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Survey of what sawmillers use for planers

Started by Kelvin, May 16, 2006, 08:10:30 AM

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Quote from: solodan on May 17, 2006, 01:44:24 AM
I rarely need to plane anything bigger and if I do I treat it the same as the large slab bar tops and mantels I make. Some of these slabs are several hundred pounds and would not be fun to put through a planer.

Solodan,
How do you surface your large slabs?

BBTom

Sawyerfortyish,

Do you want to get rid of that old grizzly?? 
2001 LT40HDD42RA with lubemizer, debarker, laser, accuset. Retired, but building a new shop and home in Missouri.

treenail

Been using my 20" grizzly for nearly 12 years now and have had not one bit of trouble with it.  Also have the grizzly 20" knife grinder for it to sharpen the blades, and it saves quite a few pennies. I also have a williams and hussey planer/moulder that I make flooring, mouldings, raised panels with that can be used to plane lumber up to seven inches wide with. Not a speed machine, but has paid for itself many years and has been in the family since 1964.  Use a lumbermate 2000 sawmill and the bandsaw cuts really help out the planer a lot by not having such rough cuts to plane down. If I was going to buy another planer, I'd stick with the grizzly and upgrade to the larger heavy duty models.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 sawmill , Ford 4wd tractor,Grimm/Leader maple sugaring equipment, Ford F-350 12' flatbed truck

pigman

I have a 25in WoodMaster with the 7.5 hp  I use for my own woodworking and a little for others. I like the 25in for planing glueup panels. The 25in has double rubber infeed and outfeed rollers.
Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

Brad_S.

I use an ancient 20" Parks, 10 hp, 3 phase. A friend in the same complex has a 24" Delta, 15 or 20 hp, 3 phase. Both are heavy machines and can hog a fair amount if needed.
I have a another friend with the Grizzly 15", and with all due respect to those of you who either have one or are looking at one, they may be fine for a home hobbyist but I think they are limiting for a full time lumberman. They can only take a 1/16th inch of material off at a time and if there is any thick or thin in a board, it will jamb it up in a heartbeat.
I suggest something heavy, so it doesn't walk, strong, so it can hog a decent amount of wood if need be, and wide. IMO, like so many other things in the sawmill arena, get at least twice the machine you think you need or you will regret your decision almost as soon as you get the planer home.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

Kelvin

Thanks for all the responses.  Sounds like what i was thinking.  Bigger will not be regretted.  But, one idea that i keep coming up with is buying the american made 7 1/2hp motor, and getting the spiral carbide head for my current 20" Grizzly machine.  Do you think the castings that were made for a 5hp should handle the extra power? 

I've also found an older, rebuilt powermatic 20" 221 with a fairly new Byrd carbide indexable head on it for roughly $3k.  Its got a newer 10hp 3 phase which i would have to buy a phase converter for.  I would like to use this to dress all the lumber for my small sized two man sawing operation that sells figured oak and make some flooring roughed to size before it goes in the molder that i don't own yet.  Sound like an acceptable sized machine?

What do you think?  The cheaper 20" are fine for really small or hobby minded production, but i can't keep sending the stuff through 4-6x's.

Ideas?
THanks
Kelvin

RMay

RMay in Okolona Arkansas  Sawing since 2001 with a 2012 Wood-Miser LT40HDSD35-RA  with Command Control and Accuset .

solodan

How much material do you guys need to take off to get a good surface?

1/16th on each side is plenty for me, but here we go again with the band saw vs swing blade debate ;D. I usually only make more passes to get the final thickness I need.
Quote from: footer on May 17, 2006, 02:16:17 PM

Solodan,
How do you surface your large slabs?

Footer,
I will most likely get a slab surface attachment for my Lucas 827 one day :), but this is how I do it right now. First, the big slabs are cut with my Alaskan and the 3120. This does not leave a smooth cut, but a very true and straight cut as long as everything is set up right. Then I use a 4"x 24" belt sander with 60 grit. One or two  passes is usually enough to take down the material to where you can only see faint lines on the suface. Then I switch to the orbital w/ 60 grit to take out these lines. Then back to the belt with 120. Then I use the orbital and finish sander bumping up to a finer grit each time, and wiping in between with a tack cloth. The final sand I do by hand. I can get a mirror finish this way. It is time consuming, but makes a real nice finish. I will always take the extra few hours if the slab is gonna bring me several hundred dollars more ;D

6"x24" x 8'
Too big for the planer!

So I think I will still stick to my plan of the 15" grizzly in the shop and the Logosol for the Sawmill. :)

solodan

But now I like the looks of the Baker. :D

RMay do you know what the price of this machine is? I can't find a price on their website.

Engineer

Quote from: Kelvin on May 17, 2006, 09:57:58 PM
I've also found an older, rebuilt powermatic 20" 221 with a fairly new Byrd carbide indexable head on it for roughly $3k.  Its got a newer 10hp 3 phase which i would have to buy a phase converter for.  I would like to use this to dress all the lumber for my small sized two man sawing operation that sells figured oak and make some flooring roughed to size before it goes in the molder that i don't own yet.  Sound like an acceptable sized machine?

That is a great machine.  A new 10hp motor and a Byrd Shelix head?  I'd be all over that in a heartbeat.   You could plane off anything you could lift.    Turn a 20" wide 4/4 board into shavings with three passes.    And smooooooth.  I'll be replacing the head in my Powermatic with a Byrd head just as soon as I can drum up the coin.  Heard so many good things about them.

Larry

Bigger motors are a popular upgrade and most of the time work well.  Just be aware of the pitfalls.  Your present switch is probably magnetic with thermal motor protection...may not work properly with a bigger motor...and a switch for 7-1/2 HP can be expensive.  If memory serves me correctly your Grizzley won't physically allow more than a 1/8" deep cut.  You can fool around with the knife projection and might get it to take a 3/16" bite...be safe.  A spiral cutter head won't allow you to fool with the knife projection so you will have to machine the upper casing for a deeper bite.  May take some work on the feed rollers also...especially the outfeed.

Keep a look out for the old iron.  Had this picture in my gallery of my $25 24" 3 speed Crescent that would eat a Grizzley for breakfast...course it might give OSHA a migraine.  Bought a 18" Monarch last fall that was a little more modern for $150...would have done the job for ya.  Somebody made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Sounds like a good price on the Powermatic if in good condition but have no experience with that model.  You will be paying more for the Bryd head than the planer.  First question to ask is how many times have the inserts been rotated?  They are quite expensive, but last a long time, and can be rotated 4 times.


Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

woodhick

I run a 20" import planer for years and 1/8" was about all I could crowd it.  I upgraded to a Powermatic 225 24" planer last year.  what a difference!  I would jump on the powermatic you mentioned.  A byrd head for my 225 is over 3 grand!  I do hope to upgrade to one of them someday.  I don't think you would be sorry on this planer, and a phase ocnverter is easy to come by or build your own. ;)
Woodmizer LT40 Super 42hp Kubota, and more heavy iron woodworking equipment than I have room for.

Ironwood

Kelvin,

The Powermatics are ever popular with every crowd (amish/ or english). They always bring a nice price even at auction. I have a 1970 Powermatic 225 (24") Absolutely the standard for high quality fairly late model unit. I paid $4500 several years ago and have never regreted it. I have straight knives with and ESTA quick change set up (ABSOLUTELY HATE IT, HATE IT) The knives don't hold an edge. I will put a Bryd in it in time ($4000  :o)  I also have a 40" BUSS, and two Oliver 30" 361's, one is mint (Pittsburgh Adult vo-tech school) the other needs a restoration. I love the early iron. If you source a Powermatic, try to find early green color scheme (their best years).

                            Reid
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

treecyclers

I just picked up a Shop Fox 20" 5HP single phase planer, and this thing ROCKS!
I can take a 1" board to 3/4" in 2 passes! Now that's awesome to me!
SD
I wake up in the morning, and hear the trees calling for me...come make us into lumber!

Engineer

Warning label on my Powermatic 180 sez:  "Do not exceed 1/2" depth of cut".

OK.

I'll try not to eliminate my 4/4 stock in two passes.....   :o :D

I just bought a phase converter because I procrastinated too long and now it's crunch time.  Got a 10HP Gentec/Baldor unit made by American Rotary in Wisconsin, should be enough juice for anything I ever want to throw at it.   I have almost 2500 board feet of pine that I need to plane from 1-1/4" rough down to 1" for wide plank flooring, and the little Ridgid 13" planer needs about 10 passes and CPR to do one board.  I plan on hoggin' it down to an inch, one pass per side, and then a finish cut each side in the little planer.  I'd use the big one for finish too, but I don't know how it'll look yet and I want to make some test cuts first.

Reid, what the heck do you use the big Buss for?  That's big enough to just hog off the tree, skip the sawmill part.

Ironwood

There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

GHRoberts

The only sawyer I know that planes has a moulder (???) for planing - cuts both faces in one pass.

BBTom

I am now running the 20" grizzly that was collecting dust in Roger's shed.  I did upgrade to the Byrd head.  It is amazing what that little 3hp motor will do running the shelix head. 

2001 LT40HDD42RA with lubemizer, debarker, laser, accuset. Retired, but building a new shop and home in Missouri.

UNCLEBUCK

I run a 15 inch Grizzly and it has been very good ,no complaints but I hope to find a big old 4 sided planer that can run all day. My Grizzly can run all day but I dont think it was intended for mass production so I just go a little slower than most .  Sure is fun to watch a ugly board go in and see what comes out the other end . 
UNCLEBUCK    bridge burner/bridge mender

Faron

BBTom, what kind of finish does that head produce?  I really like the idea of having the cutter in the wood all the time.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

BBTom

I was dissapointed with the finish at first, but with some patience, and common sense, it is cutting nice.  Have to line up all the inserts so they make a nice smooth spiral around the head.  I would not call it a finish planer, although a pass thru a sander would clean it up. 

Love the way it goes right thru knots and waves with almost no tearout. 

The truly amazing thing is the lack of noise.  I think the only difference between running it empty and planing a board is the sound of the chips running thru the collector and hose.
2001 LT40HDD42RA with lubemizer, debarker, laser, accuset. Retired, but building a new shop and home in Missouri.

Faron

That sounds great. 8)  I have hopes of having on on my Woodmaster, or having another machine with one one of these days.  It would have really come in handy with the hickory I have been working with lately.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

Tony

    Wanting to upgrade to a good planer;   is this a good

deal/package ;   the 718

          http://www.woodmastertools.com/s/propak.cfm


                                  Tony 8)
TK1600, John Deere 4600 W\frontendloader, Woodmaster718 planer\moulder, Stihl MS461 Stihl 036 & 021 & Echo CS-370
"You cannot invade the mainland United States.  There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."  Adm. Isoroku Yamamotto ( Japanese

pineywoods

Tony--- I have a woodmaster 718 that has been in regular use for several years. the only problems I have had have been of my own making----nails in boards, forgetting to tighten molding knives, etc. Get SOME kind of shavings blower. This thing will fill your shop with shavings in nothing flat...
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

highpockets

Hi Guys,

This is a little off subject but some time ago there was a guy that used an old treadmill D.C. motor to power the feed on his Grizzley 20" planner.  I now have the motor and controls and would like to convert mine this winter.  Do any of you know or remember this subject?

 
Louisiana Country boy
homemade mill, 20 h.p. Honda & 4 h.p. for hydraulics.  8 hydraulic circuits, loads, clamps, rotates, etc.

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