20" Steel City Planer or Powermatic Planer

[Shawn Siegrist]

I'm looking to purchase a 20" planer and I've narrowed it down to a Steel City or Powermatic. The Steel City is about $500 cheaper than the powermatic and feels like a solid machine. Is the Powermatic worth the extra $500?

Thanks,
Shawn

[Greg Heppeard]

I got the Powermatic and haven't regretted one single pass. I've only had it for a couple of months, but it's a gem

[Nancy Laird]

In a word, no. You'll be very happy with the Steel City machine. Why pay more for the name??

[John Thompson]

They are basically the same machine, Shawn. Both have 55 1/2" x 20" tables... both run at 5000 rpm with 20,000 cuts per minute from 4 cutter-heads.. both can surface stock 20" and 8" deep. Both carry 5 Year Warranty as some Power-matic carry 2 years. Both are made outside the U.S.

One is yellow.. one is grey. The Steel City has two speeds as does the PM but the PM can be adapted as a 4 speed by switching out the gears in the lower gear-box. You would most likely not do that as there is no real need (I haven't found a reason in 6 years with my 20") to do so considering it is somewhat of a pain to do it.

So.. the main difference is one cost more than the other and Steel City appears on one name-plate wtih a grey machine while Power-matic appears on another on a yellow-gold machine. Which matchs your shop decor better? :>)

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Matt Benton]

Looks like only one comparison remaining:

How heavy are they? Goes a long way to determine how well each is built...

[Rod Sheridan]

Looks like only one comparison remaining:

How heavy are they? Goes a long way to determine how well each is built...


Hi Matt, mass is not always related to how well built a piece of machinery is.

Looking at any of the European machines, you'll find that many are superior to the cast iron North American machines, yet they are much lighter.

Welded steel machinery can be stronger, and less resonant than cast iron castings, as well being lighter.

A North American example of a modern, well engineered piece of machinery that is built in a much lighter fashion than the old machinery is the Oneway lathe.

Regards, Rod.

[Dan Lautner]

Resale value and longevity of company, I would go with the PM.

Dan

[Shawn Siegrist]

Thank you everyone for your information.

[Mike Davin]

I have had the 20" SC for a year and it is a great machine. Little sanding is need on lumber run through this beast. I believe the weight is 750 - 800 lbs.

[John Thompson]

The shipping weight on the PM is listed at 880 by Amazon. The shipping weight on the Steel City is listed as 787. You cannot use that as actual weight as it it determined by the manufacturer depending on how they crated it. Steel City ships their TS's with a steel cage around them inside a carb-board container. If you used shipping weight alone you would think the TS weighed about 50 more pounds due to the weight of the cage.

The actual weigh of both is around 660 lbs. I have been over a Steel City throughly when I was shopping. I have been over the PM. They use the same components and I would bet they weight within 30 lbs of each other in actual weight. The components in the case of 20" planers basically come from one original source. They don't weight one thing for one manufacturer they sell the component too than they do for another they sell it too.

This is true with the Grizzly 20" planer and the now defunct York-craft sold at the time by Wilke Machinery. Wilke stopped importing.. so am I stuck with a 20" planer that I can't get parts for? NO.. I simply order from Grizzly as every part is the same. The same is true with my now defunct Bridgewood Industrail floor mortiser. Now defunct but every part is the same at the Grizzly Industrail. I just paid less as I bought them during the closing of Wilke.

I was fortunate enough to go to dinner at the International WW Show with the owners of three various plants in China and Taiwan. That was a very revealing dinner conversation.

Sarge..

[Matt Benton]

Rod,

I agree, but aren't these two machines relatively comparable with regard to design, material, etc?

[John Thompson]

See post # 10, Matt. You may have missed it as you were typing when posted.

Off to the shop...

Sarge..

[Gary Max]

You need to look at the service side of this or any big money item you may buy.
I have all kinds of good things that can be said about my Powermatics---they are located just south of me in Nashville Tn.---I have no ideal about steel city????

[Matt Benton]

Thanks, John.

Actually, I admit that the question was somewhat rhetorical. Since both units are of similar design and material, I would surmise that the 109 lb difference in "Net Weight" quoted on both manufacturers' websites does indeed speak to how each machine is built.

I should mention that I have no experience with either machine, and while I would look very hard at the Steel City for myself, this is a tangible difference the OP should probably know about...

[Frank Drew]

Hi Matt, mass is not always related to how well built a piece of machinery is.

Looking at any of the European machines, you'll find that many are superior to the cast iron North American machines, yet they are much lighter.

Welded steel machinery can be stronger, and less resonant than cast iron castings, as well being lighter.

I don't have any informed thoughts on the subject myself, but some are questioning the long term durability of some of the newer European machines; similarly, one of the criticisms of welded steel vs. cast iron is that a steel construction is in fact more resonant than cast (if by that we mean more prone to vibration.)

[John Thompson]

I understand your point Matt. I just attempt to keep things from getting confused when I see something that could confuse. :)

BTW to those that don't know. Steel City is located just south of Nashville in Murfreesboro, Tennesee and has been for around 3 years. As Power-matic their machines are made in both China in their own plant with a few still coming from Taiwan. They felt owning their manufacturing source was a positive step in quality control.

Power-matic-Jet and Wilton is owned by WHM Tool Group which is a sub-sidary of a company from Europe. Steel City is owned by a small group of Americans that worked for years with Power-matic.. Delta.. before breaking off to form their own company based in Murfreesboro. Tennessee.

I own three of their machines with a 4th on the way. I doubt you will hear any bad news on their service or machines as has been clearly stated on this forum many times.

Sarge..

[Jim Eller]

Don't know about SC.

I own the 209HH and am extremely satisfied.

Jim

[Adam Grills]

Got a 209HH and love it so far. The 2 extra speeds useful... YES if running hardwood. If running soft wood then no. I run almost completely figured hardwood and use the lower gears. Byrd head is great!

[guy knight]

the difference probably lies in the quality of the parts bearings bolts tolerance the stuff that you cant see by just looking at them and pm does have a 5 year warranty

[Brian Clevenger]

I have always liked Powermatic equipment. If I had other than a hobby shop, I would probaby own more Powermatic gear. As it stands, I have only 3 machines to judge by; Models: 66, 60, and 1150.

If I was buying new today, it would definately be a used McMinnville Powermatic.

[Rod Sheridan]

Rod,

I agree, but aren't these two machines relatively comparable with regard to design, material, etc?

Hi Matt, they may well be identical except for paint colour, however I don't know that.

What I do know, is that the quality of a machine is directly related to how well it is designed, and how faithful the final machine is to the design.

I could easilly make two planers from the same raw castings, and then produce completely different machines in quality and performance.

From the casting process for cast iron we then get into the proper seasoning, machining, perhaps more seasoning and machining and stress relieveing of the parts. There are many opportunities in that process to save money, and produce an inferior, yet identical looking part.

Then we get into machining and balancing of cutterheads, machining and assembling all the other components.

Remember what I said about how faithful the machine is to the design? Well that relates to quality control and manufacturing. If the engineer designed the parts with certain tolerances, did the QC department verify that they were built to those tolerances, or was the "close enough" principle applied?

Without good (and costly) QC, you aren't getting a quality machine, no matter how heavy it is.

That's one of the things that is forgotten, many people worship "old iron" as the ultimate machines. What is forgotten is that it wasn't their weight that made them great, it was their eye popping price when new. Those large amounts of dollars allowed manufacturers to properly season castings, then machine them to high tolerances, and verify that they were machined to high tolerances. (Expensive QC).

So when I want to purchase a machine, I don't want to know how heavy it is, I want to know how faithful it is to the engineering design, as well as how well it performs.

Run a piece of wood through a high end planer/jointer such as a MiniMax or Felder, you'll soon see why the machines cost much more than the Powermatic or SC product.

regards, Rod.

[Steve Nouis]

I own a PM209, nothing wrong with it but I'd get the SC and use the $500 towards a byrd head. Steve

[Matt Benton]

Rod,

The two comparisons you've made are of machines from different time periods and machines in difference classes (Minimax/Felder vs. PM/SC). I think most people would expect significant differences in both cases.

No doubt, design, manufacturing standards and QC go a long way to determining the final product.

I guess all I'm saying is that the average consumer is probably never going to have enough information regarding a specific company's cast iron seasoning process for it to be a factor.

In my mind, bottom line is that if both machines are virtually identical in function and features, they are made during the same time period and I don't favor one brand over another, my decision is $500 vs. 109 lbs. I can research till I'm blue in the face, I'm not going to know enough about these things to consider them...

[Rod Sheridan]

Exactly Matt, that's why saying that a heavier one is better makes no sense at all.

If I couldn't research the product well enough to make an absolute determination, I'd probably go with the more expensive machine.

Manufacturers normally design to a price point, if they design to a higher price, they can include more expenses during the manufacturing process, such as accuracy, inspection and testing etc.

Of course Powermatic may be hoping that our fond recollections of made in the US machinery will cause us to purchase a machine that is identical to the SC machine for more money.

General now import a line called General International to compete with the other Taiwanese imports. They certainly aren't the same machine as the General products, however they appear to be better than most of the other imports and they do cost more.

I'd expect Powermatic to have done the same.


Regards, Rod.

[Matt Benton]

Exactly Matt, that's why saying that a heavier one is better makes no sense at all.




If all other aspects are determined to be equal (to the extend that the average consumer can ascertain), I think it does make sense...