Planner Questions

[Tim37]

i hope to buy a planner soon (around the first off the year if things are going good) and i have a few questions

first off i need portable and im also on a budget so thats why im looking at the ones im looking at but im always open to sugestions.

my first question 12.5" vs 13" what do yall think?

the second one is two blade vs. three blade?

at this point im looking at four diffent planers Ridgid DeWalt Grizzly 13" Grizzly 12.5

the dewalt and rigdid both have three blade set up while both grizzly's have two blades i dont know how much of a difference it would make but i do know every one recomends grizzly and the prices arent that bad at all inface the 12.5" grizzly is the cheapest of all them and the ridgid and grizzly 13" models come in about the same (i have to pay tax on one and shipping on the other so it evens out)

what would yall do btw i know a few guys use the ryobi but i have heard a lot of bad things about it.

[Mender]

I would definitely go for a 13" over a 12.5". Many guitar bodies are 13" wide or very slightly under, so you'll be able to put them through the planer.

The question of 3 blades vs 2 blades, I've used both, and find no real difference in the finish, but the 3 blade ones usually have a slightly faster feed rate, so the number of cuts per inch isn't hugely different between them.

I have a 13" 2 blade thicknesser (we call them thicknessers in the UK, our planers are what you call jointers ) http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-axmin.../#bottomsection

I previously had a 12.5" which was good, but the 13" is much more useful A cutter head locking system is a useful bonus.

We don't see Grizzly stuff over here, and rarely any Ridgid stuff, so I can't comment on them. DeWalt is okay, I suppose, but certainly not the same quality they used to be. Ryobi should be good though.

[Quarter]

When the motor bearings took a dump on my Craftsman 12.5" a while back, it became obvious that so many of the brands are basically the same and use many identical components.

At the time, I figured I'd replace it with the Ridged purely for the better warranty and the extra .5" width was a bonus. I mainly just build lap steels, so 12.5" is enough for my projects.

In the end after going through a bunch of schematics and figuring out the layout, I bought some replacement bearings from VBX for $20 and replaced the garbage cheap Chinese stock bearings.

Edited November 21, 2010 by Quarter

[Tim37]

thanks for the comments they have been helpful

ok so 13 seems to be the way to go

if the two vs three blade really doesnt matter i am leaning toward the grizzly because its blades are double sided (so from what i gather a set will last twice as long since they can be flipped.)

but any other comments are welcome here like i said i really dont know alont about wood working tools

Edited November 22, 2010 by Tim37

[samhell]

I went with the Ridgid 4330. Its 13" with 3 blades. Very powerful, great dust collection, easy to replace the blades and easy to buy new blades from the local home depot. The blades can also be flipped once before you have to buy new ones. Built very solid. Has infeed/outfeed tables built in. I looked at the Dewalts and they were nice but more expensive and you have to buy the tables separately.

Keep in mind you have to set up the tables correctly or you get snipe with any of these small lunchbox type planers.

[ToddW]

I have the dewalt and it's great, but if I were to do it again, I'd get the Steel City one at the same price that has a spiral cutting blade.

There may be other's with a spiral blade too. Just a thought.

Todd