Went online looking for a 15″ benchtop planer this morning after seeing the new offering from Grizzly in FWW. Is it just me, or does the Grizzly 15″ planer look amazingly similar to the Oliver 15″planer being sold by Woodcraft? Only difference I can see is one is blue and the other is green; and the green one is about $650 less than the blue ($1223 vs $1870). Anyone have either of these yet that can speak to quality/performance? Thanks.
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Grizz has 32 inserts, Oliver has 40. If you go to O/G sites and download manuals you'll see cutterhead photos. Oliver looks to be helical with shearing cut, Griz looks spiral with flat cutting action. I did not check the bearing or motor specs but would not be shocked to find cheaper/ lighter in green livery.
Great info. Thanks a bunch mj.
I think the Oliver is 2.5 HP where the Grizzly is a 2 HP. Oliver’s warranty might be a little better. Oliver has an additional year minus the motor and electrical. The additional features and warranty is factored into the price.
Helical is better than Shelix. Look at power as well. The Oliver is 230V and the Grizzly is 120V. They aren’t really apples to apples are they?
Nope, not when you dig deeper than the paint and case as you and mj have pointed out. I live close to Grizzly, but not a big fan of their machines. But hard to ignore the huge price difference. I know others have had good luck with Grizzly, just not so much for me. Glad I asked the question via this forum.
Same machine, different options. But lets make one thing clear, no 150 pound fifteen inch planer will do much more than shave a thin layer of hardwood from an already almost perfect piece of lumber. Starting with Olivers statement : Our 10055 15” Benchtop Planer combines everything we know about building planers, well they dont build neither designed this one , its another low cost clone. 240V is two 120V circuits, it only saves on wire size, has nothing to do with Hp. And resting on 4 screws, no guide post this is at Best a light duty tool.
240V vs 120V is worth a lot more than saving of wire costs.
True. it is 2, 120V circuits and it doesnt change HP at all.
But it does DRAMATICALLY reduce the voltage drop at the motor under full/heavy loads compared to a 120V under the same conditions.
This is one reason why a 240V machine will not bog down or stall when loaded up.
There are other relevant advantages as well.
As well as potential code requirments.
Vdrop = A(R)
So its safe to say ANY 240V motor will always maintain much greater torque and RPM under load AND the difference will become greater as the motor is loaded.
Only true for the same wire size and Even then, its marginally better, one usualy goes to 240 to save Cooper hence you can run a 2hp motor without exceeding your 15 amp 14AWG circuit by going half the amp with 240. As for the voltage drop, for 14AWG running at full 15 amp on 120V will drop voltage by 5%, the same wire carying 7 amp on 240 will drop 2,5%, well within the 10% voltage variability and probably less than the drop you get when the water heater kicks-in. If the wire is 12AWG, the delta between 120V and 240V is 1,8% not enough to bog down or feel a difference.
The 10% rule is just a rating that says the motor will operate safely within that range. it doesnt mean there wont be effects on torque (thats really what we are talking about here)
if you drop voltage your drop torque/rpm. period. and its not insignificant.
Lets say you have 2 table saws, 1 at 120V and one at 240V and you run some real thick hard wood through it and bog it down causing lets say 20% extra current draw.
I think this is something we have all run into whether on a TS or a jointer, planers, whatever it is.
If you want i will post the math. But for now heres the end numbers.
The 120V motor is going to have a 9.6V drop and see a 16% torque loss.
The 240V motor will have a 4.8V drop and see a 4% torque loss
Thats MASSIVE and certainly not insignificant.
You will feel and hear it....and smell it if your breaker doesnt trip.
This happens because the torqe loss is actually quadratic to the voltage drop.
That means if you reduce voltage, torque drops with the SQUARE of that reduction.
You would be correct in it being more or less insignificant (or at least much less so) if it werent for this fact.
Now, That quadratic relationship between voltage and torque is just as real on 240V motors as it is on 120V.. but the effects are less severe because voltage drop in absolute and relative terms is smaller at 240V.
240V handles voltage dropping in ALL conditions ESPECIALLY overload ones MUCH better than 120V
It handles overloads FAR more gracefully.
It doesnt overheat nearly as easy and runs cooler in general which only helps the long term life of the machine.
It also avoids nuisance breaker trips and bog downs.
...and it saves on copper.
Agree,….to disagree :)
As far as I can see, the numbers above are just about the motor current and voltage drop. There is also the voltage drop from the wire carrying the current, which can be substantial given that the voltage drop is proportional to the length of the wire (as well as being dependent on the wire size.) If the wire size is minimal, and the length long, the voltage loss can be serious. Of course, more copper and half the current (220V) can make it un-noticeable.
When the Oliver 12 1/2" helical head benchtop planer came out I replaced my 10+ year old Dewalt 735 as soon as I was able with the Oliver. The head is, if h not a true Shelix head, it's identical in design. It does a great job much more quickly than the Dewalt even in figured wood.
No planer will flatten out a severely cupped or twisted board. A board must be essentially flat on one side to successfully plane it to the desired thickness. Maybe you can get a twisted board flat buy making a jig for flattening on the planer, but no planer will do it on its own.
The 12 1/2" version will easily handle 1/8" cut on a 12 1/2" wide board. Maybe the 15" version won't do that on a 15" board. I don't know because I've never tried this planer.
The Grizzly's head is not the same as Oliver's. It's may just be Grizzly's version. I don't know.
If you're a professional furniture or cabinet maker, then for sure you want an industrial 15" or 20" planer. However, for people like me who make furniture for myself, family, or friends the Oliver 12 1/2" is a dynamite planer. If the 15" is anywhere close, it would be even better because you can do wider boards on those rare occasions when you need to do wider boards (but most "hobby" woodworkers don't really do many boards wider than 12 1/2".
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been able to get wider than 12” boards at the local lumber store. They are out there but since most folks don’t use them, they aren’t as readily available.
I don’t think the average use of any wide planer, at least in my case and others in the shops I worked, is planing maximum width boards. The most common use of the full width was planing multiple board glued up panels.
Having the capacity to joint and plane wider boards expands your possibilities, tho you need the floor space for bigger machines. I have a 24"x72" jointer and a 26"x8" thickness planer. Yes, I've often jointed and planed glued up table tops, but I've also been able to use individual boards up to 22" wide for pieces where making it from single boards was appropriate. Of course, it is not easy to find such boards at your local wood store. I buy them from local sawmills, air dry them, and have them kiln dried locally. Big machines are certainly not a necessity, but can be very handy.
Two years ago I bought a DeWalt 735. Been happy with it. Had this new Oliver 15” been around, I would have given it serious consideration. However, now having the DeWalt 735 and having been happy with results with the straight knives (but not the noise of the motor), not sure I want to upgrade. I already have a 240 V plug for my bandsaw so the voltage isn't a problem. When I have taken woodworking classes elsewhere, I've used 15" planers with Shelix style heads and was very happy with them. What I didn't like about 15" planers was their footprint. They also cost more but I could have likely talked myself into paying more. This Oliver will take up as much room and likely could use the stand I have for the DeWalt - that's a big deal for me for sure. I really wish it had been around 2 years ago.
Not proposing one or the other but, the foot print taken up by a benchtop planer on a suitable stand is not much different than a floor standing 15" machine. There are many clones of this design that take up about 4 square feet of floor space. My DeWalt DW735 actually took up about the same amount of room s my 15" floor machine.
People often think they don't have room for a cabinet saw not realizing that a contractor saw takes up more actual room. Just sayin'.
For me, as for many, space really isn't the main consideration when considering a larger, more commercial, 15" or 20" planer. It's cost. It's very difficult to justify the cost of the 15" or 20" floor planers, at $3,000 to $5,000 (with helical head), when the need for planing wider wood or table tops isn't a frequent use. For the occasion when I need to plane wider pieces, taking it to a local shop and paying them is economical. Or, if you have other uses for a drum sander, even a 16-32 sander does the job well (although it takes a bit longer). So, if a 15" is a need you feel you can justify, then possibly either the Oliver or Grizzly 15", even though not as powerful, wouldn't be a bad purchase. The price is right for those few times it's needed. My Oliver 12.5" with a Shelix (or identical to Shelix) head, does a tremendous job; smooth result and certainly fast enough for a guy who isn't a professional cabinet maker or furniture maker.
@grbmds - Quite correct. There are as many use cases as there are woodworkers. We all have to choose the option that works best for us, our shops, our budget, our shop situation, etc.
I know I have asked questions about machines only to be referred to a CNC, a slider, or a combo machine that does not really apply to me but may be perfect for someone else. We all tend to recommend those things that have worked well for us.
The beauty of forums like this is that we can take many responses, run them through our own filter of requirements and glean the things that will work best for us.