Do I HAVE to use a dust collector with a Woodmaster?

[dirk martin]

I'm going to be planing 4,000 BF of soft maple on a Woodmaster that should arrive any day now. I'm wondering if I can simply roll the woodmaster outside my shop, and blow the chips into a pile out there. Does anyone know if it's a requirement that it have a dust collector sucking from it? I'll be mounting it on a very heavy duty rollable base.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Read the manual....I know with the Jet planer I have I have to use the chip collector or it just clogs up the dust chute.

[Bruce Page]

I tried it once with my PM and ended up with a lot of dented wood from the chips being pressed into the board by the feed rollers.

[Carl Middleton]

Have at it I've run thousands of feet of oak and other types of lumber through mine without any problems.

[Neal Clayton]

the shavings will clog the rollers against their bearings/mounts.

it'll work for about 20 minutes .

that said, you could just use a compressor and constantly blow the chips out, that would work.

[Van Huskey]

the shavings will clog the rollers against their bearings/mounts.

it'll work for about 20 minutes .

that said, you could just use a compressor and constantly blow the chips out, that would work.

I am pretty sure I have heard this exact same thing about the Woodmaster in several posts in the past.

[ed vitanovec]

I would recommend a dust collector, it will be messy under the rollers and affect the appearance of the wood. I did this with with my gee tech 15" planer and the oak would have dents in the wood.

Regards!
Ed

[Scott Rollins]

Yep you will want a dust collector due to the dents in the wood. It will save you hours of sanding later. If you dont want to invest much into one Harbour freight has a $200 Dust collector that most people regard as adequate for one machine. Just remember to empty the bag it'll fill up fast with all that wood. You'll probably generate a truck bed or two full of chips with that much wood.