lunchbox vs stationary planer

[Howard Pollack]

Hi-
Will folks please comment on the advantages of stationary planers vs lunchbox planers. I have a Makita 2012 and wonder if the finish that comes off of a planer/jointer combination machine will be substantially better. I'm aware that it will me much quieter to run. Thanks.
-Howard

[daryl moses]

It depends on your intended use.
I mill all of my own lumber and couldn't fathom being tied down to a lunch box planer. Milling long, heavy and wide pieces is much easier with a stationary machine. I suppose it could be done but I couldn't imagine running a couple of thousand B/F of rough sawn, wide, long and heavy lumber through a lunch box.
On the other hand if your intended use is just going to use it to thickness smaller amounts and pieces a lunch box planer would be ideal.
I have a 15" Shop Fox planer and wish I had purchased the 20".

[Rick Alexander]

Actually the finish on those lunch boxes will probably be better than the stationary - unless the stationary has a good quality byrd head with a decent diameter cutter shaft. I haven't used my dewalt finish planer since putting byrd cutters on my 20 inch Grizzly

[Curt Harms]

I had a Delta 22-580 and sold it and a 6" jointer for a Jet Jointer/Planer. The finish quality did not improve but didn't decrease noticeably either. My Jet JJP has straight knives, I've never used a machine with a helical head. Stationary machines are should be more durable - induction motor vs. universal motor, stouter castings and bearings. My primary reason for upgrading was for the wider jointer. I use mostly air dried rough sawn stock and a lot of it was wider than what an 8" jointer would handle easily. I'm happy with the swap but it depends on what you're doing and what you want.

[Jim Becker]

One small advantage goes to "lunch box" planers and that's when you're working with very thin material or taking very thin cuts. Stationary planers typically use a serrated feed roller and that can mark deeper than the cut one might take for those applications. Otherwise, stationary planers are heavier and more durable and also available in capacities beyond 12" width. While stationary planers are not "quiet", they do not have that "high pitched scream" that the universal motors in "lunch box" planers have.

[Rick Potter]

Good advice from Jim. As stated above, it depends on whether you plan to process your own lumber, or just thin out and surface wood to size for projects.

I am a hobbyist, and fall in the later catagory. I had a 15" Jet which was great for starting with rough sawn wood, but as Jim stated, it always left serrated marks on the finished surface. I sold it and got a DeWalt 735 which fits my needs much better. I have run a lot of wood through it, and it gives me a very nice finish. It is loud, but much better for my needs, and earmuffs are cheap.

I have a simple piece of melamine particle board about 2' long with a cleat on the leading edge to keep it from moving. This allows me to plane thin boards very nicely. I have planed down to about 1/8" with no problems.

[Patrick Kane]

I went from a 735 to a PM209hh last year, and i would say the byrd head is a downgrade compared to the 735. I have the scalloped ridges everyone talks about, and i dont find it to be much better with reversing grain. Full disclosure, i still feel like i was sold a bit of snake oil by most opinions on the net. However, to me the stationary planer with carbide inserts wasnt about improving cut quality etc. I was ramming a lot of wood through the dewalt, and the pace left a lot to be desired. In addition to pace, i was holding my breath over when it would eventually kick the bucket. Im sure they last awhile, but i was 2-3,000 bdft into it and wanted to sell it before i broke it. Import 20" machines arent invincible, but at 1-2,000 bdft a year it should last me for quite awhile without trouble. Im no longer limited to 1/32-1/16" passes, and the PM on slow gear is much faster. Similar to having a narrow jointer, i am now using the 13-20" wide boards ive accumulated, but never touched because my tooling didnt match their dimensions. I cant outright say the powermatic is better than the dewalt, they are just different. I wanted wider, faster, and more robust to suit my needs. The dewalt could be a better machine(and significantly less expensive too!) for some people given the circumstances.

[John Lankers]

I will not mention any specific brands but there are cheap (quality) and more high end lunchbox planers and the same holds true for stationary planers. However, if you run any lunchbox planer all day every day at full capacity you won't get much life (duty cycle) out of it and it simply won't be able to work at all with dull knives as where a large industrial planer with dull knives just leaves a rougher surface. IMHO, both planers outfitted with new knives and taking a thin layer of wood of should leave a very comparable finish. No matter how you stretch it, running a 13" board through a 13" lunchbox planer is a workout even at the thinnest setting. Also, most higher end stationary planers can be bought with rubber outfeed rollers to eliminate marring.

[Jon Nuckles]

The finish off my DW735 with sharp knives is better than I used to get with a 15" Delta stationary planer, and I like the easy replacement of dull or nicked knives. On the other hand, it takes too long to plane down rough sawn lumber and it does scream. It is certainly a cheaper option if that matters to you. You'll likely pay more for a Byrd head for a 15" planer than the DW735 costs in total. As was mentioned above, there are big differences in quality within each class of planer. I had a Delta 12" many years ago and, while it was lighter than the DW735, the Delta was no match for it in power or finish.

[rudy de haas]

Before buying mine (G1037z equiv from craftex in Canada) I ran some tests. Conclusions:

1 - finish quality depends on the cutters, the feed rate, and the wood, not how the machine is mounted or powered (unless the machine is so light relative to the job that it moves; that's a disaster for finish quality);

2 - noise matters

3 - the lunch boxes work ok for small pieces fed slowly, are easy to move around, and take normal 15 amp, 110 volt power. The better stationary units are heavy, take 220 volt power, and are not easily moved except on wheels within the workshop.

4 - the heavier machines have it all over the little guys when you want to plane longer boards. There is no comparison between feeding a 12 foot long piece of jatoba through a small stationary unit like the G0137z and doing it on a lunchbox. Basically, one is just some work, the other needs planning, care, clamps, and a lot of time.

[John Gulick]

We use our Powermatic 180 for roughing and either our Makita or Rigid for finishing.

[Matthew Hills]

Hi-
Will folks please comment on the advantages of stationary planers vs lunchbox planers. I have a Makita 2012 and wonder if the finish that comes off of a planer/jointer combination machine will be substantially better. I'm aware that it will me much quieter to run. Thanks.
-Howard

What is the quality issue that you're having?
(washboarding or tearout or snipe? figured wood or straight-grain?)

Fresh blades will be better than dull, whether on lunchbox or stationary planer.

Matt

[Cary Falk]

The finish on my lunch box was smooth as glass. The finish on my 15" stationary with spiral head is not quite as good but I sand everything so it doesn't matter. You can adjust the outfeed marks out of a stationary planer. The infeed roller marks are only there if you don' remove enough wood. I ended up replacing the infeed an outfeed with rubber rollers. I would never go back to a lunchbox. My stationary is quieter, more robust, wider, and faster.

[Marc Burt]

Had a Delta lunchbox for years switched to the jet combo as well. For me I can hog off way more per pass than the Delta could and the big machine doesn't hestitate. It really speeds up stock prep.

finish is no better or worse. Blade changes were easier on the Delta. (I don't have the HH - stupid shortsighted decision)

[glenn bradley]

Lunchbox planers are 'finish' planers. Lighter cuts, portable, and replaceable indexed knives are the norm. Stationary planers generally come with factory settings for rough material but, those settings are designed to be adjustable. Insert heads deal with difficult figure better than knives and floor models are generally more powerful an quieter.

I adjusted the roller marks out of my floor model and changed other settings to be more appropriate for material that is not straight from the saw mill. use a lot of figured material so an insert head was a must. I almost kept my DW734 around as I had it pretty well dialed in but, space requirements won out and it went down the road.