Planer recommendations & DC advice

[John Cavanaugh]

Ive been doing a fair amount of research lately trying to figure out which planer to buy. Trouble is, Im finding a fair amount of conflicting information.

A lot of people like the dewalt 735, but a lot of people have had problems with it in terms of sprokets breaking etc. You can get a decent deal on a refurb these days (given all the problems) but Im nervous about buying.

The delta 22-580 looks pretty good as well with the 2 speeds and gets good initial review, but Ive found instances of people being unhappy with it after about 6 months regarding the feed rollers and several people have been disappointed with the dust collection.

The craftsman model looks interesting simply because I dont have a DC and maybe this would allow me to avoid making that purchase.


Any thoughts/recommendations on a planer??

Am I kidding myself thinking I can get away without a DC?? (Right now I have a Fein Turbo Vac which has been fine for everything Ive done thus far)

--
John Cavanaugh

[sascha gast]

i have the 22-580 and it's ok, but i have to agree with the feed roller problems. it's a bit challenging at times. i just ordered a PM 15" planer. i know it's bigger and more money, but it'll be my last planer. i would NEVER buy a lunchbox planer again.

that said, i think if i had to choose, i'd get the dewalt.

sascha

[Bill Lewis]

I have the DW733. I have run it with a shop vac, it works, but it can clog too. AFAIK, all of the lunchbox planers will require using some sort of dust collection. Without it, the planer performance is degraded.

Some creekers have recently posted sucessfully using the DW735 without an active DC system, just a hose and a trash can. This is because the 735 has an added chip extractor that blows the chips out. From what I understand, the broken sprocket problem has been fixed. Re-furbs seem the most certain way of getting one that has been upgraded with the fix.

I was extremely impressed with the 735 when it first came out, and still am. I think of it as a hybrid planer. It draws on and combines the design elements of the larger models and the lunchbox models.

I have seriously considered upgrading to that machine, but I have still pretty impressed with my 733. It still gives me smooth and accurate dimensioning.

[Erin Stringer]

I managed to get in on the 22-580 blowout at Lowe's last summer and for the price it has been an excellent tool. I also got a Harbor Freight Dust Collector and have not had any problems with the performance of the dust hood on the planer. I haven't has any real roller problems I do try and keep them relatively clean though. I wouldn't really recommend it without a DC, my vacuum would fill up way too fast.

[Effie Lever]

I was doing the same reseach few month ago and felt the same way, a lot of conflicting reviews. I decided to go with a cheap Ryobi 13" ($225) since I found nothing bad about it (except the usual snip problems all planers are plagued with to some extent) and its got few features normally associated with costleir machines. I really like it so far, very good results. I do use a dust collector, picking up around 95% of the dust.

[Mike Ramsey]

I've also been looking for a planer, and the Dewalt looks good but I read reviews for the Ridgid 13" planer Model TP1300LS and it was 4 stars+. HD has it for $349 with stand and it has Lifetime warranty from Ridgid.

[Dan Owen]

I have an old Foley 912 which still works great for large runs of lumber or recycled wood. I recently bought the Delta 22-580 and I use it only as a final dimensioning and finish planer. To tell you the truth, I am very impresed with it's performance. I have no snipe and the finish is very smooth. I purchased the dust collection hood which is sold seperately and have had no problems. I would say that it is 95% efficient. I do hook it up to my main system and run it through a seperation lid. The cat's meow about the 22-580 is that you install the blades and you are done. They are a fixed blade. so no adjusting or indexing and blade gauges. This is a 5 minute blade change versus over an hour on the standard blade set ups. You have to be realistic about the lunch box planers. They are small shop or hobbyist units and I would not recommend trying to generate large production runs of lumber. A hundred board feet or so at a time for the average amateur woodworker and this unit will perform great. The other key is not to loan your unit out. Because they are rather portable, you will have many request for borrowing the machine. It will not return the same as most loaned out tools rarely do.
The other consideration for this unit is the size and location of your shop. Personally, I don't know how many more 4-6 hundred pound machines I can haul up and down my basement stairs and this planer has been very convenient in that regards. Also, if space in your shop is at a premium, this machine may well fit the bill. Remember, you can buy three lunchbox units for the price of a nice medium priced hog. Also, the blades will wear faster on the small units ( blades are obviously not the magnitude in quality as those found on the big machines ) , but remember they are double sided and that figures out to about $20.00 set.
On dust collection---get something! Price really depends on how much work you will do and the number of machines you have. Typically, plan on about $700.00 to $1000.00 for a reliable single stage 1.5 to 2hp unit with flexible hose. After that, the sky is the limit. Believe me and anyone else on this forum about dust collection--start somewhere and have something. This is your health we're talking about.

The End

[Jules Dominguez]

I recently acquired a 735 and have planed small amounts of pine, cherry and oak with it. The hose/fabric bag that DeWalt sells as an accessory to the unit works well to collect chips. A very small amount of chips aren't picked up by the system and end up on the floor. Some fine dust escapes through the fabric. The planer is very loud, which of course is a disadvantage.
I'm fortunate to have a stock of rough 5/4 cherry and white oak stored in my basement shop area. I'm an amateur and work at a leisurely pace, so although I plane some wood at the start of every project, that doesn't amount to very many hours of planing in a week, month, year, however you want to measure it. So the health aspect of breathing the fine dust doesn't concern me very much.
I made a heavy-duty wooden stand with (4) heavy duty casters with locks (considerable overkill on the stand and casters) and I can move it around pretty easily if/when I need to. Probably the only time I'll do so is to move it to the basement door when I have an unusually large (for me) amount of wood to plane at one time, and set the trash can/collector outside the door.
I'm very pleased with the planer and it's dust collection thingy so far and have no second thoughts about wishing I had done something different.

[David Fried]

John,

I have a friend with a Dewalt and he loves it. When I went looking I found all sorts of stories about broken knobs, shafts, etc. and overwhelmed service centers. I chickened out and got the grizzly 15". I'm very happy with it and expect it will be around for many years. Good luck choosing!

Dave Fried

[John Mooney]

Hi folks,

I've got a Ridgid planer which I've been relatively happen with probably because I have nothing to compare it with. It does, however, have a tendency to pockmark boards even when taking small amounts. I'm unsure, however, how much of this may be due to insufficient DC. A fair amount of saw dust is not captured.

Right now, I've got a standard fanfare 6gallon ShopVac attached to the planner. The planner's dust collection hood has two ports -- a 2" on one end and a 4" on the other with a supplied plug to block which ever you are not using.

I'm considering hooking up a second shop vac on the 4" port (with a 4" to 2" converter) and running both simultaneously when I plane. Any thoughts on whether this would be more effective?

-- John

[John Cavanaugh]

Hi folks,

I've got a Ridgid planer which I've been relatively happen with probably because I have nothing to compare it with. It does, however, have a tendency to pockmark boards even when taking small amounts. I'm unsure, however, how much of this may be due to insufficient DC. A fair amount of saw dust is not captured.

Right now, I've got a standard fanfare 6gallon ShopVac attached to the planner. The planner's dust collection hood has two ports -- a 2" on one end and a 4" on the other with a supplied plug to block which ever you are not using.

I'm considering hooking up a second shop vac on the 4" port (with a 4" to 2" converter) and running both simultaneously when I plane. Any thoughts on whether this would be more effective?

-- John

Hooking up a second vac is an interesting idea Ill have to try that myself when I get a planer. I wonder how much current two shop vacs & a planer would pull, hopefully not over 20 amps.

--
John Cavanaugh

[Robert Mayer]

I just bought a DW734. I did a price match from a lowes ad + a 10% coupon from sears and i did pretty good. I havent used it much yet but I never heard anyone complain about it. Price of the 735 ultimately swayed me to the 734. I always was uneasy about the 735 because theres a lot of complaints out there and not just about the sprocket that breaks.

I would stay away from the sears ones because I believe most of them are 2 blades only.

[Sam Chambers]

John:

I have the Delta 12" planer, and it works OK. Got a great deal on it and I needed a planer at the time. One thing I discovered very quickly is that if your dust collector has a metal grate across the inlet, as my Penn State DC-1BXL had, the chips from the planer clogged it up almost immediately. I did the "plastic quazi-cyclone lid on the trash can" first stage separator, and it worked very well. I'm not sure how a smaller hose on a shop vac would handle the volume of chips, but then again I haven't tried it.

[John Cavanaugh]

Well I decided to go with a refurb DW735. Hopefully Im part of the group that is really happy with the 735 vs the group that has problems.

It should be here in a week or two. After I get it set up & making sawdust Ill let folks know how it turned out.

Thanks for all the advice. It actually got me to change my mind from the delta to the dewalt based on the chip ejection feature on the dewalt.

--
John Cavanaugh

[Vaughn McMillan]

John, let us know your opinion of the refurb Dewalt after you get it. I've got my eye on the same planer, coming to the same conclusion as you, having likely seen the same Dewalt vs. Delta comments here and elsewhere on the 'net. I've had good success with refurbished hand-held power tools, and the current prices for the 735(R) are hard to pass up.

While I'm here, any of you Creekers have any insight on the Makita 2012NB planer? The Amazon reviews are pretty glowing, but I've not seen a lot of other feedback from owners.

TIA -

- Vaughn