Wood Planer

marty · Feb 11, 2002

Hi Woodworkers,

I am looking a 15-20" wood planer, 2 spead, 3hp motor single phase 230V and at least 3 knives on the head which can be changed easily. Does anyone have a strong recommendation for such a dream machine?

Thanks in advance,

Marty

PTRich · Feb 11, 2002

I hired a friend of my brothers to come out with his wood mill and cut pine planks. He had a dream machine. He bought a very old cast iron wood planer from an old mill. He made a gear box and pto hook up and powers the planer with his tractor. I would never try something like that but he is a tool maker buy trade so it came to him very easily.

PTRich

DrDan · Feb 12, 2002

I have a Jet 15" and I love it. Probably have 500 or 600 board feet of hardwood through it and it just keeps chugging along making chips. I can't say the same for the stinking Crapsman I had which smoked a motor everytime you put 20 or 30 foot through it. A friend of mine just got a 20" Woodmaster and he likes it too. They are both very good heavy duty planners. If they weren't we wouldn't have them. One thing I "HATE" is a poor quality machine that craps out when you need it.

DocDan

Anonymous Poster · Feb 12, 2002

Try Grizzly.com or Sunhill.com all kinds of tools and good prices. Most made in Taiwan but good machines.

TWINKLE_TOES · Feb 12, 2002

DocDan,
<font color=blue>stinking Crapsman </font color=blue>

I have a 12" "Crapsman" that I have run better than 12,000 bd ft with zero problems. It has a 5HP motor and I believe built by Bellsaw. I bought this one about 20 years ago. Knifes are a bear to set, but other than that it's a pretty good compromise @ $1800. What planner did you have trouble with and @ what HP. 5Hp in my opinion is a minimum for a 12" planner.
Al

cedarranch · Feb 12, 2002

I own / have owned a number of craftsmen eqipment and have to agree with both of you. The older equipment 10+ years was great. But the crapsmen junk now is better left alone! Just this weekend I asked the wife to bring me the circular saw. She brought out my newer black crapsmen saw. I said no the old silver craftmens. She said why do you use that old thing instead of the new one I bought you? /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

DrDan · Feb 12, 2002

Yes exactly... Craftsman has gone down hill. If you have something twenty or 30 years old it is probably good, but the newer stuff is pretty shoddy. All I have left now is a jointer that the motor is bad in. I'll replace that with a Powermatic and that's it for Crapsman.

DrDan

Boondox · Feb 12, 2002

After looking at all the big 230V planers I settled on the Delta DC-380. Tried and true design, and the table stays at the same level while the cutterhead goes up and down. Doesn't seem like a big deal till you have to adjust your auxiliary outfeed table several times per board!

Pete