Looking for advice on planer and a jointer- new to forum

[george newbury]

noobie here- I did a quick search on planer didn't find a thread discussing my perceived need.

Background -
Retired about a year ago and purchased a house w/ workshops in Mississippi. My grandfather was a carpenter/cabinet maker and I am very familiar with basic woodworking. BUT up to last year my workshop was limited to a 15' x 15' area in the basement. Centered around my grandfather's circa 1960 Delta 10" table saw.

I now have 4 workshops, totaling about 5,500 square feet, fully powered and lighted but not air conditioned. A previous owner had also installed piping for compressed air running thru all buildings.

outside-shops.jpg

I'm probably going to dedicate the workshop with the large white sliding doors to my sawmill and the low building on the right to woodworking. It's about 30'x60'.

My wishes/plans are to build stuff for my own use (and relatives), mainly cabinets and such but plans change.

I've about 300 acres of mainly mixed hardwood, I'm familiar with chain saw milling (CSM) and have two Stihl 660's to encourage trees to lay down and I can CSM up to about 36" wide. I've also got a Woodmizer LT10 to make them into lumber up to about 24" wide. And tractors and a Ford F350 7.3L DRW to haul it all.

Now I'm interested in getting something to process the wood the next step and I'm thinking a planer and a jointer. I realize I will need a dust collection system.

My shop has single phase 220.

My thoughts were to focus on a used planer in the 15" to 20" size first. I've seen a few used for sale in the 20" range for < $1K. So I'm asking for advice on brands, sizes, places to look to get the most bang for the buck. This is not for a profit making business, just something to keep me busy.

[Rick Fisher]

Hello George ..

Welcome to Sawmill Creek..

Not sure about the used market in your area but I always see folks in general area finding amazing machines at great prices.. I am a big fan of used machinery, realizing that all the new stuff I have ever bought is now used ... lol

Nice shop too..

[Van Huskey]

Most of what you find on the cheaper end between 15 and 20" will be basic 4 post planers, Delta, Jet, Powermatic, Grizzly etc. Condition rules the price. If you are processing your own wood (like it seems certain you will be) I would look for a Powermatic 160, 180 etc. These old US built planers were some of the best lumberyard planers and are far better at processing rough timber than the 4 post planers that just don't have the heft/horsepower to handle it and are sized more like finish planers.

PS Welcome to the Creek AND have fun with all that chop space!

[Danny Hamsley]

Get the spiral head with the indexable carbide inserts. That is wonderful technology. I will never go back to sharpening knives ever again.

[george newbury]

Get the spiral head with the indexable carbide inserts. That is wonderful technology. I will never go back to sharpening knives ever again.

The darn head for a WM 718 cost more than I was planning on paying for the whole planer. I'd need to be in serious production for that.

[John R Hoppe]

George,

A couple of thoughts on what you described. First, take a look at the power available in your shop. You will need 220 VAC circuits available to power the motors in the machinery you describe and typically you need 20A for up to 3 HP, and 30A up to 5 HP. The machines described above are available used, but will almost certainly have 3 phase motors and to run them you would need a phase converter. Have a licensed electrician help with specifying the correct power to run those big motors and phase converters.

Second, I applaud you for looking to mill your own lumber. I used to do that myself, running a chain saw mill through many a log. Keep in mind that it will take about a year of drying per inch of board thickness before the lumber is ready to use, and even then it will move quite a bit with seasonal changes. You may want to investigate a solar kiln if the volume justifies it.

[Van Huskey]

I would say the Woodmaster is not a great rough planer, rubber rollers, no easy adjust bed rollers, no chip breaker. Am I gathering your budget is $1,000? If so you are probably going to need to zero in on the best 15" four post planer you can find.

I still think the best way to go would be a PM 160, but they are almost all going to be 5hp 3ph so unless you happen to have 3ph power you will either need to remotor (if it is a belt driven machine) or use the 3ph motor with a phase converter, if you are pretty lucky you could be up and running for under $2K.

[george newbury]

George,

A couple of thoughts on what you described. First, take a look at the power available in your shop. You will need 220 VAC circuits available to power the motors in the machinery you describe and typically you need 20A for up to 3 HP, and 30A up to 5 HP. The machines described above are available used, but will almost certainly have 3 phase motors and to run them you would need a phase converter. Have a licensed electrician help with specifying the correct power to run those big motors and phase converters.

Second, I applaud you for looking to mill your own lumber. I used to do that myself, running a chain saw mill through many a log. Keep in mind that it will take about a year of drying per inch of board thickness before the lumber is ready to use, and even then it will move quite a bit with seasonal changes. You may want to investigate a solar kiln if the volume justifies it.

Thanks, the shop has at least 4 circuits wired for 220/30amp. They used to weld a lot.
Milling my own lumber is because I dislike waste. Down in Mississippi turning trees into firewood is easy. Then the firewood rots because like last year the house never requires heat. I've a lot of trees to lay down for trails etc. and just want to make use of them, for forms for concrete, shelving, bookcases etc. I don't even want to get into selling the wood.
I am planning on a solar kiln.

I would say the Woodmaster is not a great rough planer, rubber rollers, no easy adjust bed rollers, no chip breaker. Am I gathering your budget is $1,000? If so you are probably going to need to zero in on the best 15" four post planer you can find.

I just referenced the WM because that was the first hit for that spiral head with the indexable carbide inserts.
I don't have a "budget" per se, I'm just looking at prices I've read for things that looked like they would work.

I still think the best way to go would be a PM 160, but they are almost all going to be 5hp 3ph so unless you happen to have 3ph power you will either need to remotor (if it is a belt driven machine) or use the 3ph motor with a phase converter, if you are pretty lucky you could be up and running for under $2K.

Reads like phase converters are in my future.
I'll look into phase converters.

Thanks for the advice and more will be appreciated.

[David Kumm]

If you can find the slave motor, RPC parts are cheap and can be self built or bought used. You can definitely get in for under $1000. For just a planer you might find a vfd for under $500. A 30 amp circuit will run a 5 hp three phase planer. I would second Van's advice and look for a used PM 160,180,221 and not sweat the byrd head. For rough planing a straight knife head with a built in grinder is tough to beat. I like Byrd heads but think they are more finish heads and try to keep dirt and junk off them. Somewhere down the road you might find a second smaller planer and put a byrd on it. If you are doing rough lumber of any quantity the build quality is what is most important and the old planers are way better for the price. Dave

[Don Jarvie]

You should get an idea of what you want to do for milling the lumber. An 18 to 20 inch planer as well as a 16 inch jointer are in your future if you want to use wide boards. Large machines like that will require at least a 5 to 7.5 hp motor which are 3 ph. Itay be worthwhile to talk to an electrician about putting 3 phase power in the shop.