Woodmaster planer

[millwright]

I am looking for opinions on the woodmaster paner moulders, good, bad and how is the setup and changeovers, thanks.

[pineywoods]

Got an 18 inch one with most of the options. Love it. Have a friend that has 2, one set up for planing and another with the 2 router setup for moulding. The 2 router option is a bit picky to get set up, but then it works just fine. Get the plastic bed overlay

[LOGDOG]

I have one ....the 25 inch model with the Pro pack. It's built very heavy. I have a Logosol PH260 as well and I'd say pound for pound the Woodmaster is built just as heavy if not heavier.

[The Fireman]

I've got a 725 been a real good machine. Ive had it about a year just got done running 750 feet of 8" log cabin siding through it today. Ive got a couple modifications that id like to make to it so the 8" siding is easier to run but stock its been a real good machine and hasnt let me down yet.

[lynches lumber]

I just got my 725 hooked up this week. Ive only planed a few boards so I cant tell ya yet but seems to be nice.

Fireman, Im planning on doing up some log siding myself. Did you do it in one slow pass or several passes ?

[The Fireman]

1 slow pass right around 30-35% feed rate. I run the back cut first at full speed then run all of the boards through the profile.

Some of the mods im looking to make are to the feed system, i want to put a pedal on the side of the machine hooked in to the belt tensioners for the feed rollers. That way when i hit a hard spot instead of having to reduce the feed speed ill just be able to step on the pedal and let the feed belt slip long enough to get the head speed back up. I also want to mount a 3 hp motor to a cutter head on the out feed side to run the back cut knives on a seperate head. That way i can make a finished product in 1 pass.

Ive thought about changing to a bigger pulley on the motor, bumping up to a 6" would get my head speed to around 5000 rpm which should allow for a higher feed rate. Im just not sure if increasing the head rpm is a good idea dont want the knives to come flying out at me. Any one have experiance bumping cutter head speed up on a 725?

[millwright]

Thanks for the replys Im still in the looking stage but hope to get somthing in the near future.

[hackberry jake]

I have the 718. The planer isn't as smooth as my dewalt planer but eats lumber at a much faster rate. The only moulding I have tried is the 6.5" log cabin siding on erc. It works good, slow, but effective. It needs a good chip extractor/dust collector for sure. I tried it without first, blew red boogers for hours. Still haven't tried the drum sander yet. Wasn't impressed with the gang saw. Guess I need to build a sled for it to get straight ripping.

[Handy Andy]

  Agree about needing a good dust collector.  My 2hp cyclone is minimum. 3 hp would be better.  First thing I did was cut the 4" dust outlet off and weld a 6" on it. Talked to the salesman, they refused to do it so did it myself. The book says to wear a dust mask even when  you have dust collection, don't need it in my shop. These tool companies think the air compresses when it goes through a small opening, but it does not.  Just cuts down on what your dust collector can do.  Never tried the drum sanding attachment, just bought a wide belt. Also got the helical cutterhead, only trouble is when a big knot comes out while planing, have had to replace a few cutters from being chipped. Use super glue jel, and the knots stay in place. Used the 3 blade cutterhead for molding, it is more stable than the molding kit, as it is heavier and doesn't chatter as easy.  Mine is a 718. Although, a 725 would be nice for running panels through after glue up.