Any way to borrow one for now? What you might find is that having a planer will make you realize that you don't have a jointer, which will cause you to part with even more money. They are really two peas in a pod. Planers work best when you have already face jointed one side of the lumber, so that you can run that flat side along the bottom while the planer works on the rough top, making it nice and parallel to the bottom. Especially if you have cup, bow or twist in the lumber, running it through the planer without jointing a face first will only accentuate the cup, bow or twist. "Skip planing" can work great if you start with reasonably straight stock. But often it's an exercise in frustration.
Over the years I have gone deep into cooking and photography before getting into woodworking. Except for car racing and maybe a few other things, it's hard to imagine a hobby that can cost more than woodworking!
Yeah, I can see your point.
I've been using a set-up on my router table to joint smaller pieces, and have downloaded plans for a jig for my table saw for larger stock. I've also seen that a planer sled can be used to face joint in some instances, which leads me to think that a planer would be a good next step.
To clarify an earlier statement, what I meant by "short-term" was months/years rather than days/weeks.
At this point, I'm leaning toward the Dewalt 734, but I'm going to take my time on this decision, carefully consider all of the helpful input I have received, and not just rush off in a full-blown tool acquisition panic.
"full-blown tool acquisition panic."
Yup, I know what that's like.
I'm buying 3 old Rockwell 34-010 miter boxes for dedicated purposes in just this week.
Gotta love that Search Tempest site.
Marc
I never could get a good edge on longer stock using the router table jointing method. Drove me nuts and led to a $600 Ridgid jointer. I've also made a couple jointer jigs for the table saw. Maybe I suck at making great jigs, but my results have been inconsistent with them (especially on longer stock). Haven't tried to planer sled method, but I've seen many videos on it. Seems like a good approach, but you still need those nicely jointed edges for glue ups...
The 734 will serve you well. I have the 735 and it's a beast. Dust collection is amazing compared to Ridgid and Delta planers I've used. Good luck!
i have an old delta that is great but newer ones get bad reviews
i have used general, dewalt, and rigid
the dewalt was nice but 600 bucks no thank you
get a rigid
and buy a bigger planer for later
Carpe Lignum
John,
FWIW, an inexpensive planer makes sense to me.
My experience: I have a sawmill and plenty of air-dried rough sawn hardwood. I am primarily interested in woodturning and while I don't do a lot of furniture I do occasionally need surfaced boards. I bought a lunchbox planer a bunch of years ago when I had a little 16x16' hobby shop and used it in my tiny garage shop later. The great thing for me with limited space was I could keep it on a shelf and get it out when needed. I usually carried it outside and made piles of chips there instead of in the shop.
I had no jointer but my little table saw and hand plane or router did what I needed.
Although I have a much larger shop now with good tools (cabinet saw, 8" jointer, drum sander, etc.) that see occasional use, the lunchbox planer is still works for me. If I ever shift focus from woodturning to finely crafted flat wood then yes, I might give away the lunchbox and buy a heavy duty stationary planer. (especially [gasp] if I wanted to build to sell. Horrors.) But for now, the lunchbox still works for me - it makes boards flat and I still carry it outside to make cleanup easier. Hey, sudden thought, maybe I could set it up in the barn and make the chips directly in the horse stall!
PS. Forgot to mention: when remodeling my last house I had a need for a bunch of milled oak for door casings, baseboards, window framing, etc. I got all this milled at a local commercial lumber supplier. This was less expensive than I imagined, zero work and cleanup for me, one-day turnaround, and the results were perfect. Your own portable planer would be more practical for small projects, but perhaps that might be an option on occasion.
JKJ
Last edited by John K Jordan; 10-01-2017 at 7:30 AM. Reason: added a PS
I never considered my lunch box planers as starter machines. They do what I want as a hobbyist and that's that. I suppose if my needs were different I might consider one of the larger planers but for me it would be a waste of money and a space waster. My 734 has worked well for me for that last 4 or 5 years and before that a Delta that lasted at least 10 years.
John, you are welcome have a look around my shop and discuss ideas. I'm in Thompsons Station. If interested, I'll give you my phone #.
Rollie
John, what did you do ? Please make a decision or the rest of us will continue this thread for weeks...
I have the Dewalt 735, it's a great machine, I keep it on top of a rolling tool cabinet against the wall. I just pull out the cabinet whenever I need to use it.
Iv'e made a few upgrades though. First I put on the Wixey DRO, the scale that comes with the planer is pretty much useless. Also, the knives dull and nick very quickly, no issue if you are fine with tons of sanding/ hand planing, but I think the Shelix cutter heads are worthwhile.
I am into the planer for about $1100 now, and I would get the same unit again just because of space considerations. Haven't tried the 734, so I cant compare. There are many planers of very nice quality between lunch-boxes and a Hammer, If I had the space I would have a 20'' Grizzly with a Helical head, It's a good sweet spot between capacity and cost, or even better Idea would be the 15'' Grizzly with a Helical head, and an open end drum sander like the Supermax 1938 would still be a better option than a Hammer (at least for a hobbyist).
Hahaha!
Well, I'm leaning pretty heavily toward the Dewalt 734... I've checked on line, and the cheapest at the moment seems to be a reconditioned unit from CPO Tools.
I've also been checking the local Craigslist, just in case something relevant pops up.
I may not pull the trigger for a couple of weeks, but I do appreciate everyone's input, insight, and wisdom.
You might get lucky - I got my 735 from a pawn shop for $250 plus tax, and it's been an awesome little machine. Good deals are out there if you keep your eyes peeled.
~Garth