Recommendations 4 buying new planer

[Brad_bb]

Need some help.  I want to buy my first benchtop planer.  I need some recommendations.  I've seen some in stores.   I'm looking for a benchtop planer that can help me size rough wood for various projects.  I've seen the Dewalt 734 and 735 planers.  What accounts for the price difference besides and inch wider?  Should I be looking at one over the other?  Is there another brand I should look at for better price or features?  My price range probably tops out at the $550 mark.
Thanks,
Brad

[treecyclers]

The new Dewalt one is pretty good from what I hear on the street.
Planers are a fickle bunch, IMHO.
Get as much power and width as you can afford, and even look at the used ones.
Knives are typically reasonable and pretty easy to install and tune.
If you're limited to a benchtop model, the dewalt is a good choice. Makita makes a pretty good one, but hte feed rollers are prone to premature death and are a stinker to replace.
IF you can use a floor model, find yourself a good used one, say 15" w/ 3HP or more, and go with it.
I run a 20" 5HP Shop Fox I paid about 1500 for new, and love it.
I can munch 3/16 cut in pine all day long, about 1/8 in oak, and slightly less in mesquite.

[DanG]

I agree with Treecyclers.  I had a Ryobi benchtop that cost $400+ and would barely knock the dust off a board.  I bought an ancient Belsaw for $250 and put new knives and rollers in it for another $150.  It will easily take 1/8 off a 10" oak board and the surface is just as good as the Ryobi.

[thedeeredude]

I have the ridgid 13" planer.  Don't like it.  Save the money and get a 15" planer with a 3 horsepower motor.  Honestly I wouldn't get a bench top planer ever again.  Ive had 3 different and I'm done with em.

[Kevin_H.]

I too have the 13" Rigid and also would not buy another one. spend the extra and get the 15" grizzly or something like that.

[WDH]

I have the Dewalt 734 12 & 1/2 inch planer.  I have planed wood for many many projects on it.  For occasional work up to several hundred board feet, it does a fine job.

If you are into production planing, go big like others have said.  If you are going to use it more for hobby work, a benchtop planer like the Dewalt 734 will serve you just fine in my experience.

[Brad_bb]

Ya'll got me double thinkin now.  I am starting timberframing and would like the ability to plan some timbers as well as plane wood for smaller projects.  Maybe I should just invest that money into a bigger planer...

[Woodchuck53]

If you are thinking bigger the Grissly 15" model we bought 12 yrs. ago has done well for us. 2 spare sets of knives and I set of adjusting sprocket for the table. 3 hp. works well. Cost was a factor at the time and would do it again. Chuck

[Ironwood]

If you buy any "four poster" (this is what the middle of the road imiports usually are) you shoold be able to increase the posts hieght to plane thicker wood than their state capacity. Something to think about.

Ironwood

[Brad_bb]

Well I talked with a co-worker who is a wood worker too.  Now I am leaning back the other way.  His opinion was that a 15 or 20 inch is ok, but will not likely let me push an 8 inch timber though easily.  You'd have to help feed it though as the feeder would not likely be strong enough on it's own  for a timber and even then it may be very difficult.  I also warned that buying a cheaper foreign made industrial type planer may be difficult to get parts for or repair.  On the other hand, the bigger hp motor would be a big plus.  It sounded like one of those in the $1200-$2000 range was not going to allow me to do much of the timber stuff I was hoping for.  I do have a 6 inch Makita powered hand planer and he recommended I stick with that for the timbers.  He said the smaller machines like the Dewalt DW735 or the Delta 22-580 with 3 knives are good machines for smaller projects so long as you have time.  They only take 1/64 to 1/32 off nicely at a time and the motor will get hot, but do a very good job.  He said it takes a lot of time to plane rough lumber to size with one of those benchtop machines, but would likely be the best option for me with the relatively small number of projects I have now.

[scsmith42]

Brad, it sounds like your co-worker gave you some pretty good advice.

A couple of comments...

Somewhere in the archives is a string about using a "bench-top" planer to plane large beams for timberframes.  The trick to this is to set the beams up on sawhorses, and allow the planer to pull itself along the beam, as opposed to trying to pull the beam through the planer.  You simply remove and replace the sawhorses as needed as the planer reaches them, to allow it to pass by.  You'll have to make a few passes, but it beats hand planing or even trying to wrestle the beams through a large planer.

Ditto the comments re staying away from the Ridgid; mine burned the motor up after a few large oak boards.

[metalspinner]

In 8 years, I wore out two bench top planers along with my patience.  The first was the Delta 12 1/2" then the Dewalt 12 1/2".  The bulk of my time on larger projects was spent nibbling away on rough lumber.  Not to mention the incredibly loud noise these things make.  I had to wear two levels of ear protection - the plugs and headphones.  My work time for home projects is typically at night, so I would have to stop that work after a cetain time so the rest of the family could go to bed. 
With the price of the benchtops going through the roof in the past couple of years, I just couldn't bear to spend $$$ on another.  I went with a Grizzley 5 HP 20" spiral head.  I don't think I will wear that out for a long while. ;D

Oh, and the noise level is a low pitched purr instead of the high pitched screaming whine of the benchtop.

[DanG]

For those large timbers, assuming you have enough vertical clearance in your machine, you could mount  a roller conveyor in the planer to take the strain off of the feed rollers.  I don't know why they don't just build them that way to start with. ???

[thedeeredude]

I can't remember where but someone modified a benchtop planer to a beam planer by taking the whole cutterhead off and making a flat sole for it. I'll do some searching.

[thedeeredude]

Found it

http://www.huntertimberframe.com/planer/default.htm

and heres the topic post about that stuff

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,28933.0/all.html

[Left Coast Chris]

For boards I bought a used 15" Grizzly older model with a 2 hp motor and it does great.  At about $400 it was well worth it and Grizzly is really good about stocking parts for old models.

[Brad_bb]

I ordered a factory recond DW735 online.  $422 including shipping.  New ones locally are $509 (some $549 with $50 factory rebate), not including tax.  So direct comparison is $422 recond vs. $550 out the door, a $128 savings.  Thanks for all your feedback.  Brad

[Brad_bb]

I received the planer on Friday afternoon and got it hooked up yesterday and planed some boards(dry white oak) to 1 inch and some trim pieces to 1/2 inch.  It worked very nicely.  It's not fast, but I didn't expect that in a portable benchtop planer.  It's my first thickness planer and it's a lot of fun!  And I saved $80!, which given my frugal nature makes it even more fun.

[Engineer]

Came into this thread late but I was surprised on the negatives for the Ridgid.  I have owned two Deltas, a 22-540 and a 22-560 and I thought both were junk.  I bought the Ridgid TP1300 after I had bought and sold a Woodmaster 718, and the Ridgid has had hundreds if not a few thousand board feet through it, including all of the trim, flooring and a good portion of my kitchen and bath cabinets through it.  I love it, and the blades are easy to change and it's smooth and accurate.  The only thing it won't do is hog off an eighth from a 12" wide rough-sawn plank, but I just go easy and let the machine take its' time.

I do have a 5-hp, 3-phase Powermatic 180 (the Green Beast) sitting in a corner waiting for restoration and rebuilding, and when I get to it, that will be refitted with a Byrd Shelix cutterhead.  Maybe then I'll retire the Ridgid, but I doubt it.  It's too good a machine to let go.

[Kevin_H.]

On my two ridgids I have had to replace the infeed and outfeed rollers, the rubber just peels off, and i have had to replace the drive belt.