Performax 12.5 planer

[Shannon Seelig]

Hello everyone again,

In one of our local stores, they have a Performax 12.5 planer with stand for $229. How are these and is this a good deal? Any info would be great!
Thanks,
Shannon

[Mike Cutler]

Shannon.

I have the Performax 16-32, so I'm not all that familiar with the 12.5" sander. I'll give you my take on mine though, if it helps
The Performax sanders are nice for what they do. They will do thin stock and veneers very well. They are good at smaller lengths of 4/4 material. They can handle 4/4 and 8/4 stock, but it has been my experience that if the board is too long. The weight of the material affects the sander performance. I can do about 6' max with mine before I have to rig up some form of support.
They are slow however. It takes a lot of multiple passes through the sander with very small adjustments in drum depth.

They work well, when used properly. They aren't a substitute for a planer.

[Shannon Seelig]

Hey thanks for the reply,

This is actually a 12.5 inch planer. You can see it a www.performaxtools.com under the jointer section. I have to look at the specifications. I believe it has a 15 amp motor. I dont know how many cutters or the features it has. That is why I'm asking on here about general quality in performax. Thanks for your help thus far though.

[Jim Becker]

Different company than the drum sander people...I think you have the name spelled wrong. The link is bad, too. "Performax" is a trade name of WMH Holdings, the same folks who own Jet, Powermatic, Wilton, etc.

[Shannon Seelig]

It has a leg stand,
2 cutter knife sets
depth adjustment
dust port
infeed and outfeed tables with rollers

[Shannon Seelig]

Here is the new link sorry, www.performaxpowertools.com try this one

[Jim Becker]

Interesting...no link to these tools from the http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/ site.

You are the first to ask about these "Performax" branded power tools that are not the drum sanders to the best of my knowledge. I see that there is linkage back to the same WMH group international organization, however.

[Shannon Seelig]

I thought I was giving wrong information at first. These tools have the same PerformaX Logo trademark. I would just by association assume that these are made by the same company with hopefully the same quality. What should a person do to research these "new" tools if there isn't a lot of info on them?

[Tyler Howell]

Hi Shannon,
Welcome.
I have the 22/44 drum sander:cool: . Very happy with my investment.
These new tools caught my eye at the green Borg last week.
I wasn't impressed with the fit and finish of construction.
Strictly entry level stuff.
They may be just the ticket for a occassional hobbiest but I don't think they would satisfy the serious WW.
Good luck.
As has been said many times. "You get what you pay for.:o "

[Jim Becker]

I suspect that WMH is trying to leverage the name associated with very high quality machines with an entry-level tool line to be sold in the mass-market. Don't assume the quality will be the same...which Tyler somewhat confirms. I'm not suggesting they are "bad tools", just that they do not appear to be any different than similar offerings in mass market retail.

[Shannon Seelig]

Thank you very much for the help. I saw it in the newspaper and thought I would throw it to the experts on here. Looks like I'll stick to saving for the dewalt or delta. Sometimes the extra Christmas money can start to burn a hole in the pocket and I need to put out the fire and wait for the right deal to come along.
Thanks again everyone