Replies

1. 
   mapleman | Apr 07, 2009 07:30am | #1

   Tenon,

   second question first: Probably rolling down the same assembly line in China. If it were made in a different country or at a different plant it would be drastically different. It's not.

   First question: I don't have either spiral head planer, I have the G0454 - straight knife planer. I will say that it's worth every bit of the $1200 or so I paid for it. The main difference between the extreme models and the others is that the extreme machines are made in Taiwan at an iso 2001(?) facility. The non-extreme machines are made in China. Either way you will get the same 5 hp motor, which is very strong.

   I like the self contained mobile base but I wouldn't let it be a deciding factor on my purchase - unless you really need to move the planer around a lot.

   Good luck,

   Lee

2. 
   RickL | Apr 07, 2009 02:45pm | #2

   For me the bigger question is...hooby or pro?  I prefer to have a larger jointer and only need the same size planer and I can make any panel width I need. I see too many hobby folks with 6" jointers and 20" planers. The key is to know how to do a proper glue up. I always face the boards, plane to final thickness and glue the panel. I only have to scrape the glue beads off and sand to remove the ripples from milling.

   How big is your jointer?????

1. 
   tenon345 | Apr 07, 2009 03:56pm | #3

   Good question.  I have an 8" jointer.  Of interest, are you suggesting that anyone with a 6", 8", or 12" jointer should only have a 12 1/2" lunchbox planer?

1. 
   frenchy | Apr 07, 2009 07:30pm | #4

     Apprently he doesn't know that you can turn a planer into a jointer with the aide of a sled..

    It's common to build a sled to turn a table saw into doing cross cut work so building a sled to  do planning shouldn't be too much more difficult..

    My 20 Inch Grizzly has held up beautifully with the more than 40,000 bd.ft I've run through it.  (Only one $5.00 drive belt I got at my local  NAPA place. in all those years and boards)    However I want a 24 inch wide one to replace it..

    (it's the old boat theory,  you're always looking at the next bigger size<grin>)

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Apr 08, 2009 06:02am | #5

   I have a 8" jointer and a 20" York-craft (now defunct as Wilke Machinery quit importing) but almost every part will inter-change with Grizzly. I can double pass with my jointer if necessary to arrive at 16". I have run around 20,000 linear feet through my 20" planer and no problems so far. BTW.. I use the HSS knives as I see no real need for the spirals personally.

   I have a desk-hutch ready for final glue-up tomorrow. The top will be 22 1/2" wide. I have jointed 6 sections of 4" wide then surfaced to within a 1/16" of final thickness. I glue three 4" wide to get 12".. then the other 3. I then run the two 12" wide sections through the planer to final thickness.. run a 1/4' dado on edge to accept a spline (top is 1 1/4" thick) on two edges and glue the two 12" together.

   Once dry.. a hand scraper or low angle smoother will take any ridge or glue line off. So.. no matter what size you have.. the bottom line is how smart you use it, IMO.

   Good luck...

   Sarge..

    

   Edited 4/7/2009 11:02 pm ET by SARGEgrinder47