Good planer?

[NoNameAtAll]

I'm sure this has been covered here before, but I googled the newsgroup and didn't come up with a whole lot of information. I'm condidering buying a planer for my home workshop but I have no experience with them and hence have no idea which one would be good. I've seen some discussion about the DeWalt 735 and Delta 580, both of which are 13" planers. The DeWalt is about $100 more expensive. Is it actually worth that much more? Are there other makes and models I should consider? Ease of use is important to me because I've never used one before. Portability is not a big deal because I don't intend to take it anywhere.

[Harvey Levin]

I've got the Dewalt DW735. The Delta is a very good planer. My brother-in-law owns one; it's easy to use and put a fine finish on the wood with very little snipe. The Dewalt, however, is an outstanding planer. It planes so smooth that two pieces of planed wood want to stick together and you'll question the need for any sanding. The only times I've had any snipe at all were my fault for either trying to take too much off at once (3/32" on dimensioning speed on pine) or putting a "follower" piece in too quickly behind a small piece of stock and catching the blades.

If you've got the extra cash, the Dewalt is a heavier, better-engineered planer. If not, the Delta is a good second choice.

BTW, the most recent issue of Popular Woodworking (Feb 2004) has a review of

[Juergen Hannappel]

I have made good experiences with a predecessor of the Metabo ADH260D, which is a combination machine that joints, planes and theicknesses. While three individual machines in a roomy shop are of course superior in a small shop (and with limited budget) such a combination is really useful. Unfortunately it's now several hundred kilometers away from my workshop...

[<gabriel>]

There have been wars about this. Bottom line: Some people would rather save some money and get the 22-580 and are happy with it. Some others would rather pay the $100 more and go for the DW735 top of the line and good looks and are also happy with it.

The only functional difference (i.e. "easy of use" issue) is the locking you have to do on the 22-580 that you do not have to do on the DW735.

Also, if you care about cuts per into, the DW has more, at 96 and 179 cuts per inch. As to whether or not this matters, see the archives.

Personal note: I have the DW735 and am very happy with it, glad I bought it. But the bottom line is, whichever you choose, you will be happy.

[<gabriel>]

There have been wars about this. Bottom line: Some people would rather save some money and get the 22-580 and are happy with it. Some others would rather pay the $100 more and go for the DW735 top of the line and good looks and are also happy with it.

The only functional difference (i.e. "easy of use" issue) is the locking you have to do on the 22-580 that you do not have to do on the DW735.

Also, if you care about cuts per into, the DW has more, at 96 and 179 cuts per inch. As to whether or not this matters, see the archives.

Personal note: I have the DW735 and am very happy with it, glad I bought it. But the bottom line is, whichever you choose, you will be happy.

-- gabriel

[gabriel]

Hey Juergen, how does the jointer measure up? Hitachi has a model here in the USA that is a 12 inch planer and a 6 inch jointer. The jointer table seems too small to do any real work, but at USD$1000 a piece, I don't want to try it out myself.

How's the performance on your combo machine's jointing? How long a piece can you can you joint on it?

[Juergen Hannappel]

The infeed and the outfeed table are about 50cm long, while the maximum witdth is 26cm,

Good, but i have no comparison other than a manual jointer plane..

I've jointed up to 140cm on it, but (at least with a helper) longer should be also possible.

[gabriel]

Thanks for you reply. I think your device is better than the Hitachi I see here. Anyway, the Hitachi is useless because it costs as much as a DeWalt735 planer (USD$480) plus a Delta cabinet 6 inch planer (USD$550), so no one will go for the Hitachi.

I have to go to Europe and try out some European woodworking equipment!

[Steve]

(reply is in-place below)

------------------- Well said :-)

and if the price of the Dewalt 735 is a bit "intimidating", you can do nearly as well with the DeWalt 734 (which is lighter in price and weight but still ahead of the Delta). The 734 is a three-blade planer like the 735 but only has a single speed. (The DeWalt 733 is a two-blade planer and more in the league what the Deltas would like to be when you talk about results.)

[Mike G]

I own and like my Delta 560 12 1/2 inch planer but if I were going to have to replace it tomorrow it would be with the new De Walt 13" 3 blade two speed unit. Both De Walt and Delta make good units but the new De Walt will provide more CPI (cuts per inch) and that is the name of the game. Grater DPI equals cleaner cuts and less tool marks in a greater variety of woods.

[Joseph Smith]

I've never used the Dewalt but I heard its a great planer. I just recently acquired the 580 and I love it. Final decision on buying it was price. I believe Delta still has the $50.00 rebate offer on this item.

Joey in Chesapeake

[Kevin B]

About a month ago I purchased the Delta 580 from Woodcraft for $330.00 after rebate. ABSOLUTLEY SUPERB. No snipe, easy to setup, smooth finish. At that price it was a no-brainer. I don't do anything special to avoid snipe, just firm down the locking mechanism and feed boards at a slight angle. I've planed white oak, cherry, and kentucky coffeetree with excellent results.

Good luck.

[Unisaw A100]

Parks No.95 (also badged as Craftsman) Powermatic No. 100 Boice-Crane 12"

Wood goes in one side and comes out the other. The planer really does all the hard work.

Well then, the three above mentioned planers will suit you just fine.

UA100

[Bob S.]

As I recall from some past posts, you own a Parks 95 don't you?

Bob S.

[Unisaw A100]

A Craftsman actually.

UA100

[nuk]

I tried googling to see if I could find some pictures of the Metabo 260. Came up w/ two sites, one german and one hungarian (can't read them and couldn't navigate to find any pictures). The reason my ears perked up when reading the thread is that I'm very interested in the Rikon RPJ10, which other people have called the PT260 (note the similarity in the model numbers), and it sounds like the dimensions are roughly correct i.e. 10" bed (about 26cm), and the infeed and outfeed tables each being

50cm sounds about right for the ~39-1/4" overall length of the beds. Someone else somewhere thought it looked a good deal like the Dewalt combo machine they market in Britain.

Here are a couple links to some pictures:

the second page, they (Rikon) refer to it as both the PT-260 and as the RPJ-10. Is this by any chance close to the model that you are referring to?

TIA,

nuk

[George]

Do you mean less distance between peaks? Sharpness is primary, depth of cut is the secondary determinant of surface smoothness. Your cabinet scraper doesn't care how many ridges per inch it crosses. If they're shallow, they go away in a single pass.

Of course, if you're a sandpaper only type, you may have more difficulty with a larger number of burnished valleys from dull blades.

[Bob S.]

Ahhhhhh hell........that just blew the whole image Keefer... Here all along I've envisioned you being the keeper of some of the crown jewels of the woodworking world and now you tell me its a Craftsman...

Okay then, as a good net citizen I'll help you redeem yourself and remove that thing from your shop so you can make room for a real piece of history. Now tell me again, how many no-necks, knuckle dragging gentlemen from Buffalo do I need to bring along to get that thing out of your shop?

Bob S.

[Gene]

Buy the lathe instead, you'll have more fun :)

Gene

[Bridger]

and heavily armed ones too, I'll wager.