Planer $$$

termite06 · Post by **termite06** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:31 pm

Can anyone tell me if the ss planer is worth the $$? I could get a 13"x6" capacity planer from sears for half the price.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:50 pm

Like you I balked at spending the money for the SS planer. But it does have features that the one you're looking at probably does not, like 3 knives, variable cutter speed, and variable feed rate. My DeWalt planer has 3 knives, but only one speed and two feed rates. Plus the knives cannot be resharpened as the SS knives can be. It is for you to decide if these differences are worth the extra cost. If I find a SS planer on an estate sale sometime, I'll get it in a heartbeat if it's a fair price.

ldh · Post by **ldh** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:51 pm

I bid on a used (14 year old) Shopsmith planer with the cast iron table a few weeks back and it sold for $750.00. I was not the lucky bidder. Now, will that Craftsman even be running in ten years and retain that sort of value.
Buy the Shopsmith.
ldh

stryker1313 · Post by **stryker1313** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:11 pm

I would love to buy the SS planer. But I simply cannot afford it right now. So I got the Dewalt 735 on ebay for less than $400. I know the SS is better but I need a planer now, so hopefully down the road I will be able to get it and pass the Dewalt onto someone else in a similar position.

If you are going to get a benchtop though I would recommend the Dewalt over the Craftsman. It rated very highly in Fine Woodworking.

guvnuh4 · Post by **guvnuh4** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:40 pm

To build off of both statements:

Looking at the Total Cost of Ownership, there will be some point in time that you will be saving money to purchase the SS planer as opposed to a planer that has disposable blades. If you only need to purchase one set of blades for the SS for every 2 or 3 sets that you'd purchase for the planer that you get for half the price. It's pretty easy to just fore-go the new blade purchase because of the cost of blades, but with the SS blades you can sharpen them so you'll keep that nice honed edge getting a better surface quality of the material.

And I never thought about the resale thing, that's a pretty important factor to look at as well I suppose. Ideally, the product should work for as long as you'll be needing it right? (And based on stories of inheritance from grandfather to father to son, I'd say that SS is doing a pretty dern good job of that part) But if you just weren't feeling that sawdust bug anymore (*le gasp*), then you can feel pretty safe in knowing that you can get a good percentage of your money back from your hobby investment.

cincinnati · Post by **cincinnati** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:43 pm

I have the Shopsmith pro planer. Must be around 20 years old now. Never a problem. The variable speed feed is worth the weight in gold. The pro planer has a cast iron table and a long one at that for it's size. On the Shopsmith if you ever needed to replace the motor it would be a 10 min job. Can the motor even be replaced on a bench top unit??? The blade change on the SS is also easy. You can do it from the top. My friend has to stand on his head to replace his (bench top)

The Dewalt bench top unit does rates very well. I think you will be happy with it.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:49 pm

stryker1313 wrote:I would love to buy the SS planer. But I simply cannot afford it right now. So I got the Dewalt 735 on ebay for less than $400. I know the SS is better but I need a planer now, so hopefully down the road I will be able to get it and pass the Dewalt onto someone else in a similar position.

If you are going to get a benchtop though I would recommend the Dewalt over the Craftsman. It rated very highly in Fine Woodworking.

Hi stryker and ternite! I tried to find the old thread, where we fully discussed the planers and cost, but guess they are lost somewhere in the archives.

Let me say that if your 735 is anything like mine, you will want to keep it forever. It will plane down to 1/8" using no sleds. It will also cut, plus or minus, 120 cuts per inch. The surfaces produced are glass smooth with little or no snipe. It's self contained chip removal blower pushes air into the SS 3300 a lot faster the the SS 3300 can remove them. Chip removal is a very important feature, as chips remaining in the machine can embed into the wood with the downward pressure of the rollers. I have used mine, following jointing, for both thickness and width exact sizing. It will successfully edge plane up to 6" wide. Blades are readily available through the Internet. Ordered and got mine in 3 days. Of course the vendor was in So.Cal. so shipping (Fed EX) was only a couple hours.

However, I would hardly call the 735 a bench top planer. It weighs in at 93 lbs.

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:07 am

If you can't afford the SS, then it's Dewalt 735 all the way. No contest!

termite06 · Post by **termite06** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:52 am

Thanks guys, you have been a lot of help.

pinkiewerewolf · Post by **pinkiewerewolf** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:11 pm

I feel the pain...I'm lusting after the SS planer myself.
Oh to be in the work force again instead of school bound for a couple more years.
If that were the case I'd be happily planing (sp) away.