I have a Delta 12 1/2 " benchtop planer. It is OK but I would like to go
up a step or two in performance. Any recomenndations from someone who has
ACTUALLY gone this route.

BTW someone in a previous post about the DW735 mentioned that the
softwoods were not coming out as smooth as hardwoods. The reason for this
is if you dont have a good powerful DC system sucking the chips out, the
chips get recirculated inside the housing and get slammed back into the
surface of the wood. If you look at the wood in the right light, sometimes
you can even see the little skid marks. Also softwoods like pine are
inherently difficult to plane due to the sometimes large growth patterns. I
have been working with reclaimed pine and poor quality pine for a few years,
mostly as an experiment. The nightmares never end. LOL

In article , "JuanKnighter" wrote:
I have a Delta 12 1/2 " benchtop planer. It is OK but I would like to go
up a step or two in performance. Any recomenndations from someone who has
ACTUALLY gone this route.

I went from that machine to a DW735, and have never for one instant regretted
it. There is no comparison at all in the finish quality.

BTW someone in a previous post about the DW735 mentioned that the
softwoods were not coming out as smooth as hardwoods. The reason for this
is if you dont have a good powerful DC system sucking the chips out, the
chips get recirculated inside the housing and get slammed back into the
surface of the wood.

That was me, and, no, that's not the reason. First of all, the DW735 has
fan-forced chip ejection, which does a superb job of getting the chips out of
the way. Secondly, mine is connected to an Oneida cyclone dust collector, and
chip removal was never an issue even with my Delta which does *not* have
fan-forced chip ejection. Finally, the diminished finished quality that I've
seen on softer wood - and the problems described by the two reviewers at
Amazon - is not in any way related to lack of chip ejection. Rather, the
knives have a greater tendency to leave tiny ridges, parallel to the length of
the board, on softer wood than they do on harder wood. I've seen what happens
to the finish when chips aren't cleared. And that's not the problem I see, nor
is it the problem described by the reviews on Amazon.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"JuanKnighter" wrote in message
...
I have a Delta 12 1/2 " benchtop planer. It is OK but I would like to go
up a step or two in performance. Any recomenndations from someone who has
ACTUALLY gone this route.
snip

Baby steps...giant steps???
I started with a benchtop planer... it wasn't long before I got a Powermatic
15".
I haven't regretted it a moment.
Tom