Lunchbox Planer

[Von Bickley]

Thanks in advance for your input.

What kind of lunchbox planer do you have?

Pros and Cons?

Would you buy it again?

[Jerome Hanby]

Ridgid. Works great. I've planned quite a bit of material and I'm still on the initial edge of the reversible knives. I initially thought that the claim that it came with two sets of knives was referring to the fact that the blades were reversible, I later stumbled across another set stored out of sight on the planer. I get a little bit of snipe, but I haven't made any serious attempts to get rid of it. It is a little loud, but for the money, I can put up with that.

[John Hollander]

Care to share where that extra set of knives is? I wonder if mine has those too...

Ridgid. Works great. I've planned quite a bit of material and I'm still on the initial edge of the reversible knives. I initially thought that the claim that it came with two sets of knives was referring to the fact that the blades were reversible, I later stumbled across another set stored out of sight on the planer. I get a little bit of snipe, but I haven't made any serious attempts to get rid of it. It is a little loud, but for the money, I can put up with that.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Von....I have one of the original Ridgids and I'm on my first edge on the first set of knives. As Jerome stated, loud but works well.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The tools are in the swingout panel at the end of the planer without the thickness adjustment handle.

The spare blades are in a plastic case clipped to the underside of the outfeed table.

[Bill Huber]

The new Ridgid does not come with an extra set of blades but the case is there under the outfeed tray.

I have the new 4331 and am very happy with it. I did have a little problem with the head lowering as it was used. The problem was the chain had to be tightened.

It has 3 blades and I really can not see the difference in the new one and the old one as to the cut. The new one does not have a head lock which is nice.

Yes I would buy it again.

[Jerome Hanby]

That's were mine are. Never occurred to me to look there. I didn't notice them until I was under the planer to mount it on a plywood platform with rollers and looked up.


The tools are in the swingout panel at the end of the planer without the thickness adjustment handle.

The spare blades are in a plastic case clipped to the underside of the outfeed table.

[Andrew Joiner]

I have the discontinued Ryobi ap1300. I'm amazed at the work that little thing can do. I've run about 600 bd ft of abrasive tropical hardwood thru it . Still on the original edges and I still get a surface ready for 120 grit .

[Mike Monroe]

Ryobi AP12 - 15 or so years old, don't think you'll find one in a store.

Pros: does what it's supposed to do, relatively easy to change the disposable blades, made my own dust collection hood out of a HVAC supply vent, easy to replace a burned out drive belt (there's a trick to it though)

Cons: snipe, not horrible snipe, but snipe none the less, noisy - but then all surface planers are noisy

I'd be hard pressed to estimate the hours the AP12 has run and the number of board feet that little planer has handled.

[Myk Rian]

DeWalt DW735 with a Byrd head.
Smooth cuts.
Quiet, with the Byrd.
I like the induced fan in it.
Yes, I would buy another.

[Jared McMahon]

I just recently got a DeWalt DW735. I plan to get the Byrd head for it but even with the factory blades I'm very happy with it. The extension tables were back-ordered so I don't have those yet, I have to do some manual work to keep snipe to a minimum, but that hasn't been a big issue. With all the concerns about noise level, I thought it would be much louder than it is. I use hearing protection as a matter of course but it's not near as loud as I worried it would be.

I haven't run really nasty wood through it but it's done great so far on domestic hardwoods.

NOTE: this is my first planer so I have no first-hand experience to compare it with.

[Alan Bienlein]

Von....I have one of the original Ridgids and I'm on my first edge on the first set of knives. As Jerome stated, loud but works well.
I've had mine since 2005 Ken. How did you manage to still be on the first edge of the first set of knives? I easily went thru 2 sets doing my pecan kitchen cabinets.

I have just recently installed the helical head from Accu-Head in my Ridgid TP1300. For me it's the best $250 I ever spent.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've had mine since 2005 Ken. How did you manage to still be on the first edge of the first set of knives? I easily went thru 2 sets doing my pecan kitchen cabinets.

I have just recently installed the helical head from Accu-Head in my Ridgid TP1300. For me it's the best $250 I ever spent.

Don't use it much, obviously.

I have only used it on 2 previous furniture projects and the current entertainment center that I am building. Two of the projects were red oak and one project was cherry. I suspect your pecan is much harder than either of those woods.

BTW.....Where did you buy your Accu-head helical for your Ridgid planer? I purposely bought my new jointer with a helical and I will either convert my Ridgid planer in the future or buy one already set up.

[Mac McQuinn]

I have the 2012NB Makita which I enjoy using very much. It's quieter than most on the market and about the lightest of the current L/B planers out there. Handles are great as are fit and finish. Dust chute which is not supplied could be improved upon, better yet build your own with conventional 4" connection. Overall a very good machine although not perfect.
Mac

[Alan Bienlein]

Don't use it much, obviously.

I have only used it on 2 previous furniture projects and the current entertainment center that I am building. Two of the projects were red oak and one project was cherry. I suspect your pecan is much harder than either of those woods.

BTW.....Where did you buy your Accu-head helical for your Ridgid planer? I purposely bought my new jointer with a helical and I will either convert my Ridgid planer in the future or buy one already set up.


I bought it from www.accu-head.com. It comes with 2 sided HSS inserts but they are working on carbide inserts for it. I didn't want to wait so I found four sided carbide inserts and swapped mine out. It leaves some minor lines with the carbide inserts but no worse than a minor nick in the straight knives.

[Michael W. Clark]

I have Delta 22-580. It provides very good results, minimal sanding needed, I usually start with 120 primarily for leveling joints and covering my screw-ups:). I've ran about 200 BF each of red oak and rock maple throught it. I've done some cherry, pine, pecan, and poplar as well. I do get some tear out on the rock maple, but I put it on the finishing speed, and tear-out all but disappears except on really nasty grain.

However, the dust collection could be improved. The hood tends to plug easily and it does not get all the big stuff. Also, it hangs down slightly and interferes with the wood coming through. The outfeed rollers generally push the boards past it. On hard maple, it is so slick, the outfeed rollers spin on the board and you have to "help it" get through the cutter head. I've only had this problem on hard maple. Oak, cherry, poplar, all seem to go through just fine. I think this model has been updated and they improved the dust collection. I would buy the new model of this again or look at the Dewalt if getting a lunch box planer. Hopefully my next one will be a 15" to get the steel serated rollers, better DC, and induction motor. The universal motor is very loud, I wear good hearing protection when using it.

[Sam Murdoch]

I have the 2012NB Makita which I enjoy using very much. It's quieter than most on the market and about the lightest of the current L/B planers out there. Handles are great as are fit and finish. Dust chute which is not supplied could be improved upon, better yet build your own with conventional 4" connection. Overall a very good machine although not perfect.
Mac

I agree with Mac's assesment. The Makita 2012NB is my little planer too. My complaints are very very minimal.

I must admit that I would look at this one for the 13" capacity and helical cutter: http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/steelcityportableplaner13helicalhead.aspx I know nothing but what I've read, but I think it might be worth some consideration. Others might know more.

[Alan Bienlein]

That's why I converted mine. It is a duplicate of the steel city planer with the helical head. The best part was the planer was free so I only have the money for the helical head invested in mine. I have a video posted on youtube planing some curly maple with it.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have the DW 735, Got it on HD closeout at 279. Recemtly bought 4 blade sets on clearance for 1/2 price too. Stealth gloat. Should be lifetime supply of blades. They arent as weak as everyone says.

Pros, 3 blades, 2 speed. Nice fan. The thickness indexer works like a champ. I can plane down to 3/4 inch or whatever you set it at every time.

Cons. What? cant hear you when its running.

I dunno if Id pay full retail though. Its pricey.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I have a couple of Delta 22-540's. Bought the first one (new) in 1995, bought second used a couple years back. They loud, and snipe, but they are paid for. Got several sets of blades from HD for $5 a set when they dropped Delta. Also have Delta 15", and Rockwell (Delta) 13". The 13' was built to compete with the Powermatic 100.

[Brett Robson]

Another Ridgid TP1300 with the Accu-head here. It's been a great planer and I've been thoroughly pleased with the upgraded head.

[Bill Huber]

That's why I converted mine. It is a duplicate of the steel city planer with the helical head. The best part was the planer was free so I only have the money for the helical head invested in mine. I have a video posted on youtube planing some curly maple with it.


Another Ridgid TP1300 with the Accu-head here. It's been a great planer and I've been thoroughly pleased with the upgraded head.

Question for you 2, what is the advantage of having the Accu-head? I don't think I could get my wood to come out of my 4331 any smoother then it does, is it the noise or working with stuff like Zebra wood ?

[Curt Harms]

<snip>
Pros, 3 blades, 2 speed. Nice fan. The thickness indexer works like a champ. I can plane down to 3/4 inch or whatever you set it at every time.

Cons. What? cant hear you when its running.

I dunno if Id pay full retail though. Its pricey.

I have the Jet JJP-12 but I suspect most induction motor planers are similar. Had a Delta-22-580. The Jet-JJP12 is quieter -- until wood hits the cutterhead. Then they're both too loud to be without hearing protection. The advantage of the induction motor is that it doesn't have the high pitched whine typical of universal motors but when working they're both loud.

[Russ Ambrose]

had a Ridgid before upgrading to a non-lunch box model. loved the Ridgid and if i had the room i would have kept it. well built, controls worked well and were easy to manipulate, came with a lifetime warranty (at least when i bought mine), dust collection was acceptable, necessary tools (as well as extra blades) store right on the machine, easy to change the knives....but LOUD AS THE DICKENS....if i were getting a lunchbox, i'd get the Ridgid again in a heartbeat.

[Joe Angrisani]

I have the Steel City "helical" planer and I love it. It's the early version with four-sided cutter inserts (the current ones only have two cutting sides). Very pleased with the surfaces that come out of it. No snipe if fed right. After the initial owner's use and my light use, I'm still on the first cutter edge. I bought it used for $300, and I would do it again.

[Jim O'Dell]

I have the Delta 52-580. I get no snipe at all on QSWO, but then I have a set up where I have 10' infeed and outfeed tables. I think that really makes a difference. I love it for the price. Cost me all of 206.10 from Lowes when they were closing them out about 6 or 7 years ago. I haven't run much through it yet, but it does what I hoped for. And yes, I think all lunchbox planers are LOUD!! Jim.

[Alan Bienlein]

Question for you 2, what is the advantage of having the Accu-head? I don't think I could get my wood to come out of my 4331 any smoother then it does, is it the noise or working with stuff like Zebra wood ?

Well the first reason was I was tired of trying to find the replacement knives for it. I'm also starting to get into using more figured wood. The noise level to me is definitely less. I have no problem with using the planer 10 o'clock at night in my shop now. No more air raid siren when using the dust collector with it. As a matter of fact there is no difference in the noise level whether the dust collector is on or off with it running. It doesn't bog down like it used to on wide boards and finally I switched out the HSS 2 sided inserts for carbide 4 sided inserts.

Oh and I no longer look at grain orientation! WOOHOOO!

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I have a Ryobi AP10, one of the original lunchbox planers. It snipes, but I always send a short piece through before work piece, and I then use it to follow the work piece. No snipe.

[Sam Murdoch]

I have the Steel City "helical" planer and I love it. It's the early version with four-sided cutter inserts (the current ones only have two cutting sides).

The link that I included above specs a 4 sided cutter head insert. Maybe there are 2 versions?

[David Hostetler]

My lunch box planer?

Ryobi AP1301.

Pro: Affordable, good finish, easy knife change, so far been reliable, accurate depth adjustments.
Con: 2.5" dust port, no cutter head lock, a little bit loud, produces snipe (most lunch box type planers do).

I haven't run anything through it that it couldn't handle easily. The snipe can be managed with technique most of the time. Every now and again no matter what I do I get snipe...

If I had to replace it, I would probably go for the Steel City 13" straight knife cutter head lock model. Unless budget was no concern, then it would be a DW735....

[Stew Hagerty]

DW735 with Extension Tables.
Couldn't be happier, even though I still have the straight knife head. I originally figured I'd get the Byrd head for it, but it works good enough for the way I use it that I'm going to spend that money elsewhere (already have a couple of times over actually ;).

[anthony wall]

I have the 2012NB Makita which I enjoy using very much. It's quieter than most on the market and about the lightest of the current L/B planers out there. Handles are great as are fit and finish. Dust chute which is not supplied could be improved upon, better yet build your own with conventional 4" connection. Overall a very good machine although not perfect.
Mac

when i bought my lunchbox planer they were very scarce and difficult to find but eventualy found a couple of makes in what would be the equivalent of your big box stores both were on the shelf next to each other ,one was the makita 2012nb and priced at 19000 baht(about $560) the other was a clone of the same machine a pumpkin 2012nb priced at just over 8000 baht(about $235)identical in every way even the colour and as i use mainly reclaimed timber i opted for the pumpkin thinking that if i miss any nails in the timber i am only destroying a cheap machine .when i got it home and started looking at it properly i was amazed at what a good quality machine it is the spare parts list and the instructions were all headed as makita .i have had it for three years now and used it hard with no problems as yet, very happy with it

[Kent E. Matthew]

This thread gives me hope. I have had a dresser project stalled in need of a planer. I have trolled craigslist for about a year now. At first funding prohibited the purchase. Now people wanting 80 percent for today's planer cost for machines 20 or 30 years old is the problem. I have considered just buying a lunchbox and get on with it.

Two questions. Can your lunchbox handle hardwood 10 inches wide?
What is the technique for eliminating snipe?

[Phil Thien]

I just recently (two weeks ago) got the Dewalt DW734.

I looked at the Ridgid. They had the 4330 in the store, and the 4331 on the web site. Reasons for not going w/ the Ridgid: (1) I read that getting the knives out can be a bear, the Allen head screws are apparently so tight on some of them that people have to sometimes restore to drastic measures to remove them. (2) The knives are not universally stocked in stores, they used to be, but not any longer? (3) Read complaints from users that the 4331's head can shift during use (looks like Bill fixed his by tightening the chain).

I looked at the Steel City units. The newer units use two-sided inserts. And the less expensive one doesn't offer a cutter-head lock but is rather a clone of the Ridgid 4331 but w/ the Accu-head. I couldn't find one locally, decided to just pass on it.

Looked at the Makita. Had the dollars, but didn't want to spend that much, quite frankly. By the time you add the cost of the dust chute, it starts getting up there.

Looked at used units on Craigslist, but many were Delta units that didn't have the gauge that tells you how much stock you will remove. Most people seem to like that feature.

Looked at Dewalt. I felt the 735 was a little pricey. Ultimately decided on the 734. It has Torx for the knife screws, so I should (hopefully) not have problems getting those out when the time comes. Has a cutterhead lock. Knives are pretty easy to find. Has the stock removal gauge (which I do like). Came w/ a dust chute.

I'm very happy with the finish I get out of the unit. I had been worried that I would regret not getting a unit w/ the helical head, but no regrets whatsoever.

[Sam Murdoch]

This was my solution to the Makita dust chute - simple and very cheap for a 4" attachment and works great (scroll down the page for the photos): http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?180962-Dust-Hood-for-Makita-2012-Planer

[Joe Angrisani]

The link that I included above specs a 4 sided cutter head insert. Maybe there are 2 versions?

There ARE two versions. Maybe I have older/newer reversed, and it's the early one that had the 2-sided cutters. I do know this to be fact: Steel City 40200H planers with serial numbers starting with SM have 4-sided cutters. Steel City 40200H planers with serial numbers starting with SM2 have 2-sided cutters.

[Phil Thien]

There ARE two versions. Maybe I have older/newer reversed, and it's the early one that had the 2-sided cutters. I do know this to be fact: Steel City 40200H planers with serial numbers starting with SM have 4-sided cutters. Steel City 40200H planers with serial numbers starting with SM2 have 2-sided cutters.

When I was looking into this, I learned:

(1) Steel City units designed for 4-sided inserts can use carbide inserts as replacements for the HSS. That is a nice feature, IMHO.

(2) Steel City switched to heads with 2-sided inserts, which are supposed to be easier to seat precisely. All their newer units have the 2-sided inserts. Steel City will be selling 2-sided carbide inserts that are interchangeable with the HSS inserts "soon."

(3) Some people (Alan) have even replaced their 2-sided HSS with four-sided carbide.

(4) Highland Hardware had some of the older 4-sided machines in stock a couple of weeks ago, for people that want one of those. Not sure if they still have them.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

This thread gives me hope. I have had a dresser project stalled in need of a planer. I have trolled craigslist for about a year now. At first funding prohibited the purchase. Now people wanting 80 percent for today's planer cost for machines 20 or 30 years old is the problem. I have considered just buying a lunchbox and get on with it.

Two questions. Can your lunchbox handle hardwood 10 inches wide?
What is the technique for eliminating snipe?

Ten inches is the max for my no longer made planer. I'm not aware of any now made that are less than 12", but occasionally I am wrong.

Snipe is caused by the board moving up, or the head moving down. The easiest solution is to figure out how much gets sniped, usually 2" per end, then make your work that much longer and cut to length after planning. When I got my planer 20+ years ago, I made a stand for it that helps me eliminate snipe. I feed a sacrificial board thru first, the use the same piece to chase it, eliminating snipe. If I have 10 boards to plane to the same thickness, I feed one after another, the chase with the sacrificial piece. I was a production cabinet maker for years and this solution worked well for me.

http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/zz35/HarveyMelvinRichards/P3101369Large.jpg

[Rich Engelhardt]

Funny how things go....
35 odd posts here before anyone mentioned the DW734.

Three/three and a half years ago, in a similar thread, the DW734, the DW735 and the DW733 seemed to be all anyone used.
I jumped all over a DW734 at that time when Amazon ran them on sale for $278.00.
I'd love to tell you how well it works, but,,I have yet to use it! I mounted it on the flip side of my flip top and it's been sitting upside down now for going on three years.

The only real con anyone mentioned w/the DW734 was the price of blades and the fact they can't be sharpened.

[Bill Geibe]

Rich said:
<<Funny how things go....
35 odd posts here before anyone mentioned the DW734.

Three/three and a half years ago, in a similar thread, the DW734, the DW735 and the DW733 seemed to be all anyone used.>>

Since that's the case, I'll put my 2 cents in about my DeWalt 733. I bought a used one 2-3 years ago and have been quite pleased with it. It looks like the 734 but has a 2-blade cutterhead instead of 3. The blades can be resharpened and are easily available and reasonably priced. I changed out the blades once (and the machine got a lot quieter) and had the old ones resharpened for future use.

I have no problems with the finish the machine leaves and it has next to no snipe if I make the last cut a small one and make sure the cutterhead is locked. Dust collection is great with the 733 hooked up to a 5HP Ridgid shop vac via a short piece of 2.5 inch hose.

Bill