Oliver is a great tool. Period. I believe the helical cutters use carbide
inserts which are cnc designed to be accurate by simply screwing them in
place. With lathe tooling the inserts are ground on 4 sides so you should
remove one or at least inspect them. You might get more uses from the
inserts. You can get a 3 hp motor for $100-$200 used and adapt it yourself
unless it is direct drive. The delivery fee sounds reasonable. You will have
an awesome machine but don't ever move.
max

I found an Oliver 4255 12" jointer that although being run hard appears to
be in pretty good shape at a nearby sawmill. I can buy it for what they are
getting out of it for trade in value. What do you fella's think of this
deal?
1. $1800 for the planer without the 3 phase motor.
2. The guy at the sawmill will deliver it and bring a material handler to
set it in place for another $300. Weighs 1400 lbs.
3. A single phase 3hp motor from Oliver with all the necessary bits to
retrofit is in the $1200 range.
4. Needs to have the helical knives replaced I have no idea of that cost..

Does $3400 for that monster seem worth the effort? Also does anyone have
experience with those helical cut knives they could share? The Oliver
website seems to make it sound a bit too easy... " quick and easy blade
change with no setting required". But it sure seems like a real "top o line"
unit. This would be for a specific timber framing project and go up for sale
afterwards. (Hopefully not at a loss)

Thanks guys!
Knothead

BTW please post responses to the wreck. I was a fool sometime back and
posted a real address and learned that lesson the hard way.