Replies

1. 
   fussy | Dec 28, 2006 10:18am | #1

   Planers are noisy.  I have the 735, and I love it.  How wide a board do you typically run?  I almost never find stock wider than 12"-13", so the DeWalt is fine.  Cut quality is great.  If it seems slow, how big a bite are you taking?  Are your blades still sharp?  I've been using mine for 2 years, and it's almost time to flip the blades.  If you gotta have a bigger planer, look at Woodmaster.  They always get top reviews.

   
   

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   Edited 12/28/2006 2:20 am ET by fussy

2. 
   BilljustBill | Dec 28, 2006 08:28pm | #2

      Look at it this way.  If you have a 15" planer, you can have a glue-up of 30", having only one glue joint to then belt sand flat.   If you have a 20" planer, you can go to 40" wide.

      I know one fellow who bought a 15" planer because he only needed that width to surface rough lumber.  Now that he is into furniture making, he wishes he'd purchased the 20" planer.  A chess board with 2" squares won't go through the 15" planer.

     You are going to need to move your 20" planer around your workshop at some time.  Plan to spend a few extra dollars for a heavyduty mobile base.  Shopfox makes a great one rated at 1,000+lbs.to hold the weight of 700+lb. cast iron planer.

     One final thought has to do with Horsepower.  With the hope of getting one of those Byrd Helicial cutter heads, going for a 20" planer with a 5hp motor will help in the future.  Some brands come with the 5hp, but usually you can get the bigger motor for only a $100 more...

      Bill

   
   

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   Edited 12/28/2006 12:38 pm ET by BilljustBill

1. 
   mudmasher | Dec 28, 2006 08:53pm | #3

   It's not just the width of cut that I am unsatisfied with.  My 8 inch joiner is much quiter than the Dewalt planer and has a much bigger motor.  The noise of the planer is painful even with ear plugs.   The biggest drawback is the time it takes to plane the boards.(Yes I have changed blades many times)  I am planing pecan boards and the blades do not last very long.  I have to take very small cuts and run 4/4 boards through many times to get to 3/4 finished boards.  I now run the boards over the jointer until very little is left for the planer to remove.  That is why I am considering moving up to the larger, heavier planer.  My question, fot those who have used both, do the larger planers save time and are they quiter than the Dewalt 13"

1. 
   BilljustBill | Dec 28, 2006 10:22pm | #4

   Mudman,

      The wider cut has mixed blessings.  The 20" planer is going to noisy.  It begins when your dust collection system is turned on.  The air being drawn over the cutterhead makes the running machine louder.  A dull set of knives also takes the noise level up several notches; the wider and harder the wood like Pecan, the noise will be somewhat of a lower pitch but still loud.  The Federal Regs for a Smoke Alarm requires a loudness rated at 85db.  The 20" planer with a less than new set of knives is louder than that!

     A 24" Powermatic planer in a nearby State University's shop sits in concrete brick wall and Oak floor lab.  It was so noisy it has been boxed in with a plywood "casket" and all its cavity filled with fiberglass.  Only the chip collection duct and the infeed and outfeed slots are open.  It's a real bummer when the knives have to be changed.

      Bigger is not quieter.    Bill

3. 
   JMartinsky | Dec 29, 2006 01:18am | #5

   Dear Mud,
   I have a friends 15" Delta in my shop and noise is a non issue. The thing is somewhere between chain-saw and jackhammer loud. They all are, I imagine. I have a Byrd "Shelix" cutterhead in my jointer and when I purchase a planer, it will be the 20" Yorkcraft, with the Shelix head. It is quieter, yes, but, for a planer, I have to believe that it will still require hearing protection. As mentioned, just the DC drawing through the planer is loud. So, my ideal setup would be the 20" Yorkcraft, 5hp, built in mobile stand, Sheix cutterhead, all set up & test run, from Wilke Machinery. $2200.00 W/O Shipping.

   http://www.wilkemachinery.com/default.tpl?action=full&cart=1167344226214239&--eqskudatarq=2536

   Best,

   John