Planer Suggestions

[tdellenburg]

I'm thinking about getting myself a planer. I work in a very small shop, so small that I cut outside and assemble inside. Also, I want to be able to transport it when working on remote jobs. What would you guys recommend for a portable / bench top type planer?

 

[95vette]

Hello, I've had my Dewalt for ten years or more it has always done me a good job on anything I tried it on, walnut, cherry, oak or more. Jim

 

[mbatarga]

The 4 post Dewalt is nice - but it's not "portable" in terms of hand carry. Periodically Rockler has the stand with extra blades and the drop down table extensions for a special price.

 

[derosa]

I had the dewalt 12.5" planer, used it for 5 Yeats before giving it to a friend and getting bigger. I found the blades to be particularly expensive at 55.00 a set but being double sided helps. Mine chewed through plenty of purple heart, oak, and cherry with no trouble. Would easily recommend it though it isn't that light, believe its well over 70lns. But the tables fold when the dust chute is off and it has built in handles.

 

[cgrutt]

I've also got the 12.5" Dewalt. Pretty nice tool for a benchtop. I've run alot of hickory, walnut, ash, mahogony, teak, maple and cherry through it and still going strong.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I don't really think any lunchbox planer is "that" portable. As in, I see nearly no difference between my DW 734 and 735 even though there is a 20 lb difference. The 735 is much nicer than the 734 and I upgraded it with a Shelix. Blade changes and frequent purchases are for the birds. I have teak and ipe I have to mill through though.

 

[txvwnut]

I have an older Delta but have been looking at the Dewalt DW735. The Dewalt has gotten great reviews on every site I have looked at and right now I've seen it with the infeed/outfeed tables and an extra set of blades priced around $700 at Rockler, Home Depot and a few other places.

 

[boomer12831]

I had an older Rigid that worked well but I sold it last fall and I'm waiting to get the Dewalt DW735 that comes with the extra set of blades and in and out feed tables. I see Rockler and Woodcraft both have a special for 649.00 and it comes with a rolling stand. I don't need the stand because I built a cart with a set of snowblower tires and it also holds my disc/belt sander. My buddy has the DW735 and it is a real nice machine. These type of planers work well for the money. I suggest a cart or stand if you are going to be moving it alot. They can get quite heavy. I used to run it down in the back by the fire pit because of the massive amounts of dust and chips they create. A dust collector has changed that.

 

[joeyd6]

Popular Mechanics just looked at a large group in December. Their best pick- the Rigid. The next best- Dewalt 734. The full print article is a little "beefier" but you can see a summary here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/reviews/a24491/best-entry-level-planers/

Fine Woodworking did a review earlier in 2016. The best overall was the Dewalt 735X, with the best value being the Rigid.

And if you hit the woodworking forums, the majority of homeowners tinkering are using a Rigid or Dewalt.

Either can be upgraded to helical cutting head.

Whatever you think you will buy- look up how far the service shop is from your house. Consider that- as any repair requires drop/off or shipping. They don't pay the fees, even if under warranty and you don't want to pay to box and ship it.

 

[tarbellb]

Of the common bench top planers it goes as such:

Dewalt 4 post - Best also expensive, heavy

Ridgid w/ cutter lock - 2nd best, lighter, lower entry price. Oh LIFETIME WARRANTY.

That Makita does look nice, no firsthand experience with it tho.

Everything else is about the same.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I have a 13" Rigid R43321. It's served me well for 15 years or so

 

[guy48065]

I had the Makita and loved it for the light weight but on that one it's the table that goes up & down rather than the head. This made it impossible to build in/out-feed support. I traded it for a Dewalt. Sure do miss the light weight, though.

 

[WWheeler]

I've had my Dewalt DW734 since the late 90s, going on 20 years now, have hauled it around to many jobs, and it's never missed a beat.

 

[tdellenburg]

Thanks guys. The dewalt is what I was leaning towards, but read several bad reviews on Amazon. Also have an interest in the Rikon. Hoping someone sooner or later has had one and will comment.

 

[WWheeler]

Thanks guys. The dewalt is what I was leaning towards, but read several bad reviews on Amazon. Also have an interest in the Rikon. Hoping someone sooner or later has had one and will comment.

A few things to think about when reading Amazon reviews.

The Dewalt DW734, an unchanged design for decades now, has the highest avg customer rating of all benchtop planers on Amazon. 71% of reviews gave it 5 stars and another 18% gave it 4. Of the 5% (14 out of 260) one-star reviews only a single one of those is actually a 'verified purchase' bought from Amazon. Non-verified purchase reviews can be made by anyone so are often haters / jealous owners of other brands / competitors making stuff up. In contrast, 147 of the 184 five-star and 34 of the 46 four-star reviews were by verified purchase.

 

[tdellenburg]

A few things to think about when reading Amazon reviews.

The Dewalt DW734, an unchanged design for decades now, has the highest avg customer rating of all benchtop planers on Amazon. 71% of reviews gave it 5 stars and another 18% gave it 4. Of the 5% (14 out of 260) one-star reviews only a single one of those is actually a 'verified purchase' bought from Amazon. Non-verified purchase reviews can be made by anyone so are often haters / jealous owners of other brands / competitors making stuff up. In contrast, 147 of the 184 five-star and 34 of the 46 four-star reviews were by verified purchase.

Yeah, I always think about that and look at the stats myself. That's why I came here, this seems like a "real tool guy" kind of place, and I have gotten excellent feedback on other questions as well. Thank you for providing yours BTW. I just got bit by delta several years ago, and have tools now that I can't get parts for, so I'm doing my due diligence on this purchase, which won't be until spring. I just felt that during this time I could get plenty of feedback from real users.

Again, thank you

 

[Alchymist]

Like my 734 for what it's worth.....

 

[tdellenburg]

You guys with the dewalts. How do you feel about the blades not being able to be resharoened? Do they last long enough to justify the expense of replacement? Would you buy it again if you had to choose between it and *** brand?

 

[Alchymist]

You guys with the dewalts. How do you feel about the blades not being able to be resharoened? Do they last long enough to justify the expense of replacement? Would you buy it again if you had to choose between it and *** brand?

2 years on mine and still on first side of first set. It's seen oak, maple, pine, white birch, black and English walnut, elm, basswood, barn boards, etc, and still clicking along.

 

[WWheeler]

I put several thousand board feet through my DW734 before I needed to flip the blades around. Almost 20 years and many many thousand board feet later I think I'm on my second set. Maybe my third? I'm not totally sure but can say that they do tend to last a really long time unless you let a nail or staple ruin your fun.

I used to rip up logs of oak, walnut, cherry, etc (had access to all free logs as much as I could handle) with an alaskan chainsaw mill, air dry, and then size them up with the bandsaw and plane them to thickness. For the first 8 or so years of my planers life it saw lots and lots of use. Not nearly as much since. Nowadays I'm mostly using once or twice a month mostly on reclaimed pallet wood.

 

[Gizmosity]

If size is a real concern, you might try looking at used tools as Ryobi use to make a small 10" planer which worked well. It was very light also. I attended a strip canoe building class in which we planed strips for (25) canoes on one of these, each canoe required about (50) strips which were 16-18' long. That's 1250 strips, The Ryobi never missed a beat.
Motoretro

That's the AP-10. I had one back in the day and selling that planer is one of my few life regrets.

 

[trainer]

I have a King Canada kc-426c which is pretty much identical to a grizzly G0505.
I've had it for 8 years with no issues. It's a no-frills machine, but it has done everything i've asked it to.
The blades are marketed as non-sharpenable, but I've pulled them out and honed them with a stone with very good results.

 

[boomer12831]

Since I have been following this thread, I can't find a Rigid planer. Are they discontinued ?

 

[southalabama]

I've got an older Delta. It's been a workhorse.

If I were to do it again I would opt for one that handled 15" or larger boards.

 

[WWheeler]

Since I have been following this thread, I can't find a Rigid planer. Are they discontinued ?

Ridgid is a Home Depot brand.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-13-in-Thickness-Corded-Planer-R4331/100634358

 

[guy48065]

You guys with the dewalts. How do you feel about the blades not being able to be resharoened? Do they last long enough to justify the expense of replacement? Would you buy it again if you had to choose between it and *** brand?

The knives for the DW734 & DW735 are described as "disposable" but they are thick & heavy like traditional planer knives. I don't think there are jack screws on a Dewalt to compensate for knife width lost to a regrind but they definitely CAN be honed.

The thin little razor blades used on some other planers probably could be honed
but it would be a challenge to hold them.

 

[boomer12831]

Ridgid is a Home Depot brand.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-13-in-Thickness-Corded-Planer-R4331/100634358[/QUOTE

I know that Rigid is HD and I found them online but they do not seem to be available either in the stores or on-line.

 

[My Old Tools]

The older Delta 12.5" works just fine and can be hand carried (with a grunt or two). Whatever you get, Johnson's Paste Wax (yellow can) is your friend. It keeps boards feeding smoothly instead of sticking on the bed.

 

[rrich1]

I suggest the DeWalt 734 on a flip cart. Perfect for small spaces.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[WWheeler]

Ridgid is a Home Depot brand.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-13-in-Thickness-Corded-Planer-R4331/100634358

I know that Rigid is HD and I found them online but they do not seem to be available either in the stores or on-line.

Sorry, I'm confused about this because the link I gave shows for me many in stock at all of the stores near me and/or it's also available to order online. I guess it's showing different for you. Weird.

 

[Alchymist]

I suggest the DeWalt 734 on a flip cart. Perfect for small spaces.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Great minds think alike! Pictures taken during build, before paint and drawer installation.

 

[rrich1]

Great minds think alike! Pictures taken during build, before paint and drawer installation.

Nice job. Haven't seen one flip that way before.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Ty.]

I have many hours on both a dw733 and dw734, both are great machines. the 733 was ran to the point of destruction n the roller feed blocks. but a few dollars in parts and its back up and running again. the only difference between these two older models is that the 733 uses a single sided blade that can be sharpened, and the 734 uses the double sided blades.

The dust hood for both planers works good, but is an additional $40, so keep that in mind, and you cant fold up the outfeed table with it installed.

the only thing that I dont like is that the ears that you wind the cord on are easy to snap off, and the tables take a bit to set up to avoid snipe.

 

[CTyankee]

I've got an older Delta. It's been a workhorse.

If I were to do it again I would opt for one that handled 15" or larger boards.

The older Delta 12.5" works just fine and can be hand carried (with a grunt or two). Whatever you get, Johnson's Paste Wax (yellow can) is your friend. It keeps boards feeding smoothly instead of sticking on the bed.

X 3.....Have had one for years....and it's been used and abused much more than it ever should have been. Probably miles of 2x material(including pressure treated) have passed through it. Only maintenance has been blade replacements. I don't think it will ever die.

Whether the new ones are of the same quality...

 

[boomer12831]

Ridgid is a Home Depot brand.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-13-in-Thickness-Corded-Planer-R4331/100634358

Sorry, I'm confused about this because the link I gave shows for me many in stock at all of the stores near me and/or it's also available to order online. I guess it's showing different for you. Weird.

When I clicked on your link, it says it's unavailable for shipping, not available in any stores near me. I did the online chat and the girl does not think they will be available any more. If you would like to PM me with your approx location, I would like to see where they are available. Thanks.

 

[WWheeler]

When I clicked on your link, it says it's unavailable for shipping, not available in any stores near me. I did the online chat and the girl does not think they will be available any more. If you would like to PM me with your approx location, I would like to see where they are available. Thanks.

Like I said, weird.

Don't think I'd be considering buying one if I had been told they were being discontinued though unless maybe they were discounted under $100. Even then, you'd be buying a machine likely with limited if any available parts, service, new blades, etc. Very little value in that.

 

[smokey0810]

Anyone have any experience with the Porter Cable?
https://www.lowes.com/pd/PORTER-CABLE-15-Amp-2-Blade-Planer/3044121
For $269 its cheaper than even the Harbor Freight model and got decent reviews on the popular mechanics review page...thoughts?

 

[smokey0810]

Bit the bullet and went and bought the Porter Cable after reading reviews and watching some online vids. Just pulled it out the box and had it assembled in 5 min. Off to level the infeed and outfeed tables, and toss some wood thru it....

 

[manwithtools]

Here's a tip for you. Don't "level" the in feed and out feed tables on lunchbox planers. Set them so the extreme leading and trailing surfaces of the table are 1/8" higher than the planer bed. This will help minimize "snipe" when planing boards of all lengths, but especially shorter ones..
Here's a link to an article I put online many years ago describing the setup:

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/planer_setup.pdf

 

[smokey0810]

Sweet! Appreciate the info. Planer works amazing, with some snipe, but it will be worked out with your advice and article.