Replies

1. 
   joepez | Jun 12, 2006 08:55pm | #1

   Muck,

   Ordered one on 6/6. Got a call from carrier on 6/9 to set up delivery. I picked up at the terminal. I have not uncrated it yet, but. I will let you know prob by 6/14. If you hang on, Ill give you my first impressions of the fit and finish of the machine. I will say that It came very well crated, with no signs of external damage. This is my first green machine, but seeing as other threads have these machines coming out of similar factories and countries, I could not bring myself to the extra $$ for the gold one.

   I let you know.

   joe p

1. 
   Muck | Jun 12, 2006 09:34pm | #2

   I hear you. I have a lot of "Gold" machines, but $1,600 for the PM planer...Yikes. I could buy two Grizzly's for that. I downloaded the Grizzly manual. It is extremely well written and illustrated. I have never purchased a machine from Grizzly, but have bought other items and always been satisfied.

   I would love to buy this locally, but no Grizzly or Wilke stores in the Twin Cities. I do have an ACME Tool Store about one mile from me (The brick and mortar Tool Crib of the North that became Amazon tool crib) ....BUT, they only carry PM, JET or GENERAL 15" planers.

   I'll be waiting to hear your comments. I have to wait a while anyway because I'm "on the mend" after some foot surgery.

2. 
   frenchy | Jun 13, 2006 07:23am | #3

   I own the bigger 20 inch model..

    I can't tell you how wonderfull it's been!

    

     thirty thousand bd. ft. since I got it and not a problem.. All hardwoods like white oak and black walnut!

    darn near indestructable..

    

1. 
   dave7085 | Jun 13, 2006 01:19pm | #4

   Do you have any problem with the bed rollers maintaining adjustment?  Someone in an another thread suggested that the eccentric shaft / setscrew arrangment for adjusting the height of the rollers was problematic.   I am considering buying the G0454 20" planer. 

1. 
   frenchy | Jun 13, 2006 04:25pm | #6

   dave 7085

    None whatsoever!

     Tighten them up before you use the machine and I check every year or so  that they haven't loosened or gone out of adjustment.

         I don't try to lift the board high off the deck  which would put a great deal of pressure on the mechanism.   If they were less than fully tightened that might cause adjustment problems,, however you can lower the board to the bottom of the adjustment, still clear the bed and have zero leverage on things..

      Now of the 30,000 or so bd. ft.  hardwood that I've planed (some both sides and some only one side)  I always leave a tiny bit to sand off..I sand everything because sometimes I need to beat the timber into place when it gets stubborn  (you should see what I do to my children<G>) and it's nice to be able to remove the dents my deadblow hammer makes.

     Please remember, Sometimes I have giant timbers gpoing thru my planer.. 18 inch by 8 inch for example sometimes as long as 20 feet.  Sometimes too They are 1/2 inch thick boards..

2. 
   frenchy | Jun 13, 2006 04:30pm | #7

   dave,

    get the spiral head verson.. I am sooo tempted to buy the spiral head conversion kit but at nearly a thousand dollars for it, it just seems like such an  expense compared to the $1300 I bought the unit for in the first place.. The only reason I don't buy it though is I already have  4 sets of blades and three sets of disposable blades for mine..  Maybe once I've worn out all of those I'll reconsider...

     

1. 
   dave7085 | Jun 14, 2006 06:52am | #8

   frenchy,

   Thanks for the replies.   Right now, the spiral head cutter version is $1100 extra.    I will have a hard time to justify that.  Also, I heard that the spiral cutter does does produce as good a surface as sharpened, conventional blades.

   How thick a cut per pass do you normally take?  On my 12" lunchbox planer I usually take 1/32" per pass and get a good surface.   Usually I hand plane or scrape after that, followed by 220 grit sanding for my final surface.

   Dave

1. 
   frenchy | Jun 14, 2006 07:47am | #9

   dave 7085

    it really depends..

    If The knives are sharp and the wood is clean I might take nearly 1/4 of an inch per pass to really hog off the wood.. I can slow the feed speed down and take a whisper of a cut and wind up with a board soooo smooth it's a crime to sand..  Black walnut is like that.. It comes out smooth and almost glassy..

      the type of wood, how wide or narrow it is  if it's green or dry,  and if I'm doing a piece or two for a particular project or a few hundred  boards to  make a start for the next project.

      The kiln of my sawmill uses a spiral head cutter and it planes tens of thousands of board feet per month  Retail ready.. He produces the wood you buy in those fancy woodworking store that are wrapped in cellophane. Nobody complains about the surface..

3. 
   uncletim | Jun 13, 2006 04:23pm | #5

   I picked-up a G0453 about 7 weeks ago, I have two other planners, an old old rockwell that can't seem to get out of bed on a daily basis and do some work, and a newer dewalt735 that was a total waste of $480.00, as it has failed 4 times in just one year,,,,I have to say that I now own nine green machines, the G0453 is # 10, and I couldn't be happier, it was easy to set up, spent about 90 min. from crate to start up, all the work is in the in and out feed table set up, but it went pretty smooth, those tables are cast iron and pretty heavy but once installed alighnment was pretty straight forward. The built in roller stand is a big plus if you need to move it around and the heavy hand wheel makes height adjustments easy, there are two lock downs so the head will not move after you set a thickness, unlike my other two planners. I have sent approx 400bft. of hard maple through it and about 300bft of red oak, It is almost effortless, and with two speeds you get a nice smooth board in the end. The only complaint i have is that the dust port bolts on the top from the underside and has to be removed to change blades, but hey, for this price and with this power and capacity that's a minor thing! My advice? This is a very well built machine, get one and it just might be the last planer you will need to buy.

   ps. one note, all the hardware and manuals are shipped inside the base, you have to take the front cover off to find them, I know that sounds like a no brainer but it did cause a few minutes of "were the heck are all my parts?" type frustration. They should have put a note on the thing telling you this.

   good luck with your surgery

   uncle tim.