General 130 Planer vs General International 330 ..

[Rick Fisher]

Hey .. I have a 20" General International planer which is 5hp and has a Magnum Helical head.. I used to put wide panels through it, glued up panels, besides regular planing ..

I added a used SCM Wide belt with a 12hp motor .. Since then the planer has not seen a glued up panel.. Its just not needed.. The sander removes the minimum amount of material, doesn't leave snipe.. for furniture, I just sand .. I don't even plane lumber after the bandsaw anymore .. 3 passes on the sander and its ready for finish sanding .. So again .. the planer collects dust ..

On my last few projects, the only time I used the planer was to make boards parallel after face jointing.. Which brings me to this request for opinions.

I picked up a General Canadian 130 planer at an auction .. Its 3hp x PH3 .. and needs some love ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/Courtenay-20120531-00562.jpg

I paid about $650 for it plus tax .. I believe it to be a much higher quality machine than my General 330HH, but its also much smaller .. It would take up way less space ..

So I had considered selling the GI 20" planer off and restoring the 130 plus putting a byrd cutterhead in it ..

Yet there is something telling me I am going backwards ? lol ..

Does this plan make sense ? It would be nice to have the floor space ..

[mreza Salav]

I understand your 20" is off-shore made and this is Canadian, but do you think you'll be breaking that planer more often than this one? I expect both to service you well for a life time.
I'm guessing by the time you get this restored and change the head it won't be far from the price you'd get for your 20" planer on a used market.
So I think the main deciding factor is the real estate they occupy.

[David Kumm]

It isn't a step back in quality. The byrd head in that machine should give a finish that almost won't need the sander. I would miss the width and power of a bigger planer though. Big heavy lumber won't go through the small planer nearly as well. I'd restore the 130, sell the GI and probably someday find as cool a large planer and replace the larger one. I've got a Delta DC 33 with a Byrd and an Oliver 299 ITCH so that is basically what I did. Dave

[Rick Fisher]

I really like the idea of the small real estate commitment and the Canadian made part .. The 130 I picked up needs some parts, apparently they are expensive but available .. I plan on ordering them next week ..

I don't think I would break either planer but would put my money on the 130 surviving more abuse than the big 20" GI ..

I have a full 3 phase system in my shop, but ordered a Teco FM-50 for the Planer . The plan was to restore it for a buddy .. problem is he considers it too small and wants a big one like my GI .. Got me thinking ..

The Byrd head is about $1165.00 .. Need an on - off switch which can run the VFD ( which I will mount inside the planer cabinet .. An access door and a knob .. I figure with bearings and a can of paint, $1500 to restore it but it will be helical ..

Its funny .. This buddy of mine has a lunchbox Delta planer .. I told him I found this 14" General and bought it for $650.00 ..

He replied that he already has a 12" .. 14" isn't really much of an improvement .. He is a contractor who is getting back into woodworking.. He cant seem to grasp that a 14" General 130 Helical with a Baldor 3hp motor is more than a tiny bit better than a Delta lunch box .. :)

Thanks for the feedback ..

[Rick Fisher]

Oops. . The model number on my GI planer is 300- not 330 .. 330 is the Canadian made version .. Mine is the one that looks exactly like the Grizzly, Powermatic, Jet, King and all the other taiwanese ones ..

[scott spencer]

I'd be inclined to give that General the love it needs and see how it comes out. Then make a decision about upgrades and trades based on that....get two birds in hand before letting one go!