4 sided. Also, just my opinion, but I believe that the HSS vs carbide cutters for the planer is an over rated issue.

[Joe Angrisani]

It lives here now. :)

Just got home from picking it up. It is a 4-sided-cutter model. Still on the first side. VERY happy with what it did with dougfir, cherry, mahogany and walnut boards. Nice, even thickness side to side. I paid $300 with one extra set of 10 cutters, and while that's nowhere near gloatable, I am satisfied.

[Brian Ross]

Congrats on your purchase, we all have an opinion based on our own experience but the one that really counts is the person with money in hand. I am sure you will be happy. Good luck on your journey.

Brian

[Maik Tobin]

Congrats on your purchase, that's a good deal. I am sure you will enjoy the machine.