woodmaster 5 in 1

[cmartinson]

I'm considering one of those woodmaster 5 in 1s. Does anyone no anyone who has one or has used one? Are they worth the $? Bear in mind, I tend to be anal about precision. "Good enough for Govm'nt work" is not a common saying for me.

 

[DaveO]

A friend of mine, who runs a saw mill and millworks operation out of Virginia has one and he brags about it all the time. He has told me that it has done everything that he has thrown at it, and is very well made. He is usually a honest straight up guy, so I take his word as good. My .02 from my friends .02

Dave

 

[cmartinson]

good to know. thanks

 

[woodguy1975]

I've known quit a few people that have them. I have heard they aren't the greatest things in the world. They have really bad chatter when planning. There are fixes for it you can do to motor mount system that makes it more like a W&H molder, but the only operation that works well, for a anal precision guy, is the drum sander. The planer and molder will leave more chatter than you would prefer. The machine just doesn't have enough weight to dampen the vibration. The molder is so bad the molding has to be sanded if you want to stain it. That is totally unacceptable to me. Trust me if they were good enough I would have bought one instead of my Yorkcraft planer and Woodmaster sander. I got lucky on the W&H molder. In the end I was fortunate and got all 3 machines for the price of the W&H.

Dave knows someone who loves theirs. That is fine, but keep in mine most sawers aren't looking for the quality of cut that we are. If you want a planer the cast iron planers do a great job. If you want a drum sander there is none finer than the Woodmaster. If you want a molder get the W&H molder. I can attest for all and say they meet my expectations and I'm a guy that checks everything with calipers. The mechanical engineer in me comes out often.

Check out www.woodweb.com. There are lots of reviews on that site. Also there are a few users on Sawmill creek. www.sawmillcreek.org

I'd recommend against it, but that is just me.

Good Luck Chad,

John

 

[cmartinson]

Thanks for the heads up. I have this tendancy to avoid sanding at all costs so this is much appreciated.