Hello all,
I am looking to buy a thickness planer and have 2 choices for my budget. A Dewalt style DW733 12″ (31cm) portable thickness planer or a combination planer / Jointer 10″ Bernardo ADM 260 (www.bernardo.at). Both cost about the same – about 850 Euro. I am limited to the amount of electricity that I can draw as in Italy (where I live) the appartments and garage are wired for 3.3kw, above that the main breaker drops.
Would I be better off going for the 12″ thickness planer or going for a combo machine with less width? I do have boards that are wider than 10″ but I could cut them, plane them and reglue but this is also a lot of work as I only have a Dewalt bandsaw and a circular saw (and handsaws…).
Any of your experience / wisdom / Suggestions would be great!
I don’t mind jointing by hand or using a router and a long aluminum guide but I am tired of trying to plane by hand and get good flat boards for glue up or for furniture. I work only as a hobby about 10 hours a week and would like to do more productive stuff instead of constantly planning the boards purchased rough.
Thanks
Jim
Replies
I have the DW733 and like it OK. The only issue I've had with it is that it has pretty crummy bearings on the rollers. I had to replace them after about 2 years use. They are babbit bearings, I believe, and can't really handle the forces applied by the rollers, so they elongate pretty seriously -- in my case enough to allow the roller chain to jump the gear teeth. Still, the repair was not too expensive, tho' tedious, and the planer is back in business. I have no experience with the other model you cite.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Wow I read this a couple of times... 850 Euro for the Dewalt 733... Wow... It really leaves me speachless. That's $1318 Canadian Dollars ($1122 USD), enough to get the DW735 and a separate jointer! I'm assuming that the model numbers are the same for the planer.
Personally if it were me I'd go for the Jointer/Planer combo. You're adding all the function of a jointer as well as a planer. Don't forget the jointer is used for more than just putting on a straight edge, you'll be able to face 10" boards as well. It really depends on how many 10"-12" boards that you will be using. Any wider or narrower and you've lost any advantage of the extra 2"...
Hello Buster,
Thanks for the advice!
I know, Europe is expensive in many ways, not just the 20% sales tax... It hurts to look at Lowes and HD and then search the same equipment in Europe, usually double the price - if it were only easy to convert a 120v 60HZ motor to a 220 50Hz. Even the same stuff on Amazon US or Amazon.co.uk are double.
My thought was to go with the combo machine also, it looks like a Taiwan or China product but the company stands behind it all and I am not a top pro by any means,
Cheers and thanks again,
Jim
Jim,
Wow, go for that combo machine! It looks fantastic. Can you check it out first?
I'm waiting for my Hammer combo. I think combo jointer/thickness planers are the direction the whole industry will be going very shortly. It makes so much sense.
Rich
If you don't mind jointing by hand and you have a significant need for smooth - wider stock then I'd say a planer would be the best investment. I too hated gluing-up narrow pieces then having to hand work to a finish. I'm much happier now with a 12" planer.
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