Cheap thickness planers
 

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 12:51:35 GMT, "habbi"
wrote:

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks


DeWalt and Makita are generally good buys. Think well-known brands.
All surface planers snipe, but some worse than others. Good dust
collection is important for both a clean cut and your health.

I bought a refurbished Delta last year. Like it a lot. Now the knives
are getting dull and I've been unsuccessful so far trying to remove them
to turn them over. You may wish to consider that. BTW, I paid $175
including shipping.
Good luck.
Joe






habbi wrote:
Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks

"Joe_Stein" wrote in message
k.net...
I bought a refurbished Delta last year. Like it a lot. Now the knives are
getting dull and I've been unsuccessful so far trying to remove them to
turn them over. You may wish to consider that. BTW, I paid $175 including
shipping.
Good luck.
Joe


Why have you been unsuccessful? On my -580, they are held in with a T-15
torx screw and they were a bear to get out. I stripped a couple of heads and
had to replace them. (hardware store had them) Buy a good torx driver, not
the cheapos they have a Wal Mart. Once replaced I put them in with a firm
touch and they come out easily.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 14:02:53 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 12:51:35 GMT, "habbi"
wrote:

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks

==============================================

I have own a Dewalt for years and it does what I need done...

Obviously I am a hobbiest and do not run the thing day in and day out
but over the years it has seen hours upon hours of usage...and the
blades have been replaced a number of times...

But I sure would not classify it anywhere near TOP of the line... just
the average Name brand for home use type of machine...

Delta & DeWalt seem to dominate this market...although other Brands
are surely playing the game ...

DeWalt and Makita are generally good buys. Think well-known brands.
All surface planers snipe, but some worse than others. Good dust
collection is important for both a clean cut and your health.

Have to agree on the "snipe" but that has never been any big problem
a few simple adjustments and the application of slight upward pressure
with my left hand as the board comes out of the planner will generally
eliminate any snipe...

Good DC is required to keep the internals of the machine clean so the
cut is good... and to keep the shavings off the floor... Personally I
have not noticed much "dust" being produced..even without DC... DC is
required if you are allergic to using a broom like I am however...

Bob Griffiths .

"habbi" wrote in news:rDGRd.4800$oh4.184313@ursa-
nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks


I find the Ridgid TP1300 series planer I bought to be ready useful. Home
Depot, price varies to as much as $399. Watch for promos.

Blades are not designed to be resharpened, but a gentle honing seems to be
good. They are an easily replaced item, once I got past the learning
curve.

I thought the design engineers did a smart thing. I screwed up, and put a
piece of cedar through the planer, not having properly checked the slab for
relative parallelism. When it wedged itself in the planer, a $3.18, easily
accessed sprocket is what broke, rather than something more vital. Two
screws and a c-clip, and back to work. Once the parts arrive.

Cost of lesson: $11, and 90 minutes with a couple of vintage Stanley
planes, remembering how it used to be done.

The adult ed shop has a small Delta. Suffers tremendous abuse, and keeps
on working. My neighbor has a small DeWalt, from maybe 3-4 years ago.
You'd be well served with any of them.

Have fun with the raised panels.

Patriarch

Sat, Feb 19, 2005, 12:51pm (EST+5) (habbi) wants
to know:
Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. snip

Depends on what you mean by cheap, doesn't it?

I got one you could say was cheap. Used, in excellent condition,
for the cost of shipping only. Worth the price? I think so.

There is a difference between cheap, and inexpensive, in my book.
Cheap is shoddily made. Inexpensive means at a low price - HF has some
nice inexpensive items, not such a fancy finish, maybe tool marks, etc.,
that work just fine. And, they some cheap stuff too.

If I wanted to "save" money, I'd look for used in good condition,
or refurbished. If I just wanted to be cheap, I'd get the lowest priced
thing I could find, new or used. Your money, spend it the way you want.



JOAT
Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.
- David Fasold

"habbi" wrote in message
...
Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks


I bought the DeWalt 535 and it is great. Yes it was a little more then the
Rigid but I like that it has a lot of the features from a full width depth
guage to a 2 speed option. I am in the process of making my own cabinetts
and this planer has saved me its price in wood (compared to buying 1/2 " and
1/4" wood from HD or Lowes). I can say that my buddy that does this for a
living will occasionally want to use my planer for some of his harder woods
(like hickory) that like to snipe. He has a Rigid and for the most part it
has served him well. It just doesn't do as well on some woods. It might be
that the dewalt is a 3 blade and his is a 2 blade. Hope this little bit of
input helps. One other thing, it is also VERY easy to change blades.


EPI

habbi wrote:
Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks


I have the one that Delta used to sell. Not their better
one but the other one. I wouldn't be without it.

Of course I remember when having a planer in your shop meant
you went out and paid a gazillion dollars for one so for me
having an opportunity to own a planer may mean more than to
some who expect it.

UA100

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 12:51:35 GMT, "habbi"
wrote:

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks



cheap planers have their place.

it's a matter of budget/type of use/amount of use

I bought a DeWalt 735 13" planer last summer, and it works great, does a
fine job. Reason for my choice? Two feed speeds, and the lower speed
is 1/3 the higher one. I have fed highly figured quilted maple, curly
koa, and curly claro walnut thru it on the lower feed rate with no snipe.

Very pleased. But this model is $200 more than the cheapest 12-1/2" models.

--Steve

habbi wrote:

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks

What model exactly is it?

"Unisaw A100" wrote in message
...
habbi wrote:
Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks


I have the one that Delta used to sell. Not their better
one but the other one. I wouldn't be without it.

Of course I remember when having a planer in your shop meant
you went out and paid a gazillion dollars for one so for me
having an opportunity to own a planer may mean more than to
some who expect it.

UA100

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 12:51:35 GMT, "habbi"
wrote:

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks


I looked at several for a long time, read all the magazine reviews,
used a friend's DeWalt, but in the end went and got a Ryobi AP13. It's
had a fair amount of use and I'm very satisfied with it. I find it
hard to tell the difference in performance between it and the DeWalt,
only time will tell if it lasts as well, but then it's half the price.

Can't really comment on the ease of blade changing, as I have not yet
done it.

IMO, Ryobi tends to make lousy tools or reasonable tools, thus far the
AP13 is good, IIRC, Ryobi were the first to make a cheap thicknesser,
so they perhaps have a little more experience in this area.

There's also an online tool review somewhere, can't recall where it
is, but I'm sure Google will know.

Barry Lennox

I just looked at the ryobi at home depot it looks like a good unit. Has
anyone had and experience with the delta 12" or 12.5" benchtop model. Which
is better them or the ryobi AP1300. For that matter what is the difference
between the delta 12" and 12.5" model other than the 1/2".

"Barry Lennox" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 12:51:35 GMT, "habbi"
wrote:

Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks


I looked at several for a long time, read all the magazine reviews,
used a friend's DeWalt, but in the end went and got a Ryobi AP13. It's
had a fair amount of use and I'm very satisfied with it. I find it
hard to tell the difference in performance between it and the DeWalt,
only time will tell if it lasts as well, but then it's half the price.

Can't really comment on the ease of blade changing, as I have not yet
done it.

IMO, Ryobi tends to make lousy tools or reasonable tools, thus far the
AP13 is good, IIRC, Ryobi were the first to make a cheap thicknesser,
so they perhaps have a little more experience in this area.

There's also an online tool review somewhere, can't recall where it
is, but I'm sure Google will know.

Barry Lennox

If you don't plan on making a lot of them, and don't mind a lot of
maintenance, and aren't going to use large boards, any benchtop unit will
do the job. Dewalt and Delta are the favorites.
Mark

"habbi" wrote in message
...
Is there any reason not to buy a cheap 12.5" thickness planer. Are some
better than others. I plan on making raised panels for doors and cabinet
doors. Is a thickness planers one of those tools that you either buy top
quality or don't bother at all? Thanks