Does anyone still make 16" or 18" planers?

[John Loftis]

Hiya folks. I'm looking to upgrade my planer but I only have single-phase (220), 20 amp power. For reasons not worth going into, I'm probably stuck with that power supply. I'm an electrical idiot, but it seems to me that 3hp is about the cut-off for single phase. Most of the 5 hp planers I've seen are either 3-phase or single phase, 30 amp.

There are a whole bunch of 15" planers out there that would work power-wise, and that might be what I need to buy. I'd love to get a 16" or 18", though, if anyone is still making them. Can any of you point me in the right direction?

There were a bunch of good 16" and 18" planers back in the day, but I haven't found any on CL that aren't 3-phase machines. So I'm assuming that I'll have to get a new or new-used machine. If that's wrong, please chime in.

John

[Michael W. Clark]

Hi John,
I think Jet and Rikon make 16" planers with a 3HP motor, at least that's what the Google search turned up. They are available at WoodCraft for around $1500. I would also suspect that you are limited to a 3HP motor with the 20A circuit. Without getting into an electrical debate, a 30A circuit is usually what's used for a 5HP motor. Could your 20A circuit run a 5Hp motor?, probably. But if you load it up, its possible you will exceed the ampacity of the breaker and get trips. If you are planning an electrical upgrade soon, you may consider the 20A service temporary and get the 5HP unit. If it were me, and I was locked in to 20A service, I would go with a 3HP max machine.

Mike

[Steven Hsieh]

http://www.lagunatools.com/planers/planer-platinum16

[Montgomery Scott]

Woodmaster. Mini-Max makes a 16" jointer-planer with a 3hp motor.

[Rick Fisher]

Hammer has a 4hp x 16" .. Probably draws max 20 amps .. Ideally a 30 amp circuit would be used but not sure ..

[Peter Quinn]

http://www.lagunatools.com/planers/planer-platinum16

thats equipped with a 5HP motor. The woodmaster is too.

[Matt Day]

I would agree with Michael's post above. I'm no electrical guru either, but I think you've answered your own question a bit: the reason you can't find a single phase 20 amp planet bigger than 15" is because the power that is required to plane a 16"+ board exceed 20 amps. You could probably run a 5hp 20" planer that is labeled 30 amp on a 20 circuit just fine but you'll be limited to very small cuts or you'll be tripping breakers left and right.

[ed vitanovec]

I have a Woodmaster 18" Planer with a 5HP single Phase motor with variable feed. This machine can also be used as a Drum Sander, Gang Ripping and Molding.

[Matt Day]

I have a Woodmaster 18" Planer with a 5HP single Phase motor with variable feed. This machine can also be used as a Drum Sander, Gang Ripping and Molding.

Ed, I think the OP's point is that he's limited to a 20A circuit. He's aware there are single phase machines available at 5HP, but he's looking for one rated at 20A instead of 30A. What is the Woodmaster 18" rated at?

[David Kumm]

I don't know of any 4 hp motors here in the US which is about as big as a 20 amp breaker could handle. Jet's 16" which is basically similar to the 15" everyone else makes is the largest I know of with the three hp motor. Any wider and you are asking a lot of a motor that drives both the cutter and feed rolls. Some of the old 16 and 18" planers did come with three hp motors but all I know of were three phase. Dave

[Rod Sheridan]

Hiya folks. I'm looking to upgrade my planer but I only have single-phase (220), 20 amp power. For reasons not worth going into, I'm probably stuck with that power supply. I'm an electrical idiot, but it seems to me that 3hp is about the cut-off for single phase. Most of the 5 hp planers I've seen are either 3-phase or single phase, 30 amp.

There are a whole bunch of 15" planers out there that would work power-wise, and that might be what I need to buy. I'd love to get a 16" or 18", though, if anyone is still making them. Can any of you point me in the right direction?

There were a bunch of good 16" and 18" planers back in the day, but I haven't found any on CL that aren't 3-phase machines. So I'm assuming that I'll have to get a new or new-used machine. If that's wrong, please chime in.

John

Here's a link to the 16" Hammer planer with 4 HP motor. It's the same machine as the jointer/planer without the jointer.

The 4 HP motor will run on a 20A circuit.

I have the A3-31, same motor.

I have to admit however I would buy the jointer/planer combo and have a 16" jointer as well..........Regards, Rod.

http://www.hammerusa.com/us-us/produ...equipment.html

[David Kumm]

I know you are getting into a whole different price point but the Hammer 4 hp motor with the new Silent Power cutter head is the pick of the litter. That head uses quite a bit less power than either a byrd or a straight knife so it is an answer- although not a cheap one- to the size limitations. Dave

[Keith Hankins]

5hp is going to be 30amp at 220. Consider 3 phase don't cut off your nose to spite your face. I bought my first 3 phase tool last year an 18" northfield 5hp planer. What a beast. It will take 1/4" at a pass if i wanted. At top speed I have to move quick to get in front of it to catch it coming out the front due to the speed. By going 3 phase you can get some real heavy duty tools. My planer was made in the 60's and is built like a tank. For 3 phase you can go two routes. Get a static phase converter for a single machine, or do as I did and get a rotary phase converter that will supply multiple machines. Since I've made the decision to go old american iron pretty much exclusively now, it made sense. You can pick up a static single converter for 100 bucks in some cases for 5ph. They are not complicated and if you have ever wired a 220 line you can do it if you can read directions. Much better tools and cheaper.

Here's my planer.

http://youtu.be/ufIlay_PrVI

[John Loftis]

Thanks for the input, guys. Keith, your planer is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to get (BTW, Mr. Mylecraine taught me woodworking in shop class in Pottstown, PA my first year in high school, back in 1984).

My problem is I'm not in a big-boy shop yet. I'm still in a very crammed 2-car garage. I have 1, 220 plug, so it's one of those ridiculous deals where I have to physically unplug a tool to plug in the next tool.

If the business keeps growing, I really hope to lease some real shop space soon. But I can't assume that the boss is going to allow me to do that. She seems to care a lot about being able to feed our children, for some reason... So when I made the OP, it was with the assumption that I'm going to be stuck in my little shop for the time being.

But the idea of just getting a phase converter is intriguing. Somehow, I thought that was a very expensive, very big deal. Maybe it's not. I saw this local listing on CL for $350... would this work for a typical shop? http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/ele/3268378917.html And I see that Grizzly sells new static converters for ~$250. That all seems fairly doable to me. I'd really love to get an old Oliver or Powermatic or something along those lines... I just feel like 15" isn't quite enough width for what I'm doing.

[Kevin Presutti]

Yes, that will run 1 hard start machine @7 1/2hp, depending on the hp of other 3 ph machines you may want you could possibly run two machines at a time. Go to TEMCO's website. They have a chart you can work through and it tell you everything.