20" Steel City Planer or Powermatic Planer

[Shawn Siegrist]

I'm looking to purchase a 20" planer and I've narrowed it down to a Steel City or Powermatic. The Steel City is about $500 cheaper than the powermatic and feels like a solid machine. Is the Powermatic worth the extra $500?

Thanks,
Shawn

[Greg Heppeard]

I got the Powermatic and haven't regretted one single pass. I've only had it for a couple of months, but it's a gem

[Nancy Laird]

In a word, no. You'll be very happy with the Steel City machine. Why pay more for the name??

[John Thompson]

They are basically the same machine, Shawn. Both have 55 1/2" x 20" tables... both run at 5000 rpm with 20,000 cuts per minute from 4 cutter-heads.. both can surface stock 20" and 8" deep. Both carry 5 Year Warranty as some Power-matic carry 2 years. Both are made outside the U.S.

One is yellow.. one is grey. The Steel City has two speeds as does the PM but the PM can be adapted as a 4 speed by switching out the gears in the lower gear-box. You would most likely not do that as there is no real need (I haven't found a reason in 6 years with my 20") to do so considering it is somewhat of a pain to do it.

So.. the main difference is one cost more than the other and Steel City appears on one name-plate wtih a grey machine while Power-matic appears on another on a yellow-gold machine. Which matchs your shop decor better? :>)

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Matt Benton]

Looks like only one comparison remaining:

How heavy are they? Goes a long way to determine how well each is built...

[Rod Sheridan]

Looks like only one comparison remaining:

How heavy are they? Goes a long way to determine how well each is built...

Hi Matt, mass is not always related to how well built a piece of machinery is.

Looking at any of the European machines, you'll find that many are superior to the cast iron North American machines, yet they are much lighter.

Welded steel machinery can be stronger, and less resonant than cast iron castings, as well being lighter.

A North American example of a modern, well engineered piece of machinery that is built in a much lighter fashion than the old machinery is the Oneway lathe.

Regards, Rod.

[Dan Lautner]

Resale value and longevity of company, I would go with the PM.

Dan

[Shawn Siegrist]

Thank you everyone for your information.

[Mike Davin]

I have had the 20" SC for a year and it is a great machine. Little sanding is need on lumber run through this beast. I believe the weight is 750 - 800 lbs.

[John Thompson]

The shipping weight on the PM is listed at 880 by Amazon. The shipping weight on the Steel City is listed as 787. You cannot use that as actual weight as it it determined by the manufacturer depending on how they crated it. Steel City ships their TS's with a steel cage around them inside a carb-board container. If you used shipping weight alone you would think the TS weighed about 50 more pounds due to the weight of the cage.

The actual weigh of both is around 660 lbs. I have been over a Steel City throughly when I was shopping. I have been over the PM. They use the same components and I would bet they weight within 30 lbs of each other in actual weight. The components in the case of 20" planers basically come from one original source. They don't weight one thing for one manufacturer they sell the component too than they do for another they sell it too.

This is true with the Grizzly 20" planer and the now defunct York-craft sold at the time by Wilke Machinery. Wilke stopped importing.. so am I stuck with a 20" planer that I can't get parts for? NO.. I simply order from Grizzly as every part is the same. The same is true with my now defunct Bridgewood Industrail floor mortiser. Now defunct but every part is the same at the Grizzly Industrail. I just paid less as I bought them during the closing of Wilke.

I was fortunate enough to go to dinner at the International WW Show with the owners of three various plants in China and Taiwan. That was a very revealing dinner conversation.

Sarge..

[Matt Benton]

Rod,

I agree, but aren't these two machines relatively comparable with regard to design, material, etc?

[John Thompson]

See post # 10, Matt. You may have missed it as you were typing when posted.

Off to the shop...

Sarge..

[Gary Max]

You need to look at the service side of this or any big money item you may buy.
I have all kinds of good things that can be said about my Powermatics---they are located just south of me in Nashville Tn.---I have no ideal about steel city????

[Matt Benton]

Thanks, John.

Actually, I admit that the question was somewhat rhetorical. Since both units are of similar design and material, I would surmise that the 109 lb difference in "Net Weight" quoted on both manufacturers' websites does indeed speak to how each machine is built.

I should mention that I have no experience with either machine, and while I would look very hard at the Steel City for myself, this is a tangible difference the OP should probably know about...

[Frank Drew]

Hi Matt, mass is not always related to how well built a piece of machinery is.

Looking at any of the European machines, you'll find that many are superior to the cast iron North American machines, yet they are much lighter.

Welded steel machinery can be stronger, and less resonant than cast iron castings, as well being lighter.

I don't have any informed thoughts on the subject myself, but some are questioning the long term durability of some of the newer European machines; similarly, one of the criticisms of welded steel vs. cast iron is that a steel construction is in fact more resonant than cast (if by that we mean more prone to vibration.)