Small Planer

[Steve Losing]

Hi I currently have a 25" woodmaster planer and I am thinking about converting it to a drum sander. I thought I could possibly purchase a planer in the 12" range and it would take care of about 90 % of my board resizing work. The question of course is which one to purchase. I looked online and the Makita seems to be rated pretty high. Also looked at the Bench top Grizzly and the price there is very favorable. Anyone have some experience here that could help me out? Thanks

[HANK METZ]

When I start a hunt for another tool, I check Craigslist for what’s out there, do a Google for any issues with it and also do a price check. This has served me well, and is a frugal way to acquire what I need.

- Beachside Hank
Improvise, adapt, overcome; the essence of true craftsmanship.

[Bill Huber]

I have the Ridgid that I got a HD and have been very happy with it, I really can't comment on the ones you are looking at but I do know the Ridgid has worked very well for me.

It is a 3 blade unit, the blades are turn-able so you have 6 blades to ware out before you have to get new ones. It is loud like most all the small planers but it does a very good job. I have the 4330 I think, they have a new model out now and I am not sure of the difference.

[Myk Rian]

You'll get many suggestions here, so I'll throw mine into the ring.
DeWalt 735.

[Rod Sheridan]

I also down sized to a 12" planer from a 14", no regrets.

There are many suitable machines out there...........Rod.

[Rick Fisher]

I just picked up a used General 14 inch planer for $675.00
Its a bit more money than a lunchbox but a bit more planer as well.

I am getting rid of a 20 inch because I dont use the width..

[Sam Murdoch]

The Makita (I believe) is the most quiet. Very portable but solid and accurate. Only negative is that it doesn't have 2 feed rates. Not a deal breaker for me but it would be a great feature. Changing out knives is a cinch.

[John TenEyck]

I would be looking at Craigslist for a used stationary planer. More machine for the same money, often less, and much quieter. I recently saw a used 12" Powermatic, the really high quality one from maybe 30 -40 years ago, for $800. If it had been a 15" I'd have been all over it.

John

[Stephen Cherry]

It seems to me that the first thing to do is to narrow it down to one of:
1- benchtop planers
2- 15 inch tiawanese planers
3- compact old iron.

[Roger Rayburn]

Love my Makita. Have had if about 5 years and it delivers so little snipe I can sand out the shadow. The blades are way easy to change and they are double sided.

[John Bailey]

After a couple of decades of hobby woodworking, this year I bought the Makita. It's a great addition to the workshop. Don't know how I got along without it. I bought the Makita for the following:

1. Quiet
2. Light (I lift it to my workbench when I use it)
3. Easy blade change. (Haven't had to change them yet, but it is reported to be one of the easiest.)
4. Chip collection

[Jim Andrew]

Steve, do you have a good sized shop? I have a lunchbox planer on a shelf, it is ok for jobs away from the shop. But I'm going to keep my G0453px planer, the speed at which it planes, the great chip collection, and quiet operation is hard to beat. I had a woodmaster and sold it. Never did try out the drum sander option, but it was great as a moulder.

[david brum]

The Grizzly bench top was one of my first WWing tool purchases 6 or 7 years ago. I sold it off as soon as I could afford an upgrade. Let's just say that there are better performing planers out there....

[joe maday]

What about the dewalt 735, with an added shelix byrd cutterhead...Would provide a good quality planer, two speeds.... excelent cutting of figured woods...low noise....small chips for excelent dust collection....would be set for the future.
Steel city makes a lunch box planer with the segmented cutterhead installed. I use a delta 12 lunch box and a jet 15 with byrd head.......byrd, head quite an improvement...

[Myk Rian]

What about the dewalt 735, .
^^^^^ Up-thread.

[glenn bradley]

The small Griz does take a pounding from a lot of folks. The exception makes the rule so, every now and then someone posts that they love it ;-) The DW735 is known to be good but, is quite heavy if you need to move it. The DW734 is 10 pounds lighter and I used one for years. Sold it to a pro shop when I upgraded; they have two of them. The main thing to look at in a lunchbox IMHO:

- Adjustable tables - you'll need these to adjust out the snipe possibility.
- Lockable head - The DW735 is the exception but, a manual lock assures proper thickness and no snipe.
- Good chip collection - if you don't get the ships out of there as they are created, they will get crushed into your surface fouling your work.

Things not to worry about might be noise as they all use universal motors, think Shop-Vac (although the Makita is reported as being less noisy).

[george wilson]

I've had a 15" Bridgewood Taiwan planer for many years. I'd like to get a 20" 4 post planer,but am leary of losing a Taiwan planer to get a Chinese one. The Bridgewood one planes extremely smooth,but some of my best wood is too wide for it.

[Mark Churay]

I also have a DeWalt 735. A little heaver and larger than most, but cuts real clean with little or no snipe. I really like the 2 speeds and chip ejection. I also have the Chip Collection Accessory for DW735 Planer, and really like it Unfortunately it has been discontinued. Would be fairly east to rig a lid to a garbage can if you do not have a dust collection system Mark

[Bruce Wrenn]

Every once in a while, one of the Delta 13" will show up on CL. Same machine as the Delta 15', only in narrower version. Last two here were $400, and $600 as a price reference.