Upgrading to stationary planer

Eric Johnson notes:

>I'm looking at Several Planers in the 15" 3HP class from Jet, Grizzly and
>General Int. What I'm finding in my research for added capacity is that more
>of the higher end units I'm starting to look at have a stationary overhead
>cutter and the table raises and lowers the stock (unlike my current dw733
>which moves the cutter head).

There may be some very tiny stability preferences for a moving table instead of
a moving cutterhead, but if you feel a need for an outfeed table, you sure as
hell want the moving cutterhead. With 4 massive corner posts and the motor
mounted on the cutterhead (to save Rube Goldberging the drive), there should be
few if any problems, if the unit is well made.


Charlie Self
"Take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves."
Dorothy Parker

http://hometown.aol.com/charliediy/myhomepage/business.html

>I'm looking at Several Planers in the 15" 3HP class from Jet, Grizzly and
>General Int. What I'm finding in my research for added capacity is that more
>of the higher end units I'm starting to look at have a stationary overhead
>cutter and the table raises and lowers the stock (unlike my current dw733
>which moves the cutter head). I have no "hands on" experience with this
>style planer.
>Any informed information about the difference what to look out for etc would
>be welcome. The only tool reviews I have found are pretty superficial other
>than folks generally are disappointed with documentation provided by General
>International.
>
>Thanks,
>EJ

I have a moving table planer (Shopsmith from 1982). It is fine until you want
to use infeed and/or outfeed tables and then it is just a PITA. Personally,
unless the deal is just too great to pass up or unless someone can show that
the mechanics are just better, I would want a moving cutterhead planer.

Dave Hall

You rarely, OK _I_ rarely plane one board at a time, so the rollers are
useless. Left of the infeed is the RAS table, right is the TS in my shop.
Those boards on the same pass go from lying on the right to left after the
pass then reverse. At school it's sawhorses for same. No huffing, no
chasing rolling boards.

I own the prototype of the moving cutterhead planers, the RC 33, and the
newer ones are more lightly constructed in every aspect. That said, the
Grizzly 15" at school has been a solid performer. The only one of five
Grizz tools purchased with a grant which has been. Might be a fluke, might
be a more proven design.

"Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Yeah, I've been going back and forth on this myself. I like the idea of
the
> stationary table (for streamlining the infeed/outfeed process), but the
"return
> rollers" on top of the stationary cutterhead models seem like they could
be a
> real back-saver when huffing heavy boards back to the infeed side. Any
> thoughts on this trade-off from those in the know would be much
appreciated.
>
>
> They all look like the same basic "made in Taiwan" machine to me. Perhaps
> there are big differences in the quality of the motors? Who knows? I'd
sure
> like to see some good reviews on the various families of "near identical"
> machines like these to see what the differences are. I can't see dropping
> $1200 on the Delta if the $675 Grizzly is the same dang machine.
>

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 02:49:06 GMT, Steve Turner
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Yeah, I've been going back and forth on this myself. I like the idea of the
>stationary table (for streamlining the infeed/outfeed process), but the "return
>rollers" on top of the stationary cutterhead models seem like they could be a
>real back-saver when huffing heavy boards back to the infeed side.

I've got those on my portable. Theyd be great, except that they're
only the width of the cutter and they aren't raised above the top of
the case at the sides. As it is, they're useless, because anything
other than a narrow board is getting dragged over the case top anyway.

Some time they're coming off and going back on with some new raised-up
brackets.

>Any
>thoughts on this trade-off from those in the know would be much appreciated.

Most thickness planed timber is something like 3/4" thick. Yes you
_can_ move the table up and down a lot, but you rarely do so. The
adjustable height being on the table rather than the cutter just isn't
a problem in practice.

What you're more likely to notice is that the table is higher up in
the air than a typical setup with a portable. You might find this
means less bending down, or you might find it means more reaching up
while carrying a heavy board. OTOH, it's all a lot easier than a
Euro-style combination machine where you really are grovelling on the
floor to feed it.

--
Inbreeding - nature's way to ensure you always have enough fingers to count all your cousins.

Charlie Self wrote:

> Eric Johnson notes:
>
>
>>I'm looking at Several Planers in the 15" 3HP class from Jet, Grizzly and
>>General Int. What I'm finding in my research for added capacity is that more
>>of the higher end units I'm starting to look at have a stationary overhead
>>cutter and the table raises and lowers the stock (unlike my current dw733
>>which moves the cutter head).
>
>
> There may be some very tiny stability preferences for a moving table instead of
> a moving cutterhead, but if you feel a need for an outfeed table, you sure as
> hell want the moving cutterhead. With 4 massive corner posts and the motor
> mounted on the cutterhead (to save Rube Goldberging the drive), there should be
> few if any problems, if the unit is well made.

Yeah, I've been going back and forth on this myself. I like the idea of the
stationary table (for streamlining the infeed/outfeed process), but the "return
rollers" on top of the stationary cutterhead models seem like they could be a
real back-saver when huffing heavy boards back to the infeed side. Any
thoughts on this trade-off from those in the know would be much appreciated.

FWIW, I've pretty much decided on the moving cutterhead design, but which brand
to buy is yet another problem for me. As far as I can see, there is no
difference in the core design of the following machines:

http://www.wilkemachinery.com/Yorkcraft.tpl
http://www.deltamachinery.com/index.asp?e=136&p=4653
http://www.deltamachinery.com/index.asp?e=136&p=949
http://www.general.ca/product/inter/30115an.html
http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G0551

I think there are others...

They all look like the same basic "made in Taiwan" machine to me. Perhaps
there are big differences in the quality of the motors? Who knows? I'd sure
like to see some good reviews on the various families of "near identical"
machines like these to see what the differences are. I can't see dropping
$1200 on the Delta if the $675 Grizzly is the same dang machine.

--
To reply, change the chemical designation to its common name.

Eric Johnson wrote:
> Thanks for the input I think I'm going with the Grizzly g0551. It has
> everything I'm looking for and the price can't be beat. The one thing I have
> discovered from this is that the Jet cs-15, Powermatic model 15 and the
> Grizzly g1021z all roll off the same assembly line they are identical except
> for price and where the power switch is mounted (and that PM gold paint must
> cost alot to apply).
> The price makes me somewhat skeptical as the lumber I am working with is
> more along the lines of what Charlie is working with direct from the sawmill
> and needing major cleanup. What the heck Branson is nice this time of year,
> time for a road trip anyway.

Call the Springfield warehouse before you make the trip. My Dad's on the way
here (Austin TX) from Missouri, and he's stopping at Grizzly on the way to see
if they have any G0551's in stock. If so, he's bringing me one (saves me that
$125 freight charge!) but he called there last week and they were out of stock,
so I'm afraid he's going to get here empty-handed... :-(

--
To reply, change the chemical designation to its common name.

Thanks for the input I think I'm going with the Grizzly g0551. It has
everything I'm looking for and the price can't be beat. The one thing I have
discovered from this is that the Jet cs-15, Powermatic model 15 and the
Grizzly g1021z all roll off the same assembly line they are identical except
for price and where the power switch is mounted (and that PM gold paint must
cost alot to apply).
The price makes me somewhat skeptical as the lumber I am working with is
more along the lines of what Charlie is working with direct from the sawmill
and needing major cleanup. What the heck Branson is nice this time of year,
time for a road trip anyway.

EJ

I just recieved that email from customer service. Damn just when I think I
have it all figured out.


"Steve Turner" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Eric Johnson wrote:
> > Thanks for the input I think I'm going with the Grizzly g0551. It has
> > everything I'm looking for and the price can't be beat. The one thing I
have
> > discovered from this is that the Jet cs-15, Powermatic model 15 and the
> > Grizzly g1021z all roll off the same assembly line they are identical
except
> > for price and where the power switch is mounted (and that PM gold paint
must
> > cost alot to apply).
> > The price makes me somewhat skeptical as the lumber I am working with is
> > more along the lines of what Charlie is working with direct from the
sawmill
> > and needing major cleanup. What the heck Branson is nice this time of
year,
> > time for a road trip anyway.
>
> Call the Springfield warehouse before you make the trip. My Dad's on the
way
> here (Austin TX) from Missouri, and he's stopping at Grizzly on the way to
see
> if they have any G0551's in stock. If so, he's bringing me one (saves me
that
> $125 freight charge!) but he called there last week and they were out of
stock,
> so I'm afraid he's going to get here empty-handed... :-(
>
> --
> To reply, change the chemical designation to its common name.
>