At some point I'm going to have to get a 24" planer. It's a big machine, expensive, and I'm a one-man band, so it feels like buying a pick-up just for grocery shopping.
I do need to use that size sometimes, and I have access to one about a 1/2 hour drive away. It's the General International 24" with a shelix head, and I like it a lot.
I looked at craigslist this morning and there's a 1986 Delta Invicta 22602, 3 phase for $3K locally.
The Delta raises and lowers the bed electrically, and overall looks like a machine with more that could go wrong on it than the General Int. I'm not so mechanically gifted, and wouldn't want to buy a money pit. The Delta come with an extra spiral cutter head, but I think it might take curved knives, not individual carbide cutter (but I know jack ****), and also has a grinding bar and grinder (I'm going to google these to see what they do).
The General would be $10K plus, the Delta $3k, with maybe $500 transport costs. I'm can't afford the General right now, but if the Delta is a real good deal then I would think seriously about it.
Has anyone any experience with these machines? or any opinions big planers?
Thanks, and hope you're all enjoying the longest day we'll have this year.