Looking for a planer: Any opinions re: HF 13" Industrial Planer?

[BasementJunkie]

I picked up the Rigid from BORG last month when there was a 15% rebate. If there are more such deals (like the $$ back deal they had a week after I bought mine), I'd go that way. Between the rebate and matching the 10% off Lowe's coupon, I'll get mine for ~$280.

[Norm in Fujino]

Thanks for the information. I will take it in account if I use it more in the future and decide to replace it. Which one of those you mentioned has the better (more quality and durable) knives?

It's sad, but knives are built by third-party vendors so cheaply that it's hardly worth it to have them sharpened (certainly not if done professionally). I keep thinking I should get a good rotary sharpener and do mine myself, but haven't done it yet.

And speaking of weights, my Grizzly is 85#, but I like it heavy for stability's sake. I have it mounted on 2x4s and casters to wheel it around.

[woodturner]

Greetings, all--

I'm hot and heavy in pursuit of a planer,

Another option might be the pro planer Sears closed out a while back. My local store still has some, and they are down to $199 from a retail price of $499 or so. Pretty decent planers, I've been happy with mine, often use it instead of the stationary planer.

I have an older Delta I'd be willing to sell, but probably too far (Pennsylvania) for you.

[mjernigan]

Wow, what a fun thread it's been, and educational. I ended up going with the DW734 on CL & only about a half-hour drive away, and got it for $160. It's running fine, it seems, but the fellow who had it used it for a bunch of siding and kept it in an outside shed, covered but open.

So, there's a bit of rust on the four cutterhead columns, especially up high since all he cut was siding, and the rollers are slipping a little bit, which I've read about on the DW planers. Seems that's from not keeping the rollers blown off and clean, and the rust is obvious, so I'll need some way to get them nice and clean.

I heard Boeshield products are good for removing/protecting metal surfaces, but don't know anywhere local (yet) to get some. Any other ideas for cleaning up and protecting those surfaces (I'll use Johnson's wax on the jointer bed)?

Speaking of the Sears closeouts, is that gigantic industrial still on special? 20", 220v 3-phase, I think it was? Sure wish I had room for that one....

[Knottscott]

Sounds like a nice deal.

The main ingredient in the Boeshield rust remover is phosphoric acid....any product containing that will smell just as bad work just as well. HD has Krud Kutter for rust that also works for rust removal. The phosphoric acid is fairly aggressive and needs to be removed after applying...you might try something less agressive like WD-40 and a wire brush. If that fails, then resort to the strong stuff.

The Boeshield T-9 rust preventer is very effective and much harder to duplicate with common compounds. Most wwing specialty stores will have it.

[pelligrini]

I heard Boeshield products are good for removing/protecting metal surfaces, but don't know anywhere local (yet) to get some. Any other ideas for cleaning up and protecting those surfaces (I'll use Johnson's wax on the jointer bed)?

Try some of the Klingspor Sandflex blocks on the rust. They should make quick work on the posts. Some photo examples in post 12 of this thread: http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...916#post413916.

I use the T-9 product on the posts of my planer and paste on the bed. I don't like the Boeshield rust remover product too much. It can discolor cast iron.

[Fussy]

$200 and local trumps all in my book, but I'm cheap. Any of these choices would be good, so save money and time and have more for wood! I have HF equipment, but I'm careful about what I buy. Saw the planer today and would take the DW any day. I have a 735 that I love.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Fussy]

BTW use mineral spirits (according to DW service rep) periodicly to keep the rollers clean.
Any planer with rubber rollers will get pitch or rosin buildup and slip. Enjoy your new machine and make lots of sawdust.

Steve

[mjernigan]

Thanks, guys... same as before: I really appreciate the help I'm getting here and intend when I have some to offer to pay it back.

I just got back from the local Woodcraft where I sprung for the 3-pack of the remover, protector, and blade cleaner. Can't help walking away from a Woodcraft store without feeling like I paid too much, but what the hey, I got a great deal (so far, time will tell) on the 734.

When the guy demo'd the planer, by the way, after about 8 feet through a board the thing shut down, tripping its onboard breaker. I almost walked away, then reconsidered when I saw he was removing a little over an eigth of an inch on a board over six inches wide. Don't know what the species of wood was. Given that he'd done hundreds of feet of siding and its rusty condition, it seemed consistent with the rust, and I figured it was overheating. So, I paid the $160 and hoped for the best.

As I type I'm letting a little wd-40 soak into the blade clamp screws... can't get 'em to budge, again consistent with the way the machine was used and stored. I was on the verge of stripping a couple out trying to break the torque, and figuring that in this case patience is indeed a virtue (plus not wanting to grind or drill out the clamp screws), I decided to grab a beer--thus GUARANTEEING that the thing will remain unplugged until tomorrow--and let them soak.

Have already turned about a quarter inch of the face of a three-foot 2x4 scrap into a bucket of dust... MUST get a DC!

Cheers, all!

Mike

[natausch]

When the guy demo'd the planer, by the way, after about 8 feet through a board the thing shut down, tripping its onboard breaker. I almost walked away, then reconsidered when I saw he was removing a little over an eigth of an inch on a board over six inches wide.

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/bru...g-p-68142.html

Might be the cause, might not be. In general, where the tool is stored and how the seller handles it when demonstrating it to you gives you a great guess on how much life it has left in it.

The good news is the DeWalt planers are workhorses, designed to take jobsite abuse, and assuming its the brushes then you'll get off cheaply.

[Frank Ivy]

The good news is the DeWalt planers are workhorses, designed to take jobsite abuse, and assuming its the brushes then you'll get off cheaply.

I'll be the Guinea pig. I'll be ordering the ChinaTown (HF) planar tonight. It's about 480 shipped to my door.

Reasons I like it - fixed blades. Bottom line is, fixed blade machines, all else being equal, will give you a superior result - while movable blades are very convenient, for reasons discussed above, movable blades are movable. All the locks in the world won't give you the stability of blade bearings that are immovably fixed in the main housing. Having adjustable input/output tables/rollers is a negative, no doubt. How much of one? I'll let you know soon.

I also like the 3 horse, 220. It is a far superior motor design to the 110, 2 horse that you'll get on a Dewalt 734. The torque on a 220 is always going to be better, and the power consumption is generally less (per horse).

I really like the two feed speeds - much more flexibility in how you plane.

The price is awesome for a fixed-blade, 2 speed, 3 horse planer.

Replacement blades are about 45 bucks - I'm going to buy 2 extra sets with the unit. They are sharpenable, as far as I can tell, so they should last me a good long time.

Dislikes - big risk as to quality. I have been happy with the Chinatown tools, for the most part. I bought a framing nailer, a roofing nailer, and finish nailer, and a flooring nailer to build my house. All did very well except the finish nailer, which was underpowered and, if I recall, jammed and broke. I probably was working it incorrectly, however.

May be tough to get parts down the road. Hard to beat name-brand part availability.


I'll post an update as soon as I get going.


FINAL NOTE - I was very close to buying the DeWalt 734 today at bLowes. I decided to do more research on the unit. Many reviewers had the following problems - 1. Blade cap bolts factory installed incorrectly, resulting in stripping at first removal. 2. Blades wear out very quickly and are throw-aways.

The 1st indicates that DeWalt quality is suspect. The 2nd is an indication of where we are as a society. Throw away, one-use blades? I guess I want to return to old school, when everything wasn't throw away.

The review that convinced me to NOT buy the 734 was a review where the guy said that his neighbor had an earlier DeWalt planer that was 2 years old we he got the 734 and they both processed the same amount of wood in the 1st year that he owned the 734 and the neighbor was on the original set of blades 1 year later but he was on his 3rd set of blades for the 734.

So that means he dumped 108 bucks into the planer in the 1st year in addition to the 400 sticker price. Figure 108 a year for 10 years and your planer cost you an extra 1,000 dollars.

So why did DeWalt go with throw-away blades? Very simple - they don't just want to make money on you buying the planer. The want to make money on you every year going forward.

It's the Lexmark printer theory of doing business - price the planer 50-100 bucks below what it costs to make, or maybe make it for break even, have it work great right out of the box, and then sit back and wait a year or two for 50 more bucks to come in. Then 50 more. Then 50 more.

You get the point. In my opinion, it's a very sad sign to see a company sell a planer with throw away blades that obligate you to keep spending money. That's no way to treat your customers.

[dbhost]

Let us know how that HF planer works out for you...

OP. What did you end up with?

[pelligrini]

So why did Dwalt go with throw-away blades? Very simple - they don't just want to make money on you buying the planer. The want to make money on you every year going forward.
<snip>
You get the point. In my opinion, it's a very sad sign to see a company sell a planer with throw away blades that obligate you to keep spending money. That's no way to treat your customers.

I do agree that they probably seriously thought of having a market for consumables, I don't think it's the total reasoning for the disposable knives though.

I've got the DW735 and it's the only planer I've used. The knives on it are two sided, so you get two uses out of them. Not sure about the 734 though. The thing I really like about the 735's knives is that changes are pretty easy. There's no jigs required, measuring, setting etc. With that design any user can get constant repeated performance. I have to futz a lot when changing the knives on my jointer.

There is a cost associated with the reusable knives too. Either with a sharpening service or your own time and effort. I think it's around $15 or more for jointer knives if you send them out. I have a bad enough time keeping my large chisels and plane irons square when sharpening. I'd hate to try to do a 13" planer knife.

*edit*
Welcome to the forum too!

[Frank Ivy]

The thing I really like about the 735's knives is that changes are pretty easy.
Welcome to the forum too!

Thanks for the welcome.

How much life do you get out of your knives? If they were sharpenable, how much would it cost to have them sharpened, and how many times could they be sharpened?

[pelligrini]

It's hard to say how much life I get exactly. I'm on my first set since I got it about a year and a half ago. I don't get a lot of shop time in the winter. They'll probably get swapped out for a new set very soon. Since I don't get a lot of shop time in the winter, I'd say about 2 fresh edges a year.

I haven't run a lot of hardwoods through it. I normally do light passes then trying to hog off a lot of material. On the two sets of edges there's probably been a 100bf of walnut, a couple 100bf of SYP when I built my bench. The thing that really impressed me was the couple 100bf of maple flooring that I've put through it. This was mostly used 3x3/4" material I got off a condo project. It was prefinished stuff with an aluminum oxide finish. The knives held up very well on that stuff.

I can't really say what the costs of having planer knives sharpened are. I think the amount of times would depend a lot on how one uses them too. When I was doing that flooring I'd make sure to use the whole knife with different passes at different locations. I learned that from my first use; it was on a bunch of SYP and I kept running it all through in the same spot. When I ran a wider board through later I did notice a bit of a difference in the finish where the unused edge was cutting. When I picked up an old Chinese knockoff of a 6" Rockwell jointer it looked like the previous owner never moved the fence. The first 1" of the knives had a terrible amount of wear.