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5 HP Gang saws

Started by ahlkey, April 20, 2011, 11:01:10 AM

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ahlkey

I have been looking at Woodmaster 718 planer for dedicated rip sawing flooring blanks.  The advantages would be the powerfeed and the ability to do 3-4 blanks at one time with the 5HP motor. With the tablesaw given my volume I would have to add a nice powerfeed and that is expensive as well.   Anyone have any experience with using this setup?   I now have a Grizzly G0454 for planing so I really do not need the planing capacity but having the option to do moulding on the Woodmaster is a nice feature.  Any other system out there like the Woodmaster 718 for cutting flooring blanks that is reasonably priced?

Thanks.

clay3

I have a 718 and use it mostly for ripping but some for moulding, it's a little slow but it's quiet and does a good job. If you have unedged boards I think you can order serrated feed rollers and use it as a straight line rip as well. The planer head and accesory shaft only take a few minutes to change so there is no need to look at it as a dedicated machine for ripping, The two knife moulding head does a great job too. R B I tools makes a planer that is about the same  , I do not know the price.     

ahlkey

Since I already have the 20" Grizzly planer I am only considering using the gang saw capacity on the Woodmaster.  If later on I wanted to add planing or moulding that is nice but the need is not there today. I do have a smaller 15" planer that I use on softwoods as well.  I do all my  T & G on a Shaper with a powerfeed and it works well for me. I also use my tablesaw or bandsaw to rip. I thought about adding a powerfeed to the tablesaw but a good one is expensive as well.  My jointer is only 8" wide so when I think it through now I probably only need the 712 machine for dedicated ripping.  So at the end of the day I would get a 5 HP powerfeed unit to cut 3 blanks or so.  Make sense?

Kcwoodbutcher

It wouldn't be like a 5 HP powerfeed because it is also doing the cutting. I think woodmaster will put up to a 10 HP motor in their units if you ask them. You can also speed up the feed if you play with the pulleys or the DC control unit. The ripping function is not a straight line rip saw so don't count on that. I'd give them a call and tell them what you want, they've probably done it before.
My job is to do everything nobody else felt like doing today

ahlkey

I called Woodmaster and they were very helpful.  Yes it is not a straight line gang saw but I do all the squaring up on the 8" jointer anyway.  They would of upgraded the motor size if required as you mentioned but since I only need three saw blades on my 8 inch finished stock and the powerfeed is a separate 1/3 hp motor I should be ok.   I placed an order today and we will see how it goes soon enough.

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