Replies

1. 
   fdampier5 | Jan 08, 2003 04:27am | #1

   Tool buying guide and wood magazine both rated Grizzley's 20 inch planer tops. Popular woodworking rated Grizzley's 15 inch tops...

     My experiance is it's pretty hard to beat Grizzley's 20 incher....

1. 
   riverr1 | Jan 08, 2003 11:00pm | #2

   Frenchy,

   I went to Grizz's web site to take a look at their planers because of you post. Do you know which 15 and which 20 inch planer got those ratings?

   Don

1. 
   fdampier5 | Jan 09, 2003 05:49am | #3

   Don,

     The 20 inch model g1033 was a wood top value and popular wood working editors choice.  It's also the one I bought and believe me it's everything they say and more..  I've put twenty four foot long 6"x 12" white oak into mine and and nice timbers come out..    (I used a roller conveyor infeed and out feed)

     I've even used mine to get a stack of boards to the exact same width.   (I clamp them together and run them on edge thru the planer after jointing one side)

     I've honestly made well over 90 cubic yards worth of chips with mine!  It's cool!   Stuff some ugly knarly plank into it on one end and walk around and out pops a beautiful board with great figure and interesting grain....

     I wish I could justify the  24 inch planer since I have several wider burl boards to run thru.   Somehow $3295 is too expensive while  $1295 is affordable....

    the 15 inch G1021 was a peoples choice award from popular wood working..

    I started out with 12 1/2 inch Delta bench tops (2) and quickly found the need for the bigger planer...

1. 
   donshop | Jan 09, 2003 07:51am | #4

   I'm assuming that your referring to Grizzly machines, right?  Thanks for the reply. 

1. 
   fdampier5 | Jan 09, 2003 07:54am | #5

   yep!

2. 
   jeffn7 | Jan 09, 2003 09:41am | #6

   the 20" shopfox looks like a heck of a deal at $1500

1. 
   DJK | Jan 09, 2003 06:07pm | #7

   All planers will make a ugly, rough piece of lumber into a nice board. Go to http://www.woodweb.com machinery exchange and take a look at the Delta 18" wedge bed for $1450 located in central Ohio. The variable feed rate is a feature worth having. It will eat the 20' Grizzly for lunch and have the 15" Grizzly for a snack. How often would you plane rough lumber wider than 12"? I assume you would have a 15" - 20" jointer for face jointing. If you want to flatten glued panels, buy a drum or wide belt sander. I have a 13" Rockwell variable feed planer, 16" Sidney jointer and 26" Woodmaster drum sander. If it's too wide for the planer after face jointing, I run it through the sander. I don't use much exotic lumber so boards wider than 16" are rare.

   Dave Koury

1. 
   fdampier5 | Jan 11, 2003 02:54am | #12

   About a third of my 4/4 stock is over 15 inches..  My most prized boards are about a dozen 22 inch wide burl oak with wonderful figure.. 

        I know that furnature makers like little pieces of wood to work with but there is great beauty in the wide boards.  (worse comes to worse I'll rip 'em to a narrower width and glue 'em back together, but somehow that seems a sacraledge to me)

           I won't take you to task for expressing your opinion as fact regarding the quality of  Delta.  let us just agree to disagree on this one...

1. 
   DJK | Jan 11, 2003 03:56pm | #14

   OK with me. I know from your other posts about your lumber collection and some need a wide planer. My point is that one still needs to face joint the lumber before running through a planer or you just end up with a thinner bent, twisted usless piece of wood, unless you start with S2S lumber. Why are some jointing /planing 8'-12' long boards and crying about .005" of snipe, unless it's for a moulding run or timber framing. After planing the lumber must be sanded, so I think a drum or wide belt sander makes more sense for the non-production shop. The sanders work much better than a planer on figured lumber, although slower. We all like wide planks but keeping them flat is a struggle. At times ripping and gluing is the only method but we all know after ripping the lumber is in worse shape from relieving internal stress.

   Dave Koury

1. 
   fdampier5 | Jan 12, 2003 04:11am | #15

   Maybe it's me or maybe I'm just a lousy woodworker with unacceptable toreance for "character" but often, very often I can use the planks as they came off the sawmill.    Either my sawmill has great quality control or  I'm just a hack but I can often stuff a plank into one end of my planer and a flat board comes out the other end..

       When I say flat, I'm refering from side to side.  Length wise it really doesn't matter.     On one way or the other it's kept flat lengthwise. 

     For example. 

     flooring,   Lets assume it has a little banana in it length wise.  As long as I hold it tight against the fence  of the shaper the groove will be cut in and a tongue cut in.  Stick the tongue in the groove next to it and things get flatter..  do it often enough and the thing will lay pretty flat..  Now put your screws ( or nails) into it and it will wind up as flat as the sub floor under it.

     The same goes for paneling etc.  If I'm making some kind of box and I'm working with a little banana or twist the same thing applies..  clamps nails (or screws) and glue seem to convince most wood that isn't too twisted or banana'ed into shape..

     I gotta go now, I'm building my entryway. I want it finished by morning...

   PS..

     I just cut a wide dado joint into the verticals with my groove cutter.. way faster than any table saw would ever be plus it's sooooooo- much eisier!

3. 
   AlanTurner | Jan 09, 2003 10:30pm | #8

   I have the 20" WoodTek, 4 knife cutterhead planer, and it is great.  I suspect that it is basically the same as the Grizzly, from Taiwan.  EAsy to change knives with the jig they supply.  Quite accurate.

1. 
   LeeEschen | Jan 10, 2003 11:12am | #9

   I believe the Woodtek, Grizzley, Shop Fox, and Sunhill (and maybe others) 20" planers are all made by the same Taiwanese factory to almost identical specs. This may also be true with these companies' 15" planers.

   Your choice will have more to do with service and price than with actual hardware differences.

   --

   Lee in Cave Junction, Oregon

   On the Redwood Highway

1. 
   AlanTurner | Jan 10, 2003 04:57pm | #10

   I agree, and add to that list GI. I saw the GI at the Phila. show in November. Retail was 1800 or so, well above the others, and the only differences were color, of course, and the fact that it had a sideways oriented dust port. and, only one way (to the right as you stand at the feed end. This has been a great planer for me. I just wish that they would sell a head which was spiral carbide inserts, but it would probably be so expensive that I wouldn't afford it.

1. 
   riverr1 | Jan 11, 2003 03:15am | #13

   s4s,

   While reasearching before buying my General and GI machines I was told that the plant in Tawian that makes GI machines is owned by General and they take first dibs on the castings for their own machines the leftovers are what is used for the other machines they manufacture for other brands. Is this true or not? You guess is as good as mine. Also, are you sure that the helical cutter head won't fit on your machine? Thought I read somewhere that you could because the HSS, straight blade cutter head in your machine is the same that's available as an option for the machine that comes with the helical head as standard. Might want to look into that. Sorry, don't remember model numbers to be more specific.

   Don

1. 
   AlanTurner | Jan 13, 2003 07:56pm | #16

   Interesting thought.  I will get ahold of WoodTek and ask.  It offers the helical head in a diffenernt 20" planer than the one I have, a heavier duty and more expensive model.  Perhaps based on an older Oliver design?  I will see if they are interchangable.  Good idea.  Thx.

2. 
   riverr1 | Jan 13, 2003 08:10pm | #17

   s4s,

   What I was saying about the heads had to do with the GI and what you wrote to Lee about what you saw at the show in Philly. Got that confused with you having a WoodTek, but you know, that may make no difference and as you said, they probably come from the factory. Good luck.

   Don

4. 
   Andrew | Jan 11, 2003 02:04am | #11

   The made in Canada General 330 20" planer is one of the best 20" planers made today. it isn't cheap, but it is far superior to any of the taiwanese planers out there. it will leave a glass smooth surface feeding at 60 feet per minute. it's solid cast iron and is built like a tank. the other thing to look for is some old vintage planer like an oliver or yates. just make sure you can move one if you buy it as they usually weigh over a ton.

   the taiwanese planers are alright, but i find that they are not built to the same tolerances, and have a "mushy" feeling when raising and lowering the bed. with 15" planers they're all pretty much the same, but what ever you do get one with the motor mounted in the base, as the ones with the motors mounted over the cutterhead are the product of an engineer with his head stuck up his ####. this design leaves you very little room to change blades. the best cutterheads are the helical cutterheads which take indexable carbide inserts. not only is the surface it leaves better, the machine cuts quieter, you have 4 cutting edges on each insert, and you'll never have to worry about setting blade height again.

   hope this helps

   andrew