Freddie Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 Question....... Im moving from no shop into a one car garage shop( a big step up for me) and im in the market for a planer. My current project is african mahogany(a lot of ribbon) and some curly maple. I have no room for a large planer, nor can i really afford one but i was looking at the steel city 13 " helical head model and the dewalt dw735. Can anyone please shed some light on this for me. I appreciate any feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 Hi Freddie. I have the 735 and the 734. The 735 at low speed with give pretty good results on figured wood. I don't know about the Steel City planer with the helical head, but I would definitely suggest one for anything figured. You're a lot less apt to have tear out with a helical head. From what I know of the Byrd Shelix heads, they are the best design, as they are a bit skewed and therefore will shear the fiber a bit more. I have a helical head on my Griz jointer and it does really well, but the square knife inserts are parallel to the cutter head. It still produces an excellent surface if I go slow with figured wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 Personally Id stick with a lunch box planer or go big. What I mean is the little lunch box planers do a real nice job for a home shop. But the ones that are in the middle like the Jet and Griz 15" are really sort of a pain and have alot of design flaws like no pressure bar. Most of them come out of the same factory and have the same issues with exception of the powermatic which I believe comes out of the same factory but they spent a little more on with better QC. At 20" you start getting into a good planer size with the features that make a planer a good planer. So in short any of the cheaper lunch box planers are good, delta and dewalt. At 15" the only option id go for is powermatic. At 20 + Griz, jet and the other imports are pretty good. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 I just wish i could get some feedback on the steel city planer, idk how their tools are, never used them or knew anyone who has used them. But it does have a spiral cutter head, and i do wish to work with a lot of figured woods in my future projects. I was kind of hoping to put a small planer in my shop, seeing that I do not really want to router plane 20bf of african mahogany 4/4 down to 3/4, yuckk. But if you guys can convince me to save for a more worth machine, then I guess I'll suck it up and router plane this project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onboard Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Here are 3 links to give you something to read on the Steel City 40200H planer. #1 / #2 / #3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Personally Id stick with a lunch box planer or go big. What I mean is the little lunch box planers do a real nice job for a home shop. But the ones that are in the middle like the Jet and Griz 15" are really sort of a pain and have alot of design flaws like no pressure bar. Most of them come out of the same factory and have the same issues with exception of the powermatic which I believe comes out of the same factory but they spent a little more on with better QC. At 20" you start getting into a good planer size with the features that make a planer a good planer. So in short any of the cheaper lunch box planers are good, delta and dewalt. At 15" the only option id go for is powermatic. At 20 + Griz, jet and the other imports are pretty good. Don Don, An excellent review from Lumberjock's member Don on the Griz with a Helical head. http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/755 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 The steel city model is taking A LOT of heat from some of the buyers, I can't afford to make a bad purchase, nor do I have the time to wait for a replacement/different model. This baby's coming whether or not this bassinet is built haha. But I was intrigued by the grizzly 15" spiral head planer. I mean it looks great, but I have no experience with these machines yet so for now I will just have to listen to the people and hopefully whatever I buy will suit me and my needs in my humble little workshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 i have the dewalt planer and its pretty easy to take apart a wrench that comes with machine and some hand screws. plus you can get 3 inch blades anywhere. the dust blow out could be a little better every day or so i have to blow it out with the shop vac or else it leaves small pieces on the bed of the machine. and you will need outfeed rollers as the small trays that come with it aren't the best at keeping board strait i just took mine off. but the belts that come with are very durable and last a long time and if you needed to you can get replacement belts fairly cheap online. its not a huge cost 550-600 and the dewalt brand is pretty decent. i have never really heard of steel city tools but some of there stuff is priced really low so it makes me wonder if they make a cheaper brand and make it look pretty. i say go with the brand you know. if you worried about figured wood get a drum sander then you can clean up boards and finesse your thicknesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 The steel city model is taking A LOT of heat from some of the buyers, I can't afford to make a bad purchase, nor do I have the time to wait for a replacement/different model. This baby's coming whether or not this bassinet is built haha. But I was intrigued by the grizzly 15" spiral head planer. I mean it looks great, but I have no experience with these machines yet so for now I will just have to listen to the people and hopefully whatever I buy will suit me and my needs in my humble little workshop. I had the jet which is nearly the same as the Griz it was a pain in the rear and the snipe was less than acceptable. I bought the powermatic 15" and it was just a jet with cast iron tables same issues, returned it and got a 20" powermatic. The addition of the pressure bar is what makes the difference in planers. Later got a minimax with tersa cutters that machine was a dream. I don't know what they go for now but may be something to look into. Tersa cutters out perform the spirals and the shellix and you can buy different blade grinds to suit your needs. Blades can be changed in under a minute. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 My thoughts on the DW 735 start somewhere around "Woohoo!" and end somewhere around "now what?" For starters, I thought about this for a long time before deciding to purchase one. Not that I did a lot of research, but I opted for the best I could afford at the time, using the space available at the time. I have since moved to a smaller shop (almost non-existant) and the planer has not made the trip over here yet. I say yet, because I don't have a table built for it. I do not have power available at my new shop. Everything will be run on an extension cord. So hand tools are the new preferred tool. That said, there are three tools I'm not giving up to go with their non-corded option. Those are the lathe, the bench top drill press, and the DW 735. I started following Paul-Marcel's blog, thanks partly to a video he did, and documented project he listed here, of a flip top table. This is where I'm planning my planing to go. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) My version will need to be mobile, so I need to rework this thought for a while. and finances have dictated why I haven't started yet. You can upgrade the DW 735 to a spiral head, but I haven't yet. The cost is only a part of the reason. You can find any of the lunchbox planers at reasonable rates, but if you look around, you might get lucky enough (like I did) to find a shop that will let you put it on layaway. Spread that cost out while you build the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Zillig Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 My Steel City helix planer died, and my dealer couldn't get a callback from his istributor. It was in warrany, and the credit card company paid me back and shorted them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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