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Tool Reviews

Started by Radar67, March 18, 2007, 07:56:42 PM

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ScottAR

Not really on previous subjects but it doesn't fit anywhere any better.

I would like to praise my Dewalt 12v impact driver.  We recently bought
another rental with no bathrooms.  Twas a repo and the folks were
remodeling the baths and lost the house.  They put the "redesigned"
framing together with 3" deck screws.  In mabye 20 linear feet of walls
I had a 3lbs. coffee can full of screws.  I removed every one that wasn't
stripped out with the impact driver.  I like it...
Wished the batteries lasted longer but every cordless battery made
could last longer.  If one has large screws to drive, get an impact driver.
Scott
"There is much that I need to do, even more that I want to do, and even less that I can do."
[Magicman]

Engineer

Quote from: kevjay on May 21, 2007, 08:11:56 PM
What was the problem with the 718?

The problem with the 718 was mostly me.  It's one of those situations where I just wasn't happy with it.  It fed too slowly for my tatste, and if you fed slowly enough to prevent tearout, like you said, it would leave scorch marks.  I also didn't have a dust collector set up for it, and I have found that, that is ALWAYS a problem with planers.  They leave little chips of the wood on the board surface, which compress into the wood and leave little divots like a golf ball surface.  Plus it came with the "mobility kit", the casters, and any long and/or heavy board had a tendency to tip the machine.  The ol' principle of leverage.

On top of all that - I already had a shaper, router table, two table saws, a standalone drum sander, and now I have two other planers (a Ridgid TP1300, which I love, and a big Powermatic 180 which needs some restoration and is in storage).  So all of the functions of the Woodmaster, with the exception of some of the molding cuts, were redundant. 

I sold the machine a few weeks ago to a guy who uses it just for molding, and he is thrilled with it.

Edited to say:  OOPS, I didn't realize that I wasn't the intended recipient of that question.  But the answer's applicable anyway for my machine.

tcsmpsi

Kev

It is a mixture of things which rendered my decision on the 718.  Always as a predominant factor, are my already well established diverse commitments which leaves me little time for projects already lined out.  Rust worms had the 718 to a point that it would have to be de-rusted to tell much about its realities.  It did plane, but it didn't feed well at all.  As we meandered around, and scooted around other topics, I got the input on how much he had planed for others and himself.  Law of averages.

A thing here, or a thing there I could handle.  There was also the informative manner in which he ran a couple boards through the planer.  He certainly wouldn't have been able to run any of my machinery in that manner. 

I have a planer, so I am not in any major need for one, and was just looking at the possibility.   I know, at the least, it needed new rollers and blades, pronto.   That's time and money.  Which, as an independent sole proprietor, time is money.
Just weighing it out, the initial cost of the planer ($800), blades, rollers and what other little odds and ends, coupled with my time, put me up close enough to the price of a new one, to make the deal unappealing. 

It just didn't weigh out. 
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

TexasTimbers

Cool. For me, knowing the price of new ones, had an 18" been sufficient for my needs (it isn't) I would havre paid $800 for a Woodmaster that only needed blades and rollers but I understand your position entirely. I have a full plate too and some things around here are lower on the priority list than they would be at someones else's hacienda. :)

The oil is all in Texas, but the dipsticks are in D.C.

TexasTimbers

Quote from: Don_Papenburg on May 25, 2007, 12:10:08 AM
. . . . . It looks like the old three knife with one knife set too high. . . .

This I gotta see. Please post two pictures.
The oil is all in Texas, but the dipsticks are in D.C.

TexasTimbers

Don, how many inserts are on that Shelix? What planer do you have and what's the width?
The oil is all in Texas, but the dipsticks are in D.C.

Don_Papenburg

Wow Did I screw up on that comment , I was thinking late last night  that there has to be a problem elsewhere as the head did not viberate ran real smooth but the cuts were bad .  This morning first thing I went out and checked the bed rollers they were just a tad high not so you could see it but just barely feel them . I set them so the rolls would move intermitantly as I slid a board over the table .  I made a couple of test cuts  still had the ridges across the board but not as pronunced . So I set the rolls below the table so that they never  contact the board .  Now I am happy .  I will now recomend that you all buy a Shelix planer head.

Kevjay , I did not count the inserts , there are a bunch of them maybe more than I can count to .  It is 16" wide  . It looks like the new Powermatic 15" made in Tiawan . Probably the same factory that made mine . The on e I got was from Harbor freight  called Central Machine .
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

TexasTimbers

That's more like it. I was thinking something is WAY bad wrong with this setup. Glad you figgered it out.
The oil is all in Texas, but the dipsticks are in D.C.

scgargoyle

I just recently bought a Ridgid TS3650  contractor saw at HD. So far, it seems pretty good, although I haven't really tested it yet. It went together really well, and the instructions and carefully packaged and labeled hardware made it a breeze. Oddly enough, when assembling the mobile base, the instructions suddenly stopped calling out the hardware dimensions, but I was able to sort it out using the parts list. Once together, everything was already aligned really well, and it was ready to use. A few quirks: The fastenings are SAE, but require metric wrenches, and they seem really weak- I broke a bolt snugging it up. It is the quietest saw I've used, owing mainly to a poly-rib flat belt. The motor mount seems real flimsy; we'll see how it holds up in use. The fence is great, very accurate and solid, and the mobile base works good, too. All in all, much better than the old Craftsman I once had. HD had it on sale for $499 ($50 off), and I got an additional 10% for filling out a credit card application. I'll be doing mostly light-duty work for now, so it should do the job for me.
I hope my ship comes in before the dock rots!

Radar67

I'll be reviewing the Grizzly 15" Planer/Moulder G0477 shortly after Christmas. I will also prepare a review of the Rigid 12" Sliding compound miter saw in the next week or so.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

tcsmpsi

Well...it has been a while.  Did you prepare a review somewhere else and I have missed it? 

Or What?    ;D
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

Radar67

The reviews are still forth coming. I had to use both a while to make sure my opinions were correct.  ;)
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

tcsmpsi

How do you like the planer?  Any troubles? 

I sold mine before I got to use it very much, but liked it fine what I did use it.
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

Radar67

I really like the planer. I've had no troubles with it other than the end snipe like most other planers. I have done a few small adjustments on the in-feed and out feed tables to help drastically reduce the snipe.

I'm really liking the on-board dust collector, just have to empty the bag fairly often if you do very much planing. It does have a plastic housing that may be a problem later. Seems like it might be easy to break the housing.

Overall it is well made. I haven't tried the molding feature yet. The ability to go up to 15 inches wide is nice. I haven't had anything that wide yet, but 12 to 13 inches wide doesn't bog it down at all. It also has the adjustable feed rate. (11fpm and 22fpm). The slower rate produces some real smooth lumber.

I built a portable base for mine because it is not in it's permanent shop yet. It is very heavy, you will need at least two strong men to move or lift it without wheels.

I've run a little less that 800 bdft through it so far and am very satisfied with it.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

tcsmpsi

My Grizzly (like yours) worked well, too.  I had originally purchased it to move about from one shop to the other, as it was the biggest I could find, and still be able to load and transport it by myself easily.  Things changed, and I opted for a 'permanent' set up for the planing and sold the 0477 to help offset the cost of the 718.

The fellow I sold it to called yesterday and said he had broken the chain.  I'm not sure what/how he did.   I do know that he set up the moulder.  Lot of possibilities as to what he could have done.   He is coming to get some more oak boards soon, so I will see if he can give more a clearer view of what happened.

\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

Radar67

From reading about the moulder option, I know it has two depth settings and the piece is made in two passes. You also have to reduce the speed when moulding to the 11 fpm setting. I've hogged off a heavy eighth with mine and it didn't even blink. (oak). Can't imagine what it took to break a chain, they look to be pretty stout.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

tcsmpsi

That's what I thought, too.   
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

thedeeredude

I have some reviews of a couple tools I acquired.

First off, Robert Larson brand turning tools.  I bought mine from Diefenbacher Tools.  First impressions; thick beefy steel for the blades, nicely crafted ash handles, nice polish and nice fit and finish.  The blades are HSS made in a forge in Sheffield and hte handles are American Ash turned in Maine.  The handles have a nice oil finish.  Onto cutting.  They didnt need honing.  As sent they were nicely sharpened and cut like gems.  The only tools Ive ever had experience on were old buck brothers at school which were not well sharpened and a set of harbor freight junk chisels.   But, I felt as if these tools cut like a good turning tool should.  They have a great variety of styles available to boot.  I use a roughing gouge at 1800-2000 rpm and take light cuts and all it needs is a couple swipes of 220grit and its ready to finish.  Very happy with the tools.

Second, the worksharp 3000 tool sharpening machine.  I got this solely for the lathe tools to be sharpened on, but it works nice for lapping chisels and plane irons too.  It comes with 2 flat glass plates and a slotted disc accompanied by a bunch of assorted PSA sandpaper.  The setup is straight forward, peel and stick the different grits onto the glass plate and youre ready to go.  It comes with coarse medium fine and extra fine grits but there are even more available from the company, including a 6000 grit honing abrasive and a leather strop disc with rouge.  I like it.  The abrasives are cheap and easily replaceable, the glass plate wont wear out like waterstones, it doesnt need a water bath, and you dont need fancy jigs of all sorts to sharpen your tools.  Its made in USA and I paid $159 on a good sale with free shipping.  It came from a store that is named after a river somewhere in the AMAZONian area ;) ;)   


If anyone wants to know more about the tools or see them in action just let me know.

lacapic

I want to thank the creator of this tread! It will probably contain the most valuable info for me. I just recently built oak stairs (I have pics but I don't know how to post them) and I milled all the treads with my little Makita planer. It would bog down if I tried to plane more than a 1/16 of an inch. Obviously, I was pushing the planer too hard. It was time consuming and frustrating. As a result, I became interested in the Woodmaster planer/ molder and found a few for sale on Ebay. They are located quite a distance from home (Yarmouth, Nova Scotia)...maybe a unit will come up for sale further north. In any event, I once again want to thank the creator of this tread.

Radar67

Welcome to the forum lacapic!!  Glad you find this thread useful. I still have a saw to review, but just been too DanG busy. You'll find a lot of good information on the forum by using the search option above.

So, pull up a stump and get comfortable. Here is the thread on posting pictures.

PHOTO POSTING

It is easy if you follow the steps.

Stew
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

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