Grizzly 15" Planer

[Gary Petit]

Hello Guys,

I am trying to get some feedback. I have an opportunity to purchase a grizzly 15" planer, but wondering if anyone has any experience with this model, and what a fair price for the planer is.

The model number is G1021 it is 2hp motor, and has two speeds and an extra set of knives. The seller has it listed for 550. Looks to be in decent shape. What should I look for in the planer, and is that a fair price on this older model planer?

Some quick feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Here is a picture of the unit that he has.


http://images.craigslist.org/00F0F_1fT9v1Qm6ws_600x450.jpg

Gary

[Michael Mayo]

That seems to be a copy of my Delta DC380 planer that is also 15". My Delta is an awesome planer and I would suspect that Grizzly would be very much the same. The price seems pretty reasonable for a 15" planer of that design. I would check it out and if it runs good I would try to get it cheaper than the asking price but failing that I would not have a problem paying the asking price.

[Bill Space]

I have that same planer and was trying to decide whether to sell it and buy a new one with a spiral cutter head, or install a Byrd head. I think I am going to go with the Byrd head.

If I was going to sell it, my intention was to offer it for $600, with a spare set if blades.

Less than that and I would just keep it. It is a pretty good unit.

[Keith Outten]

Gary,

I have the same model planer, mine is well over 20 years old and it has been a solid workhorse. I think mine has a 3HP motor and I think it originally sold for $795.00 I will check it tomorrow.

If the one your looking at is the same age as mine it has babbet bearings that have to be manually oiled periodically. If the current owner has not been taking care of the bearings they are probably toast and will need to be replaced. If its a newer model than mine it may have sealed bearings.

I was wrong my planer has the 2HP motor.

[Peter Keen]

If that is in good shape, $550 sounds very reasonable.

[John Schweikert]

Where is it? I'll go buy it. Appears to be a good unit for a good price.

[Bill Space]

Gary,

If the one your looking at is the same age as mine it has babbet bearings that have to be manually oiled periodically. If the current owner has not been taking care of the bearings they are probably toast and will need to be replaced. If its a newer model than mine it may have sealed bearings.


Keith, do you mean the bearing for the rollers, rather than the cutter head? I was surprised to hear this and checked the manual for my G1021 and apparently the one I have has some kind of ball bearing for the cutter head, but probably bronze bushing for the rollers. Mine has been lightly used (relatively) and I have not oiled the roller bushings. I will have to look into this further and see if the bushings on my rollers need lubricated. Perhaps they are the self lubricating type (I think called oiltight )?

Thanks for the heads up on this!

By the way, after looking at current Grizzly prices, I think if I were to try and sell mine I might list it for $550, rather than the $600 I mentioned above. A fair price for a machine in the cosmetic condition like the picture the OP posted.

Edit: I checked the manual further and see there are four oil points for the rollers. Glad I have not used this plainer much until recently. There will be fresh oil in those
oil points shortly after I save this edit!!!

Aside from that all other recommended lubrication will be done as well. I probably have less than 30 hours run time on this planer so I don't think my roller bearing should show much wear...I am pretty sure lubed them at some point in the past, it has been quite a while since I purchased this unit.
Bill

[Gary Petit]

Thanks Guys for all the input. Keith thanks for notifying me to lubricate. This has the 2 hp motor on this unit as well. He sent me some more pictures of the unit and it seems to be taken care of. He was just a hobbyist and did not do to much woodworking. Unfortunately, he came down with some medical issue and has to sell his whole shop. Wish I had the funds to purchase some of the items he is selling!

But I currently have a foley belsaw, and decided that if I can snag this 15 inch, and sell my belsaw I will be in good shape.

Thanks again for all the input and suggestions.

Gary

[Keith Outten]

The Grizzly manual mentions lubricating the four points but it is easy to miss. I use a few drops of motor oil in each hole before I start planing and again later on if I run the planer for an extended period. I keep round magnets on top of the hex holes to keep trash from getting inside the oil lubrication points.

My Dad and I had a small home based lumber business for a dozen years. We ran a small Ebac dehumidification Kiln and kept it running full time drying lumber from local mills in our area. My planer got a serious workout every month when we unloaded the kiln plus all of the lumber we planed for our own projects through the years. Honestly I can't believe my planer is still running, it should have been worn out long ago given the huge number of hours we ran it through the years.

I purchased a Makita slow speed wet sharpener to keep my planer blades sharp and I kept a couple sets of sharp blades on the shelf all the time so I could change them frequently when we ran the planer hard. I'm down to just one set of blades now but I rarely use the planer anymore. I still have a pretty good inventory of red oak and a few other species we dried over the years on my lumber rack so I rarely have to purchase lumber unless I need cherry or mahogany for a special project.

[Gary Petit]

Well went today and picked the planer up! It is in great shape, and the guy barely used it. Only problem is this is the heaviest planer I have ever purchased or going to be using! Seems like this planer is meant to last, so hopefully I will get some great use out of this machine. My buddy and I struggled getting it out of the guys basement, but we managed to not kill our back though!! Looking forward to using the machine.

[Brian W Smith]

Cool deal on the planer.

Great deal you and your friend made the move with no injuries.Rigging,on all accounts(injuries to you and equipment)....really needs to be planned out.Everytime I get in a hurry,the 'ole back takes the hit.Without a doubt,the best equip deals I've gotten over the years were because of damage done somewhere previously(usually forklifts)....or because the location made rigging costs prohibitive.