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I am looking to add a planer to my shop. I have narrowed it down to 3 planers that are sold at stores near me. I am looking for any reviews anybody has on these planers. They all are the same size and seem to have very similar specs. The general is a helical cutter I am not sure if this is a better type of cutter then the other two? Thanks.
Rigid R4331 - $599.00
Dewalt DW735 with tables and set of blades - $659.99
General International 30-060HC - $799.99
Aaron, google helical vs knives in a planer and you will learn a lot. Helical setup is much quieter, cleaner, and cost more of course. With that said, I went a lot of years with a Rigid planer before I had two nickels to rub together and it ran great, for probably 8 years or more without issue. You will quickly find that most say, and I agree, get the most you can the first time around. To answer your question, I vouch for the Rigid from personal use. As a suggestion, assuming $800 is within your budget, keep a close eye on craiglist. One other suggestion is to take a look at Grizzly. I have many Grizzly tools and can't say enough about them. I don't have their planer but have their jointer, table saw, band saw, and they are all more than I can imagine getting in any other brand.
Good Luck with your search.
Rockler currently has the DW735 with tables, blades and stands for $599.98. I have that planer and it has served me very well. The sale is only through Friday, so you'll have to act fast.
Scott
Buy old U.S. made Iron. Look for a Powermatic 100, Boice Crane, General, Delta or the like. You won't be sorry unless you break a major part.
Fine Woodworking Tools edition 2017 rates planes. The DeWalt 735 comes out as the best overall winner and reader's choice with the Rigid 4331 as the best value choice. I owned the Rigid 4331 and it's one LOUD machine.
Right before Christmas Factory Outlet had the Dewalt 735X for $475 shipped to your door. This includes extra blades and the extension plates. I bought one.
Another happy Dewalt 735 owner here. It is probably the loudest machine in my shop, but it is easy to keep chips clean by putting a Rockler Dust Right bag on it (don't need the expensive one) or a Bosch table saw bag....what I do when I don't have it hooked up to a dust collector. I have yet to find a board it struggles with, but I have had some recent issues planing a whole bunch of sugar maple (AKA rock maple). The large chips kept stuffing up the ejection cap before getting to the ejection port. I had to remove the top a few times to de-clog things that day. Gotta hand it to Dewalt for including the necessary wrench to do 95% of the work on this machine right next to the hex screws. That makes things very convenient!
The indeed/outfeed extension plates are definitely worth getting. And if there is a deal to get the replacement blades do that too. I once looked at getting a helical head for it, but that's nearly the same price as the machine itself. Although I'd love to have a larger planer, I don't have a 12"+ jointer to match it. So, for less than $600 this thing is hard to beat! I feel like I need to get into the $3,000+ range to step it up.
Oh, and I run my own lumber through it. My process is to cut the tree down, rough saw it on my 36" outdoor bandsaw, let it dry for 3-24 months, maybe resaw on the indoor bandsaw, run it over the jointer and then through the planer. Being in Vermont I'm dealing with some significant hardwoods and the Dewalt 735 is definitely the least expensive/smallest tool in the arsenal. Hope that puts it's capabilities in some perspective.
Originally I heard it was loud and I was planning on running it outside using a metal trash can with a lid separator. I was told chips would back up in the planer and I would need a good DC. Alex it sounds like my original plan would have worked since you use it without a DC. Too late now as I am putting in a bigger DC with a SDD.
I have the DeWalt 735. I like it a lot. If you have 220volt I would look for used planers in the larger capacity. Even with straight knives you will have more control, less noise and larger capacity for the ~$800 value.
The DW735 can really numb you after planing for about 15 minutes. Even with ear protection it can really beat on you.
My wife bought me this package (DW735X) back in Nov from Amazon. Price was $499. I see it's gone up $100 this year. That was fortunate timing. :0) Free shipping as well. I haven't used it yet so I can't comment on how good it is. But I did some research and thought that was the best "lunchbox" planer I was going to find.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Brader
Correction: Paid $597.98 + tax. My bad.