I have a 1988 vintage Grizzly 1021 15" planer with Schmidt knives that runs pretty well, but I have the usual complaints: too much snipe (sort of temporarily fixable with outfeed roller adjustments) and occasional serrated outfeed roller marks.
My first thought was/is to replace this planer with a new 15" machine from (Grizzly? PM? someone else?) with a spiral cutterhead; I'm guessing that in the past 25 years, manufacturers have learned how to make a better, more accurate machine. But... sticker shock: a new Grizzly planer with a 15" spiral cutterhead runs about $1,800 plus shipping.
Turns out I can retrofit the ancient G1021 with a Byrd head and new bearings for about $700. Or, there's an 8 year old PM15 planer in the neighborhood for about $400 that I could upgrade with a Byrd head for an all-in price of maybe $1,150.
Your thoughts? Have there been enough improvements in machine design/construction during the past 25 years to justify the additional $1,100 a new machine will cost? Is the 8 year old PM15 a significantly better upgrade platform than the 25 year old G1021? What would you do? (yes, I know i should have a 20" spiral cutterhead planer, but that ain't gonna happen!)
Thanks for your thoughts,
Rob