Do I need a Planer

[jsburger]

Probably a true statement. However, those same people are unlikely to have a drum sander or maybe not.

That is true. My Performax 16-32 drum sander has spring loaded rollers on both the in feed and out feed sides. Pretty light spring tension. The SS Pro Planer has a fixed in feed roller and a spring loaded out feed roller. It is stronger than the ones on the Performax.

I still believe if you do anything with twisted/cupped/rough cut lumber you need a jointer to flatten one face first. Are there other ways? Yes of course, but if you use rough cut lumber this is the best way IMO. If you buy SFS lumber from the big box stores (none of their stock is straight)and you want a straight piece (no twist no cup etc.) you can do the same thing but it will not end up 3/4" thick piece of stock.

The other thing is don't try to straighten an 8' + piece of stock. break it down to the approximate sizes you need for the project before and then use the jointer and planer to mill it.

The infeed roller is indeed spring-loaded on my Pro Planer.

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You are of course correct. All I did was push up on the rollers and since I did not take the shroud off the in feed side it was hard to reach and I didn't push hard enough.

[jsburger]

Using my neighbor's planer (Ridgid) did seem to speed things up but I only used it occasionally. Compared to my SuperMax 19-38 it was much faster but what I was trying to do was compare the procedure of jointing the one side and then taking the twisted/cupped board to the sander to see if it was that much slower than the planer. It was quite a bit slower but what surprised me was I ended up with the board being dimensioned perfectly. I'm sure that wouldn't have happened on the Ridgid planer. I can see where jointing then planing then to the Drum sander would work well.

Joint, plane and drum sand is the procedure I use all the time.

I can tell you from my experience I can get perfectly dimensioned stock with just the Pro Planer. However, I almost always use the drum sander also so when I plane I leave the stock slightly thicker than the final dimension. I keep 220 grit paper on the drum sander most of the time and to be honest there is very little difference between a piece of stock straight off the planer and one off the drum sander.

[Doc]

Q?
I don't have a planer , but considering one. Should I get a SS stand alone w/ stand ( if still available ) or SS attachment planer ? SS brand or another brand ???? What is your expertise experience and thoughts on the advantages, differences and perks that I should consider. Quality is important. I need educating from experience
I have a mark 7 (new 7 2015) that has never been plugged in yet.
Stuff happens!
Thanks
Doc

[ERLover]

Doc I have 2 Ryobi 10" lunch box from the 80s when they still made good tools. I find them very useful and handy to change lumber sizes, make square dowels ect. My wood provider has a 48" planer and a 52" drum sander and they charge next to nothing for time on them. So I get most of my stuff done there, for wider stuff and conventional sock wood dimensions.
With that said If I needed a planer and did not have one available at a wood provider I would buy the DeWalt 13" 735, it is the Cadillac of a lunch box planer. So is the Pro SS one, from what I have read here, but pricier new then the DeWalt..

[Doc]

Thanks ERlover,
Looked @ the dealt, I like it. Was wondering about snipe and the in/ out feed shelves and xtra blades shown on another 735 model. Is it worth the it.
I often wonder why dewalt ( ryobi and others) have numerous reconditioned models. hmmmmmm .....????? Why recon need in the first place? Just wondering.
I passed by the dewalt section @ Lowes a while back but didn't have time to really look and had no idea what to look for in features other than wanting12" or better. So I'm learning. Thanks to you I have an idea and start point.
SS planers aren't available as per the website and I've never seen one in person , I assume it is steel and cast like most accessories. .???? Wonder why their planers are unavailable now?
Thanks again I'm in no rush.
Doc

[ERLover]

Thanks ERlover,
Looked @ the dealt, I like it. Was wondering about snipe and the in/ out feed shelves and xtra blades shown on another 735 model. Is it worth the it.
I often wonder why dewalt ( ryobi and others) have numerous reconditioned models. hmmmmmm .....????? Why recon need in the first place? Just wondering.
I passed by the dewalt section @ Lowes a while back but didn't have time to really look and had no idea what to look for in features other than wanting12" or better. So I'm learning. Thanks to you I have an idea and start point.
SS planers aren't available as per the website and I've never seen one in person , I assume it is steel and cast like most accessories. .???? Wonder why their planers are unavailable now?
Thanks again I'm in no rush.
Doc

In about 4 years on CL 4 in major cities in SE, WI I have only seen 2 735s one this past week for $350 in Oshkosh,WI 60 miles from me, it was gone in a NY minute, if it was local I would have been all over it. Just because. You can get a deal on them a few times a year where they throw in a stand Or a Colt router for the same retail price. I have seen many Deleta lunch box ones on CL, but read some bad things about them, a nut or bolt comes loose and chews up the blades/internals, they run about $250ish on CL. Stay away from them.

[masonsailor2]

Doc I have the Dewalt and the SS planer. Only because somebody gave me the Dewalt. I have also owned a Grizzly 15 inch in the past. They all work but the SS is in a league of its own. I think it is the only planer available that allows you to vary the feed speed independently of the cutter head speed which results in a surface quality that is way above the rest. You can also get a spiral cutter head for them which is next on my list. It is interesting that they are not available from SS at the moment. I have found that the MS occasionally has things back ordered but they will eventually become available after a while. The speed reducers just went through that. They come up on CL periodically here in Los Angeles/ Orange County which is where I got mine. The SS is worth the wait in my opinion.
Paul

[ERLover]

[quote="masonsailor2"]Doc I have the Dewalt and the SS planer. Only because somebody gave me the Dewalt. I have also owned a Grizzly 15 inch in the past. They all work but the SS is in a league of its own. I think it is the only planer available that allows you to vary the feed speed independently of the cutter head speed which results in a surface quality that is way above the rest. You can also get a spiral cutter head for them which is next on my list. It is interesting that they are not available from SS at the moment. I have found that the MS occasionally has things back ordered but they will eventually become available after a while. The speed reducers just went through that. They come up on CL periodically here in Los Angeles/ Orange County which is where I got mine. The SS is worth the wait in my opinion.
Paul[/quote

The DeWalt 735 is 2 speed, I dont recall if that is feed rate or cutter head speed, but I think feed rate, yes the SS pro feed rate is variable speed, dont know the rate range though, so I trust your judgement/feedback on that.

[rjent]

Doc you will be hard pressed to improve over the SS planer. Also, since you already have a M7, you might as well utilize it. I would go with the mounted planer, the PowerPro headstock doesn't even breath heavy when planing.

JMHO

BTW, that is what I use, and I have "borrowed" bench top planers and used the Proplaner. I find my mounted planer entirely functional.

[Doc]

Awww thanks a million rent , man ,am so glad you commented. I wondered about rhe SS planer because of the variable speed and the lower 4K + rpm cutter speed. Where Most others have ratings of 15 amps and 10k rpm. But @ the SS mk7 specs I pondered about the advantages And the of the gap in specs compared to other planers. Seems faster is not always better in rpm and feed rate. You think SS is trying to catch up in the production of the SS attachment planer for the m7? And yes they are unavailable as I have read. They should at least explain why they aren't available. Maybe they're Makin changes.??? I say if something lasts and it works .....leave it alone
Like I said , I'm in no hurry, i haven't even plugged my mk7 in yet and it's 13mo. Old. So I will just research till I get the nitty gritty facts and comments from experienced users and make a one time decision. Then I'll check that money tree I planted after I lost my job around Christmas Eve 2015 so I can pay for it. Lol. ......maybe it needs more fertilizer, it ain't producing no cash.ha !
....so what's up w SS planers?
Thx, doc.
P

Nothing beats experience and knowledge especially when u share it.