12" Planer vs 18" Planer

[Larry]

In a woodworking shop where the largest piece made is a dresser or desk, is there any significant advantage to an 18" planer over a 12"?

Please remove the spambusting 7, so my address is calbert at mchsi dot com

Thanks

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I just measured the side panel of the dresser next to me. It is 17" wide. Since it won't fit through a 12" planer easily, the 18" may have some advantage. Of course, if you have a 48" wide belt sander, it does not matter.

[George]

Not a lot of domestic wood in dimension over 10" any more, and, as Ed said, after glueup it can be sanded.

[Stephen M]

I don't own a big planer but here is what I understand:

Advantages:

1.Wider capacity (duh)

1. Speed/power, You can take a bigger bite and dimmension stock more quickly... it's also a tad more quiet.

Tradeoffs:

1. Initial cost
2. Not the same level of finish quality (or so I hear)
3. How do you move that sucker?

The > lunchbox planers are really a production tool. The tradeoff of finish quality is not really a big deal for a pro cabinet shop as they are likely to have a big drum sander to finish that off anyway.

18 vs 12 is a convenience, but it's still not going to let you plane a full-width desktop to I don't see it as anything more than a modest improvement. It does not eliminate a step in making all but 12-18" panels.

I came to the conclusion that there is no point in *me* as a hobiest, to move beyong the lunchbox.

YMMV.

Steve

[My Old Tools]

Gee, I have a shop full of 12-20 inch walnut, local cut. I'm sure not ripping it just to plane.

16" jointer, 18" planer.