Planer upgrade options?

Doug DeVore

Member
Messages
106
Location
Southern, Illinois
Hey all.

After 4-5 years, I think I am about ready to upgrade planers. I currently have the Delta 22-580 planer and it works great. My _only_ complaint is that it is slow! When working with hardwoods, I can only take small bites on 6"-8" wide boards. If I try to get aggressive, I will start to get some tear out and the quality quickly goes away.

I would like to upgrade to something faster if I can at a reasonable cost but I am concerned in order for me to see a difference I would need to spend $1600 - $2500. If thats the case I will just stick it out with my "lunchbox".

Thoughts....

Doug
 
Doug, I have the DeWalt 735 and have no trouble with maple glue ups at 13" that said If I were stepping up I'd look real hard at the Griz Polar Bear series, They've got a 15" for Just shy of $900. I don't own any Griz tools but I've heard some good stuff about it.
 
How about this with the spiral cutterhead. $1542.00 delivered
g0453p.jpg
 
Actually my wife took on a second job so she could buy me that planer. Once I saw the results Glen got with his I was sold!
 
i also dont own any grizzley tools but that is one that i would buy if i was looking to change out mine,, talk with glenn bradley he has one and i think he really likes it..yu can buy a good tool once or many bad ones..
 
I've had my eye on that one for a while Larry. When Glen got it and he was happy with the results it sold me on it.
 
I recently picked up the G0453Z which is the G0453PX cousin. I made a mistake after I bought my G0513X bandsaw and sold my old smaller saw. I have since bought another smaller saw to replace it. :eek:

This experience made me cautious on getting rid of my DW734 too quickly after acquiring the G0453Z. The new 15" with the spiral head does a beautiful job. I get great surfaces in harder woods like white oak. However, even with the exit drive roller tension very light I still pick up roller marks in softer material like mahogany. :rolleyes: I plan to work with the actual clearance height settings and then re-adjust tension to see if I can get it even better.

The larger machine is also a little aggressive for materials that I generally buy in smaller billets and use for accents like holly or ebony. I've come to realize that what I call serious work for a planer barely gets the G0453Z's attention. :thumb: I think you would find the 3HP beast a whole new experience when it comes to speed of stock removal. I very rarely use the high feed speed.

The smaller machine does well on smaller and softer material and I have decided to keep it for that purpose. Just food for thought on the "finish" planer retention idea. As to the larger planer; very good move for me. Very happy. The finish on difficult figured woods makes me a very happy camper. Just now thinking about it, I have not had one spot of tearout since I got it (I have a spiral on the jointer too).
 
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Well if it's any consulation Glenn the 20" powermatic planer we have at work will leave marks on any wood you put thru it if you try to remove less than half a turn on the wheel.
 
A majority (80%-90%) of the wood I work is either walnut, oak or poplar. Oak being the the main one.

Again, I am very happy with the quality of the Delta 13" lunchbox, but it's the productivity that is killing me. More than once I have spent hours with the planer just getting wood ready (Monday night 3 hours - white oak).

Is it asking too much to take off 1/16" on an 8" wide white oak board in a single pass? I usually saw all my logs to 4/4 stuff and by the time it dries it's around 7/8....headed to 3/4" after the planer.

I may ask around locally and see if anyone has a 3hp version of anything I could just come over and try out. I am hoping that the power difference alone is enough....spiral head would be nice :D
 
This morning I surfaced 60bf of 4/4 cherry to 3/4". It took about 2-1/12 hours. Taking 1/16" was no problem. I have a Dewalt 733 (black top) that I just changed the blades on after a couple thousand bf over 2 years.

I don't know if that's a long time or not:dunno: I'm kind of a slow worker anyway. Needed a coffee break every hour or so.:D
 
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