Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top quality or don't bother at all? Thanks
DeWalt and Makita are generally good buys. Think well-known brands. All surface planers snipe, but some worse than others. Good dust collection is important for both a clean cut and your health.
I bought a refurbished Delta last year. Like it a lot. Now the knives are getting dull and I've been unsuccessful so far trying to remove them to turn them over. You may wish to consider that. BTW, I paid $175 including shipping. Good luck. Joe
habbi wrote:
Why have you been unsuccessful? On my -580, they are held in with a T-15 torx screw and they were a bear to get out. I stripped a couple of heads and had to replace them. (hardware store had them) Buy a good torx driver, not the cheapos they have a Wal Mart. Once replaced I put them in with a firm touch and they come out easily.
I have own a Dewalt for years and it does what I need done...
Obviously I am a hobbiest and do not run the thing day in and day out but over the years it has seen hours upon hours of usage...and the blades have been replaced a number of times...
But I sure would not classify it anywhere near TOP of the line... just the average Name brand for home use type of machine...
Delta & DeWalt seem to dominate this market...although other Brands are surely playing the game ...
Have to agree on the "snipe" but that has never been any big problem a few simple adjustments and the application of slight upward pressure with my left hand as the board comes out of the planner will generally eliminate any snipe...
Good DC is required to keep the internals of the machine clean so the cut is good... and to keep the shavings off the floor... Personally I have not noticed much "dust" being produced..even without DC... DC is required if you are allergic to using a broom like I am however...
Bob Griffiths .
"habbi" wrote in news:rDGRd.4800$oh4.184313@ursa- nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:
I find the Ridgid TP1300 series planer I bought to be ready useful. Home Depot, price varies to as much as $399. Watch for promos.
Blades are not designed to be resharpened, but a gentle honing seems to be good. They are an easily replaced item, once I got past the learning curve.
I thought the design engineers did a smart thing. I screwed up, and put a piece of cedar through the planer, not having properly checked the slab for relative parallelism. When it wedged itself in the planer, a $3.18, easily accessed sprocket is what broke, rather than something more vital. Two screws and a c-clip, and back to work. Once the parts arrive.
Cost of lesson: $11, and 90 minutes with a couple of vintage Stanley planes, remembering how it used to be done.
The adult ed shop has a small Delta. Suffers tremendous abuse, and keeps on working. My neighbor has a small DeWalt, from maybe 3-4 years ago. You'd be well served with any of them.
Have fun with the raised panels.
Patriarch
Sat, Feb 19, 2005, 12:51pm (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@islandtelecom.com (habbi) wants to know: Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer.
Depends on what you mean by cheap, doesn't it?
I got one you could say was cheap. Used, in excellent condition, for the cost of shipping only. Worth the price? I think so. There is a difference between cheap, and inexpensive, in my book. Cheap is shoddily made. Inexpensive means at a low price - HF has some nice inexpensive items, not such a fancy finish, maybe tool marks, etc., that work just fine. And, they some cheap stuff too.
If I wanted to "save" money, I'd look for used in good condition, or refurbished. If I just wanted to be cheap, I'd get the lowest priced thing I could find, new or used. Your money, spend it the way you want.
JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.
- David Fasold
I bought the DeWalt 535 and it is great. Yes it was a little more then the Rigid but I like that it has a lot of the features from a full width depth guage to a 2 speed option. I am in the process of making my own cabinetts and this planer has saved me its price in wood (compared to buying 1/2 " and
1/4" wood from HD or Lowes). I can say that my buddy that does this for a living will occasionally want to use my planer for some of his harder woods (like hickory) that like to snipe. He has a Rigid and for the most part it has served him well. It just doesn't do as well on some woods. It might be that the dewalt is a 3 blade and his is a 2 blade. Hope this little bit of input helps. One other thing, it is also VERY easy to change blades.EPI
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I have the one that Delta used to sell. Not their better one but the other one. I wouldn't be without it.
Of course I remember when having a planer in your shop meant you went out and paid a gazillion dollars for one so for me having an opportunity to own a planer may mean more than to some who expect it.
UA100
cheap planers have their place.
it's a matter of budget/type of use/amount of use
I bought a DeWalt 735 13" planer last summer, and it works great, does a fine job. Reason for my choice? Two feed speeds, and the lower speed is 1/3 the higher one. I have fed highly figured quilted maple, curly koa, and curly claro walnut thru it on the lower feed rate with no snipe.
Very pleased. But this model is $200 more than the cheapest 12-1/2" models.
--Steve
habbi wrote:
I looked at several for a long time, read all the magazine reviews, used a friend's DeWalt, but in the end went and got a Ryobi AP13. It's had a fair amount of use and I'm very satisfied with it. I find it hard to tell the difference in performance between it and the DeWalt, only time will tell if it lasts as well, but then it's half the price.
Can't really comment on the ease of blade changing, as I have not yet done it.
IMO, Ryobi tends to make lousy tools or reasonable tools, thus far the AP13 is good, IIRC, Ryobi were the first to make a cheap thicknesser, so they perhaps have a little more experience in this area.
There's also an online tool review somewhere, can't recall where it is, but I'm sure Google will know.
Barry Lennox
I just looked at the ryobi at home depot it looks like a good unit. Has anyone had and experience with the delta 12" or 12.5" benchtop model. Which is better them or the ryobi AP1300. For that matter what is the difference between the delta 12" and 12.5" model other than the 1/2".
If you don't plan on making a lot of them, and don't mind a lot of maintenance, and aren't going to use large boards, any benchtop unit will do the job. Dewalt and Delta are the favorites. Mark
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