Advice RE: next equipment purchase

[jeremy romoser]

I've had my table saw a couple months now and it is great.

Now looking to add a second piece of equipment to the shop. Based on responses to my previous post, it seems
my next purchase should either be a planer, bandsaw, or jointer.

Of the three it seems to me a planer would make most sense?

Grizzly has the G1021Z 15" planer for $1632 + tax (most expensive of the three by the time you add freight, lift gate service, and a mobile base) and the G0453 15"planer for $1550 + tax (free freight and includes integrated mobile base). Rockler has the Jet JWP-160s 16" planer $1599 + tax + base ( an hour away so I can pick it up=no freight).
The other brands: laguna, PM, Rikon, etc are more than I want to spend.

Any thoughts on the above or recommendations on other options I should consider are welcomed.

Frankly, I am leaning toward the jet so I don't have to deal with Grizzly dumping the unit on the road at the end of my driveway about 60ish yards from the entrance to my shop or transferring from their truck to my truck.

For a newbie, are these overkill? I've seen good comments on the dewalt 735 also at about 1/3 of the price. Although, I'd rather spend more now once than save now but have to upgrade in a couple years.

Thanks in advance to all who respond.

[Tony Roun]

I would recommend the planer be your next tool. If you are new, I’d stick with a smaller planer like the Dewalt you mentioned. One additional brand to consider is Cutech. For roughly the same price as the Dewalt 735, you can buy one of their higher end models with spiral cutter head with carbide. I’m considering upgrading my older two-blade lunchbox planer to one of these. I’ve heard positive feedback regarding their quality.

[jeremy romoser]

Thanks for the suggestion, Cutech is a new one to me. I'll look into it.

[Lee Schierer]

To me it depends on what you plan to make most often and what materials you will use. If you normally use s4s lumber and make furniture and cabinets, a jointer will be more used than a planer. If you make lots of projects from thin or odd sized material or plan to buy mostly rough lumber then the planer will see more use.

IMO both tools are essential in most shops.

[Cary Falk]

I say if you are thinking about a 15" cast iron planer you already have the funds and space for one so get one. Tool prices are just going to increase. You will loose money on the Dewalt when you sale it. You also have to take the time to sale it. I am looking at the Grizzly 2019 catalog and you prices look high. The G0453 is $1250+$169 sh+tax. Either way if you want to go with Jet that is fine as well.

[Robert Engel]

I think if you're getting a planer, you will also want a jointer. They kind of go together.

If the budget will allow, I recommend taking a look at some combo jointer/planers. Jet has a nice unit at my local Woodcraft I think it was $2500. Plus, its 12" which is nice for a jointer.

I have a 20" planer and honestly I rarely ever put anything over 10" wide through it.

IMO in the long run, you're always better of with a stationary machine and lots of cast iron. The DW planer might suffice it all depends on how much/how hard you're using it. If you plan on milling rough lumber, I would definitely go with a stationary unit the motors on the lunchbox planers are the issue.

[glenn bradley]

A planer makes the most sense if you build a planer sled for face jointing. The jointer and planer are a team and each is only partially useful without the other. The planer can deal with face jointing via a sled.

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And the tablesaw can do edge jointing after a fashion with a sled.

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But, the jointer cannot thickness plane. So, IMHO . . . Planer, jointer, then bandsaw although there can be innumerable reasons to alter this order ;-)

[Cary Falk]

Do it(stationary) for the noise also. Lunchbox planers are screamers. The neighbors will thank you.

[Jacob Mac]

A planer and a sled will make it so you can get by without a jointer. But if you are in this for the long haul, a joiner planer combo machine is worth considering if you have the funds. It will get you a wider jointer. Certainly not the only way to go. But if you're pressed for space, it is a good option.

[jeremy romoser]

To me it depends on what you plan to make most often and what materials you will use. If you normally use s4s lumber and make furniture and cabinets, a jointer will be more used than a planer. If you make lots of projects from thin or odd sized material or plan to buy mostly rough lumber then the planer will see more use.

IMO both tools are essential in most shops.

My wife has a long list of furniture for the house for me to attempt and I would also like to make some cutting boards. She likes the look of walnut in the house so probably a lot of Walnut along with other hardwoods that I like.
I am new to this so I don't have a "normal" yet but my reading of this site and others like it have me thinking rough lumber or s2s is the most cost effective way to go (once I have a planer and jointer)???
I do plan on buying both a planer and jointer but was hoping to have a couple months in between each purchase.

[Bob Vaughan]

A well thought out decision on a multitude of levels for putting together a wood shop. The only potential down side, if you want to call it that, is that having the capacity of a full size machine will accelerate your needs for other machines of at least equal quality. Maybe another down side is the angst of self-discipline to not plane every piece of rough lumber you've got in stock.

[jeremy romoser]

I say if you are thinking about a 15" cast iron planer you already have the funds and space for one so get one. Tool prices are just going to increase. You will loose money on the Dewalt when you sale it. You also have to take the time to sale it. I am looking at the Grizzly 2019 catalog and you prices look high. The G0453 is $1250+$169 sh+tax. Either way if you want to go with Jet that is fine as well.

I don't have the 2019 catalog yet but the prices I quoted were off their website yesterday. The website price had the mobile base and shipping included so maybe they just increased the price to cover the "free" shipping and base.

I have no knowledge regarding Jet vs. Grizzly, I just like the idea of being able to go to the store and pick up the Jet.

[Jason Lester]

I just got the Grizzly G1021X2. It's a very nice piece of equipment. It replaced a Dewalt 734. As others mentioned, it's so much quieter than the Dewalt. I can also get through milling much faster since it has no issue taking off 1/16 at a time. If you can afford the difference, step up to the carbide head. It gives a much better finish, especially on figured wood or wood with reversing grain. I fed some figured white oak through multiple ways and never got any tearout.

[andy bessette]

If a table saw was my only shop machine I definitely would not want a planer to be my next purchase.

Instead I would buy the Festool track saw next. Then I would want a bandsaw and drill press before even considering a thickness plane. Once I got those other machines I'd be looking for a heavy duty, used, Delta 13" planer just like the one I bought new decades ago, shown in the lower right corner of the photo.

https://i.postimg.cc/5004PwmS/shop-4.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Simon MacGowen]

I am new to this so I don't have a "normal" yet but my reading of this site and others like it have me thinking rough lumber or s2s is the most cost effective way to go (once I have a planer and jointer)???
.

As John Mac (unrelated) pointed out, you can do with just a planer (thicknesser) and a sled, without the need for a jointer to dress all your rough lumber. I have been doing just like that for the past decade after selling my long jointer. You have got the SawStop and with 3HP, it can joint anything you want (using a cutting a sled).

Even if you have space and money for the jointer, there is one more reason why you may not want it: skill & maintenance requirements. The jointer, unlike the planer (which just needs shims to work for difficult boards), requires skills to dress a twist board as well as long boards that rocks. Be sure you will develop those skills or you will get frustrated. People who sell jointers won't tell you that. The process of replacing the jointer knives, leveling both the infeed and outfeed tables can be intimidating to some, too. Don't expect the experience with your SawStop a default when you deal with other imported machines. I had lived long enough to tame my jointer before our divorce. But I see no reason why I would need it again, even though I use mostly rough lumber (so I can choose the grain and thickness).

Simon

[Mike Cutler]

My wife has a long list of furniture for the house for me to attempt and I would also like to make some cutting boards. She likes the look of walnut in the house so probably a lot of Walnut along with other hardwoods that I like.
I am new to this so I don't have a "normal" yet but my reading of this site and others like it have me thinking rough lumber or s2s is the most cost effective way to go (once I have a planer and jointer)???
I do plan on buying both a planer and jointer but was hoping to have a couple months in between each purchase.


Jeremy
If your goal is to start with rough cut lumber, which is the correct path in my opinion, then a planer and jointer are in your future. Soon! If you stay with wood working long enough, I guarantee that you will want the biggest jointer and planer you can afford, and fit in your shop. Almost every wood working project starts with these two machines.
Buy the planer first, and use a sled to joint the first face, then plane to thickness, because it's easy to joint a straight edge by other means.

You'll get lots of differing ideas,and none of them are necessarily wrong. ;)

[Rick Potter]

It all depends on what you plan to build. Timber frame buildings? Eiffel tower scrollwork?

I went years without a jointer, but used a band saw and drill press regularly.

PS: You can also joint with a router table.

[andy bessette]

...If your goal is to start with rough cut lumber...

One's goal should be to start within one's ability. Buy surfaced lumber until you are setup to resaw, joint and thickness plane.

[Greg Parrish]

I say get the planer unless you can foot the cost of one of the 12” or larger combo machines. With the planer, a sled and either a track saw or circular saw and edge guide, you should be able to get your rough lumber cleaned and squared up with the final cut being on the table saw.

Joint the board face with sled
thickness and bring opposite face parallel parallel with just planer
trim one edge with track saw or circular saw and edge guide
and lastly cut last edge via table saw.

this gets you a squared board to start with until you can add your jointer.


I had had the dewalt 735 with shelix head and a Powermatic 6” with shelix head. I used them for the first couple years and recently upgraded to a 12” combo hammer machine. Wish I went with full size machines to start with. I’m in a 20’x22’ space and Only thing I would do differently is separate machines if I had more space.

Good luck.

[Andrew Seemann]

I've gone for years without a decent jointer. I'd like to get one some day, but for the last 30 years I have only used crummy 6" ones. The first one was one of those awful Craftsmans with the non adjustable outfeed table. Then about 12 years ago I "upgraded" to a 6" open stand Jet. It was an improvement, but not much of one. I only use it for edge jointing boards 4 feet and under. Anything longer I mark a line and cut with a bandsaw, hit it with a #7 or #8 Baileys, and then use that to joint the opposite side on the table saw. Face jointing I don't even bother trying to do on it. If anything I have needs face jointing, I just rough do it with a scrub plane or jack plane so that I can run it through the planer without it rocking to face joint the other side.

The point of this diatribe on my relationships with crappy jointers, is that you can survive (suffer) quite long with either no jointer or a poor one with relatively no ill effects your woodworking.

I'll get an 8" jointer someday, but even then it would mostly just be for edge jointing. Most of the lumber I get these days from my supplier has been skip planed rarely requires much if any face jointing. A 12" jointer would be ideal, but too big and heavy for my shop.

That said, I'd probably consider a getting a 14" bandsaw before a planer, and definitely before a jointer.

[Jim Becker]

Printed catalog prices for vendors like Grizzly may not be accurate if they were printed before the tariffs came into play...the website prices will be more accurate, IMHO.

Based on your list, the planer does make the most sense, but I'm very much a fan of J/P for small shop use. The initial investment is more, but you end up with a wide jointer (very desirable for many reasons) as well as a planer of identical width. For me, the most important thing about a jointer is flattening, so something narrow just wouldn't cut it with me very much. But that's me. :)

[ChrisA Edwards]

I would suggest an jointer/planer combo if you can spring for that.

Otherwise, my next choice would be a planer, although I've seen no mention of a dust collector, which with most of these large power tools becomes a must have.

[Art Mann]

I almost always work with rough sawn lumber. For decades, I had a separate planer and jointer and I would not have wanted to do without either one. A planer with a sled will work fair but it is a great deal more trouble and time consuming than just running the material across the jointer. Recently, I acquired a 12 inch jointer/planer combo machine primarily because I needed to routinely flatten material wider than 8 inches. I would never want to go back to a 6 or 8 inch jointer. I would not want to go back to separate machines because a 12 inch jointer is enormous, expensive and unnecessary for my work. The changeovers are not difficult but a little more up front planning than what I used to do is advisable.

[Shiraz Balolia]

I've had my table saw a couple months now and it is great.

Now looking to add a second piece of equipment to the shop. Based on responses to my previous post, it seems
my next purchase should either be a planer, bandsaw, or jointer.

Of the three it seems to me a planer would make most sense?

Grizzly has the G1021Z 15" planer for $1632 + tax (most expensive of the three by the time you add freight, lift gate service, and a mobile base) and the G0453 15"planer for $1550 + tax (free freight and includes integrated mobile base). Rockler has the Jet JWP-160s 16" planer $1599 + tax + base ( an hour away so I can pick it up=no freight).
The other brands: laguna, PM, Rikon, etc are more than I want to spend.

Any thoughts on the above or recommendations on other options I should consider are welcomed.

Frankly, I am leaning toward the jet so I don't have to deal with Grizzly dumping the unit on the road at the end of my driveway about 60ish yards from the entrance to my shop or transferring from their truck to my truck.

For a newbie, are these overkill? I've seen good comments on the dewalt 735 also at about 1/3 of the price. Although, I'd rather spend more now once than save now but have to upgrade in a couple years.

Thanks in advance to all who respond.

Just FYI - the G1021Z is currently on sale. Made in Taiwan and in stock at both facilities.

Also, you can pick up the machine at your local freight terminal to avoid the hassle you mention above.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-15-Planer-w-Cabinet-Stand/G1021Z

[Matt Day]

Can’t believe nobody has suggested buying used. If you have a decent CL area and have patience, you can get an 8” jointer, 14” bandsaw, and 15” planer for the price of that Grizzly jointer you’re looking at.

[Van Huskey]

There is so much to unpack here but I will start with something I haven't seen mentioned, what dust collection do you have? If you don't have a dust collector it needs to come into the picture before/while buying a 15/16" planer, you can get away with a shop vac with the Dewalt.

I agree that the planer would be the next purchase IMO. One thing to note is an awful lot of people get away with using the Dewalt long term. If I were building a shop on a budget I would get the Dewalt and move on to other machine acquisitions and revisit the planer issue much farther down the road if you decide you need more. The roughly $1,000 you save goes a long way to getting your jointer and BS in the shop.

[Jim Becker]

What Van said and doubly so for a combo...DC is required, not optional.

[Van Huskey]

Can’t believe nobody has suggested buying used.

Because people get tired of saying it and so few bite until they come to it as a natural conclusion some time down the road?

[Ryan J Carpenter]

You may also consider the Grizzly G0815. I picked this up with a Byrd head a few years ago for the same price you are looking at on the stationary model. Not having the stand was also a huge selling point for me as I have it mounted to my lumber rack which gives me a free 8' outfeed rollers plus storage above and below in my two car garage shop. I seriously looked into a combo machine when buying but kept things simple and lower cost by buying a separate jointer and planer and couldn't be happier with the result. I will put yet another plug in for a dust collector as these planers generate a ton of chips. I also can't state enough how pleasant the larger induction motors are to listen to compared to my old lunchbox.

[andy bessette]

Can’t believe nobody has suggested buying used...


...I'd be looking for a heavy duty, used, Delta 13" planer...

Someone already did.

[Mike Kees]

Another vote for buying used. My entire shop except for two machines was purchased used. 2 machines out of 14 currently. I would buy a four post 15'' planer and skip the Dewalt,one less step to get to what you will probably end up with in the end anyway. Pick any color they are all pretty much the same, but if you find an older Delta or Powermatic for good money pounce.

[jeremy romoser]

Just FYI - the G1021Z is currently on sale. Made in Taiwan and in stock at both facilities.

Also, you can pick up the machine at your local freight terminal to avoid the hassle you mention above.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-15-Planer-w-Cabinet-Stand/G1021Z

Thanks for the info. The price I stated above factors in the sale price and includes the freight, lift gate and mobile base, making it more expensive than the jet.
I'll call Grizzly before making a decision to get a better idea of where the "local" freight terminal is to see if that is an option.

[Karl Card]

Sort of depends on what you are making or plan to make that would decide on what size planer. I have the dewalt 735, i love it, I also have a rigid 4330 and I love it. BUT I like to make cutting boards and many, many times I wished I had a larger planer. If you have the money just think about what you might be interested in making.

[jeremy romoser]

Can’t believe nobody has suggested buying used. If you have a decent CL area and have patience, you can get an 8” jointer, 14” bandsaw, and 15” planer for the price of that Grizzly jointer you’re looking at.
Thanks for the reminder. I almost never think of CL when shopping for something (for no reason other than it doesn't come to mind) but with houston being my "local" market and a whole shop to fill up, I should probably start watching CL on a regular basis.
Happy New Year

[jeremy romoser]

Thanks to all who responded. After reading the responses, my plan is to get the jointer/planer combo, most likely the 12" jet. I like the idea of separate machines for most items but even though I have the space currently, I am pretty certain I'll never spring for the cost of a 12" jointer so the combo makes sense. However, while waiting a little bit to save up for the combo, I got frustrated wrestling full sheets of 3/4 plywood onto my TS to make cuts and ticked off that I sometimes did not make straight cuts with that method so I decided a track saw was needed, as Andy suggested and bought one. One of the best decisions I've made. Have made multiple full length cuts of 3/4 plywood and all have been accurate, straight, and easy to do as well as much safer than what I was trying to do. Very glad I didn't put the track saw purchase off any longer. This set my J/P combo purchase back a bit but glad I did it. As Andy also suggested, my first trip to the hardwood store I purchased lumber surfaced on 3 sides (only .50 a board foot for this service) which I think will work out very well for future purchases. Maybe even allowing me to delay a J/P purchase much longer.

For Van and Jim and others that might have mentioned DC. I currently only have the dust right from Rockler. I can only run one machine at a time so it makes sense to me to just move my hose from machine to machine. Currently I only have one machine, the TS, so it works for me and seems to do a great job. I likely will buy one or two more in the future as my needs increase and have dedicated lines for several machines.

Anyway, enough rambling. Just wanted to thank all for the responses, reply to some responses and update on my joy in purchasing a track saw for others that might be on the fence.

[Jim Becker]

A dust collector is pretty much mandatory for a J/P so make sure something appropriate is part of that action, Jeremy. The Dust Right with a shop vac isn't going to work for that, even dedicated to the machine. You need a lot more air movement to accomplish the task.

[johnny means]

I would make a bandsaw my next purchase.The option to cut curves opens up a whole new realm of design possibilities. A planer only allows wood to be made thinner.

[jeremy romoser]

A dust collector is pretty much mandatory for a J/P so make sure something appropriate is part of that action, Jeremy. The Dust Right with a shop vac isn't going to work for that, even dedicated to the machine. You need a lot more air movement to accomplish the task.
Thanks for the response.
Depending on how much of a unit I need, that might delay my J/P purchase a bit. Especially now that I know the wood store will surface both sides and an edge for minimal cost.
Anyway, the Dustright claims a flow rate of 650 cfm. How much air movement should I be considering when the time comes?

[andy bessette]

Actually the jointer and planer make large shavings, not "dust." These shavings are very easy to collect and dispose of. Where a dust collector will be virtually a necessity is with a drum or wide belt sander. The manufacturer of those machines will suggest a certain minimum capacity for a dust collector.

[Jim Becker]

True, it's more shavings than fine dust, but my J/P purchase is what forced me to upgrade my cyclone to a larger one because those shavings need significant air movement to clear and not plug things up, especially when working on wider material.

[Jason Plemons]

I agree. I have a Laguna 1.5 PFlux and have to be careful with how much I take off while planing -- especially if it's something like maple. Jointing never seems to be an issue because I usually stay below 1/16th anyway. If I had more room and money at the time, I would have went with a larger dust collector.

[Craig Day]

What Van said and doubly so for a combo...DC is required, not optional.

Is this true of your combo machine, or combo machines in general with the way the chips are directed through the machine? I've had two planers (12" and 20") and two jointers now (6" and 12") and I still have no dust collection... of course I'm getting pretty sick and tired of sweeping up chips/shavings/dust (and breathing dust) so a dust collector is the next on my list, but in my cases I wouldn't say dust collection is absolutely required to use the machines.. just something really nice to have :-) And boy does the 20" planer produce a LOAD of shavings running something full width!!

[andy bessette]

With separate planer and jointer there is no need for a dust collector. On the jointer almost all the chips go down the chute and into a box. On the planer the chips are spread around a bit more, but are an easy sweep-up.

[Nick Decker]

Yes, you can catch the chips in a box or sweep them up, but I just don't believe there is no fine dust produced. You can choose to ignore it if you want.

[Derek Cohen]

Yes, you can catch the chips in a box or sweep them up, but I just don't believe there is no fine dust produced. You can choose to ignore it if you want.

I agree. Just check the surfaces in your shop the next day. A fine layer of dust? Imagine what is hanging in the air waiting to be sucked into your lungs.

My shop is a double garage. There is a long garage door and, facing it, an entrance door from the house. The doors are opened to flush out as much dust as possible. Even so, dust will settle on surfaces.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

J/P's are a bit different with dust collection and don't have as much benefit from "gravity" like the separate tools do. Things can get plugged up very quickly without DC or when one, um...forgets...to open the gate. ("speaking for a friend"...heh...heh...) It's all in how the ports are setup on a combo. I'd be very surprised if any J/P combo manufacturer didn't require DC for proper operation. All of the major brands like Felder/Hammer and SCM/Minimax do for sure.

[Ole Anderson]

As soon as you get a jointer or planer, you are going to start to generate huge amounts of wood chips/sawdust. Seriously think about sawdust collection sooner than later as others have mentioned.