Is a 20” planer worth the extra money over. 15”?
[OP]
Member
Is a 20” planer worth the extra money over. 15”?
Contributor
If you are running door slabs, then yes. I seldom see any wood that either my 13" Rockwell, or 15" Delta won't run. anything wider than that, I would flatten with a router jig. Once I worked in a plant that made laminated beams and arches. We had a 60" Powermatic.
Contributor
Depends on the cost difference and the space you have in your shop. Bigger is always better.
I have a 13" planer but a 25 inch drum sander. So if I glue up a panel that's bigger than 13" I can usually fit it into my drum sander.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Contributor
Depends on how you use your planer and your access to wide boards. It’s not unusual for me to have 15”+ wide boards. What’s more, it’s not particularly practical to plane the max capacity of your machine. I often take a light pass on panel glueups, which saves time on the drum sander. If my glueup is off 1/32”-1/16” on each side then that’s a fair amount of material to take off with a drum sander. On most import machines, you get a pressure bar on 20” models that 15” machines don’t have. Finally, this just might be my silly opinion, but 20”vs15” planers are like 6-8”vs12”+ jointers. They represent a pretty significant transition beyond just the few inches of capacity. My Dj-20 would rock slightly or could be bumped around if I jointed long and thick boards. I can barely budge the 12” with all my might behind it. Similarly, I have the pm209hh, but my local woodworking friend has the 15” pm. I’ve calibrated his machine, and spent more time under the hood on mine. Besides the 5” of capacity, the 20” is 300lbs heavier, has a lot more infeed and outfeed support, and much nicer machine to operate. Obviously budget has to come into the decision for everyone, but the 20” machines are much more than 5” greater than their brethren.
Member
I also have a PM 209HH and love it. Besides your good points there is another benefit for the OP to consider. A 20" planer is a third larger. One third more cutting surface. By feeding boards through in different spots you can go longer before having to change blades. Or in the case of carbide inserts, rotating them.Originally Posted by Patrick Kane
Contributor
It is if you have a 20 inch jointer, otherwise buy a planer the same width as your jointer.........Regards, Rod.
Contributor
I have the byrd head too, which isnt all its talked up to be, but lets me cheat a little with panel cleanup. All im looking for it to do is most of the heavy lifting for my dual drum to clean up with 120/150 grit at a light pass.
Heres where i disagree with matching the jointer/planer/bandsaw capacity school of thought. I understand why people advocate for that, and im sure it works well for the, but i would probably settle for a slightly smaller jointer to have a larger planer. My hand plane skills are borderline awful, but i can flatten one face of a board for it to be usable. Quality sourced lumber is rarely more than 1/16-1/8" out of flat over 4-6' length. I also cheat a lot with removing the jointer guard and jointing a 12" wide section of the board before taking it to my work bench to plane off the remaining 1-8" of unjointed material. This can suck quite a bit, but it is doable for the right material. Afterwards, i send it through the planer, flip and repeat. The end product is nearly as good as having a 16-20" jointer, albeit, much slower. Without a wide planer, you are kind of dead in the water. Sure, you can do it by hand, but making surfaces parallel and of uniform thickness is much more difficult and labor intensive. Instead of knocking down high spots and maybe removing 1/8" total material, you are looking at 1/4"+ of total material removal. Of course, everyone will shout, "rip the board in half, dummy!", but this completely defeats the point of wide boards, imo. Most of my wide stock is crotch figure and i dont think i could ever match up the grain after ripping.
Given the choice of a 12" jointer and 15" planer versus an 8" jointer and 20" planer, i honestly dont know if i could decide. I would take straight knife versions of both if i could upgrade capacity, i know that for a fact.
Member
While I agree that this is ideal, it isn't a requirement. I have a 16" jointer, and 2 planers....a Powermatic 221D, which is a 20" planer, and a Whitney No. 32, which is a 30" planer. While I would love to acquire a 30" jointer (just missed one last week at auction due to uncontrollable circumstances preventing me from going), they do not grow on tree's.
As stated, with a quality jointer that has a rabbeting ledge, you can remove the guard, and run the board with overhang onto the rabbeting ledge. This allows you to flatten most of your wider board, and you can finish with a hand plane. As stated, not ideal, but is a good solution to a problem that is faster than other options. By the time you mess about with shimming a board on a sled, or setting up a router jig, I'll be finished.
I work with a lot of wide slabs that exceed the width of my jointer. I have a woodmizer, and cut my own lumber, and have a shed full of slabs that are 23" to 26" wide (max cut on my sawmill).
Jeff
Contributor
Keep in mind there are a couple of types of 20" planers. those that are merely a 15" design stretched or those with true chipbreakers ( often sectional ) and a decent pressure bar, heavier construction and additional rollers. Those machines are a whole different breed. I'd take a used heavy over a new light if condition was good. Lighter planers that don't have the design of the heavy ones are the ones that realaly benefit from the spiral insert head. The heavy ones, not so much. Dave
Guest
Yes.
Extra words
Member
I have a 20" the biggest advantage is being able to plane multiple boards at once. Can save a lot of time.
I would opt for a 15" helical rather than a 20" blade model.
Contributor
There are times when I want to plane a panel that I've glued up from boards that I was able to joint on my jointer.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Contributor
With a wider planer if you are planing narrow boards you can use one side to remove most of the material and the other for a finish pass. It's nice to reserve keen knives without nicks for that last pass.
I have an old 20" SCM, used to have a 24" Yates jtr. Really wide stuff went thru the 37" widebelt after jointing. Down to a 16" Wadkin now, not doing big stuff anymore.
Contributor
I have a 15" and regret not getting a 20" for door panels. I understand the argument of planer=jointer width as it applies to single board milling but it ignores the benefit of a wider planer for glued up door panels.
Scott Vroom
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
Member
I have a 12 lunchbox, and I had an 18, that I upgraded to a 20 with shelix (powermatic209hh), Get the biggest you can afford. I like it for what others have said you can have a wide top go through and, for me, even with a shelix, if if get some squirely figured wood i can run it through canted (pass through at an angle) to the side to make it easier to get through.
Just my 2cw
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