Powermatic PM100 or General 130 planer?

[Andrew Russell]

Hi there,

I am setting up a small shop and I am looking for a Powermatic PM100 or a General 130 planer.

Both seem to be reliable, compact, industrial machines.

I have read some glowing reviews of the General 130. Is there any reason (besides width capacity) the 130 is considered a better planer than the PM100?

I will likely install a Shelix cutter-head in either machine. A shelix cutterhead for the PM100 is $874, a shelix cutterhead for the General is $1,265. I am on a budget, so I will have to save for either.

With my work, 12 inch capacity is adequate.

I also like the idea of putting a 5HP motor in PM100, and letting it go to work. It seems like 3HP is a little underpowered for the Shelix heads, and I think the General only came with 3 or 4 HP motor...

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Kevin Jenness]

I doubt you will see a great deal of difference aside from the width. The Powermatic will be easier to find. If you have not already done so check out the OWWM site classifieds, you might get a lead on either machine.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...tterheads.html is a good discussion of power requirements for a converted PM 100. Interestingly the original poster finds little change in surface quality from his original setup, though most people seem to get better results on figured wood. (The OP runs a shop specializing in curved mouldings, so highly figured wood probably is not commonly used there.)

[Dave Cav]

I agree that in the States a PM will be easier and cheaper to find, although you're close enough to Canada that Generals may show up once in a while.

I think a 5 HP motor would be considerable overkill for that planer. I put a Byrd head in the PM100 at school and using the original motor, I have no complaints. Occasionally a knucklehead kid will try to take a massively large cut and it chokes, but that's operator error. FWIW, I have a 5 HP motor on my PM180 with a Byrd head, and it's works fine, although with that planer, admittedly a 7.5 would be better.

[David Kumm]

Go over to owwm.org and canadianwoodworking.com and looks at threads for the two planers. You need to find guys who have torn into each machine and can speak to the design plusses and minuses of each. Small planers cheat on the pressure bar and chipbreaker material, design, and adjustability. The General is probably most highly thought of but if installing a Byrd head, some of those design benefits become less relevant. A reason insert heads seem like an improvement is that it compensates for the cheapening of materials and components that help straight knives give a good finish. Condition probably trumps brand with the head swap. A heavy planer with straight knives and an onboard grinder gives as good a finish but takes a more more expensive machine to deliver it. The issue with that size planer and motor will be running long heavy stock. I run a Delta DC33 with a byrd for small pieces and the finish is great but it won't handle heavy stuff. I have a SAC 530 for that which is a superior build to the 13" machines but about half of an old iron planer. Dave

[Rod Sheridan]

As much as I love General machinery, one item to keep in mind is that they have gone out of business.

The Canadian made machinery is not made any longer which might influence your decision based upon spare parts..........Regards, Rod.

[Eric Commarato]

As much as I love General machinery, one item to keep in mind is that they have gone out of business.

The Canadian made machinery is not made any longer which might influence your decision based upon spare parts..........Regards, Rod.

Actually General based in Drummondville Quebec is no longer operating as a manufacturing plant. But neither is the plant in McMinnville Tennessee for Powermatic. They both are outsourced today. There are probably some back stock of parts, but the reality of it is eventually no manufacturer or machine is immune to this. I would guess probably 80% of all the real heavy duty woodworking equipment being used today in small to medium shops and by hobbiest are outdated "no parts available" machines. But they are sill out there and working.

[Eric Commarato]

I actually own 3 planers, a Boice Crane 1000, A Powermatic Model 100 and A General 130. Remember the General 130 has a cutting width of 14" where the PM 100 will only go 12" My Powermatic 100 was bought about 22 years ago, and believe it or not it has a "made in Taiwan tag riveted to it. It seems at the time, Powermatic was casting parts here in Tennessee and shipping them overseas for assembly and then shipping them back. Doesn't seem very cost effective. If you go the PM 100 Route go for a really old model. My General 130 is a rather late model, probably manufactured in the last year or two General was making this planer in Drummondville. The 130 is much quieter than my Powermatic. Now to the Boice Crane. I received this machine for free from my best friend's widow after he passed way. My friend was gone about 2 years and she called me and said "please come and get this boat anchor" And a boat anchor it is...only from a weight standpoint. Mine has the Peerless motor that hangs off the side of the machine. The entire base cabinet is 1/8" plate steel. This machine weighs easily 400-500 pounds and planes super quite like a dream. So, my favorites in order, Boice Crane, General 130 and PM100. Now that being said. My PM 100 which I would never trade is 1000 times better than a Dewalt 735, which I really consider a plastic toy. Sorry for my snootiness. If you are going to do serious furniture and craftsmanship, please buy a stationary machine like I mention above, they cost 4-5 times more, but they will never let you down, and they are not disposable...my Boice Crane was build in 1949 and still runs like the day it was built.

[David Kumm]

That is great information Eric. I'm always surprised at how scared people get about parts availability. The good stuff doesn't break nearly as often as the mediocre does and a machinist is often cheaper than sourcing parts from the company anyway. Not that big a deal. Dave

[Ray Selinger]

My General 130 was something of a gift from a cabinet shop to an oldtimer, me. For the cost of beer and piazza lunch , $100,I got a project. They were going to rebuild the feed, but discovered parts weren't available from General and it wasn't so simple. I phoned and they E-mailed me the print for the gear. But the parts were off the shelf type, Generals are good that way, so it just finding the right shelf. It's on the list after a 1947 Beaver bandsaw. The General is one of the newer G serial numbered so I can't give an age. I sure wished I had it done, as my lunch box Delta would tear out the alder unless I kept the cuts to < 1/32. The 1974 General jointer had no problem.

[Andrew Russell]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their responses to my original post. I bought a General 130 for $850 (u.s.) outside of Montreal, Quebec (which I think was a pretty good deal). I haven't used the planer a ton, but it works well, and I am very happy with it.

[Rod Sheridan]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their responses to my original post. I bought a General 130 for $850 (u.s.) outside of Montreal, Quebec (which I think was a pretty good deal). I haven't used the planer a ton, but it works well, and I am very happy with it.

It's a great planer, I sold mine to buy a Hammer A3-31.........Rod.

[Joe Jensen]

I have a PM100 that I bought new in 1990 before lunch box planers were a thing. I paid like $2700 for it which is a fortune in today's dollars. I added a Byrd head maybe 10 years ago. Mine is 3HP and I've never felt like it needed more power. I think the cut might be limited to 1/8" or less but that's never been an issue for me. The PM100 has a proper pressure bar and chip breaker which are really important. Mine needed a lot of tuning to get it right when I first bought it. PM sent me 3 replacement pressure bars and all were manufactured the same way crooked. Clearly a jig in production was off. When I ordered the PM100 was made in the USA and the machine I received was made in Taiwan. The weirdest thing, clearly PM specified SAE fasteners but the factory that made it used metric threads and they made bolts with metric threads and SAE heads. If I were shopping for a replacement today I'd look for an older machine that was fully made in the USA. Mine is gold with a green stripe.

[Gregory King]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their responses to my original post. I bought a General 130 for $850 (u.s.) outside of Montreal, Quebec (which I think was a pretty good deal). I haven't used the planer a ton, but it works well, and I am very happy with it.

Hope you enjoy the little General as much as I do. Been using mine the last few days to dress some cedar for a couple of tete a tetes . I bought the knife setting gauge from General that also works on my 8" Poitras jointer. A breeze to install new knives.
.

[John Terry]

Thanks for updating your post. I too have a 130, I have had it for several years, I just bought the byrd head for it. I have not installed it yet. I wish there was more video's etc on this upgrade. I struggled for the last 2 years as to whether or not to upgrade or buy a 20" Grizzly. I love that General, I hope I have made the right decision. The new head was over $1200.00.

[Gregory King]

Well, I guess we can all sing along to

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