THanks for the head's up Mike. I'll start w/saying that I'm on this forum because I'm a hobbiest myself. I consider myself a woodpecker at best mostly good a making holes in things.
With regards to your need for a planer, I agree with these guys that you probably won't be happy with 15" taiwanese planer similar to JET or GRIZZLY or whichever importer you choose. My uncle and I planed ever cant for his log cabin with a JET planer and it died a slow painful death throughout the process.
I would look a something with a solid welded steel base, the 15" machine are little more than oversized benchtop units on fabricated or even bolted steel frames. They simply aren't designed to handle rough sawn cants in any capacity. They are good for finish work and will handle small amounts of rough sawn lumber for cabinet or furniture work and do a good job finishing that type of lumber.
I myself have the DEWALT 735 and LOVE it:eusa_clap :eusa_clap , but would never run more than 50 bdf through it at a time.:BangHead: :BangHead:
GRIZZLY equipment is as good as you're willing to pay for. They have planers that will run all day long, but they aren't the cheap ones. I would say the minimum you want to go with would be
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G5850Z this model has been around for 20+ years and I've seen a lot of them used that still do a good job. For the difference in the money this one
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G9967 is a huge step forward in my humble opinion.
I also invite you to visit my website
http://www.factorynew.com/MfgModels.aspx?CatID=PL&MachTypeID=63 to compare new models of different planers together. I work for exfactory and I'm now the manager of the new equipment division
www.factorynew.com. For the money we sell some EXTREMA Planers that are a good value and comparable to GRIZZLY. They stock parts in LA and are very good import equipment. You can also source this stuff locally in NC from woodworkers supply their wootek line or leneave supply here in charlotte in their northstate line.
The older cast iron machines are of course "better" depending on who you talk to. They certainly will hold their value better and be giving dependable service for years to come. I will be glad to talk to you about used machines I know of that are coming to the market locally since freight is tough on the used ones.
While I'm at I'll chime in on the chip problems you guys have mentioned. I highly recommend you consider a cyclone to seperate the chips and the feed into a hopper of some sort. I see a lot of shops buy a simple blower
http://www.extremausa.com/dust_blowers.php and cut a hole in the wall and blow out side in a pile or bin. I guess the manure spreader isn't a bad idea either. I'm ticked off :5censored to find out these are on my site, but they will be by tomorrow. ;-) This is a common and great way to transfer material to avoid stopping every 1/2 hr to empty the trash can.
Hope this information helps and I'm always glad and willing to provide free advice. If you give good enough advice people buy from you at some point.
Best regards,
Phil Ashley
phil@factorynew.com
