[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by opendoor

I have the Grizzly G0453, though they were quite a bit cheaper back when I got it about 10 years ago (I think I paid $850 USD). But really, most of those imported fixed head 15" planers are basically the same design. If you look at the G0453 and compare it to the equivalent Craftex, King, Jet, Shop Fox, etc., they're all basically the same, with maybe some minor quality control differences.

You can definitely go higher end than that, but I've found it to be great and there's really not a lot that can go wrong with them. Setting the knives after sharpening can be a little annoying, and that's one benefit of a helical cutterhead.

Some of the higher end benchtop planers (I think Dewalt is supposed to be best in class for that) are apparently quite good, but I don't have direct experience with that, as mine was a low-end Ryobi. So depending on how much wood you're milling, that might still be a good option. With a good quality smaller planer, I don't think you're really losing precision or cut quality, it's more just power and speed. So if you're mainly doing furniture or smaller jobs, it might be totally sufficient. But if you're milling an entire kitchen's worth of wood, it's nice to be able to bring 1" wood to 3/4" in just a few passes.

When I bought the bigger planer I was doing an entire house's worth of woodwork, so the speed increase was crucial. But I could probably live with a smaller one now if I had to. That said, sometimes it's a good idea to just buy the better quality tool earlier, rather than to upgrade later and end up spending more money overall.

Thanks again for the info kind internet stranger. I will mostly be building furniture, and I want to try different hard wood species. Speed is not a factor for me since wood work is a hobby for me and it's my excuse to unplug while I'm doing it evenings and weekends. My priority is the quality of the surface the planer produces. I've been leaning toward the DeWalt benchtop, but it doesn't have a helical head so I started wondering about quality. Maybe traditional knives are good enough and a scrape or sand will take care of the rest.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Anyone use something like this?
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/kre...jig/1001184777


I've been looking to get something like it. The Dewalt rip fence looks kind of manky, and I've got 2 Dewalt saws that use different rip fences, so this seems like a better way to go. Any thoughts?

Hey. Stop stealing focus away from my planer discussion