Laguna 16-Inch Planer with ShearTecII or Powermatic 15 inch with byrd

[Gary Lyben]

So I'm looking for a planer. I'm considering either the Laguna 16 inch with ShearTecII or Powermatic 15 inch with byrd shelix head.

I think that either one will do a good job with surfacing. I'm a little concerned about snipe. I had a Grizzly 1021 with a byrd head. It had infeed and outfeed rollers and I had a lot of trouble with snipe. I could never get the rollers aligned. The Lagna and Powermatic have the same 4 post design but with infeed and outfeed tables that should help with snipe.

The Laguna is 10% off in January, and the Powermatic has a $300 discount this month also, so this would be the time to buy.

Does anyone have experience with either of these?

Thanks

[Nick Bissen]

Hi Gary - very timely question. I currently have both in my shop. the laguna was one of the first made with the sheartec II head, the powermatic also an older model but with the helical cutter.
comparing side by side, i would say the powermatic gives a nicer finish but not an apples to apples comparison - hard to say one set of cutters was equal to the other in terms of wear.
the laguna however, has a longer main table and the wings were flatter and had a nicer finish/casting than the powermatic. with some adjustment, bed rollers down and a slight peak to the wings i was able to completely eliminate snipe from the laguna. still struggling to do the same with the powermatic. in my experience, with both older models, the laguna is the nicer machine. the one thing the powermatic has was the finish quality, but again may have something to do with wear/age of cutters.

[Mike Kees]

Gary do you still have the Grizzly ? Why not build infeed and outfeed tables to replace the rollers ?

[Andrew Hughes]

My pm15 hh snipes has nothing to do with the tables. I can reduce it to my satisfaction if I plane wood that’s flat from the jointer.

[Mike Kees]

Andrew, I have a Delta Dc380 planer. Four post 15''. Mine has no rollers or tables and works great. I just pulled it out of the box and assembled it and went to work. I also have a 16'' jointer and face joint one side first.I think Andrew is on to the best technique. The reason I asked if the O.P. still had his other planer was there is very little difference ,if any in the design and construction of these machines. With that said I would first look to technique and adjustment of the machine before replacing with something nearly identical.Gary if you have already been down that road,my apologies,Mike.

[Josko Catipovic]

I'm in the same position as the OP, and would be grateful for any insight into deciding between the Laguna 16" and Powermatic 15" planers. Thanks in advance.

[Stewart Lang]

I have a Grizzly 20" without an infeed OR outfeed and my snipe is very very minimal. Most times I can't detect it.

The Laguna or Powermatic isn't going to solve any problems for you, at least not because they have a out/infeed table. It's mostly in the rollers and their pressure (and possibly table flatness). I have mine set to as little as pressure as possible, and just keep the bed waxed to keep things sliding smoothly.

My advice, just stick with a Grizzly and get it tuned up. Laguna, Powermatic and Grizzly are practically all the same machines anyway, you're just paying for the name. They might get setup a little better from the factory, but it's nothing you can't do on your own with your current machines.

[Pete Taran]

I was faced with this same decision back in the winter and punted on all new machines. Look for an old PM 100 or PM 180 planer and upgrade it with a Hermance head. Both machines are completely adjustable, US made and are far, far superior to anything made today. Plus it's cheaper even with the upgraded head. Someone just sold a PM 100 in the classifieds for $900. They aren't hard to find if you are patient.