Delta TP305 Planer

[Dan Barr]

Any reviews on this tool? Delta TP305 planer

Thanks,

dan

[scott spencer]

AFAIK, the 305 lacks a cutterhead lock and dust chute...both important features on a planer IMHO, and both tend to push the price up over $300.

[Dan Barr]

yup, those are pretty important features.

any way to hook up a dust chute?

thanks.

dan

[Jared Cuneo]

I've had one for 3-4 months now and it's ok, not excellent, but ok for the money.

I had a kickback that popped the output roller off its track and played hell with everything.

Since everything on this planer is non adjustable, I had to disassemble quite a few parts to get it back planing correctly.

It also took a lot of adjusting to get it to stop sniping the he-- out of everything.

If I knew now when I bought all the stuff for my shop, I would have went with a better planer with a cutterhead lock and dust collection.

As the prev poster stated, it makes a heck of a mess. Outside of a new miter gauge, a better planer will be my next big purchase.

The Dewalt 734 or 735 seem to be very popular, or if you are looking to save a little money, the Delta planer right above this one has auto column lock and dust collection....

JC

[Curt Harms]

yup, those are pretty important features.

any way to hook up a dust chute?

thanks.

dan

Easy, especially if you're using a 4" hose. Take a piece of 4" PVC pipe about 18" long or so. Cut a slot about 1.5" or 2" wide by the same length as the dust hood that comes with the planer. Don't cut the slot all the way to the edge of the pipe, leave at least a couple inches of material on each end. Use a couple lengths of plumbers strap, the 1" metal strapping with all the holes in it, light metal flat stock would work too. Fit the pipe slot over the dust chute, bolt a couple of straps to the PVC pipe and to the dust hood. Cap one end and do what You need to do to attach your D.C. hose to the other end. I'm away from the one I did for a friend but it took less than an hour and works great with 4" D.C. hose. When I had the predecessor to the TP 305 I did a similar trick with a length of Shop Vac floor wand pipe. That worked too. I also found that a planer will fill a 16 gal. shop vac pretty fast and it's a mess to empty. Got a D.C. not long after.

I'm not sure the 4" pipe would work with a shop vac. The slot may be too big and the shop vac wouldn't draw enough CFM to maintain velocity. If I were using a shop vac, I'd do the 2.5" pipe trick. I wish I could take a couple pics but I won't be home for a few days.

HTH

Curt

[Sean Troy]

AFAIK, the 305 lacks a cutterhead lock and dust chute...both important features on a planer IMHO, and both tend to push the price up over $300.

It does say it comes with a dust chute?

[John Lock]

I've had that planer for a few months now. Mine didn't come with any dust collection hookup but I did find it on Amazon The locking cutter head is the one thing that I really wish I had, to help with the snipe. Now I just plan for cutting off the ends to eliminate any snipe in the the finished project.

[Jared Cuneo]

Sean, the dust chute is simply a curved piece of metal that serves to scatter the chips in a 180 degree arc instead of a 270 degree one

JC