How does the noise level from a portable planer compare to that of a stationary unit? I’ve got a portable DeWalt planer that really screams… even when I’m not feeding wood through it (i.e. between passes). It’s been a long time since I used a stationary planer, but it doesn’t seem that the ones in shop class in high school howled like this. My shop is in the basement of my house, so whenever possible I do my planing outside, but it’s cold in upstate NY in January! Would going to a stationary unit help?
Thanks, Bob
P.S. I don’t think I’ve run in to a problem with the planer. It’s been excessively loud since new.
Replies
Bob,
Do you have a jointer? A "stationary" planer with an induction motor, (rather than the "universal" type motors used in the smaller planers) makes about as much noise as a jointer. That is, a pretty quiet , low-pitched, humming, caused by the motor, the drive belt and the cutter head. Very easy to tolerate compared to a screaming universal motor-powered "portable" thickness planer.
Universal motors (planers, routers, belt sanders) at high speed make an awful shriek.
Rich
Thanks Rich!
That's what I recalled, but like I said, it had been a while since I had used a stationary planer. That screaming shriek that you mentioned is a good way to describe the noise that this portable planer makes!
Bob
Bob,
I lied. The induction motor-driven thickness planer makes a bit more noise than a simple joiner, due to the drive train for the feed rollers. Still, when not actually cutting, it's a lot quieter than portable planers driven by those tiny universal motors running at 10,000 to 20,000 rpm
I have a number 7c Bedrock that is considerably quieter than my 16" Hammer J/P.
Steve,
What kind of motor is in the Bedrock? (I'm pretty sure I know what's in the Hammer.)
Rich
Its a meat and potatoes drive, coupled with a beer at the end of the day.
Nothing like lubing the tools at the end of the day. Maintenance is a good thing.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
When running or when running and cutting wood? It seems to me that my portable Makita isn't louder than my father's 20" Grizzly when cutting. Heck, it may even be quieter (seems so to me but I haven't run them side by side). The Makita is known and advertised for how quiet it is, the DeWalt is known for its noise. So I suppose it depends.
My 15" belt driven Powermatic is really quiet. My buddy had a Delta motor driven 15" planer that he says screams.. must be the belt driven motors that keep it quiet..Get the belts!!!
Don't know of a truly "quiet" planer but Makita's 2012NB is quieter than most and far easier on these ears than DeWalt's DW735 who noise will raise the dead.
This is my planer and it is absolutely a beautiful machine... Spiral cut 15" belt driven Powermatic. Quiet as can be.
For me it's not the planer that is noisy, it is the necessary dust collection equipment that drives me to put on the hearing protectors.
Hello Bob,
I mentioned, in another post, that I personally witnessed the Grizzly G0544 planer in operation at a facility where I work. It has a spiral cutter head and is the quietest planer I have ever heard in operation. I have come to the conclusion that it is the spiral cutter head that mainly keeps the noise down. If I were in the market for a new planer it would have a spiral cutter head. I would also stay away from any of the noisy universal motors. Just my two cents.
Bob, Tupper Lake, NY
You are absolutely right, it is the spiralhead. When I retired I took the package I got and upgraded most of my tools. DJ-20 jointer to a Bridgewood 12" spiralhead, a Bridgewood BW-20 spiralhead planer to replace a Powermatic100 12" planer. The noise reduction is almost half, I could really run the jointer or planer without hearing protection(never would) and my ears would'nt hurt. My old machines had straight knives and the were high quality machines ( that my son now enjoys immensely) but they are louder. Must be the spiralheads.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I hadn't considered the design of the cutterhead as it relates to operating noise. It makes sense to me that a spiral cutterhead that I would describe as carving the wood away wood as opposed to "smacking" the wood as a traditional cutterhead does. I would imagine that in either of these cases the motor noise would be similar.
I read the article on benchtop planers in FWW and was surprised that the db ratings for the various models didn't vary as much as I thought they would. Of course what db readings don't account for is pitch. The more I think about what annoys me about the noise of this planer, the more I think that it's the high pitch (i.e. frequencey not amplitude). I haven't looked at the specs of benchtop planers in a while, but I remember when I bought this DeWalt that it turned at 10,000RPM with 2 knives while most others had 3 knives at a lower RPM. I wish I could remember the other RPM value, but I remember that the DeWalt gave more cuts per minute and that was attractive to me. I guess everything has its tradeoff...
Thanks again, this is an interesting discussion.
Bob
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