Delta TP305 ??

[steve-u]

I see with the current Amazon deal that I can get a Delta TP305 for $175 shipped. I know it is not a heavy duy planer and can snipe more than others but it is something that I would not need to use a lot. I am not so much a woodworker but am doing trim work in the house and have the need to make 1x pine thinner to 7/16, 1/2, etc and it would be nice to have to clean lumber I don't really need to thin. Snipe to me is not a big deal because I will not need the whole 96 inches of the board I plane anyhow - probably only 80 inches max and for shorter needs I will just cut the board 6 inches longer than I need.

Now my main question is I see that the TP305 is supposed to come with a dust port but will that dust port hook to my Rigid shop vac or does it just direct the wood chips in some direction?? I saw one at Lowes and it did not appear to have the dust port. Others I have seen such as Ryobi, Dewalt, and Rigid have dust ports on the back that can hook directly to a dust collection or shop vac.

Thanks, Steve

[sweensdv]

Even if your shop vac can hook up to that planer the results will be less than satisfactory. Shop vacs just don't move enough air to do a good job on certain tools such as planers and jointers. The amount of chips these machines create is just more than the vac can handle.

You might be alright if you make many passes and just plane away very small amount on each pass but the more passes you make the more chances for snipe.

[steve-u]

Thanks for that info and I pretty much expected such. I still would like to have the option to try using a shop vac. Otherwise I guess is I can use it in the garage and let it shoot onto the floor or where ever and then use the manual method to clean up.

Steve

[LCHIEN]

Thanks for that info and I pretty much expected such. I still would like to have the option to try using a shop vac. Otherwise I guess is I can use it in the garage and let it shoot onto the floor or where ever and then use the manual method to clean up.

Steve

you can try and use the shop vac... it may work or it may not (I found myself having to stop frequently and clear the jams of chips from the chute and hose). Even if it works plan on stoping and emptying the vac often, planers produce big fluffy chips that don't pack well.

But Don't let your planer blow all over the place with no collection, either. many shoot them out and away but will spill a certain percentage of the chips back into the infeed side, somehow. This will make dents from being pressure rolled onto the top side of your plank and ruin whatever planing you did before.

Just my experience and I've also heard it repeated by others.

[cgallery]

My Shop Vac keeps up w/ 8" wide boards going through my Inca planer (8" max. capacity) no problem. YMMV.

[gary]

I have a TP400 which is similar to the TP305. I did try a 12 Gal shop vac and it failed miserably with my planer. Maybe you shop vac has more umph than miine.

Also, are you sure the dust port comes with it? I thought it was an extra cost purchase with this model planer. Maybe Amazon is bundling it in?

[burrellski]

I have the ryobi ap1300 hooked up to a ridgid shopvac. Other than needing to empty the vac rather often, I have no problems with the vac keeping up with my planer. I have sent a 12" wide board through with no issues.

[steve-u]

Thanks for the helpful replies gentlemen. The Delta website and on the boxes I see it Lowes it comes with a "dust chute" and I was wondering exactly what that meant. I see the replies are mixed on success with a shop vac and it may have something to do with the design of each planer as I understand that some have a fan to help eject the wood chips and others may not. I don't have plans to plane any more than 1x6 pine so I am hopeful that a shop vac may at least be helpful for that even if I have to clean/empty it often.

Steve

[schak]

I own the TP305 as a starter planer, for the price it does what I need it to do and I just found ways to deal with the snipes.

The TP305 does NOT come with a DC/shop vac connection, what it comes with is a "dust deflector". It sort of deflects the shavings down to where the board comes out of the feeder and creates a mess. What I did was make my own shop vac dust collection attachment out of some scrap wood and it worked fairly well with my 12 gal 5.5hp shop vac. But I had to empty the shopvac after about every 12bf which was sort of a pain.

I was in the same boats as you about a planer, I'm a weekend woodworker don't need anything fancy. My recommendation is if you could spend a little more, get a better planner than the TP305 or similiar. Look for one with "cutter lock" mechanism this will minimize snipes, I don't think it will eliminate snipes completely. I Never thought I would use the planer as much as I would, but I've used it on every project that I've made.

Hope this help on your decision.

[steve-u]

Thanks Schak. That was what I wanted to know about the included dust hood. Sounds like I would have to buy an optional one or make my own like you did. Maybe I will just hold off a while waiting for a deal on a better planer. It is not something I need right now.

Steve

[3thumbs]

Snipes galore

I got a TP-305 last month. I didn't use it after I unpacked it, just made sure that it ran, and wasn't damaged. I ordered the dust chute, and it has a 4" hookup, and works with my dust collector. I got it all set up today to plane some Maple and it snipes horribly about two inches from each end. The infeed and outfeed tables are adjusted correctly. Snipes! I made a crude infeed by stacking a few boards to the correct height. Still snipes! It looks like the roller on the outfeed side is about 1/16 lower than the infeed roller.
Any ideas?
Dave

[Hoover]

Sorry but that planer is famous for sniping.

[just started]

You get what you pay for, unless you are really lucky and fall into the very rare rose stuff instead of the normal brown stuff we usually hit.