Anyone seen an Enco Planer?

[MBG]

I have a local cabinet shop that is closing and they has an Enco 15" surface planer. I have never heard of this brand but it's a monster (probably around $400lbs). One of the support columns probably weighs more than my Delta 22-580!

Anyone know the history of this brand (I think I have seen the name on big drill pressed and milling machines).

Mike

[cabinetman]

I used to buy from Enco many years ago, tools like air drills, routers, etc. I don't know if they actually make this 15" planer. From the looks of it it appears to be fairly heavy duty. You might consider it if you have 220V, and can get it cheap enough and the parts are still available.
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[Holbren]

I would not be scared to buy it if the price is right and it looks like one of the other planers from someone like Grizzly, Sunhill or Delta. Enco just imports them from the same factory as the others so parts should be available.

[LCHIEN]

Enco is a machine tool supply house aimed toward commercial users. Their website is www.use-enco.com.
THey probably rebrand imported tools.
Here's the link to their current 15" planer, weighs 520 lbs so I'm not sure its the same one.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=497&PARTPG=INLMK3&PMITEM=150-4100

[eddy merckx]

I recently bought a used fairly generic 15" planer (Nutech). I did a bit of research and it turns out that most of those planers came from the same manufacturer in Taiwan. I talked to Sunhill in Seattle. They told me that the parts have been identical for over 20 years for the planers they sell (their planer looks just like mine). I don't think that planer design has changed much recently.

15" planers seem to break down into two categories; Those with an elevating planer head and those with an elevating table. Mine has an elevating head which takes effort to move upward. It just weighs a lot. The upside is that there is no snipe whatsoever. I haven't used one of the elevating table models but they seem like they'd be easier raise and lower.

There is a lot to adjust on a stationary planer. I found this article really helpful http://www.owwm.com/Parks/FWW/tuning.asp

So far I'm happy with my machine. It's very quiet and very solid. The coolest thing is that you can usually get one of these for the price of a cheaper bench top.

Make sure you have someone to help you unload it!

Eddy