Big planers

[Jesse Busenitz]

I'm looking at a 30" planer, and wondering... How many of you who have a 20"+ planer have a second smaller one for "odd" jobs? I have a 20" Grizz now but I'm thinking if I get a 30" it'd be a pain to start that beast up just for a couple pieces... but another machine does eat up space.

[Mike Chalmers]

A 20" planer is hardly what I would look at as a small piece tool. I would reserve that distinction for a 12" lunch box machine. I think I would sell the 20" and buy a good quality portable, a DeWalt perhaps. That way, you would have a nice machine for small pieces, and it could be stored out of the way, perhaps on top of the 30" monster. I had a portable DeWalt when I bought my 20" one. I thought I would keep both and use the small one for smaller jobs. It did not take me long to realize that the time setting up either was about the same, and I now had two machines to look after, change blades on etc, so I sold the small one. I do not regret that decision.

[Erik Loza]

Does anyone even manufacture a 30" planer these days? Not old iron, but a new one?

Erik

[Jim Matthews]

Last one that size I recall was a Yates/American.

The rollers were over three hundred pounds.
That's more than some of the reasonably sized units weigh, altogether.

Who needs to plane an entire panel that wide, anyway?
Isn't that why plywood was invented?

[John A langley]

Does Whitewater Kansas have enough electricity to support a 30 inch planer LOL

[Jesse Busenitz]

Does Whitewater Kansas have enough electricity to support a 30 inch planer LOL

No... I'm just gonna hook it to the PTO on my tractor:D You'll know when I turn it on, as your light bulbs will dim for a second or two....

I don't think anybody makes something that big anymore.... It's an older Oliver that according to specs comes in around 3 ton. It's still in the bush yet, but I'm just thinking what'd I'd do if I got it in hand.

[peter gagliardi]

I think all the Euro machines are out at 630mm or about 24". I have an old L.Power 24" planer with a Terminus head upgrade, it has been too small on occasion.
I recently got a job in the shop that involved machining 2 - 10/4 x 38" Honduras Mahogany planks for a pair of tables. I had to rip them down to fit in my 36" Greenlee machine. I was very,very glad to have that machine, though the jointing of the first face had to happen with my #8 Lie-Nielsen.
The Greenlee is a whole 'nother class of machine beyond my L.Power which is excellent in its own right.
The Greenlee is a 6 powered feed roll machine, and weighs in at a very light 8300 lbs.

[Jim Andrew]

I have a 15" planer, bought it because it was about half the cost of a 20", and not much used comes up around here. If I were looking at something wider, it would be a widebelt sander. I bought the tiny open end widebelt sander from Grizzly, and I just plane down to 13/16", glue up panels, and then grind down to 3/4". The panels are flat by the time I get them sanded down, no chips like a planer leaves. Doubt you could afford to change the cutterhead to a helical on a 30".

[Brian Backner]

I have a Crescent P24 and it has done everything I have ever asked of it. It is a bit of PIA to start as it is three phase and therefore requires me to start the RPC first, but I certainly wouldn't bother to have a second, smaller planer around just for convenience.

The biggest planer I have ever seen was a 64" Buss - it was used for refurbishing bowling alleys! Had a 100hp motor on the cutterhead and 20 or 25 hp on the feed rolls. It also had 60' infeed and outfeed roller tables. Shop told me they had it custom built and it weighed in at 15 tons. The foreman told me there was only one grinding shop that could sharpen the blades and that it cost over a grand to do the set of four - and this was in the late 60's or early 70's. Wonder what a Shellix head for this beast would cost.

[Peter Kelly]

Does anyone even manufacture a 30" planer these days? Not old iron, but a new one?

Erik30? Try 37"! :D http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/singlesurfacers/737.htm

[Robert Engel]

I'm looking at a 30" planer, and wondering... How many of you who have a 20"+ planer have a second smaller one for "odd" jobs? I have a 20" Grizz now but I'm thinking if I get a 30" it'd be a pain to start that beast up just for a couple pieces... but another machine does eat up space.What kind of business do you have to justify a beast like this?

If you're surfacing a lot of wide panels and looking to spend that kind of money, why not a wide belt sander?

[Bradley Gray]

I have a 24" planer and 16" jointer in an unheated shop annex. A 12" parks 95 and smaller jointer live in the heated shop

[Erik Loza]

30? Try 37"! :D http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/singlesurfacers/737.htm

Wowwww...........

Erik

[Jesse Busenitz]

What kind of business do you have to justify a beast like this?

If you're surfacing a lot of wide panels and looking to spend that kind of money, why not a wide belt sander?

I'd love a wide belt sander and it'd probably serve me better, but I've been looking for something a bit more beefy to replace the Grizz.... Just watching this Oliver to see if it goes cheap.

[David Kumm]

I'd love a wide belt sander and it'd probably serve me better, but I've been looking for something a bit more beefy to replace the Grizz.... Just watching this Oliver to see if it goes cheap.

You are looking at about 15 levels above what you have. In the old iron days, the 24" planers were the industrial models, 2500-3000 lbs, with the 18-20" considered light duty ( only 1300-1500 lbs ). When you get to the 30" and wider, you enter the 24-7 never shut the machine off except when grinding the knives type machine. 5000-8000 lbs. Chipbreaker and pressure bar probably weight 200-300 lbs each. Greenlee, Buss, and Whitney were the big ones. Oliver, Fay and Egan, Yates and a few others made larger sizes too. Generally you do not want a straight knife heavy duty machine without a built in grinder. They are really a standard part of those machines, not an option. Those machines with knives ground in place can leave a finish that an insert head can only hope to approximate. And yes, if you go that route, a 13-15" planer with a Byrd head is nice for small pieces. Small stuff is not what those big old planers do best. Dave

[Bill Adamsen]

That St. Louis based Oliver appears to be a 440 Volt machine - and many of that era do not have provision to run at other voltages. You may have 440 volt 3-phase on your street ... I don't. Ten hp is not a huge number of kilowatts to transform ... but it is another level of complexity. To Dave's point, finding the replacement blade grinding motor will be imperative - and challenging no doubt. There are two large (30"+) Baxter Whitney's in my area selling for about the price of the iron. I've moved machines that weigh 2000 or even 3000 lbs. But a machine weighing 8000 lbs is different league altogether.

I was just glad that Mr. Gagliardi bragged about the size of his Greenlee ... I've logged that into long-term memory should I ever need something really large planed. Though as he pointed out, the scrub and jointer plane can do a good job on something of that size as well.

[Martin Wasner]

30? Try 37"! :D http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/singlesurfacers/737.htm


$40k later.... But likely worth it.


I don't have a use for a planer that size. That kind of money buys a lot of 36 grit widebelt belts.

[Peter Kelly]

I suppose you could count the Timesavers wide belt with a knife head as a very wide planer of sorts too. http://www.timesaversinc.com/content/model-2300-planer-sander

[Bill Adamsen]

Very interesting ... looks like too great a power requirement for my location ... but a great solution for a very industrial site.

[Kent A Bathurst]

30? Try 37"! :D http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/singlesurfacers/737.htm

The cool thing there is that knife grinder attachment weighs 225#..... prolly close to what my 15" DC-380 weighs. :p

And - I'll see your 37" and raise you 18"............55" x 8" capacity............

.http://www.newmanwhitney.com/Productguide/Specialplaners/LB-855/SG-lb-855.htm

[Mike Heidrick]

I just have a tiny 20" 1100lb planer and 900lb 12" jointer. No smaller ones.

Small lunchbox size planers are screaming loud - very annoying.

[Peter Kelly]

The cool thing there is that knife grinder attachment weighs 225#..... prolly close to what my 15" DC-380 weighs.


And - I'll see your 37" and raise you 18"............55" x 8" capacity............


.http://www.newmanwhitney.com/Productguide/Specialplaners/LB-855/SG-lb-855.htmTouchè. Interesting that both models from Whitney come with urethane feed rollers instead of steel.

[David Kumm]

Touchè. Interesting that both models from Whitney come with urethane feed rollers instead of steel.

Whitney describes them as roughing planers. Run a lot of bf fast. Not meant for fine finish work. I suspect the urethane is due to the speed the stock run and to allow for replacement. Dave

[Kent A Bathurst]

Whitney describes them as roughing planers. Run a lot of bf fast. Not meant for fine finish work. I suspect the urethane is due to the speed the stock run and to allow for replacement. Dave

That size critter generally ain't used for solid lumber. It is used for manufactured products - like LVL or LSL billets. They run these slow - notice 100 fpm max - v. solid lumber planers for a planer mill at more like 600+ fpm.

The urethane rollers are for the same reason - high-value engineered wood products, not some stinkin' 2 x 8 lumber,

[David Kumm]

Yes my bad. I didn't look hard at the type of planer listed and was talking about Whitney's hardwood planers. Dave

[peter gagliardi]

I was just glad that Mr. Gagliardi bragged about the size of his Greenlee ... I've logged that into long-term memory should I ever need something really large planed. Though as he pointed out, the scrub and jointer plane can do a good job on something of that size as well.

Bill, you misunderstood. A bragger I'm not. - at least I try not to be? If there was anything in that post close to bragging, it would have been about the planks themselves.
That machine is currently sold, and awaiting load out and delivery to a gent in northeast CT. I have an identical machine in my rathole that is in pretty rough shape that I hope to transplant an insert style head to, as it is missing the grinder. Some day.

[Bill Adamsen]

Bill, you misunderstood. A bragger I'm not.

I'm more than a little embarrassed. I didn't mean it to sound like a criticism at all. Just glad someone "not too far away" has the space for machines of this ilk, and the interest and energy to rehabilitate. Have you seen the Baxter Whitney's listed here in the New Haven area? The one is a 30" two sided planer. Not of interest to me ... not sure the floor of my shop would hold such a machine without the building coming down!

Your "page" on VM is amazing! Not sure how someone gets so much energy to restore so much equipment!

[Wes Ramsey]

No... I'm just gonna hook it to the PTO on my tractor:D You'll know when I turn it on, as your light bulbs will dim for a second or two....

I don't think anybody makes something that big anymore.... It's an older Oliver that according to specs comes in around 3 ton. It's still in the bush yet, but I'm just thinking what'd I'd do if I got it in hand.

You jest, but that is how our old sawmill is setup - tractor PTO to an old bush hog gear box, then 90* over to the shaft and 46" circular blade. The 24" planer that used to run on the same belt/power unit as the mill has been sitting in the barn for 30+ years, but could be R&R'd and run off the belts of the mill. We've just never set it up. My father-in-law setup the mill this way about 12-13 years ago and actually mills decent lumber. Its ugly, but hey, cheap lumber :D

[Frank Drew]

I recently got a job in the shop that involved machining 2 - 10/4 x 38" Honduras Mahogany planks for a pair of tables.

Yikes! It wasn't really all that long ago that you could get Mahogany in those sizes... but these days? Was that old stock, Peter? How long were the boards?

Among other ideas, I imagine re-sawing one of those into terrific normal thickness, book- or slipmatched table boards for a dining table.

[Andrew Hughes]

The lumber yard I buy from has several large planers that look to be at least 30 wide.I think Jim the foreman said they spin a 6 inch head,Not sure who made them can't get even close to see without hearing protection,they are always running when I am there.
They run back and forth Useing the knives evenly just not all at once.Aj

[peter gagliardi]

Bill, no worries. I have not seen those machines, but would like to. You can pm me a link.
I started collecting thinking how I could restore these. I quickly realized that as a single income head of household woodworker with 4 small kids, that my time is more useful getting jobs out the door. So, now I mostly just swap out a lesser capable machine for a more capable one, and only try to deal with decent performing and running machines instead.
Took me a lot of arn hunting to reach that conclusion, and I wasn't hindered by space constraints which didn't help.

[David Kumm]

For those you not familiar, Peter is one of those guys who really knows old machines but also is objective about the good and not so good of each. You get an honest opinion and not the " my old stuff is the best" viewpoint. Dave

[Robert Engel]

Elvis has left the room.
I wonder if he's pulling your legs......