"ddakadmc" wrote in message
oups.com...
Good morning from arizona...

I am pretty new to woodworking and am setting up my shop in my garage.
I want to buy a planer and really like the DeWalt 735 but the $499
price tag is really beyond my grasp right now.

What planer(s) would you suggest under $400 and why. Also, how do you
limit snipe in a planer, it seems like such a waste of wood? Or, would
you suggest a reconditioned DeWalt 735 for $369 (but it only has a 1
year warranty and would need to be shipped).

Thanks in advance. I have learned a lot from reading these posts, and
yes, I did a search on planers but did not find anything along this
path.

Have a great day!


Affordable is a bad term to use in association with tools since affordable
is quite dependent upon the resources of the purchaser. I'd consider the
735 to be very much in the category of affordable, though that may not make
it the next purchase on my list. The term affordable usually ends up
meaning "I bought a piece of junk". My advice - save your pennies for a few
more months. It's not like you are talking the difference between a $2,000
cabinet saw and a $600 contractor's saw. In that case, I'd be making some
arguments in favor of the lower price - depending upon how you anticipate
using it.

I'm not much of a believer in reconditioned equipment anymore since all of
the manufacturers have figured out that they can drop the price by a few
points and shorten the warranty, and still take your money. It's not like
it used to be where reconditioned tools were significantly cheaper than new.
Hell, for a $31 savings - before shipping, why would one even consider it?
It's no deal for the consumer.

As a beginner, you might not even want to consider a planer. The savings
you are likely to realize by purchasing rough cut lumber is not going to be
squat. Buy a decent table saw, a decent set of oxy/acetylene torches (these
are just a must for anything...), and start making things. Buy S4S lumber
and don't worry about a planer for a while.

As for snipe - that's more of a user issue than a planner issue. Set up the
infeed/outfeed path properly and you'll greatly reduce snipe. Cut your
boards a little long and by the time you plane them, trim them to size,
you'll end up with absolutely no snipe.

--

-Mike-