Benchtop planer recommendations?

[dennis thompson]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a benchtop planer? I saw one review which indicated that rhe Ridgid was a pretty good one for the price (which was about $400.)
Thanks
Dennis

[glenn bradley]

First choice DeWalt 735 (3 knives, 2 speeds), Second choice DeWalt 734 (3 knives, 1 speed), The Ridgid gets good reviews but I have no experience.

[Todd Hoppe]

I have a very good experience with the DeWalt 734. Knives are disposable, but reversible. Also, you can generally find pretty good deals on replacement knives on eBay. The only drawback (which is the same as any lunchbox planer)... its LOUD.

[frank shic]

the ridgid 13" is working well for me.

[mike roe]

i have the dewalt 734 and it hasnt met anything it cant handle - plus with a deal from amazon it was only 228.

[Gary Keedwell]

I have the De Walt 733 but they don't sell them new anymore. Too bad...it works great.;)
Gary K.

[Tom Henry]

I have a 13 Delta that works great...

[Ed Peters]

I prefer the 13" craftsman. It is solid, uses double sided knives and has it's own dust collection built in. I work exclusively with oak and this unit has never left me down. However, if I was to replace it, I would go with the 13"planer/moulder combination machine. It would probably spend most of it's time churning out molding but would be a reliable second planer if the need came up.

Ed

[Darl Bundren]

I have the Ridgid and like it a lot. It planes well, and I really like the depth stops--I can plane some wood; then, weeks later when I am back in the shop, I can get the exact same depth again if I need to. You'll need to get dust collection with it, though, if you don't already have it.

[Rick Gooden]

Take a good look at Makita, relatively quiet for a planer and yields excellent results.

[Jack Ganssle]

Love my Rigid. A vac works great with it, and I bet a real dust collection system would work better. For the price it comes with a stand, infeed/outfee tables, double-sided knives... and, a spare pair of those.

I had a great day today in the shop working with it and the other tools. What fun it is to have square, flat stock. Man, that sounds geeky!

Jack

[Curt Harms]

Love my Rigid. A vac works great with it, and I bet a real dust collection system would work better. For the price it comes with a stand, infeed/outfee tables, double-sided knives... and, a spare pair of those.

I had a great day today in the shop working with it and the other tools. What fun it is to have square, flat stock. Man, that sounds geeky!

Jack

It may sound geeky but it's oh so true. I had a planer before I had a jointer. Life was good with the planer but when I got a jointer and learned about face jointing, life was even better. A planer will not remove warp or twist, just make 2 parallel faces. Face jointing will make one face flat, then run that face down thru the planer to create a second flat face. Joinery is so much easier when everything is flat and square. It is possible to make a sled for a planer to flatten stock but I didn't know about that before I got a jointer.

HTH

Curt

[Gary Herrmann]

Really liked my DW735 before I upgraded.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Dennis,
I have no specific recommendation. However, here's a couple of thoughts about portable planers:

- Buy one with a locking head to reduce snipe. Portables are notorious for snipe.

- Although they say that they are portable, they really aren't. At least to my aging body they aren't. Building a nice mobile stand for it is a fun project. Perhaps one that also sports swing up infeed and outfeed tables.

- As said above, they are screamin' loud!

- The finish is silky smooth. But you can only take light cuts (1/32" max).

- They have 15amp motors. They need a dedicated 120V outlet or unplug/turn off anything else that's on the circuit too.

- Every model I've seen uses disposable blades...usually double sided though. Some can be very costly to replace $40+.

- You may want to look at factory reburbished planers. They are about $150 less and have a factory warranty.

Happy shopping,
Jeff :)

[Emmanuel Weber]

I have the Ridgid jointer and its working fine for me. It is very easy to get repeatable thickness and the knifes are durable. On the downside it is a noisy machine.

[Jim Dunn]

One word "Makita". Quiet and sound to operate. I've used a Dewalt 2 knife unit and it, in my opinion, is not as good as the Makita. Course it belongs to a friend that could screw-up an anvil with a feather:)

[Frank Testa]

I suggest the Makita also.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w31/FjjT/Picture040-1.jpg

[Rick Gooden]

I failed to mention that snipe is never an issue with the Makita. It has an automatic head lock, just feed the rough stuff in and get a nice smooth and flat product out.

[Justin McCurdy]

Another vote for the Makita with a Wixey.

[Vic Damone]

Frank Testa, That is by far the best tool stand I've seen, very nice.

My first choice was the Ridgid. It included everything, stand, outfeed tables, etc. Unfortunately it produced chipout on a large batch of cherry I was working. I returned it for the DeWalt 735 which worked fine with the same batch of wood but it included nothing, consequently it's much more expensive by comparison. In the end I could easily recommend either.

If I were choosing today I would go with the one with the least expensive blade replacement. A new set of blades in any of these little planers cures many of their shortcomings. If portability is not an issue I would suggest a larger heavier type of planer.

[Lou Morrissette]

I've had great results with the Ridgid 13". Good repeatability, virtualy no snipe using the lock and great dust control when hooked to a 4" DC system.

Lou

[Greg Pavlov]

One word "Makita". Quiet and sound to operate. I've used a Dewalt 2 knife unit and it, in my opinion, is not as good as the Makita. Course it belongs to a friend that could screw-up an anvil with a feather:)
What would make the Makita quieter?

I'm asking because I bought the Dewalt 735 a year ago but for various
reasons it's still in it's box, unused. Loud noise really bothers me, especially
if I'm making it and it's right next to me. What *does* make these things
so loud? The knives slicing the wood? If so, why would the Makita be
significantly quieter? (if it is and it works well, I'll sell the DeWalt and buy
the Makita).

[Jim Dunn]

I'm thinking that the gear/belt mechanism that drives the rollers and or the knife head is different. I can tell the difference between a Dewalt and the Makita is, while not great, noticeably different.

[John Buzzurro]

I'm very happy with my DW735. I've also read good things about the Delta 22-580.

[John Callahan]

Another vote for the Makita ........... quieter than most, minimal snipe, dead nuts reliable by most accounts including mine and you won't pop a gusset when you go to move it.