Wood Planer

[marty]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

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]

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]

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]

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