Portable 12-13” Planers

Oregon_Rob

Anyone have good or bad reports about the portable planers? Need to get one, but there is a lot of conflicting info out there.

Big Dave

I have purchased the Delta 2 speed planer. I can't remember the model number. I have had it for about 3 years with no complaints. I don't know about any other models but you will have to wax the table to help keep the wood from sticking to it.

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cranbrook2

I have a Delta 12" and it is garbage. if your going to buy one make sure you buy a planer with a quick blade change. Ryobi has a planer where the blades lock into a certain position right away .
Delta gives you this mickey mouse tool so you have to adjust the blades yourself. if the blades aren't set properly you will have nothing but problems. it is also very hard to get a regular wrench in there to loosen the nuts.

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Mike Finley

I have had the cheap Delta for about 5 years too. It does work and gets the job done. Probably not as well as more expensive models, of course that's why they offer more expensive models right? I've been looking around for an upgrade, but once I try to pick one of these nicer ones up, Damn! They are heavy! I just put them back and haven't bought anything else. I admit that I don't do a lot of planing, it's one of those tools for me that you need it when you need it, it's great to have, but I don't use it enough to really justify the expense of a new one or the heft of trying to lug one of those around. From what I've seen it seems like you pay the premium for the 1 inch going from a 12" to a 13" planer.

RobertCDF

I have the ridgid 13" planer and the blade change is not "quick" per se but you set them all the way in. You dont have to make sure the depth is correct. And the blades are double sided. But it is one HEAVY mo fo. I bought it to plane down a few decks and it worked fine for that... I did have to push the boards through it and that was kind of a pain. I guess the rollers are not made to pull 20' redwood through it.
Mike, if your interested I would probably sell it. That would give us an excuse to meet up for lunch or somthing sometime.

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Mike Finley

LOL, been there before! Did you have to have somebody stand on the planer so you weren't just pushing the board and the planer across the driveway??

Bone Saw

http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=product_det&tag=KP312

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Big Dave

That is a nice planer. I have a freind that has one and it works great. The 1500.00 dollar or so price is a little high for me now. As far as the boards not pulling themselves through the planer you have to wax the bed, it makes a big difference.

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RobertCDF

I dont think I will be planing any more decks... I did it when I first started out, we had just had a large hailstorm so people were looking for repair work. The decks come out looking better than new for sure. Everyone I did one for was amazed at how good it looked... and I was amazed at how little money I made by the time I got done. Very time consuming, you go through a lot of knives, fighting pulling the old screws. Good thing was the planer weighs like 60 LBS and I had 4 roller stands so it never really moved around on me.

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specwood

I bought a Ridgid 13" planer in 1999 or 2000 and we beat the p.p. out of it. Its making some wierd noises now and will probably die soon but it doesn't owe me a dime. It still works, and has run thousands of board feet. We run 10"-12" material through it all the time.

The new dewalt looks really nice too. It's a bit heavier I think.

wolffhomerepair

I have a dewalt 13". Not to bad. 3 blades, sindle speed. Works good for what I used it for (custom trim mostly). I wouldn't call it portable though, way to heavy to carry around. At $300-$400 I'd say worth the price.

sage

Got this one about one/two years ago. Not too many hours on it but it worked well every time that i used it $500. I think

As far as the blade change, I have not personally changed the blades but I think it is a little involved. I know there is an access plate with some torx to get to the blades.

By the way, the thing weighs a ton.

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