Powermatic Planer Did I get a good deal?

[Trent Flemming]

Hello Creekers,

Never owned a planer, so I did a little bit of research and decided the Rigid 13" model would do the trick. The rigid works ok if you don't mind making 15 passess to remove 3/16 material on a 1x6 oak. It does better if the board is 1x2, but who has time to rip to deminsion and then plane. I would rather plane first and then rip to demnision. Anyway, I picked up a Powermatic Planer last night for $675, Model 100. I took a nasty piece of red oak with me and was very pleased how well it handle the board. The seller claims it has new knives. So what do you think, did I pay to much or just about right?

Thanks
Trent

[Trent Flemming]

WOW 73 views and no reply.

Must have a been a bad deal and everyone is to nice to tell me.

:D

[Gary Keedwell]

Or it could be the time of day. Probably get more responses later today. Also, I think the majority of us hobbyists have the lunchbox type variety.:)
Gary

[Greg Peterson]

I'd say you got took. I'll take it off your hands for $350. :D

[Justin Bukoski]

Trent, who cares what we think? Sounds like you think you got a good deal so you did - don't let anybody tell you different.

Its a great addition to your shop.

[Richard Magbanua]

Well Trent,
I guess it depends on what kind of work you plan on doing and how much you have to do. I have the same Rigid planer and I've flattened alot of 6" white oak just fine. Sure, it was a bit slow and my planer knives were pretty dull but, hey, it's oak! IMO for me, with a home shop doing personal projects as well as comissions here and there, $675 is alot to spend on a planer regardless of the deal. For $700 I got both a Rigid planer and a Rigid jointer. Someone could offer me a Sawstop at half the price but that's $1400 I'd be wiser to save for someting else. I guess what I'm saying is it depends on where you are in this whole woodworking thing. What kind of shop do you have and what tools do you already own? For example, it doesn't make alot of sense to get a 16"(?) planer if you either don't have a jointer or still have a benchtop saw. Anyway, just my two cents.

[Fred Dodd]

I think you got a good deal, I paid $425 for a 12" Parks Planer a few months ago and was happy with that. You dont see near as much machinery for sale in Texas as you do other places.

Fred

[Al Willits]

Considering no matter what you paid, tomm someone will have it cheaper, or have bought one for less, I'd ask myself, self...is it in good condition and does it work well?

Sounds like its doing just fine in the planning dept and although it looks a bit worn, if the mechanical part is still tight and up to specs, I'd say ya did just fine.
New Powermatic planers are expensive, thus the used price will be higher generally.

Find a manual on it and go though it, maybe paint it if ya get bored and then enjoy it, ya done just fine.

Al

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Trent, I have a cast iron 15 inch planer and think it's great.

I normally expect machinery to depreciate to 50% of current price when it's used. I would think you paid fairly for the planer, assuming it's in servicable condition.

I would suggest that you adjust the rollers, chip breaker, pressure bar, send the knives out for sharpening, change the gearbox oil, lubricate, clean and adjust everything and you've got a planer in better condition than when it left the factory, at a substantial savings.

Regards, Rod.

[Jim Nardi]

If it planes just fine you got a good deal. If it needs work well just did okay. Did he throw in the old knives? That style of planer has been around a long time so it's hard to tell how old the machine is.

[Gary Herrmann]

Can't speak to that specific planer, but if you're satisfied with it, you will like using it more than a bench top planer - at least I did when I upgraded.

[Jim W. White]

Looks like a fine deal to me. Congratulations!!

[keith ouellette]

Not all modle 100 planers are the same. I saw a 4hp modle 100 for $950. There was another modle 100 on ebay (no longer there you would have to google powermatic modle 100 to find it) for $750. and another for $150 but it looked like junk.
The new specs have your modle at over 600lbs. Thats a heavy duty 12" planer. You can't compare it to a dewalt or ridgid and your motor looks really big. Would like to know its size? A new 15" from grizzly is $850 plus shipping plus its not a powermatic.
I don't think you did bad. You may have been able to look around for a while and get a better deal but time is money. I have a friend who has been looking for a used bass boat for over a year and has looked at more than a dozen trying to get a good deal. I say he has already spent his good deal just so he can brag about the good deal if he ever gets it.
Use it in peace knowing you have a good planner. A powermatic!

[Carroll Courtney]

I say you got a good deal.To me, for the size they are the best made.IN 50yrs while other brands are broken or can't buy parts anymore,that model will still be kicking butt.Not to mention resale value whenever you decide to pass it on,and probably will sell for what you paid for it in yrs to come.Most trade schools and small cabinet shops has that planer.I paid 400 for mine,I'm still in the re-building stages and it has a 3phase motor.You will be happy with it.

[Kermit Hodges]

What is it worth to you?

There is a lot of iron in that planner and if you look at what it would cost today, if they would even make one like that today, and it's going to cost $2500 buck or more!

I have the same planner, just older. I had to rebuild mine but I got it free. I have used it for a couple of years and I love that thing. You will probably never replace it unless you start working with really big (wide) wood.

[Lee Hingle]

Trent,
since no one has answered your question I will give it a shot. The average price these go for is $1000 in great condition. Yours seems to need a little paint, so if the bearings are all good I would say the deal you got was fair. You didn't steal it, but you didn't get ripped off either.
Lee

[Trent Flemming]

Thank you for all the great comments. I am happy with it, it seems to work just fine.

I have only made a few passess without the dust collector hooked up and noticed wood chips imbedded into the board from the rollers. I'm waiting on a shipment of 4" tubing so I can connect the planer and suspect that will fix this problem. For those of you that own this machine will a 2hp Harbor Freight dust collector be enough to elimate the problem?

Thanks agian,

Trent

[James Boster]

I have a 24" model of the same planer and as far as I'm concerned you got a good deal.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

YAh it's a good deal. It's an older one at that. PM used to make their products better - and you have one of 'em.

[Jeff Miller]

Thank you for all the great comments. I am happy with it, it seems to work just fine.

I have only made a few passess without the dust collector hooked up and noticed wood chips imbedded into the board from the rollers. I'm waiting on a shipment of 4" tubing so I can connect the planer and suspect that will fix this problem. For those of you that own this machine will a 2hp Harbor Freight dust collector be enough to elimate the problem?

Thanks agian,

Trent






Hi Trent ,I think you did good.

I almost bought the $500.00 Dewalt 13" but made a(long shot) phone call to a guy that had a Delta D-C 33 that wasn't for sale 8 months previous and I couldn't believe it when he said it was. I ended up paying $500.00 for it and really like it.

Yours is probably a little more heavy duty so at $650.00, I would be happy if it were me:D


I have a 1 1\2 hp cyclone that sucks up every drop the planer puts out through 55' of 6" PVC.

Here's a Pic.of it.




http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f32/woodfarmer/New%20Shop%20Pictures/newshop005.jpg



Have fun with it;)

JEFF:)

[Randy Denby]

Trent...this is off topic. But I see the dirtbike in the background of the pic. I am vice-president of the East Texas Dirt Riders association. I just wanted to invite you to come try out our riding area. We have 1000 acres between Jacksonville and Tyler with trails from easy to double A skill level. If your interested, shoot me a PM and I''l meet you out there to show you around.
Randy

[Kirk Poore]

Trent:

I think you got a good deal. A close examination of the machine looking for condition of castings, bearing seats, etc might reveal that you got a very good deal, or a good starter kit. From the paint job, I'd say it's early to mid 1980's. The serial number would probably tell you. When the planer is properly tuned, it will work all day every day. If you need a manual, there is probably one (or more) over on OWWM.com.

Kirk