Bench top or Stationary Planer

[John Bailey]

After doing a lot of reading about planers, I still can't make up my mind whether I should be looking for a bench top or a stationary planer. It would appear that a bench top does a better job at providing a smooth surface, while the stationary is better at cutting away more wood, thereby making quicker work. I will be milling most of my wood, but I don't believe I'll need to be making deep cuts. My biggest question is will a good bench top hold up as long as a stationary, if I don't abuse the bench top? Thanks for any input.

John

[Bruce Page]

John, I have had both types. It is true that the benchtops give you a better finish but not that much better. Set at the slower feed rate, the wood that comes out of my PM15 only requires light sanding. Noise level was the main reason that I sold my Delta benchtop, I couldn’t stand to listen to it scream anymore. My PM15 in not quiet by any stretch, and I do wear hearing protection, but its noise is at a much lower frequency level that my ears can tolerate. If you have the room, I definitely recommend the bigger machine.

[Jim Becker]

My biggest question is will a good bench top hold up as long as a stationary, if I don't abuse the bench top?
The answer to that is likely "no"...the benchtop will not outlast the stationary machine given the same amount of work goes to each. But...the benchtop machines are very capable and the top-of-the-line models, such as the Delta 22-580 and the Dewalt 735 are quite heavy machines with nice features. (You can also buy several of them for the cost of a stationary machine) But that's not necessarily a reason to consider the heavy cast iron machines dead...they are workhorses with more power and just love to eat wood. They also last practically "forever". The benchtop/portables do not. It's just a choice. BTW, the portable machines really don't take up less space than the stationary machines, either, since most of them are heavy enough that you are going to dedicate a cabinet or stand to them that also takes up floor space.

One final thought...these are not finishing machines--they are for milling lumber to size/thickness. Therefore (and IMHO) the "finish" they provide is not a huge factor. Dual feed speed models are nice to reduce the chance of tearout in figured stock as well as make the surface scaloping closer together, but in all cases, scraping, sanding or hand planing is still required to get the best surface for your finish. You can't avoid that if you want the best results during the finishing process. Every cut of each knife takes a radiused slice out of the wood's surface and you need to remove those marks after the milling is completed.

[Richard Wolf]

There are two schools of thought about planers. One, why would you ever need a planer wider than your jointer. Most of us have 6 or 8 inch jointers so a 12 inch portable planer is overkill.
Two, if you have stationary machines they will almost always preform better than most portable machines.

Jim is right about the room needed,but a portable even on a stand is still easier to mover than a 600 lbs machine,
I buy into the second type, it is more stable with long boards, they can run all day, like Bruce said, they make less irritating noise and when you have a 14" wide board you will find a way to flatten it with your planer.

Richard

[John Weber]

While, you don't often hear of bench planers breaking (at least very often), my guess is after 10 years or so parts could be a problem, plus at the rate of improvements, the best planer from 4 years ago is already been improved upon. 15" planers run about 3 times as much, but have lots of advantages, including, size (they won't tip with heavy lumber), power, noise, good dust collection, and generally are well built. My favorites are the Powermatic, General, or Delta all around $1100, but you can buy a Grizzly or Yorkcraft starting at around $600/$700, I would pay more for the better machines, but it gets you in the ball park for less if needed.

John

[Mike Cutler]

John. I have a Jet 15", stationary planer. It's a very nice machine and does the job it is supposed to. It's a different type of "loud" than the lunchbox planers, but it is still loud. When I bought it "lunchbox" planers were still kinda new, and were not a serious option to 15" stationary machine, They were way too lite and only had two blades, very little adjustability.
Over the past few years these have come along way, 3 blade cutter heads, quick change blades. they are also quite a bit heavier than their predecessors, fully adjustable and tunable. They do have a nice finish also.
If I were making my decision today, it would be a little bit harder I think. The Dewalt is a very nice unit, and so is the Delta that Jim mentioned. In the end though, I think I would still go stationary. It's nice to have 500 lbs of machine for this task. I'm pretty much certain, that this is the one machine I own that I will never "outgrow".
One other point to consider with the stationaries is that they all look suspicously similar, almost exactly to be honest, in design. It's a good bet that parts will be available for a long time for them, should they need repair.
I agree with Jm's comment, that the lunchbox planers will not outlast a stationary machine.
It's not as easy a choice as it used to be ;) Have fun lookin'.

[John Bailey]

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I was sold on the stationary type, then I started thinking, which is always a problem. Sounds like stationary is the way to go. It was in the budget anyways.

John

[Dennis McDonaugh]

John, I had an original Delta lunchbox planer and it sniped like crazy. I replaced it with a 15" Jet and it was much quieter, vibrated less and did a good job on the wood. It did have trouble with highly figured white oak, but there were workarounds. The main thing I didn't like about it was the table moved when you adjusted the depth of cut instead of the cutterhead. It made it very awkward to use infeed and outfeed support for long stock. Granted the bed was longer on the Jet, but its still not all that long. I sold it in preparation of buying the Grizzly 20" planer, but before I could place an order, Lowes discounted the 22-580 and I bought one. Its still loud, but it leaves a better surface than I could get with the Jet, its plenty powerful and best of all the bed doesn't move so I can adjust the infeed suppport and leave it. I think most planers you buy today will do an adequate job of planing wood, I'd look for one that is easy to use.

[Ken Salisbury]

John,

Looks like you have already gotten some good information to help you make a choice. I will throw in my 2¢ worth anway. It really comes down to how often and how much lumber you plan on running through a planer. As Jim B says ...they are workhorses with more power and just love to eat wood. One final thought...these are not finishing machines--they are for milling lumber to size/thickness.. I have a Jet 15" which is approaching 15 yrs old and performs today just like in did in 1991. Thousands of bd ft of all types of lumber have been run through that monster.. Prior to that I had a 12" stationary Belsaw which I wore to a frazzel. In my case I have always purchased rough sawn lumber - I stay totally away from any presurfaced material and have done so for the last 25 years.

Lunch box planers are just fine for someone who is going to plane lumber for small to medium size projects. For the long haul a large stationary unit is the way to go. Jet or Powermatic.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Congratulations to Ken on his promotion to 'Super Moderator'.... :D ...I just noticed that. :rolleyes:

Don't overlook the Grizzly planers. If you're looking at the JET or PM 15", throw a few more bucks out there if necessary and get the Grizzly 20" that looks exactly like the JET and PM. I've used all three of these, and I simply can't see a difference between them...except with the Grizzly you can plane a 16" panel.

KC

[Bill Lewis]

Regardless which you get, planers are the one tool in the shop that will pay for itself in a very short time. My first $200 planer paid for itself on it's first use. I used it quite a bit, and sold it for what I bought it for.
I then bought a DW733, they were giving good discounts just before being phased out in favor of the DW734, and now the DW735.
Not to say that I wouldn't want a nice stationary planer, or at the least the DW735, but this one still does quite a good job. It does take more passes to clean up rough stockEven with the 2 blade cutterhead, it does an even better finishing job than my $200 planer, no ripples. So it'll be some time before I consider replacing it.

[Steven Wilson]

The benchtop planer (DW733) was the last of my hobbiest/contractor grade tools to be replaced with something a bit more industrial (Minimax CU350). Either type of planer will work well for you.

[Ellen Benkin]

Jim,
I'm taking a class at a local community college and have access to HUGE planers. I would always want the widest planer I could get/afford regardless of the size of my jointer. I joint and then glue up 8" boards and then plane them to final thickness. This way I don't have to be super concerned about a perfect glue up. Of course, I also don't have a wide belt sander like some folk.

The school has both the huge stationary planers and a couple of DeWalts. The DWs are so NOISY they really hurt our ears. We've been instructed to use the big planers to get everything close to final size and only use the DWs for the last couple of passes to smooth things out a little. But sanding is still required!

[Ian Barley]

The question really comes down to time or money. A luchbox will be a lot cheaper and will eventually give you pretty much the same result as you will get from a bigger static machine. But in my experience it will , depending on the timber concerned, take 3-4 times as long and be 8-10 times more annoying.

If you have the cash and the space get the bigger machine.

[John Bailey]

Ian,

I do, I do, and I will.

John

[David Dixson]

John,

If cost is any consideration at all, I have not long past bought the Yorkcraft 15" from Wilke Machinery. I didn't have the room for their 20" model, but sure wish I did. Both have built in mobile bases, which saves buying and installing a mobile base. I have really enjoyed using mine and the finish is great on low speed, with the higher speed being faster than I need for hobbyist use, but handy if I run into any large lots of wood for cheap.

Dave