Planers

[mapper]

I have an older Grizzly 12" bench top, snipe can be minimized by placing support rollers on the out feed side of the planer. These machines are powered by universal motors which can overheat if you are doing a lot of long boards and trip the thermal breaker. I have found that planeing recycled wood can be pretty tough at times, the annual rings can be exceptionally hard and tough on hss blades, carbide would be a better choice here. Carbide cutter heads are pretty expensive, expect that you may pay as much as a third to half more for this feature.
Small planers are like subcompact tractors, they can do a lot, just a bit slower than the big guys.

 

[ustmd]

Of the bench top planers will all produce good results. I have a Delta & DW734. Both preform well with the edge going to the one with the sharpest blades. They all have some snipe which just requires running longer boards on each side to eliminate. The one time blades are expensive but can be honed a few times.

At present my choice would be DW735 ( two speed ) or one with the helical blades.

+++++1

This is the configuration I have after upgrading from a Ryobi.

In general I would recommend the helical head upgrade, but especially since you will be working with reclaimed wood. With the dirt and grime in the reclaimed wood (and the occasional unspotted nail), you are going to eat normal blades. With the helical head, if you do get an in issue on one of the cutting heads, it is 2 minutes to rotate the head 90 degrees, versus the laborious process of replacing a knife.

 

[teejk]

I have an older Grizzly 12" bench top, snipe can be minimized by placing support rollers on the out feed side of the planer. These machines are powered by universal motors which can overheat if you are doing a lot of long boards and trip the thermal breaker. I have found that planeing recycled wood can be pretty tough at times, the annual rings can be exceptionally hard and tough on hss blades, carbide would be a better choice here. Carbide cutter heads are pretty expensive, expect that you may pay as much as a third to half more for this feature.
Small planers are like subcompact tractors, they can do a lot, just a bit slower than the big guys.

The key is to not try to do too much at a time. A single pass of no more than 1/8" works fine (1/16" sometimes better). Properly set up it goes a lot faster than you think once you get into the rhythm. Same for my smaller (6") Delta jointer by the way. Btw, anybody never using a planer, be prepared for the amount of shavings those things throw off. If planing a good quality hardwood that is suitable in your smoker or grill (cherry, maple, white oak, etc.), sweep your floor clean and reclaim those shavings. They produce quick smoke.

 

[jlawso21]

You will be better off to look for a used 3 or 5 hp grizzly or other Taiwanese clone of the old Delta. They can be had for cheap and will last you the rest of your life. They normally dont care if you run barnwood through them, you just have to learn to change and sharpen the blades;.

 

[powrguy]

I have a benchtop Hitachi 14" planer. It's 120 volt. I've had it for over 25 years. Works great. I've used it on pine to the hardest hard wood I could purchase at the speciality lumber store.

As I remember it was somewhere around $250. As you would expect - on pine I can carve off a fairly deep cut. The harder the wood - the shallower the cut.

Actually it's a combo planer/joiner. It's been VERY handy for me over the years. I can chain saw out a slab from one of my pine logs and plane it down to whatever I want.

A note of caution. I've also used it on some of my old homestead barn wood. CHECK VERY CLOSELY for old nails, staples etc in this kind of wood. An old embedded nail can raise havoc with sharp planer blades.

I had a Delta 20-580 12 1/2" for about 12 years, and it saw a lot of use. Worked fine, but final passes had to be done with very light cuts to avoid ripples from a 2-blade cutterhead. 3-blade cutterheads are so much better, and I finally got a Dewalt 735X very recently. Really like it, and the reviews are top of the chart.

Good luck on your choice.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I think I need a benchtop planer. I have a couple of old buildings that are beyond repair - I would like to salvage some of the wood (mostly oak) for projects.
Some of the projects will require squaring up and planing the boards. I have a joiner, but I would need a planer. I think 12 1/2 or 13 inch would work.
So what's good? My benchmark for comparison is Dewalt - 734, 735, 735x. I'm not asking the difference between the Dewalts - I'm asking how other units like Grizzley, Harbor Freight, Delta, etc stack up against Dewalt. Also, not interested in stand alone planers at this time. Need to restrict it to benchtop.
Danke~~

I just bought a Makita bench top planer this past summer. Works fantastic, self fed, and easy to use. I love it. https://www.amazon.com/Makita-2012NB-12-Inch-Interna-Lok-Automated/dp/B000051ZOO

 

[mapper]

The key is to not try to do too much at a time. A single pass of no more than 1/8" works fine (1/16" sometimes better). Properly set up it goes a lot faster than you think once you get into the rhythm. Same for my smaller (6") Delta jointer by the way. Btw, anybody never using a planer, be prepared for the amount of shavings those things throw off. If planing a good quality hardwood that is suitable in your smoker or grill (cherry, maple, white oak, etc.), sweep your floor clean and reclaim those shavings. They produce quick smoke.

I have had the breaker kick when taking very light passes on wide cherry boards, especially when thicknessing several boards in one operation. They just aren't made for long continuous operation.

 

[dragoneggs]

I Have only one data point... my DW733 that I have had for... I dunno 15years. This thing has served me very well for red oak, mahogany, fine wood projects, as well as reclaiming old pallet wood from Asia. I have put it to moderate use... take small bites and I am happy with its performance. I imagine the newer Dewalt bench tops are par with it.

I like the folding in/out feed tables but as earlier touched on, set up a roller out feed support for longer pieces. I didn't bother to sharpen the reversible blades. Bought new ones, and moved on. Got quite a bit of use on each edge but was careful to run clean wood (no dirt, nails, staples, etc.). I suppose it might be lacking for commercial use so you need to judge whether you need something heavier duty. You want portability/space saving machine... I don't think you will go wrong with Dewalt. Blades... easy to come by... other parts... haven't needed to look. Knock on wood.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I too, have a DeWalt 735. Only used it for a couple of years, but it sure gives me a beautiful cut. So clean that sanding is almost a waste of time. Of course, I do sand anyway for a glass smooth finish...

I buy mill cut lumber for making furniture, etc., so it is clean i.e. no dirt or nails. Still on the original set of knives. But yes, a small amount of learning how to avoid the snipe is necessary; true with any bench top planer. I bought the roll-away stand with my planer. Sure makes it handy to roll out of the way when not needed.

 

[tjkubota93]

You will be better off to look for a used 3 or 5 hp grizzly or other Taiwanese clone of the old Delta. They can be had for cheap and will last you the rest of your life. They normally dont care if you run barnwood through them, you just have to learn to change and sharpen the blades;.

Yep I have a 15" amt I bought from a neighbor. It's very heavy. Works great. Paid $300. Works excellent.