Planers: 2-speed Delta or 3-knife unit?

[Doug Jones]

John,
Don't get in a hurry yet about buying. Word has it that the new Dewalt 2 speed 13" planer is due out soon. This should do one of two(if not both) things. One being the Dewalt 12 1/2" planer should start dropping in price, and B) it may cause Delta to drop thier price a bit. Just some info I thought you could use.
Doug

[John Miliunas]

John,
Don't get in a hurry yet about buying. Word has it that the new Dewalt 2 speed 13" planer is due out soon. This should do one of two(if not both) things. One being the Dewalt 12 1/2" planer should start dropping in price, and B) it may cause Delta to drop thier price a bit. Just some info I thought you could use.
Doug

Thanks Doug! No, I didn't know Dewalt was going in that direction. You're right...It may be interesting to see what happens. Oh, and I'm not in a real particular hurry, either. The Ryobi is still doing a fine job for most of my stuff and I've made a number of recent tool purchases as it is, so I may want the dust to settle a bit, anyway! Strange as it may sound, though, when I mentioned to LOML that I may be replacing it, her response was that I should wait until "the fat lady sings", so to speak. In other words, wait until we know for sure that we're taking the house off the market. In the meantime, if it sells and I get my bigger shop, she's all for me getting a *real* planer! Ah yes...Gotta' love her!

[Ken Salisbury]

John,
Don't get in a hurry yet about buying. Word has it that the new Dewalt 2 speed 13" planer is due out soon. This should do one of two(if not both) things. One being the Dewalt 12 1/2" planer should start dropping in price, and B) it may cause Delta to drop thier price a bit. Just some info I thought you could use.
Doug

Well - the "old man" has to throw his 2¢ into the mix after reading Doug's post. He is absolutely right in that new planers are due out soon. The same holds true for BS's, TS's, Jointers, Mortisers, etc, etc, etc. If you try to chase technology - you will never buy a new power tool. There is always gonna be a new version coming.

My philosophy would be to research what is available at the time you decide to buy and buy the machine that best matches your needs/budget, buy it and get on with it.

[John Miliunas]

Well - the "old man" has to throw his 2¢ into the mix after reading Doug's post. He is absolutely right in that new planers are due out soon. The same holds true for BS's, TS's, Jointers, Mortisers, etc, etc, etc. If you try to chase technology - you will never buy a new power tool. There is always gonna be a new version coming.

My philosophy would be to research what is available at the time you decide to buy and buy the machine that best matches your needs/budget, buy it and get on with it.

Couldn't agree more, Ken! And don't I know that theory real well, being in the IT industry! Heck, most stuff "on the shelf" is obsolete the day it gets there!!! I figure a month or so down the road for this purchase. If I see something of interest in the meantime, great. If not, I revert back to your assumptions!

[Tom Pritchard]

Tom P., welcome aboard! It's just absolutely *fantastic* that a "new guy" jumps right in with helpful feedback for your first post. I'm impressed. Stop by often, as you'll find there are a whole bunch of nice folks hangin' out at the Creek! Thanks for the input. Precisely the kind of info I'm looking for. I wish we had a Lowe's handy around here. If this happens, I'll need to source out blades somewhere, but in reality, I'm pretty easy on them. I'm only on my second set (double-sided) for the Ryobi after several years of use.

John, just a quick addition to my original post. Last night, I turned my planer blades around to use the second side. I was planing some 5/4 rock maple, and I was getting some fine grooves that I didn't like. To my surprise, changing the blades was a simple task! There are 7 Torx style screws that you loosen for each blade, and the blade lifts out with the little magnetic tool that Delta provides. Once reversed, the blade sits back in on pins so that there is no need to align the blades! I was done in about 10 minutes. I know I might be biased, but this planer is a wonderful tool. Good luck!

[Sparky Paessler]

John

I just upgraded to the 15" powermatic from a 12" delta. (don't remember the model # but was the orginal 12" one). What a difference there is between them! The powermatic feed boards thru it much easier. The old delta I have I had to sometimes help the boards thru it when it hit a hard spot. I also think it is a little quieter or at least the sound is not so high pitched as the Delta. The powermatic also seems to take off more in a pass so I don't have to make as many passes thru the planner and then there is always that extra 3 inches in width. Of course there is a big price difference but to me it was worth it. (I had to trim out a house for a friend on the weekends to pay for mine.)

[Rob Russell]

John,

Give it up. Just go for a big ole variable feed speed jointer/planer combo. You only live once.

Rob