Tool gloat - Now with Pics!

[Nancy Laird]

The jointer on our combo Hitachi jointer-planer hasn't been feeling too well lately, so LOML decided that it was time to put it out of its misery. Besides, it was SO LOUD!!! So we have ordered... (drumroll, please)

One Steel City 15" planer
and
One Steel City 6" wedge bed jointer--long bed :D :D :D

The planer won't be home until tomorrow - a little issue about getting it home,:( :confused: and the jointer is backordered until about 4 January,:mad: but just had to gloat a little bit. Pictures will follow as soon as the new toyls are home.

Nancy

[Brad Noble]

"new toyls" ....... humm, we may have a new word here in the making. Half tools, half toys. I like it, a lot!

Oh, congrats on your new planer and jointer. Enjoy them for years to come. And yes, my Hitachi F1000A is a little noisey too.

Brad

[Jim Becker]

'Tis the season!! Congrats on the "presumed" new tools! LOL!

[Nancy Laird]

Here it is - our new Steel City 15" planer. :D :D It was delivered this morning. It weighs about 450# so a lift gate was in order. The fit and finish are great, had to put the wings (cast iron) on it, and there are levelers under each wing to help it along. If it needs to be moved, there are two little knobs near the bottom that turn and it just rolls along. It's MUCH quieter than the old Hitachi, although one still needs ear protection to use it for more than a minute.

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It has a digital thickness gauge on it (fourth pic). LOML is in the shop playing with it right now!

Now when its brother the jointer gets here, we'll be in fat city.

Nancy

[Bruce Page]

Sweet! I wish my PM15 had the cast iron tables. Did you get it locally?

Congrats on the ney toyls!

[Nancy Laird]

Yes, Bruce, we got it at Woodworkers Supply. That was the only one in stock in Albuquerque at the moment, but they'll get more.

[John Miliunas]

That's sweet, Nancy! :) I've had two "lunch box" planers before acquiring my 15"-er. BIG difference, IMHO. I think you'll do well by it and congrats!!! :) I'm sure you and the LOYL will enjoy it. :) :cool:

[Nancy Laird]

That's sweet, Nancy! :) I've had two "lunch box" planers before acquiring my 15"-er. BIG difference, IMHO. I think you'll do well by it and congrats!!! :) I'm sure you and the LOYL will enjoy it. :) :cool:

Yes, John, it is a big difference from the 12" Hitachi we had (still have, but it's for sale). It did a bang-up job on a piece of 2x maple last night. It has already been initiated. :cool:

Nancy

[Nancy Laird]

Well, after several weeks of waiting, tracing, waiting, tracking shipment, waiting, anticipation, waiting, etc., the new baby has finally arrived! The Steel City 6" wedge bed jointer finally rolled off the delivery truck at Woodworker's yesterday and into the bed of our pick-up, arriving home at approximately 5:30 p.m. It weighed in at about 350# in two boxes. It joins its brother the planer which arrived in December.

The new "baby" sitting in our shop.
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Proud papa with his new toyls:
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All told, it took about one hour to get it up and running. Good finish, easy to assemble - the hardest part was getting the fence exactly square, but it cuts like a dream. It already has sawdust in it! Now to get the DC hooked up to it and we are in business.

Nancy

[Bruce Page]

Sweeeeeet!
I’m looking forward to seeing it this afternoon in the flesh. How’s the snowfall up your way? We got a dusting overnight but it’s coming down fast and furious right now! Hopefully it will stop soon. I’m ready for spring!

[John Miliunas]

Yahoo! Always so much fun bringing another one into the fold, isn't it? :D Congrats! Now, let's see some production off of those new "kids"! :) :cool:

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Very nice additions to the shop, congratulations!

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice gloat...both of dem! Be safe and enjoy!

Corey

[Nancy Laird]

I had one problem with the planer, which was a dead battery for the digital height gauge. I called their 800 number "Scott" answered the phone and got me a set of two batteries and then incluced a new readout module. http://familywoodworking.org/forums/images/smilies/023.gif By the way, the Scott who answered the phone is Scott Box, president of the company. With him willing to answer phones and customer questions tells me a lot about whom I am dealing with and their integrity. I think I may have to spend some more money with Steel City!http://familywoodworking.org/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif http://familywoodworking.org/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif http://familywoodworking.org/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Dave

[Joe Meazle]

Nancy,

If I ever make it out to Rio Rancho again i want a shop tour. congrats on the new tools.

Joe

[Nancy Laird]

Come on out - we give tours all the time - hubby is pretty proud of our shop - main shop is about 32 x 22, finishing room is 12x20, separate room for DC and compressor is about 10x20, and we're getting ready to expand again. We also have a separate 12x20 building for the laser shop. I guess you could say we have expanded into an "estate" - 5 buildings on the property! But if you want the shop tour, you have to take the house tour too--with all the furniture and things that he has built.

[Don Bullock]

Congratulations Nancy. While I won't be in the market for either a jointer or planer for a while, your comments here will go a long way toward helping me to make my choice. Steel City is definately on my "short list" of companies to consider. Thank you for the information. Please keep us posted on how well they perform after you've used them for a while.

BTW -- I am in the market for a bench top mortiser and I just noticed that Steel City has a $50 rebate on theirs. That would price it well below a Delta or Jet.

[Rob Kendall]

Nancy
I've been looking for a few parts for a Hitachi F1000 A. Any chance you would be selling parts from yours or just the whole machine?

Rob



The jointer on our combo Hitachi jointer-planer hasn't been feeling too well lately, so LOML decided that it was time to put it out of its misery. Besides, it was SO LOUD!!! So we have ordered... (drumroll, please)

One Steel City 15" planer
and
One Steel City 6" wedge bed jointer--long bed :D :D :D

The planer won't be home until tomorrow - a little issue about getting it home,:( :confused: and the jointer is backordered until about 4 January,:mad: but just had to gloat a little bit. Pictures will follow as soon as the new toyls are home.

Nancy

[Bart Leetch]

Nancy
I've been looking for a few parts for a Hitachi F1000 A. Any chance you would be selling parts from yours or just the whole machine?

Rob
On 1/22/09 it will be 2 years since the last post before yours Rob.

This is not a recent thread.:)

[Nancy Laird]

It's okay, Bart. I needed to do an update anyway, since Don asked for an update.

Rob, we sold the Hitachi jointer/planer to my (former) boss and it now lives in his garage/shop. I don't know how often he uses it, but he was sure happy to get it.

As far as how the two machines have performed, one word: GREAT! No problems with either machine--we retrofitted both of them with the Woodtek indexable heads, and they are both quieter now than at the beginning.
http://pro.woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=120-041&search=Cutterheads
http://pro.woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=120-047&search=Cutterheads

These cutterheads are in a chevron pattern, which direct the dust/chips toward the center of the DC chute and are much more efficient than the spirals. We had to replace the batteries in the Wixie gauge yesterday - after nearly two years of pretty regular use. Next purchase? Steel City's new wide-belt sander - so new it isn't in the WWS catalog yet!!