Replies

1. 
   JMartinsky | May 11, 2003 01:38am | #1

   I am in the same boat, looking at planers. I have the Makita 12" portable and is, in my opinion, superior to the Delta. I have burnt out three Deltas and have found the Makita to be outstanding. Very nice finish, quiet, easy to change blades and bulletproof reliable. If you can afford it, get a floor model planer. $1200.00 at Amazon.com will get you a Powermatic, Jet or Delta, sent to your door with no sales tax and free shipping. Based on my tablesaw and jointer, I am partial to the Powermatic. If you opt for a portable, the Makita is my choice. Keep in mind that the floor model will require 220V, so check your electrical service. Another thing to consider is a dust collector. Planers in particular make a lot of shavings very quickly, so unless you enjoy pushing a broom, consider it. A shop vac won't do it for a planer. Good Luck!

   John

1. 
   redryder | May 11, 2003 04:50pm | #8

   I guess I have to put my 2 cents in here also......and point out at the start, I buy mostly rough lumber....and like my tools.

   I started with a Dewalt 12 bench top and quickly realized that a larger machine was needed. I purchased a PowerMatic 15" floor model and love it.....it's a horse. You will need a good dust collector to go with it. I started with a 1 horse SECO which was OK but the bag was too small...now using a General 2 horse and it works great.

   I soon after bought a Performax 16/32 drum sander...which was OK and did what it was supposed to do ......but was slow.

   I just replaced it with a PowerMatic 16/32 wide belt sander and WOW the combination of the two make life really great..

   Good Luck in your hunt.

2. 
   BG | May 11, 2003 01:57am | #2

   Mac,

   I think the portable planer will be more than adequate for quite a few years as you develop your skills and determine what you'd like to produce on a regular basis.  The portable does a nice job just take it easy on the size of the cuts.  This assumes, of course, your not planning on pushing through hundreds of board feet of stock per week ..

   I would buy an 8" jointer if i had the money, however.

3. 
   JeffKurtz | May 11, 2003 06:11am | #3

   Have you considered a lower cost alternative like this?

   http://www.garrettwade.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=103249&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=10000&iSubCat=10005&iProductID=103249

   Simpler construction and it will last for generations.

   Jeff

1. 
   RW | May 11, 2003 06:20am | #4

   Jeff I looked at them, but for some reason I can't see what size motor they come with. Hmmm, the mystery deepens. <G>"The child is grown / The dream is gone / And I have become / Comfortably numb "      lyrics by Roger Waters

4. 
   Ricky_Yu | May 11, 2003 10:10am | #5

   Since you aren't bound to conventions like money or space (unlike us mere mortals), then you won't be going overboard if you get a floor model planer. For one thing, the big ones have induction motors while the bench ones have universal motors. The former are more durable and quieter as well. The universals are already loud when you turn it on, but if you decide to put a board throught it, well, forget about it! Also, the floor ones have steel rollers as opposed to the bench one's rubber rollers, which is another durability issue. If you are looking forward to planing thousands of board feet in the near and distant future, then you will be well served by a large planer.

5. 
   WarpedWood | May 11, 2003 10:16am | #6

   My experience with a single speed 12" benchtop dewalt planer and a 16-32 performax drum sander has left me wishing I had the clean cuts of a blade planer with the variable speed, adjustable preasure, and I/O feed alignment of my drum sander.  These adjustments can prevent snipe, chipping, and washboarding by the planer.  Such a beast costs as much as both units combined, but the results are superior to either / both.  Hind-sight is always 20/20.

6. 
   DJK | May 11, 2003 04:32pm | #7

   Don't waste your cash on a portable. A couple years from now you'll want a larger machine and the benchtop will be worthless. Purchase a used floor model planer like a PM 100 or Delta 13"-15". Will cost less than $900. They will retain a good resale value if you bail out of woodworking or a better machine comes along. Some may suggest the Grizzly 15" open stand. The first purchase should be a dust collector.

   Dave Koury

7. 
   GHR | May 12, 2003 03:05am | #9

   It depends on what type of work your are doing.

   Cutting softwood is a lot different than hardwood.

8. 
   DennisS | May 12, 2003 06:04am | #10

   Keep in mind that the amount of money you spend on tools, whether power tools or hand tools, doesn't make you/me/anyone a better woodworker. "You get what you pay for" is, of course, always to be heeded, but for hobby work, even serious hobby work, a benchtop planer would, in my humble opinion, serve quite well. The floor model has lots more mass and thus probably more rigidity but, on one very high classed project where I managed to rub elbows with some of the finest craft people in the Seattle area, all of them prefered to use the portable two speed Delta benchtop on the job over a large 15" Powermatic. They were sitting side by side and the Powermatic hardly got used at all.

   I'm currently working in a two car garage and would be hard pressed to find space for a stationary floor model planer. The benchtop lives under the table saw side table extension where it's useable for short run use or, for extended use, gets moved up onto the table extension.

   Just my view.

   ...........

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]

9. 
   riverr1 | May 12, 2003 06:46am | #11

   Of course the bigger the better. I do have the $299 Delta 12 1/2 single speed that comes with the stand that I use both in the shop and on job sites, and it works fine. Actually, it works great. I use a lot of older, recycled wood so I do a lot of blade changing which is a breeze with this machine. The stuff is hard as all get out sometimes, but it's never really slowed the machine down which is what I feared might happen when I decided to give the little guy a go. I think pretty much any of the name brand, quality portables will work for you until you out grow it. Be advised as said, these suckers make the chips.

   Don

1. 
   WALLYWALNUT | May 12, 2003 07:17am | #12

   When my father passed away, several years ago, I inherited a floor model, Belsaw Molder/Planer, and I will have to admit that it takes up some precious floor space in my cramped two car 20X22 garage. It is a 12" Molder/Planer and probably weighs about 2 - 250 lbs, and is a workhorse!  I can take a 8 - 10' board and plane it down with no problem, lickety split!   To deal with the footprint problem, I put it on casters, and when not in use, I wheel it out of the way!  I love it, and probably will not trade or part with it because it was my fathers.  Also, I didn't have to invest the cash.  You have some good advice in the previous posts, don't buy more than you need. One major problem with mine is that it does not have any provision for dust or chip collection because it is so old, and let me tell you, this baby can make the chips fly!  What a pain, cleaning up the mess, can be! Even with a shop vac.   As one post advises, if you are going to do volume, buy a dust and chip collector!  Also,  don't buy a used machine that doesn't accomodate one unless you have the right situation.  Good luck!   

10. 
    sailalex | May 12, 2003 02:53pm | #13

    One must consider how much you are going to use it. Despite the comments about a larger planer, I bought the 2 speed Delta and have run about 250 bft of white oak ( tough stuff) through it for a boat project. It has performed beautifully; even after that much work it still has a smooth cut. For the hobbiest who is not doing production(commercial) work, I can't understand why these portable planers aren't all you need. They also are easy to move out of the way when you are short on space.

11. 
    cutter | May 13, 2003 08:26pm | #14

    Hi MacBuddy,

    I suggest you buy a portable.  They work very well and store away simply.  I got a Delta 12 1/2 inch single speed, came with a stand (22-565?).  Next to the stand I placed a fold up table - the kind you buy at Office Depot for $30, 30X60 ".  It is a tad low, about 1/4 inch lower than the planer outfeed, so I shimmed it up under the feet.

    You can fold all this up and store it in your garage.  The outfeed table helps support boards, minimizing snipe.

    As for the floor-mounted.  Here's what I know from reading comments:

    Jointers are 6 or 8", so why a planer of more than that, or more than 12".  Only for purchased wide stock I guess.  But many will tell you that to joint a wide board, it is better to rip it in 6 or 8" strips, joint them, plane them and glue them up. 

    I would instead put the savings from buying a portable into a wide belt sander - now that's something you want wide - you can sand the table tops, glue-ups, etc.  You can get them for the price of a floor planer.  Grizzly has a 16" for $750 and a 24" for $1200.

    View Image

    Norm loves his top of the line unit.

1. 
   JeffKurtz | May 14, 2003 01:15am | #17

   Oops! What you have pictured is not a belt sander; it's a drum sander.  While the G1066R drum sander sells for $1195, the G9962Z (Grizzly's 24" wide-belt sander) goes for $6495.

   From what I understand, a drum sander will flatten warped and cupped boards to some degree, but not like a belt sander which performs this task superbly. Drum sanders are also prone to producing snipe - never happens on a wide-belt.

   Both units produce a whole lot of dust, and require a rather large collection unit.

   Jeff

12. 
    jeffn7 | May 13, 2003 11:34pm | #15

    I had a floor model, a Makita 2030, but sold it and got a Delta 13" 2 speed. I really like the delta, although at about 100 lbs, it's barely portable. I really can't think of anything I have been unable to do, except some wide glue-ups, but I like doing those by hand anyways. I love the disposable blades on the delta, a real snap to change.

    Yeah, a 15" floor model would handle 2 more inches (who says size doesn't matter!), but the real benefit would be how much you could hog off in one pass. I may get another floor model someday, but then it'll be a planer/moulder. Until then, this 13" more than does it share.

13. 
    jc21 | May 14, 2003 12:38am | #16

    I think a portable planer would work fine in addition to taking up less space and leaving a lot more $ in your pocket. If it were me, I'd start out with a portable planer. For most folks, they work well, and if, down the road,  you really need the extra capacity, sell the portable and put the $ towards a floor model planer.

14. 
    b1gcountry | May 14, 2003 08:52pm | #18

    There are several big name woodworkers that are entirely happy with their benchtop machines; people who do things for a living. If you use a bandsaw to resaw thick boards to the appropriate size, vs. if you like to hog away the wood on the planer might answer your question for you.

    Tom

15. 
    twoodward15 | May 14, 2003 09:26pm | #19

    Id really lean toward the portable.  Do you know how many portables I can buy for the price of one stationary?  How often is that extra 2 inches gonna help you????  You need two sets of blades for the stationary machine or you have down time betwen sharpenings.  I just turn mine around or throw them away and put in new ones.  Regardless, the blade changes equal out to the same money.  When mine dies, I will carry it to the curb and the trash man will pick it up.  Right after I get it out to the curb, I'll get in my truck and go to lowes and buy a new one, with all the latest gizmos on it, heck by that time I may be buying a 15 inch porty planer if someone comes out with one, for considerably less than the stationary.  Go for the porty, you'll be much happier.