What do you think about the woodmaster planer/molder

[brdmkr]

I won't be buying one for at least a year, but I am considering buying a woodmaster to finish some of my sawmilling efforts.  I know that the molding features are pretty strong, but I really think I will be using it more as a finish planer.  Given the cost relative to say a 20" grizzly surface planer, is the Woodmaster worth the difference?  Can the Woodmaster plane on all 4 sides? This is a little unclear to me from the ads I have seen (or at least remember).

Thanks.

[Gary_B]

I have a woodmaster 718 that I purchased 2 years ago, in my opinion it is worth every dime, I only wished woodmaster built  a table saw , for I would own one. The 718 is  a  surface planer so it really isnt a 4 sided planer, it takes around 15 minutes to change from planing to  drum sanding, and the drum sander is a nice option, along with the molder head, gang saw. I cannot speak for the grizzly for I have never owned one, good luck with your choice. 8)

[Larry]

I have three machines.  First is a Delta 18" wedgebed...thought by many to be the best planer ever made.  Second is a Belsaw which is the predecessor to the Woodmaster.   Most recent is a generic 4 poster identical to the Grizzly except I equipped it with a Byrd Shellix spiral head.

To process sawmill lumber efficiently a deep cut with speed is needed.  The Delta does this best...no substitute for heavy American iron and horsepower.  Drawback...parts haven't been available for this machine in years.  The Belsaw does just as good but at a slower speed.  Get the proper cutters and it can turn out decent moulding also.  The 4 poster is a failure at processing sawmill lumber...just not enough horsepower with the proper depth of cut to get the job done in a timely manner.  Check the specs on depth of cut of both the Woodmaster and the Grizzly.

Have to plug the Byrd Shellix head...the biggest improvement to planers since the electric motor. ;D :D ;D  No noise, no chipout on figured woods, less horsepower required, no fuzzing with cottonwood, easier chip extraction, and less maintenance.  Only drawback is the cost.  I will never have another planer without it. 8)

[karl]

I have 712 and 725. 725 feeds better because of double infeed and out feed rolls.
Do a search- they have been covered a few times

[FeltzE]

If your interested in doing any 4 sided work a 4 sided machine is the way to go, it is much more than just set up time, its the handling of the lumber and accurate dimensions in the end.

I've got an RBI similar to the woodmaster, a logosol, and am working to get an XL mouldmaster 4x6 machine up and running. A customer recently asked if I liked the RBI and although the machine operates as advertised, I much rather run a 2 or 4 sided machine at 20 FPM rather than running a 20 FPM feed machine, 4 times over with 4 different setups to achive a 4 sided finish. Now with the proper knive grind and not too thick lumber you can do finish work in 2 passes on a single sided moulder, first side to cut the back of the stock with the relief, the second setup runs a knive that trims the sides and top relief, doing this your stock needs to be uniform and your setup including blank stock accurate and with minimal removal of side materials.


On Ebay today there is an older XL machine for about $5k, not much more than the other machines, and much less than the logosol ... but then it's not much of a planer.

For about $2k you can get a good grizzley planer, for another  $1k you can get a single sided moulder, (capable of moulding curved pieces as well) then you have 2 machines that will complement each other very well you can be sizing blanks on the planer flip the blank and feed it straight into the moulder.

Dust collection may be of concern when you start feeding 4 sided stock or multiple machines, we generated 10 yards of shavings in less than 8 hours with the logosol, and RBI last saturday.


Eric

[GF]

I have an RBI also which is now Hawk.  Pulled the cover and some of the brass bushings are wore out.  The cuterhead is mounted on bearing, but the feed rollars, and the belt pulley for the feed drives all have bushings.

I currently have the pulley out that drives the feed rollers, just bought some bearings today and am going to turn some stock to press the bearings into and then weld it to the pulley doing away with the bushings.