Justifying A Major Tool Purchase

[Julie Moriarty]

Doing my best to keep the "I WANT IT!" out of this debate, here's the facts:

I've been able to deal with not having a power jointer and using a benchtop planer because the supplier back in Chicago did mill work and the wood in stock was planed. Since moving to Florida, that's changed.

Supplier #1 doesn't have any power tools, not even a Skil saw. And their prices are outrageous. Supplier #2 doesn't have a jointer but will plane wood for 40 cents a square foot. All the wood they have in stock is right off the mill's bandsaw, not even skip planed. But what they sell is always thicker than sized. Example - 4/4 I bought recently was 1-1/16" to 1-1/8" thick. To take that to 3/4" I start by resawing ~3/16" off. That leaves me with thin stock I would not have had if I had them plane it and I'm already putting some of that to use.

I spend 25 or more hours per week in the workshop. And since moving here I've been working the planer pretty hard. I replaced my old one with a Dewalt 735, thinking it would handle the workload better. I was wrong. It can't even handle what the old one could. Plus it won't lock the depth and it keeps tripping the overload. Right now Dewalt service has it. I have no idea what they will come back with. In the meantime I've been wondering if I need to rethink things.

My options:

1) Use what I have and incorporate the drum sander to do the planing the benchtop can't.

2) Start buying the cabinets or furniture I need and cut back on woodworking and find something else to keep me busy.

3) Find $5K and buy a planer/jointer that can handle the workload.

And I'm not sure if I came here to be convinced I need a planer/jointer or I want to be talked out of it.

Comments welcomed.

[Martin Wasner]

Buy used. Buy separates if you can afford the space.

My SAC 12" jointer I paid $2k for, it's in pretty nice shape and great to use. Setting the knives is a horrific experience.

I think I sold my old 15" four post grizmatic planer with curved knives for $1500.

If you found similar prices, you'd be in for $3500 and be light years ahead of where you're at a and under $5,000

[Dan Friedrichs]

I hope the service center finds something wrong with your DW735, because the experiences you describe with it sound very different than what I experienced when I had one...

OTOH, a new 12" A3-31 with spiral cutterhead is only $4k.

[Chris Hachet]

I hope the service center finds something wrong with your DW735, because the experiences you describe with it sound very different than what I experienced when I had one...

OTOH, a new 12" A3-31 with spiral cutterhead is only $4k.

The A3-31 makes a lot of sense actually.

[Brian Nguyen]

I've tried to plane boards using my 19/38 drum sander. It's maddeningly slow, and I abandoned that idea instantly.
I'd buy the planer/jointer machine if I'm in your shoes

[Will Boulware]

I'll add another vote for used machinery.

How much space do you have? How wide are the boards you're working?

I've got less than $2k in my old 24" jointer and the knife setting process isn't anywhere near as bad as what Martin's talking about. (Never worked on a Euro machine, so I'm clueless about what they require.) And I just picked up an 18" Delta wedgebed planer for well under a grand. If you're space-challenged, there are plenty of old 8-12" jointers around and a plethora of 12-13" planers in the "wow, that's not as much as I thought" range. You don't have to drop $5k to fix this problem, but you might have to pick up a wrench and dig around for some how-to stuff.

The biggest thing I'm seeing here is..... If you're spending 25 hours a week in your shop, there is no way you're going to give this up and be happy with it! Fix the machinery problem, or grab some hand tools and learn to work stuff that way, but don't give it up!

[Julie Moriarty]

I'll add another vote for used machinery.

How much space do you have? How wide are the boards you're working?

I've got less than $2k in my old 24" jointer and the knife setting process isn't anywhere near as bad as what Martin's talking about. (Never worked on a Euro machine, so I'm clueless about what they require.) And I just picked up an 18" Delta wedgebed planer for well under a grand. If you're space-challenged, there are plenty of old 8-12" jointers around and a plethora of 12-13" planers in the "wow, that's not as much as I thought" range. You don't have to drop $5k to fix this problem, but you might have to pick up a wrench and dig around for some how-to stuff.

The biggest thing I'm seeing here is..... If you're spending 25 hours a week in your shop, there is no way you're going to give this up and be happy with it! Fix the machinery problem, or grab some hand tools and learn to work stuff that way, but don't give it up!

Space is an issue. So nothing more than a 12" JP would fit.

I actually don't know what I'd do with myself if I gave up woodworking. Some weeks I've put in over 50 hours. It keeps me sane. I've got some very nice hand planes but too often they teach me I'm no spring chicken anymore. Probably good for keeping the Grim Reaper at bay though.

[Jim Becker]

Well...I'm a J/P fan for sure, but that's certainly a personal choice. Since you like to work with really terrific material, you may be well served by having a wide face jointing capability at the same time as serving your thicknessing needs. Your unique "shop" also comes into play here, of course, since it's currently "your house". But that's just one persons opinion.

[Zachary Hoyt]

If you're just jointing the edge of boards you can do a lot with a 6" jointer. I got mine for $50 on Craigslist. I also have a $400 15" mid-80s Taiwan-made 4 post planer that I found on Craigslist. They're not the best tools, but for a volume of wood like when I had 100 1x6x8 pine to plane the 15" planer is a lot better than my little DeWalt 733, and the little jointer is good for some things. You can do a lot with skip planing, though it has a lot of limitations too.
Zach

[Greg Parrish]

Wanna buy my DW735 with Shelix head? I want a hammer combo unit myself.

I could probably bring it to you in the next week or so if your in Orlando or Tampa area. LOL

[Julie Moriarty]

If you're still licensed go do some electrical work for a week and put the money toward the J/P, that week of work will be made up in a month when you save all that jointing and planning time........Rod.

All my neighbors know I'm an electrician. They have seen the panel change I did, conduit I've installed, many have come to me for help on little things and I've told them all if they have any electrical work to call me and maybe I can do it for less. One neighbor is doing a major renovation, two have built new houses but not one has talked to me about possibly doing the work. A couple of guys in my local moved down here. One I talked to said we can't get a license in Florida because they first require you work for four years for a contractor. In Illinois I'm a master electrician. Here I'm bupkis.

Wanna buy my DW735 with Shelix head? I want a hammer combo unit myself.

I could probably bring it to you in the next week or so if your in Orlando or Tampa area. LOL

You could send yours back to Dewalt, too, and they could put it next to mine. All I've heard from them so far is two letters that came in the mail yesterday. Both were UPS stickers and instructions for sending the planer back. I sent it a week ago and they got it two days later.

[Peter Kelly]

https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/tls/d/hammer-table-saw-c3-31/6630465201.html

Been on CL for a few months. Needs a good home!

[Jerome Stanek]

All my neighbors know I'm an electrician. They have seen the panel change I did, conduit I've installed, many have come to me for help on little things and I've told them all if they have any electrical work to call me and maybe I can do it for less. One neighbor is doing a major renovation, two have built new houses but not one has talked to me about possibly doing the work. A couple of guys in my local moved down here. One I talked to said we can't get a license in Florida because they first require you work for four years for a contractor. In Illinois I'm a master electrician. Here I'm bupkis.

Now you know how I felt when I worked in Chicago. I had to hire carpenters that had no experience in installing CVS fixtures and equipment and the electricians told me that I couldn't show them the correct premade cable to hook up the pharmacy cabinets. I wasn't installing them just pointing out which cable goes where as they had no clue. The did try to steal the light bulbs that I had bought because their's were burnt out and they would not get more. One crew even blew up a bunch of equipment because they hooked up 220 to 120 stuff.

[andy bessette]

Buy used. Buy separates...

This.

Don't shop at the closest big box store for a DeWalt planer. Get a real one. Very pleased with my early Delta 13".

My near mint 8" Powermatic jointer cost me $700 IIRC.

[Bill Dufour]

I would recommend a 18" rockwell wedgebed planer and a 8"jointer. should get those for under $2,000. I realized most of my drawerfronts are between 6-8" tall so a 8" jointer lets me do then in one piece.
With a planer you will have to have powerful dust collection or the chips will be recycled and crush the finished wood causing bad surfaces.
Bill D.