DeWalt Planer from Lowes

ljohnson778 · Dec 7, 2012

We have the one on the right... Put it through he||, no complaints.

jhasafety1 · Dec 8, 2012

I recently bought a Ridgid 12" planner after months of reasearch. I was close to buying the dewalt but had several friends that swear by the Ridgid. The Ridgid planners are normally $399 but I found one in a KC Homedepot that was on closeout for $278. They said they were only going to carry them through online. Haven't used it yet I will try it out and let you know.

Sackett2 · Dec 9, 2012

We have the one on the left and used it for 3 plus years with no problems that were not self caused. I would like one with a spiral blades someday but are happy with the dewalt overall. We did buy the extendable tables for the end.

2LaneCruzer · Dec 9, 2012

I personally would like to have one of the larger, stand alone commercial type planers; only drawback is mobility. I can pick up my DeWalt by myself, stand and all, and move it outside where all I have to do is rake up the chips. The big one would have to be semi permanent.

Cliff_Johns · Dec 9, 2012

These little planers are very effective, but perhaps more important than the brand is how you use them. I've had my makita for more than 20 years, I think. I've planed a lot of wood.

1. wax the table.
2. feed the wood with the grain
3. If you nick the blades, shift them slightly and put them back on.
4. Don't get in a hurry (good advice for power tool use in general). Take a couple small cuts rathern than one larger cut.
5. Don't expect to return to a measurement and match thickness on two boards. Run the boards you need to be the same thickness at the same time.
6. For the last cut, take off as little as you can and still get something out of the chip exaust. You might also feed shorter boards through at a slight angle.
7. The biggest source of error in these small planers is to make boards thicker on one side than the other. Plane an 11" wide board and check the thickness on each side. A small difference can mess you up in furniture construction.
8. Button your sleeves or wear a short sleeved shirt.
9. Wear hearing protection, even if you doing just one board.
10. Keep out of reach of children. Planers are especially bad because you can't see the blades, and they have a slot; kids like to stick their fingers into slots.

Cliff

jhasafety1 · Dec 9, 2012

jhasafety1 said:
I recently bought a Ridgid 12" planner after months of reasearch. I was close to buying the dewalt but had several friends that swear by the Ridgid. The Ridgid planners are normally $399 but I found one in a KC Homedepot that was on closeout for $278. They said they were only going to carry them through online. Haven't used it yet I will try it out and let you know.

If you are sold on Dewalt, Rockler has the DW735 with free table and knife set for $579. this also get you a free $50 Rockler gift card.

jerrybob · Dec 9, 2012

I bought a 12.5 inch planer from Sears a few years back for a small project. Paid around $200 when it was on some special sale. I believe they run around $275 to $300 normally. Did the job well. In fact....over the past two years.....have run a lot of wood thru it. Haven't had any problems.....good little machine. Definitely have gotten my money's worth from it. If/when it ever breaks.....will probably replace with something bigger. I did replace the blades once but.....if I recall.....the new blades were fairly inexpensive.