Planer????

[jarruda144]

I posted this in other woodworking forums, and it seems that in order for a planer to do it's job I will need a jointer so I am doing now what I should have done in the begining that is ask the scrolling community is there anyone who uses a planer itself? Or is it absolutley necessary to use a jointer? Could I achieve the desired thickness with just the jointer? most of my projects are small and already come pretty flat anyway.

This is getting complicated, if both are needed which one would be the better to get first, planer or jointer? The other will have to wait for a future begging session with the Boss.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

I just had a talk with the boss (my wife) and I finally convinced her that I am in desperate need of a planer and she said O.K. so I’m jumping on the opportunity before she changes her mind.

One thing though, I’ve never owned one and am not sure which will meet my needs I was hoping someone will have some advice and hopefully point me in the right direction. The three brands that are available locally at Home Depot are Ryobi AP1301 at about $240.00 cdn$, Rigid R4330 $500, and the dewalt DW735(which would match my scroll saw just beautifully) $700.00 but I don’t want to scare her away with the price. I mainly would use it for scrolling but I’m sure I would find other uses for it.

Hope someone can help!

[c_lang]

I have the dewalt and love it, of course i wasn't the one that bought it, it was bought as a gift for me. Now I won't say that that's the one I would get though it is the best. What I would tell you is look at a few things before buying one. First, price, what you can get away with spending. Second, what features meaning thickness and size are you wanting it to be used for. These are just some of the options, I will say I would stay away from the cheaper one you said was around, I've not used their brand of planer but have used their brand of other tools and wasn't happy with them. Of course every tool I get isn't just for scrolling, I use them for other types as well and they are used a lot and put through the ringer. So in my case I always try and get the better quality ones, meaning I have to fork over more, but for me it's worth it in the long run.

Now as far as the jointer question. I use a roter table to do my joining and only use them when putting pieces of materials together to make a bigger slab or to get a particular grain effect. You can get by without it unless you are planning on making large pieces. Hope this helps. I would suggest if you are going to think about getting a jointer, think about setting a router table up for it as the router table could be used for other things as well, kinda one tool for a bunch of uses. It helps with getting the "boss" to give in and let you get it.

[Clayton717]

I have the ryobi planer from Home Depot and for what I do it works great. I do not have a jointer. The planer I have does not get used daily, I use it when I have boards that need to be planed thinner for my intarsia or other projects. But when I do plane down its not just one board its several. So far the planer has not let me down. I make small passes so it takes a while to plane a board down. In my opinion if you are going to use it accasionally buy the Ryobi, but if you have the extra money an/or are going to use it a lot get the dewalt or comparable brand.

[Firedkm]

Go for the planer now since your wife said ok. If all your doing is scroll saw work that is all you really need. Besides Chris is right about using a router table to joint the edges.

 

I say go for the dewalt!

[Dan]

Yup. Just like everyone else, go with the planer. If you are going to edge-glue boards, then a jointer will come in handy. Of course, I've cut some boards on the table saw and was able to get some acceptable glue-ups. But for what you do the planer will be more useful. If you don't plan to use it much, you may be able to get by with the cheaper one, but you get what you pay for. I have a Craftsman that I spent $240 on and I'm happy with it, but if I was to get another one, I would spend more to get a better product. Good luck with your search.

[Trimax]

Planer has my vote as well

dw735

[Lakelad]

I too have the Ryobi and it works for me. Have never used another one so can't make any comparisons.

Gary

[Travis]

If you were building furniture, I'd agree that you need both a planer and jointer to dimension your wood. But for scrolling, I think a planer is good enough. You're cutting the wood into relatively small pieces. So absolutely dimensioned wood isn't as big of a concern. If you can afford it, I'd go the DeWalt route. But with the kind of projects/frequency we use the planers for, a less expensive model will probably work well enough. Check Amazon too. A lot of time, you can find tools cheaper there and its usually free shipping.

 

Now that you have your mind made up, let me complicate things a bit more and throw out another idea. A drum sander will dimension wood similar to a planer. However, a drum sander will create thinner pieces than a planer would. Plus, with highly figured wood (birds eye maple), you have less chance of chip-out. Plus the idea of having something that will sand the wood for me has a certain appeal.

[yost69]

I have the Dewalt 735. I have had for just over a year now but have only used it a total of 10 times maybe. I have not had any problem with it at all.

 

If you expect a finished product from it you will not get one so the finish setting on it is not truthful. I always expect to do some sanding so that is no big deal to me.

 

For jointing you can use the table saw or I have also used a straight bit on the router table. If you google jointing with a router table you will come up with several how to's they are all basicly the same. Now nothing beats a jointer by any means but when times are tight which would you rather do? Get your edges perfect and sand the wood to thickness with your belt sander or get your wood to thickness and joint the edges as best you can?

 

I would go for the planer as most woodworkers already have either a table saw or a router and table. If you have a router and no table I got my table from lowes and I think I only paid $70 for it. To long ago to remember.

 

Ben

[Messman]

When you are buying a tool such as this you need to ask how often you are going to use it? If it is going to be used often get the Dewalt. But if it is not going to be used often and only a little to moderate use then the ryobi should do just fine. But the first rule is to always get as much tool as you can.

 

Now do you have to have a Jointer to be used with a planer? The short answer to that is NO. As has been mentioned you can join using your router mounted in a router table. So the question is are you going to be jointing wood together on edge? If the answer is yes I will be doing that alot, then you may want to think about getting yourself a jointer. If the answer is yes but I will not be doing that often then you may want to hold off and use the router method, or if you have a well tuned table saw, use your table saw.

 

So answer the questions

How often will I be doing this operation?

Do I plan on doing this operation more and more in the future?

How much money do I have to spend? (if you will be doing the operation alot and don't have enough to get a good to high quality machine, the save for it)

 

This is just my 2 cents

[jarruda144]

Thanks for all the advice and info (ouch, my brain hurts) from all the comments I think I am going to go with the dewalt. I printed the add from busy bee tools and I'am going to my local HD and see if I can get a price match plus 10% discount and it will come out less expensive than rigid planer this is a no brainer( good because my brain still hurts). OH yeah did I mention it will also match my scroll saw very nicely. OK now I can get excited about getting a new tool again.

Thanks again!!!

[yost69]

Let me know if the borg gives you the price match. I may be making a trip down the road to lowes with a piece of paper in my hand and see if they will match my new nail gun.

 

Ben

[jarruda144]

Well guess what, the HD price gurentee only applies to regular priced stuff so I guess I'm getting my planer at busy bee. I,m not sure about lowes, I knew it was too good to be true.

[Bubba1962]

Here's my story.

Was building an entertainment center, and had to have a 1X4 cut down to 3/8"...I was able to do it with my table saw, but was NOT comfortable doing it. Sooo, I went to Sears and bought this planer: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... ord=planer

I got it home, opened it two days later to use it...and the durn thing was BROKEN, so I went to the local Lowe's, bought the same thing with a different name, (and less plastic), it cost me about $80.00 less, and does a great job. I've been told by friends that have a planer to be EXTRA careful about stuff as simple as a staple leg, as it will chip the blade and your board will have a 'snipe' in it.

 

If you are re-cutting a rough cut board, then you might in fact need a jointer, but to take a regular 1X or 2X and 're-size' it, no you don't NEED a jointer. In fact, I've glued 2X's together and then sent them through the planer, it works great.

 

Oh, and planers are WAY COOL!!! You get to make a BIG mess, looks like you are actually doing something...fun and games....

 

With that said, for Christmas, 'Santa' brought me a shop vac, and with a little duct tape, I was able to customize one of the vac tools to fit the planer...now it's not near as much of a mess....kinda takes some of the fun out of it though..

 

Bubba

[yost69]

Well guess what, the HD price gurentee only applies to regular priced stuff so I guess I'm getting my planer at busy bee. I,m not sure about lowes, I knew it was too good to be true.

 

 

Figures. Lowes is probably the same way.

 

Ben

[yost69]

Oh, and planers are WAY COOL!!! You get to make a BIG mess, looks like you are actually doing something...fun and games....

 

With that said, for Christmas, 'Santa' brought me a shop vac, and with a little duct tape, I was able to customize one of the vac tools to fit the planer...now it's not near as much of a mess....kinda takes some of the fun out of it though..

 

Bubba

 

 

Messy is an understatement. The dewalt blows chips everywhere, I read somewhere that the extractor fan on it blows up the bags on a dust collector without turning the collector on. That is some power.

 

I have the luxury of living in a rural town so there are no neighbors around, I have a brush pile over the hill from the shop that I throw scrap wood on that has no other use. Mostly projects that went bad and left over pieces from skids that I dismantle that have to many nails to burn. That is where I point my planer and let the chips go where they want. It blows them a good 10 to 15 feet.

 

Ben