Planer help needed

Glenn9643 · Dec 24, 2005

My step-father had most of his timber blown down by Katrina, as well as everything in his area. He located and purchased a good bandsaw mill and a larger tractor/FEL a few months back and has been trying to salvage as much as he could for lumber.
Tonight he was seeking advise on a planer, but all I've got is a Dewalt portable that's not enough for what he needs. I'm a fan of Grizzly cabinet saws, but don't know anything about their planer products.
I don't really know but I would think a 20" would be the largest he would want and he might could get by with a little smaller. The main consideration is to find one that will stand up to continuous use that he can get parts/blades, etc. for. Single phase power is another requirement.
Any experience here with recommendations?

Cliff_Johns · Dec 24, 2005

First, I'd recomend he air dry it before he surfaces it.

Second, if it's a one-time thing, he may want to hire it out to someone who has the big equipment and who can pick it up, plane it, and return it for a fee when it's dry. This kind of heavy timber use is what kills lesser machines.

Remember, you need to joint the boards/timbers before you plane them, so you will need a jointer too.

Finally, since I don't know what kind of wood it is or how many board feet we're talking or how big the boards he is sawing out will be, I can't help much more than that.

Cliff

inveresk · Dec 24, 2005

I'd suggest he tries www.forestryforum.com. I got a raft of sound advice there when I was buying my mill and I'm sure it'll help with planer information. There's also a commercial section where they have used stuff from time to time, including planers.

Dozernut · Dec 24, 2005

I have the Shop Fox 20" planer with a 5hp motor on it. I really like this planer. It is similar to the Grizzly which is a 3hp unit. The SF comes with a two year warranty, the Grizzly is one year. The shop Fox has a dealer network so you can look at it hands on, the Grizzly has to be ordered and shipped. I have some Grizzly machines that I am very pleased with and I am not knocking them. I plane mostly hardwoods and that 5hp has yet to bog down on a full width (20") board. Get the biggest motor available on whatever machine you decide on.

PS: I also got the quick change, disposable knife set up from Grizzly. This is a sweet no hassle system that eliminates the jigs and gages in knife changes.

Glenn9643 · Dec 24, 2005

Cliff,
He’s got lumber stacked all over his place drying. All the sheds are full and he’s had to start covering stacks with tin. It’ll be a while before any of it’s dry enough to plane, but he’s starting to look now for a machine. In his area there’s no place available that does custom planing. He’ll not be working toward fine woodworking lumber so I don’t think jointing will be necessary prior to planing. Thanks.
Inveresk,
Thanks for the link. A lot of good resources.
Dozernut,
Thanks for the info on the Shop Fox. I believe they’re marketed by the same people as Grizzly. Are the prices comparable, or do you know?

Dozernut · Dec 24, 2005

They are a little higher in price than the Grizzly, but I think they are built a little heavier plus the two year warranty. I believe Grizzly is the parent company of Shop Fox, in fact I ordered my SF from Grizzly, as I live in a rural area and had no local dealers.

escavader · Dec 25, 2005

If i were you id consider taking it to a place with a big planer[a mill] and get the custom planing done,the going rate use to be a hundred bucks per thousand ft not sure what it is now.You will get all 4 sides done at once,with the sides able to be a pattern,such as v match,or shiplap etc. Most folks want wood that fits togeather.The more knifes in the machine,the better the finish,the faster you can feed it. Id look for someone with at least a 6 knife Yates,or in your area Newmans are good big machines
Being a person who does this for a livin,ill tell you make sure the guy sawing it gets it reasonably sized to specs,and watch out for that bandsaw wave,not so much its hard to get out.keep the wood clean! If you do take it to a pro mill,and you do hit some dirt or rocks,they have jointers on the machines that take out the knicks,and also even up all the knifes.Better than livin with the lines in the boards,if used for finish stuff,or to keep changin blades in a home machine.
15 inch would probably be max width on most of these machines,remember even after dried wide boards shrink more than narrow.lumber should be sorted to width before bringing to the mill
ALAN

JimR · Dec 25, 2005

He would be better off to cut it all on his mill. Then bring it to a mill to be planed and kiln dried. He could then store it or sell it.

Deerlope · Dec 26, 2005

There are planers out there that can be run by the PTO from his tractor. We got some Amish people around here that do it with diesel engines. With a PTO driving it he could plane from pile to pile and could go with a 20 or 24 inch model. Sure would make a pile of chips in a hurry. Talk to Grizzly and see what they can come up with for a PTO unit. Then go on the foresty forum boards. Those guys on those boards are a wealth of imformation just waiting to share it with someone.