I have wanted a planer for many years and keep finding myself looking at Powermatic’s model 209 20″ planer. Have any of you used this relatively new model? Any words of warning? Any other recommendations? This planer was about $1620 at last years Portland, OR www.thewoodworkingshow.com. The show will be back in town Oct. 22-24. This would be for occasional use as a hobby for furniture making. This would be a one time purchase so I’ve got to get it right.
In conjunction with the planer how are the Dual Drum sanders? I saw a General 25″ sander mdl 15-250-M1 for $1600 last year. How much sanding is to be expected after planing? Can I really get stock thin enough for bending and forming (1/8″ or less)? I imagine using both planer and sander in conjunction to thin and prepare stock for some bent wood applications.
All thoughts and opinions welcome. -Bill
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I am very curious about any comment concerning the Powermatic 20" planer with a 5 hp motor and the dual sander. A few days ago I decided that I could save a lot of hand sanding by purchasing a drum sander. I thought the 26", single drum, made in USA sander would be my favorite.( I have a planer from the same company which has been very satisfactory). The price quoted was approx. 1800 dollars plus..... 460 dollars shipping, from Indiana to Western Maryland. I could not believe how expensive shipping was! I then asked myself how can this American Company continue to compete with similar stationary tools shipped for free from Toolcrib/Amazon, or for 75 dollars from Grizzly and so on. I am pretty sure that the dual drum sander is manufactured in Asia, and most probably so is the Powermatic planer. Anyone who has experience with these two tools, please share it with us.
Cordial greetings
John Cabot
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