As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

Mon, Nov 15, 2004, 7:54am (EST+5) (Dave)
claims he needs to know:
snip Do you think I should buy a benchtop model, or save the dough and
buy a floor model? snip

Nope. I think you should make up your own mind. Then if you're
not happy, you got no one to blame but yourself.



JOAT
Any plan is bad which is incapable of modification.
- Publilius Syrus

Floor model = hogging off more at one time and available in
wider versions.

Portable = nice finish cuts but limited to 12"-13" ish.

Answer, one of each, dependent upon what you really want to
do.

UA100

"Dave" wrote in message
Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do
it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

If you like and can afford a Jaguar, would you buy an Escort? Made by the
same company so they probably perform equally, right?

do you mean to imply that the floor models do NOT give nice finish cuts?
That spiral cutter head with the indexed carbide cutters from Grizzly sure
looks like it would give a nice finish.

My advice to the home shop owner would be to get a nice portable planer -
probably the 3 cutter head dewalt, or maybe one of the smaller spiral headed
ones from Grizzly. Then supplement this with a 16/32 or so drum sander to
handle larger panels and more gnarly wood. (you can also or additionally
buy certain hand planes to do this).

Mike


"Unisaw A100" wrote in message
...
Floor model = hogging off more at one time and available in
wider versions.

Portable = nice finish cuts but limited to 12"-13" ish.

Answer, one of each, dependent upon what you really want to
do.

UA100

Hi Dave,
I think Mike has given you some fine advice. Normally when "we" say that we
want it to be our "last" unit we mean that we do not want to buy something
lacking in features or capacity only to upgrade later. I don't think the modern
bench tops are missing much and with the money left over you are a long way to
paying for a drum sander. Cheers, JG

Mike in Mystic wrote:

do you mean to imply that the floor models do NOT give nice finish cuts?
That spiral cutter head with the indexed carbide cutters from Grizzly sure
looks like it would give a nice finish.

My advice to the home shop owner would be to get a nice portable planer -
probably the 3 cutter head dewalt, or maybe one of the smaller spiral headed
ones from Grizzly. Then supplement this with a 16/32 or so drum sander to
handle larger panels and more gnarly wood. (you can also or additionally
buy certain hand planes to do this).

Mike

"Unisaw A100" wrote in message
...
Floor model = hogging off more at one time and available in
wider versions.

Portable = nice finish cuts but limited to 12"-13" ish.

Answer, one of each, dependent upon what you really want to
do.

UA100

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 11:20:34 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

If you like and can afford a Jaguar, would you buy an Escort?

As they're both Fords, I wouldn't buy either.

Same with cast iron "four post" machines. Unless you're getting a
good one, not the usual retail stuff, these give a _worse_ finish than
a suitcase planer. OK, so they can shift timber quickly and they're
much quieter, but there's a compromise in there. They're also not
very wide - 15" isn't that much more useful than 13"

Personally I use a cheap suitcase planer, because after studying a few
models in action I found one that was noticeably better than the
competition. If the knives are sharp it also gives me a good finish,
better than my jointer.

If I was spending some more money and wanting to buy "a planer for
life", then it would be a big industrial bought S/H for about the same
as a new four post.
--
Smert' spamionam

It's a matter of how many BF you need to do per session and lifetime. The
big iron will process boards with its induction-run motor after the
universal is toast. It will also be accurately referenced after the small
one has shaken itself to pieces. That's why they make 'em.

Doesn't sound as if you need one for pure hobby work, though. Just remember
you've got "good enough" engineering, and keep your sessions short, your
cuts minimal. Other than that, only disadvantage is the lack of serrated
infeed and bed rollers for rough stock. Keep that bed polished to a "T" and
remember first flip may need some feed help.

"Dave" wrote in message
news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do
it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do
it over again, which size would you buy?

If you are only going low volume, the portable should serve you well. Mine
is 15 years old. That said, I wish mine was a stationary planer with larger
width capacity. I in fact am seriously considering going back to s4s as the
last batch of s4s lumber saved me several hours of preparation. The cost
was higher but my time is worth more. The stationary is not much bigger
than a portable foot print wise so the portable does not really save you any
room in many cases. If you are going to use the planer weekly you will
probably come out cheaper with a stationary planer as the portable will
probably have to be replaced before the stationary will with regular use.
As far as quality of out put, typically the portables feed slower and
produce a smoother finish although that finish still needs to be followed up
with a sander, scraper or smoother plane. I would not consider any surface
out of any thickness planer good enough for final preparation of the
surface.

So to answer your question, get a portable if you think will not use it
weekly or will not need to plane boards wider than 12-13". If time is more
important and you will use it regularly, get the stationary.

"Dave" wrote in message
news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy.

Why the obsession with "being the last planer I buy"? Over a period of
decades, that's pretty limiting. I was really considering a Powermatic
helical head planer as my first planer, but ended up buying a Delta
benchtop. What happened? If I wanted to buy the leading benchtop, I would
have bought the Dewalt 735. I got an opportunity to buy the Delta 13" for
$229 and never looked back. Had I realized how good a job that a simple
benchtop could do, I would have never even thought about the bigger machine.
Now If it lasts more than 4 or 5 years, I will be ecstatic. By that time
I'll know if there are any serious limitations in what I want to do. In the
meantime, I got a very useful tool a long time before my budget could afford
the big iron.

Planers are the one category of power tool where you get a whole lot of bang
for the buck in the lower end.

Bob

"Dave" wrote in message news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

Good question. One that I would like to know the answer to as well.
I have the DeWalt DW734 and have been fairly happy with it. But it
seems like it is a bit under-powered and I wonder how will it will
hold up over the years. I also seem to need to make a couple of
passes at my final dimesions before I can run the board through
without hearing it cutting anything.

As much as I enjoy working wood, I don't enjoy dimensioning. IMHO,
anything that makes getting properly dimensioned lumber easier,
faster, and more accurate, is a worthwhile investment.

If it turns out that a floor model does not offer that great of an
advantage, give the DeWalt DW735 (one up from my DW734) a good, long
look. I have read two glowing reviews.

~ Wyatt

In my limited experience I've noticed one big difference. The benchtop
models have rubber rollers and the stationary have serrated rollers. This
may not be true in every case but it was at the BOCES I took a woodworking
class from. The problem was if I wanted to plane a very small amount using
the large planner it left the indentations from the serrated edges. Not
exactly optimum. My benchtop gets me close then I sneak up on it with
shallow passes to minimize tearout and keep it smooth. Takes more time but
turns out better. Maybe the bigger ones expect the wood to go through a drum
sander as a next step.


"Dave" wrote in message
news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do
it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

Sounds like the tension on the infeed roller was too high...
I have a Powermatic 15", and as delivered I had the same problem, an
adjustment to the height and tension of the rollers fixed that.
Tom
"Ron Short" wrote in message
...
In my limited experience I've noticed one big difference. The benchtop
models have rubber rollers and the stationary have serrated rollers. This
may not be true in every case but it was at the BOCES I took a woodworking
class from. The problem was if I wanted to plane a very small amount using
the large planner it left the indentations from the serrated edges. Not
exactly optimum. My benchtop gets me close then I sneak up on it with
shallow passes to minimize tearout and keep it smooth. Takes more time but
turns out better. Maybe the bigger ones expect the wood to go through a
drum
sander as a next step.


"Dave" wrote in message
news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to
be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do
it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

Have used floor models comercially for
many years. Also had an opportunity to
use the table top model (Ryobi?). A
portable will cost 1/2 to 2/3 of a good
Parks, Powermatic, or Delta. The cast
iron unit will appreciate in value if you
buy the best condition used machine you
can find. The benchtop models will
frustrate you constantly and will in very
short order self distruct.
At the end you will have bought at the very least two bench top units with a
retail
value of zero. My guess is that after
several decades the cast iron unit will at
least ahve doubled in value.

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 12:08:47 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:
snip
Personally I use a cheap suitcase planer, because after studying a few
models in action I found one that was noticeably better than the
competition. If the knives are sharp it also gives me a good finish,
better than my jointer.

If I was spending some more money and wanting to buy "a planer for
life", then it would be a big industrial bought S/H for about the same
as a new four post.

Andy.. I'm in the market for a portable.. which one did you pick that
you thought was noticeably better?

Dave:
To answer your question:

Under your circumstances I would recomend a bench top planer. It will
do a good job for you and with your limited use, the unit will last
for years. Only if I was buying 150 bd ft or more at a time and
wanted to surface that much material at a time would I consider a
larger floor model. Good luck and happy woodworking!
Mike from American Sycamore

"Dave" wrote in message news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

Ayup. Or he was trying to take a "zero" pass.

Too many inexperienced people try to get things _exactly_ 3/4", as if that
were sacred, rather than realizing that if all boards are taken after the
same pass, it makes no difference what the precise thickness is. Hell,
hardwood's 13/16 anyway, before they sand it.

"Thomas Bunetta" wrote in message
...
Sounds like the tension on the infeed roller was too high...
I have a Powermatic 15", and as delivered I had the same problem, an
adjustment to the height and tension of the rollers fixed that.
Tom
"Ron Short" wrote in message
...
In my limited experience I've noticed one big difference. The benchtop
models have rubber rollers and the stationary have serrated rollers.
This
may not be true in every case but it was at the BOCES I took a
woodworking
class from. The problem was if I wanted to plane a very small amount
using
the large planner it left the indentations from the serrated edges. Not
exactly optimum. My benchtop gets me close then I sneak up on it with
shallow passes to minimize tearout and keep it smooth. Takes more time
but
turns out better. Maybe the bigger ones expect the wood to go through a
drum
sander as a next step.

It was a while ago so I don't remember. Not always concerned about the exact
3/4" but I like accuracy and I like to get as close as possible. Feels good
to hit it perfect and I know an hour later it'll be more or less as the wood
moves. But hey, it makes me happy and isn't that the whole point of this
hobby?

But I wasn't making a point on my technique.

The whole point was the serrated rollers put dimples in the wood. You've got
to make sure that you remove at least enough wood to remove the dimples.
Don't have the problem with benchtop models.

"George" george@least wrote in message
...
Ayup. Or he was trying to take a "zero" pass.

Too many inexperienced people try to get things _exactly_ 3/4", as if that
were sacred, rather than realizing that if all boards are taken after the
same pass, it makes no difference what the precise thickness is. Hell,
hardwood's 13/16 anyway, before they sand it.

Having had floor model planers in the 13 and 20 inch size and an old Delta
portable planer I have some thoughts. The floor models are a pain to adjust,
at least the older ones. Every little detail has to be just right. It took
two months to figure out the proper adjustments for an old Delta 13 inch
floor model. The blades take a couple of hours minimum to install. The first
sharpening saw this tool down for three days before I made all of the
adjustments accurately. They do stay accurate for some time. This floor
model weighs around 500 pounds and could handle a 4x12 hardwood board
without effort. The portable Delta could also do this with lots of support
and a light cut. It just doesn't make sense to buy a machine that would be
very difficult to move when you change your shop around. These machines are
frequently 3 phase also.
My old Delta portable is so easy to change blades that I once did it in 10
minutes.
As for resale, people that work at home are a bigger potential market than
the pro shops. I sold my Planer for $300 after using it for a couple of
years. I paid $500 for the floor model Delta and I don't think I could get
that now. The smaller machines are so good now that I see many pro's using
them.
I am going to buy one soon. I am leaning towards the Dewalt 735. It is heavy
enough not to move, has two speeds, quick change blades and plenty of power.
I am also considering the Delta two speed.
The Dewalt can be had for $475 delivered. I see them sell used on ebay for
$400. So they are economical to own.
Besides, it's yellow!!
max

I have a bench top model (delta) which has been a great tool.
Probably one of hte best I have. Having said that, I'm going to
replace it with something bigger. The main reason is the motor. I
want something that will stand up to hardwoods better than the
portable while being quieter at the same time. I'm glad I bought the
bench top thought. I'll keep using it until I replace some other the
other tools that I have that are really lacking. If the money isn't
so important though, I'd get a floor standing 15" model with a closed
base and a proper motor.

brian


"Dave" wrote in message
news:YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no...
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do it
over again, which size would you buy?

Dave

I was, as well as on the possibility that the pressure on the infeed roller
was too heavy. If I hadn't seen it a thousand times with kids, I wouldn't
have mentioned the newbie misapprehension that lumber needs to be anything
but the same thickness as what's going to be glued to it.

The lunch boxes don't feed thick stock worth a crap when one side's slick
and the other rough.

"Ron Short" wrote in message
...
But I wasn't making a point on my technique.

The whole point was the serrated rollers put dimples in the wood. You've
got
to make sure that you remove at least enough wood to remove the dimples.
Don't have the problem with benchtop models.

"George" george@least wrote in message
...
Ayup. Or he was trying to take a "zero" pass.

Too many inexperienced people try to get things _exactly_ 3/4", as if
that
were sacred, rather than realizing that if all boards are taken after
the
same pass, it makes no difference what the precise thickness is. Hell,
hardwood's 13/16 anyway, before they sand it.

Wow. It's thirty minutes start to finish on my 13" Rockwell/Invicta, the
granddaddy of the modern 4-poster. Pretty much the same with the 15" Grizz
up at school. Never could find a shortcut worth taking.

Add thirty if I'm going to resharpen the blades in the head versus replace
them with the sharpened spares.

"max" wrote in message
...
Having had floor model planers in the 13 and 20 inch size and an old Delta
portable planer I have some thoughts. The floor models are a pain to
adjust,
at least the older ones. Every little detail has to be just right. It took
two months to figure out the proper adjustments for an old Delta 13 inch
floor model. The blades take a couple of hours minimum to install. The
first
sharpening saw this tool down for three days before I made all of the
adjustments accurately.

I am sure it is quicker with your model. Mine is 50 years old.
max

Wow. It's thirty minutes start to finish on my 13" Rockwell/Invicta, the
granddaddy of the modern 4-poster. Pretty much the same with the 15" Grizz
up at school. Never could find a shortcut worth taking.

Add thirty if I'm going to resharpen the blades in the head versus replace
them with the sharpened spares.

"max" wrote in message
...
Having had floor model planers in the 13 and 20 inch size and an old Delta
portable planer I have some thoughts. The floor models are a pain to
adjust,
at least the older ones. Every little detail has to be just right. It took
two months to figure out the proper adjustments for an old Delta 13 inch
floor model. The blades take a couple of hours minimum to install. The
first
sharpening saw this tool down for three days before I made all of the
adjustments accurately.

Mike in Mystic wrote:
do you mean to imply that the floor models do NOT give nice finish cuts?

For finer finish cuts a porty planer is usually better.
Serrated infeed roller marks and all from the stationary
machines.

That spiral cutter head with the indexed carbide cutters from Grizzly sure
looks like it would give a nice finish.

Did you know those inserts leave ridges down the length of
the board? I wonder how the tighter sphinctered hobbyist
wooddorker will react to that?

My advice to the home shop owner would be to get a nice portable planer -
probably the 3 cutter head dewalt, or maybe one of the smaller spiral headed
ones from Grizzly. Then supplement this with a 16/32 or so drum sander to
handle larger panels and more gnarly wood. (you can also or additionally
buy certain hand planes to do this).

Better yet, substitute the drum sander for a stroke sander.

UA100, qwesting for a stroker...

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 16:35:47 GMT, mac davis
wrote:

Andy.. I'm in the market for a portable.. which one did you pick that
you thought was noticeably better?

You can't have it - Axminster CT330, so UK only
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=21831&recno=1
13" width, good headlock, long and stable tables. I put a couple of
thousand bf of oak through it the year I got it and it held up very
well.

A noticeably better machine than their older CT344
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=21832&recno=2
--
Smert' spamionam

On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 02:05:39 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 16:35:47 GMT, mac davis
wrote:

Andy.. I'm in the market for a portable.. which one did you pick that
you thought was noticeably better?

You can't have it - Axminster CT330, so UK only
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=21831&recno=1
13" width, good headlock, long and stable tables. I put a couple of
thousand bf of oak through it the year I got it and it held up very
well.

A noticeably better machine than their older CT344
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...=21832&recno=2

Oh well, thanks anyway... guess I'll go back to drooling over Dewalts
& Deltas..

In article YgZld.225864$%k.192568@pd7tw2no, "Dave" wrote:
As you are all aware, benchtop planers have come down in price
dramatically. I am considering buying my first planer, and I want it to be
the last planer I buy. I plan to make home furniture as a hobby, probably
low volume over a few decades. Portability is not an issue, and I do have
220v access with a good size shop. Is there a steep improvement in final
product quality with larger floor models? Do you think I should buy a
benchtop model, or save the dough and buy a floor model? If you had to do it
over again, which size would you buy?

Let's put it this way: My DeWalt DW735 benchtop planer produces, in
"finishing" mode, surfaces that need hardly any scraping or sanding to be
glass-smooth. It's difficult for me to imagine that *any* planer, benchtop or
free-standing, could produce a surface that is significantly better than what
I'm already getting from the DeWalt.

It's entirely possible that larger, more powerful planers could produce an
equivalent, or better, surface *faster* than the DW735 does. But if your
intended use is "a low volume hobby" then that wouldn't seem to be much of an
issue for you.

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

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