My wife said that depending on how the finances look after tax season she's willing to let me buy a planer. I'm somewhat experienced in woodworking but have never worked with a personal planer. I'd like to get your ideas on what brand to look for for the best bargain. I'm looking to spend as little as possible but still end up with a decent planer. Basically the higher end models like ShopFox and Jet are not an option. Could you give me some brands to look for and approximate prices I might expect to pay? If I show my wife I've researched this with fellow woodworking experts she'll be much more likely to agree to let me purchase one. Thanks for the help!!
Delta 580 is about $400, the DeWalt 735 is a bit more. Both are considered excellent small planers for the home shop. I have the Delta but would consider t he DW to be as good. Ed
There's a multitude of posts in the archives about this subject and every time it's asked, you'll get the same answers and if you read all the reviews in the magazines - you'll get the opinion of the week.
So to help you summarize several years of postings, numerous magazine articles and some hands-on experience.... it doesn't matter which one you buy in the lower cost range of portable planers/jointers. Now that surely will get me some flames but consider that if you go with the lower cost units, you may be able to afford both a planer and a jointer that will do the job.
A decent 6" jointer or 12" planer are both in the neighborhood of $500 each but shop around at Grizzly, Harbor Freight, E*Bay etc. and don't overlook the local "For Sale" ads. With a bit of tweaking and tuning even the lower cost ones will perform quite well and get you woodworking. How long will they last? I'm sure there are plenty of users here that will tell you their brands are still running great after a number of years of service. Some have features that only come on the higher priced models and those features may be nice to have but do you really need them?
I typically subscribe to the "Buy once, Cry once" theory but not having kids and all that goes with it, I can afford to splurge a bit on my hobby - others have different priorities. So while you hear many of us touting "Buy brand (insert here) cause it has (insert features here), is just us bragging about our toy's....
Here's some samples:
Grizzly G0505 12-1/2" Planer for $195
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G1182Z 6"x47" Jointer for $325 (special)
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Freight 10" Planer for $199.99
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Freight 6" Jointer for $269.99
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can also save more by selecting different models - I just chose the above as examples. I don't own either brand but I think most will tell you to go with............brand ???
What.....you've never been on a snipe hunt? No...not that kind, those are only really found in Texas. The other kind can be found everywhere. Snipe's are kinda hard to find sometimes but if you look real careful like and have the right light reflection you can see the little deviants. They usually hide out at the ends of the boards - about 2-1/2" in from the end after they've been thru the planer. Now you have to wonder how anything can make it through those planer blades just a whirring away - but they do and they rear up just when you don't want'em to.
Best way I've found to avoid them is to lift the tail end of the board slightly as you put it into the planer and lift the leading edge slightly as the board exits. This helps trap the little buggers in the middle where the blades must obviously do a real number on them. I know they're fast little devils too cause sometimes no matter what I do, they manage to make it thru and end up on the ends of my boards.
All manner of devices have been tried to eliminate these snipes, everything from pressure roller springs to roller locking mechanisms but to no avail - some of them are downright devious and manage to get through all the traps we set for them. Sooner or later, somebody will build a better snipe trap - and we shall come!
Saw the DW at a local woodworking show today. It really looked nice. Blade changing was really easy. Three double sided blades. Smooth cutting. Minimal snipe. Chip ejection. Very nice.
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