My nearly new powermatic 412 portable planer has two problems, either
one of which makes it into worthless junk. The non-sharpenable blades
have gone from $24 to $67 per set in the past few months. This means
it costs hundreds of dollars a year to keep your planer sharp. Not too
sharp an idea!
In addition the flimsy blade holder flexes. This allows wood chips
to buuild up under the blade and bending it. This means the planer no
longer cuts a straight line but a shallow arc.
This is why I will never buy from WMH tool group again. Burned
once shame on you,

Have you contacted the WMH tool group?

I have had good luck with everything I have purchased from them, but
most of the purchases I have made have been higher end toys. That said
in my experience, both in my own purchasing and from reading this board
often, there is no company that doesn't occasionally have a product
that sucks. It's part of the joys of spending money, or something.

I'm unfamiliar with the blade holder configuration of this unit but
could you replace the blades with some real blades. I'm thinking
thicker material maybe less likley to flex and allow chips to migrate
and sharpenable.

Just a thought.

BW

The blades fit onto a registration pin and are only available from WMH.
It would require rebuilding the whole blade holder apparatus from
scratch.

They are the ones who told about the wonderful new price for the
blades. I agree about their other tools. I have several excellent JET
tools. They are all ten or more years old, they date from the era
before WMH tool group. I didn't pay that much for the planer, thereby
by proving that it is the cheapskate who pays the most.

Let me try and help....first a couple of questions?
1. Where-whom did you buy the unit from?
2. How old is the unit? Warranty?
We all know what steel prices are doing...so the cost of the knives can
be expected.....do not get so discouraged,,,you will find that the
knives last for some time. Good luck...
Mike.

Blame the Chinese! They're buying up any and all steel (so they
can make crappy planer knives and ship them back to the USA).
The cost of steel has been skyrocketing for the past year or so
and probably the stock of already produced blades are gone and thus
serious inflation. Anything made of steel costs more now.
Flimsy I can't answer for because I would have thought
Powermatic's blades would be of a better quality than you got.
Is there any possibilty of returning it?
That quote about never being disappointed with quality failed
this time.
Robert Smith


prettygoodcarpenter wrote:
My nearly new powermatic 412 portable planer has two problems, either
one of which makes it into worthless junk. The non-sharpenable
blades
have gone from $24 to $67 per set in the past few months. This means
it costs hundreds of dollars a year to keep your planer sharp. Not
too
sharp an idea!
In addition the flimsy blade holder flexes. This allows wood
chips
to buuild up under the blade and bending it. This means the planer
no
longer cuts a straight line but a shallow arc.
This is why I will never buy from WMH tool group again. Burned
once shame on you,

I got stung buying a Powermatic Model 64 saw several years ago. It is a
piece of Asian Junk. The shame is that Powermatic used to be a serious
manufacturer of industrial equipment; now its just another also ran.
Dave

"prettygoodcarpenter" wrote in
oups.com:

My nearly new powermatic 412 portable planer has two problems, either
one of which makes it into worthless junk. The non-sharpenable blades
have gone from $24 to $67 per set in the past few months. This means
it costs hundreds of dollars a year to keep your planer sharp. Not
too
sharp an idea!
In addition the flimsy blade holder flexes. This allows wood
chips
to buuild up under the blade and bending it. This means the planer no
longer cuts a straight line but a shallow arc.
This is why I will never buy from WMH tool group again. Burned
once shame on you,


Well, I got to looking, because I hadn't seen a Powermatic portable
planer offered for sale in the last several years. The 412 seems to be
a machine very similar to a number of other low end lunch box style
machines, with other badges on them, and is NOT in the current line-up
of machines offered by WMH, at least not as a Powermatic. The 412's
documentation is offered as an 'archived document'.

There is a similar looking machine offered as a Wilton, and another as a
Jet.

Have you tried taking the blades to a good sharpening service, to see if
they can be sourced elsewhere?

Otherwise, I'd look for a replacement machine. Be aware, however, that
the cutterhead design, with chipbreaker as you mentioned, differs only
slightly from brand to brand, and requires more maintenance than say, a
circular saw.

Good luck.

Patriarch

"Patriarch" wrote in message
. 97.136...

Well, I got to looking, because I hadn't seen a Powermatic portable
planer offered for sale in the last several years. The 412 seems to be
a machine very similar to a number of other low end lunch box style
machines, with other badges on them, and is NOT in the current line-up
of machines offered by WMH

I was wondering the same thing. I've never seen a portable planer from
Powermatic. I wonder how old this model is and where it came from.

Bob

"prettygoodcarpenter" wrote in message
oups.com...
My nearly new powermatic 412 portable planer has two problems, either
one of which makes it into worthless junk.

Where did you buy this planer? It appears that its no longer manufactured.
The price for blades is probably high because of the cost normally charged
to stock parts for machines that are no longer supported.

Bob

I lit a pretty hot flame with this group about 6 months ago over Powermatic
Publications. I purchased a 54A 6" Jointer and the machine itself is
wonderful. The handbook absolutely sucked. It appeared to be compiled from
another book (or a translation) and was full of problems. Apparently a lot
of woodworkers don't believe the manuals are very important - an opinion I
do not share.

At any rate I went after their product support pretty hard. First contact
was all defensive. They initiated the second contact with an apology and
acknowledgement that the handbook needed an update. I even got a call from
one of their project managers. They also knew I was using this forum to
express displeasure.

Go after them - a lot of other woodworkers might benefit if you can get
their attention.

This isn't an isolated problem. I have one of the old Ryobi 12-5/16"
machines and it continues to do a great job. However, about a year ago I
discovered the price of knives went from $19 for Ryobi parts into the $60 -
70 range for aftermarket parts. This also had me wondering if I could
afford to keep an otherwise good machine. Luckily a rec.woodworking poster
informed me that a set of Delta knives duplicated the Ryobi's except for an
unneeded center pin hole. They cost about $24. I won't buy Ryobi again.

A couple of suggestions:

1) Google for replacement blades from other sources. You might find them
cheaper but you might also find knives that fit other machines that can also
be used on yours - Long shot but it worked for me.

2) Try a local tool shop with the same strategy,

I bought it new 18 months ago. It was a floor model, sold without
documentation, so I don't know manufacture date. It came from a
Powermatic retailer, a tool store. I will sell it.

A price increase of that magnitude you blame on steel prices? Try again.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Let me try and help....first a couple of questions?
1. Where-whom did you buy the unit from?
2. How old is the unit? Warranty?
We all know what steel prices are doing...so the cost of the knives can
be expected.....do not get so discouraged,,,you will find that the
knives last for some time. Good luck...
Mike.