Best Planer Reputation

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I am going to get a planer in the next couple months and have been keeping my eyes open for a good deal on a user planer. I know that certain manufacturers have a particular tool that they are well known for (ie. mikita, bosch = scms, ...).

Which companies are known for making a good, solid planer? I don't have a tonne of money too spend ... looking at around $300 or $400 or less if I can find used.

Thanks.
 
dawson,

are you looking for a benchtop or stationary? i assume the later since most bench models are in your price range new

i use a dewalt 735 in my cabinet shop, it has done a great job in a semi production enviroment. i don't know enough about the brands of floor models.

hopefully someone else has more info.

chris
 
I guess it would help to know what type of work you plan to do - what sort of capacity you need.

I've got a used Inca combination joiner planer that i really like a lot. I see them come up used in the 300 - 500 dollar range. It's a swiss machine, and Inca isn't imported here any more, but i can still get parts should i need them. Its capacity is a little over 10 inches, which would be a downside for some folks. The trend seems to be for larger machines with more capacity. Sure, if a 15" machine came my way, i would at least think about it, but i've used other planers, and i've not found one i like as well for the money.

Old iron options would be Parks, Boise Crane, Craftsman (made by Parks), Powermatic, Delta, or Oliver (to name a few). The old iron planers were made for industry, not the home shop. Most of them are pretty big. A lot of people like the old Parks / Craftsman because it's a workhorse that's not huge. Running old machinery isn't for everyone, but if you've got some mechanical aptitude and aren't scared off by obsolete brand names, it's a great way to get industrial grade machinery for the price (or less) of newer hobbiest or job site grade stuff. There's a lot of very helpful information (photos, manual reprints, maintenance / rebuild articals, very helpful discussion forum, etc.) over at www.owwm.org or the sister website, www.owwm.com. If you've got an old machine, that resource is invaluable.

One other note - if you don't already have a way to collect the wood dust, now might be a good time to start thinking about it. Nothing makes chips and dust like a planer. At the very leaste, you'll want a connection to a good shop vac AND a fine partical respirator / dust mask. A proper dust collector would be the best option. Your lungs will thank you.

Paul Hubbman
 
I have the....are you surprised?....Grizzly G0505. For price and size, it is a serious working hoss. I know lots of folks question the 2 hp claim but it doesn't slow down, does the job. Blades are 1/8" thick as compared to 1/16" for many other brands. And reversible. Price is right. I like mine.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-1-2-Planer/G0505

Frank, I take it that you are a Grizzly fan? I personally don't have any problem with Grizzly tools though I hear that lots do, for some reason? How many blades does it have? 120v or 240? What kind of feed roller does it have ( this question is due to the Dewalt 735 that I have and certain black marks that appear from time to time from the feed rollers)?
 
Thanks for the replies ... the Grizzly certainly is a good price. Does anyone else have experience with those planers?

Also, I found an older (8 yrs old) Craftsman for sale thats not too far from where I live, but the guy didn't know the exact model. I've posted a picture of it, but its not the greatest. Would this be one of the Park machines you are talking about? The guys asking $400 CDN ... seems a little steep to me, but what do you guys think?
 

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The guys asking $400 CDN


Dawson, are you in Canada? This will effect any recommendations. For example, no Grizzly's ship to Canada.

The C-man in the pic would lead me to believe you are looking for a planer kinda like this:



As opposed to like this:



In the lunch box arena you will hear DeWalt pretty consistently although the new Ridgid has quite a few fans. To a lesser degree, Delta, Makita and others play in this field. I have a DW734 (three knives, one speed, rubber rollers) and my dad has the DW735 (three knives, two speeds and rubber rollers). The black mark issue you speak of is a matter of proper maintenance. I keep my rollers clean and my beds waxed and have never gotten marks although I have had feed problems when I forget to clean and wax every 150 board feet or so.

For the floor models, I'll let others comment as I am not familiar with older machines that you might find in your price range. Most floor machines use serrated steel rollers that can cause some dimpling. Steel City uses serrated on the infeed and rubber on the outfeed to give lunch box-like surfaces. I'm sure there's a lot of floor model stuff I don't know about but, we have a pretty knowledgeable group here and I'm sure someone will chine in. Enjoy the hunt ;-)
 
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Glenn, yes I am in Canada (New Brunswick). I will be building a garage this spring that will be pretty much dedicated to my workshop, so a portable planer vs. standup is not a big deal for me. My biggest concern is $$ ... I'm just getting into this stuff and don't want to spend a lot getting more than I really need. Basically, just looking to get the best bang for my buck.

I may be able to make a visit down to Maine if there are Grizzly dealers there and if that came highly recommended.
 
Dawson, are you in Canada? This will effect any recommendations. For example, no Grizzly's ship to Canada.

The black mark issue you speak of is a matter of proper maintenance. I keep my rollers clean and my beds waxed and have never gotten marks although I have had feed problems when I forget to clean and wax every 150 board feet or so.

Glenn, Grizzley doesn't directly ship to Canada but you can go through a shipping company ( ups... ) and a broker to get things from Grizzly. If you live in a town close to a Grizzly store it is cheaper to go and pick it up.

I have found even with all the proper cleaning and waxing I still get black marks and I am not alone as this is one of the major complaints about this machine. The good thing is that they sand out pretty easy.
 
I may be able to make a visit down to Maine if there are Grizzly dealers there and if that came highly recommended.

Dawson Unfortunatly Grizzly has only 3 showrooms in the US. In Washington, Pennsylvania & Missouri. I have found the staff very helpful and friendly at the Bellingham store and what tools I have gotten from Grizzly (8" Jointer and the 2hp cyclone) I find to be top of the line. Fww did a review on the Jointer that came in 1st place and the Cyclone was the best price anywhere ( even got a good gloat over that as I bought it the first day of the christmas sale and saved an unexpected $100.00 on the price, Also the exchange was at $1.05 at the time so double gloat :thumb:) and they both are excellent machines.
 
I have the....are you surprised?....Grizzly G0505. For price and size, it is a serious working hoss. I know lots of folks question the 2 hp claim but it doesn't slow down, does the job. Blades are 1/8" thick as compared to 1/16" for many other brands. And reversible. Price is right. I like mine.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/12-1-2-Planer/G0505

I bought one of these from the bargain room at the Springfield Missouri store for $100.00 because it had a dent in it. It works great and trouble free. Not a bad little planer even at full price. :thumb:

Jay
 
Frank, I take it that you are a Grizzly fan? I personally don't have any problem with Grizzly tools though I hear that lots do, for some reason? How many blades does it have? 120v or 240? What kind of feed roller does it have ( this question is due to the Dewalt 735 that I have and certain black marks that appear from time to time from the feed rollers)?

I have posted quite a few brags about my Grizzly tools. That is because the tools and company give me excellent service and value. Key word is 'value'. If their policy should change and tool start failing and service declines I'll turn on them like a mean dawg. Fan? Only as long as they continue earning my loyalty. Which, so far, they do very well.
It has two blades, 10,000 rpm, 120V, big rubber feed roller. No black marks on wood to date. But, I'm gonna be waxing the bed.
 
To get the most bang for your buck, i'd shop used. I've already gone into the old iron approach, but if i were shopping for something 5-10 years old, i'd look at Delta, Makita, General / General International, Shop Fox, Jet, Grizzly, Woodtek, Bridgewood, Dewalt, and maybe Ridgid. Rikon and Steel City also make good machines, but are fairly new to the market. Hitachi also makes a highly regarded combination planer / jointer that i'd certainly look at. They may have a portable model out as well, i don't know.

I'd also look at the Craftsman and some Ryobi, but would expect to pay less.
They'll all plane wood well. One of my cousins has a 10" Ryobi that he purchased several years ago for the barn shop on his farm. It's not an expensive machine, but has handled A LOT of lumber over the years in less than ideal conditions with no problems. It's no cadillac, but the thing simply works and works well. If it died tomorrow, he'd replace it with the same thing if he could. There's not much reason to get brand snooty.

Just about any decent woodworker can get used to any decently made machine. It's also pretty easy to get bad results even with the best machine. I agree that no one should waste money on junk, but bells, whistles, and brands name don't make good woodworkers.

The Craftsman you're looking at is not one of the Parks machines. It's much newer. It looks like a 12" or 13" portable unit. If so, $400 seems a bit steep. For the same money, you can have a new machine with the same capacity.

If shopping used, it should be pretty easy to tell if a machine's been well maintained or abused.

Another thing to consider is the blade type. Disposables are convenient, but can get expensive over time. If you've got the sharpenable kind, that's a maintenance item. I've had blades sharpened, and it wasn't very expensive, but you'll want an extra set of them so you can have one in the machine while the other is out for sharpening. Or, you can purchase a setup to sharpen them yourself. A good portable machine that uses sharpenable blades is the Dewalt 733. It's essentially the same as the 734, which uses disposable blades.

Paul Hubbman
 
Glenn, yes I am in Canada (New Brunswick). I will be building a garage this spring that will be pretty much dedicated to my workshop, so a portable planer vs. standup is not a big deal for me. My biggest concern is $$ ... I'm just getting into this stuff and don't want to spend a lot getting more than I really need. Basically, just looking to get the best bang for my buck.

I may be able to make a visit down to Maine if there are Grizzly dealers there and if that came highly recommended.

Dawson have a look at Busy Bee, the closest one to you is in Nova Scotia.
The fellow who runs Busy Bee is the brother of the guy who owns Grizzly, that is why Grizzly does not ship to Canada :rolleyes:
They have an agreement to stick to their own locations/countries.
 
Dawson have a look at Busy Bee, the closest one to you is in Nova Scotia.
The fellow who runs Busy Bee is the brother of the guy who owns Grizzly, that is why Grizzly does not ship to Canada :rolleyes:
They have an agreement to stick to their own locations/countries.

You are kidding me. Busy Bee is related to Grizzly? The Griz brother should come to Canada and tell his bro to go sell cars. Grizzly with their marketing would be MAJOR competion to anything in Canada. Although their product is not even close to General they would be a major compeditor. Busy Bee, haven't heard that name mentioned in awhile, the Canadian answer to Harbour Freight.
 
You are kidding me. Busy Bee is related to Grizzly? The Griz brother should come to Canada and tell his bro to go sell cars. Grizzly with their marketing would be MAJOR competion to anything in Canada. Although their product is not even close to General they would be a major compeditor. Busy Bee, haven't heard that name mentioned in awhile, the Canadian answer to Harbour Freight.

You can read about it here ->

http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-14472.html

(includes postings from our very own Frank Pellow and Art Mulder ;))
 
Thanks for that Jim, didn't know that. I still believe that we have plenty of good tools available in Canada without going the Grizzly route. :thumb: Grizzly has had page 1 and 2 in a major woodworking mag (in full colour I might add) for how many years now? This magazine I have subscribed to for a number of years now and before they started advertising I never saw their machines in any of their tests. They are doing a terrific job of marketing, I will give them that.
 
With respect to the question about Grizzly and shipping into Canada there are all kinds of hoops that the company would have to jump through to get this availible in Canada. It most likely all comes down to the costs of testing to get the CSA stamp on it as well as adding everything in english and french. I asked the question when I was down in the Bellingham store and I was told by a fellow in the store that they have an agreement with major canadian companies that they wouldn't sell in Canada. I didn't really beleive it but thought I would just share my thoughts on this subject. Personally with my experience with Grizzly and the quality of the tools and service I will be going back again and again.
 
Stinks of a monopoly, I thought the US and Canada had a free trade agreement?

Is this legal for a US company to refuse to sell to a Canadian? :huh: :dunno:

Dunno how that all works, but sounds like price fixing to me......:rolleyes:
 
Stinks of a monopoly, I thought the US and Canada had a free trade agreement?

Is this legal for a US company to refuse to sell to a Canadian? :huh: :dunno:

Dunno how that all works, but sounds like price fixing to me......:rolleyes:

Stu It isn't so much price fixing or refusing to sell to Canadians. Unless it was the recent US car dealers refusing to sell to the Canadian customers as the companies here complained about the cross boarder shoppers when our dollar was 1.10 US. No one ever saw the Canadian dealers being asked by the US dealers to not sell to the US citizens when their dollar was 1.20 Canadian? Funny how that works. As for the free trade agreement? Come on Stu that wasn't for Canada's benifit or the mexican benifit it was for the US companies that can get cheaper labour out side the US and still get their products back into the US easily. I think it is called Capatalisim.

Grizzly tools is a great store and I wish that they did have one in Canada but if it was the case we would be paying lots more for the tools. I hear that LV is building a new store in Victoria Next year.:thumb: Right near where I live.:thumb::thumb: 15 min to LV could be dangerous on the wallet. :rolleyes::D
 
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