Planer advise needed

[Bill Dufour]

I looked at a 20" Powermatic wedge bed. I love old machines and it was a dandy...

I do not think Powermatic made a wedge bed planner. Yates made several sizes then they were bought out and sold with the Delta/Rockwell name on them.
Bill D

[Patrick Kane]

I own a powermatic 209 with a byrd head. As someone else said, there is a bit more to it other than 2hp and 5" of width. Most 20" machines have additional features like a pressure bar and segmented infeed rollers. It is also nice to have additional mass. Not that 500lbs is light, but you might have to worry about long and heavy material leveraging on the smaller machine. I dont know the price difference between the 15" and 20", but I do think the 20" machine is a different class--whether it is Grizzly, Laguna, Powermatic, Jet--and something you would appreciate for that quantity of material. For what it's worth, ive bogged down the 5hp PM before on feeding multiple boards/wide glueups. If you take a 1/8"+/- pass on something wide, then the machine definitely slows down. That might be a factor of the byrd head too. All in all, i am not totally enamored with the machine. I would give it a 3.5/5. The oil gearbox has leaked from day one. I reached out to powermatic on the warranty, and never had it resolved. They basically told me, "it happens, oh well. grab a rag". It isnt a constant flow of oil, but it drips occasionally and makes a mess of the side of the machine when mixed with sawdust. Over the last 6+/- years ive probably put about 15,000-20,000 bdft through it, and it has proven to be a workhorse.

[Warren Lake]

Michael you dont have room but you need a stroke sander. It can do more than a wide belt. you will never flush a glued up drawer on a wide belt and more. Good to have both but if only one I choose the one that can do more.

[Holmes Anderson]

As Patrick Kane points out, the difference between a 15" planer and a 20" planer is more than just 5" of width. Pressure bars and segmented rollers are also differences you may find but those features are not necessarily on every 20" planer. I didn't think that segmented rollers were typically found on four-post planers of any size. If the OP doesn't need to plane glued-up panels and gang-plane, and isn't obsessed with eliminating snipe without finessing boards by hand, then he could save some money by buying the 15" machine or, better still, a J-P combo machine because he isn't getting a pressure bar or segmented rollers either way. Keep in mind that upgrades like helical cutterheads are much more costly in the 20" size than the 15". Anyway, the OP will want to know all the features on the planers he's considering and decide which features he needs for the work he's doing.

[Warren Lake]

tersa head for 24" is 6k canadian more or less

[George Yetka]

Im not sure Ive heard anyone say "I wish I went smaller" The cost to upgrade later will be a lot more than the $1000 today.

[Michael Schuch]

Michael you dont have room but you need a stroke sander. It can do more than a wide belt. you will never flush a glued up drawer on a wide belt and more. Good to have both but if only one I choose the one that can do more.

I have often wondered how useful stroke sanders are. I don't think a stroke sander, wide belt sander or wide drum sander is in my future.

My adaptation is to use my horizontal boring machine for dowels to keep the pieces of a glue up aligned. Then strip the squeeze out off the boards while the glue is still a bit soft. I learned my lesson long ago not to put dowels too close to the edge of a glue up that will become a raised panel... I only had to make that mistake once. If I do a good job on the glue up there isn't that much work sanding the panel after the glue up.

[Terry Therneau]

You didn't say where you are. Out of curiousity I looked at the local craigslist: a 20" powermatic in Minneapolis, with grinder. This is an older, large, solid as a brick version.

[Mike O'Keefe]

Hello ! Have you looked at Woodmaster planers ? There made in Kansas City. I have there 18'' model and have been very satisfied. If you have a chance to purchase a old Oliver or Powermatic etc I would definitely do so. Mike O'Keefe

[Bill Dufour]

If you find the crescent/rockwell or yates/powermatic for sale under the old name they tend to cost a little less, since not as many recognize those names. Of course that means the machine is over 70 years old since they changed the names around 1950.
Bill D

[Warren Lake]

I have a woodmaster moulder, modified it and its good. Planer is a different story id pass on their stuff and go to heavy. Every time I replace a machine with heavier its better. Light and heavy get the work done but its nicer to work on a heavy machine.