What's Not to Like?
Written: Jun 11 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, accurate cuts, NO SNIPE!
Cons: None really
The Bottom Line: For just under 400 dollars, I could not find a better planer. If there is one out there, let me know, and I'll buy it.
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| craigv's Full Review: DeWalt Heavy-Duty 12 1/2" Portable Thickness Plane... |
After reading the other reviews I felt I had to write this one. A portable thickness planer is intended to provide sized lumber in a shop or on a job site, as needed. As a portable, it much run on a 15- or 20amp 120v circuit, as not many jobsites have 240 power available. It needs to be easy to set up and portable enough to move from a truck to the worksite. It should be capable of producing boards that are accurately thicknessed, with a minimum of snipe.
The DeWalt fits this specification very well. As compared with the Craftsman and Delta planers that are its main competition, it really shines. Another reviewer commented that the unit is claimed to be "ready to use" but he/she stated that it was not. I fail to see how installing the crank handle with one screw, using a supplied wrench, is a problem. That's all it takes to make the unit ready to go. I understand that this step is only needed because DeWalt changed the crank design. Older models had a folding handle that was factory-installed. Oh, sorry, you do have to plug it in. My first test board was accurate to 1/64" in all directions. No snipe, and blade marks are barely visible. Another comment on that; blade marks are to expected from a thickness planer. Period. Anyone who expects to get finish-ready wood from a planer is dreaming. Sanding or scraping is a part of woodworking. Planers are not intended to eliminate that phase fo the job.
Unlike another reviewer's experience, I found the dust hood to be adequate. The problem for some is that one can't expect a shop vac to work on most woodworking tools as a dust collector. They simply don't have anywhere near the 400+ cfm needed to clear the tool. Most vacs only provide 150 cfm. The DeWalt's hood caught about 75% of the chips produced when used with a 650 CFM dust collector. Not bad at all.
I found the performance to be quite good. I too noticed that the feed may slip on very thin (under 1/2") stock in some cases. Most likely there's just not enough wood-to-drive contact to overcome resistance from the tables when planing thin stock. But i've never had any problem planing hard maple, oak, or knotty woods. Not bad for a 15 amp motor.
The unit is easy to keep clean, and the on-board tool storage is handy. The preset thickness stops were all on the money, and the gauge didn't need adjustment at all either. This was amazing to me, as every tool I've owned needed some tweaking out of the box. It truly did fit the "ready to use" label, in my opinion.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
craigv
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Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 0 members
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