I am in needing a planer to shave down some proud studs and would like to get some recommendations from you folks out there.
There is someone locally who is selling a Hitachi P20SB planer for $75.00. On Amazon this unit sells for $145.00. Is this a good machine? Or should I keep my eyes out for a different brand / model?
Thanks as always.
Stan
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Replies
Makita is what I have and I am happy with it's performance.
One trick I learned was to remove the front sole plate adjusting screw and grind it down just a bit, helps pick up another 1/16 or so of depth of cut.
Don't know the Hitachi, this looks like a good deal if you can wait for delivery.
http://www.cpotools.com/planers/3365.html
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
I have the corded Bosch and Makitas and the Bosch cordless...
Like the Boschs better... the Mak isn't bad...
tried the DW and Hitachie....
no comparrison...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
for what you're using it for, I don't think you need to worry too much. Get a decent one, for a decent price, you'll be happy. I have a makita and a bosch. What I want is a vintage Porter-Cable with the looong foot. for doors.
like a #333???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
126
+1 for the Makita N1900B. Been around for ages .............. tough to kill.
"There can be no doubt that Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the abject worship of the state…Socialism is in its essence an attack not only on British enterprise, but upon the right of ordinary men and women to breathe freely without having a harsh, clammy, clumsy tyrannical hand clasped across their mouth and nostrils" -Winston Churchill
If it's for a one time use, don't overlook the Ryobi planer. It works. I would even consider the Harbor Freight planer for $39.
Ditto. If all you are doing is planing studs that won't be visible, get a cheapo and a suply of blades for when you go too deep and hit the pointy end of the nail you can't see. "Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Hey, how's that kitchen job going?
Thanks for asking and for anyone looking over our shoulder, Shep helped me lay down some hardboard as underlayment for commercial vinyl tile. I was having one of those days where I just got tired of working alone and his help really made a big difference. Thanks, Shep.
And it's almost done. Tile is down, baseboard installed, crown molding installed, new handles on all of the cabinets and everything painted including the cabinets which is one of my less favorite things to paint.
I converted a standard base cabinet with a door to a pull-out trash bin. It's done, but I need to install it. I'm also building radiator covers and I'll install them too.
As for the hardboard underlayment... it's not really a very good idea since it's not very resistant to water. I don't recommend it, but I had no choice because the back door (which is new) wouldn't clear 1/4" ply which is what I really wanted to use. We'll see how the hardboard holds up.
UH OH.... I had one experience with laying tempered hardbaord for undelayment. Looked great the day I laid the tile, came back the next morning and it looked like the suface of the ocean under rolling swells. Beware of the water based adhesive!!
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
So what did you do? Tear it up and re-lay?
Yep, and beat the photo studios opening at 1pm by exactly 15 minutes. Total loss of both tempered hardboard and the tile.
What I call a "learning experience" You might try a scrap of the hardboard and some tile , say a 4'x 4' area and see how it works for you.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Well, it looks like I now find myself in a predicament much like yours. The floor looked great for the few days that I was there, but I just got a call from my customer who said that the floor seems to be lifting in a few spots.
I'm assuming the staples have pulled right through the hardboard as it expanded due to humidty changes. I may not have to replace the entire floor, but I will probably replace most of it.
Now I need 1/8" underlayment. I'm going to start a new thread and ask for suggestions. Thanks for your input.
Don-
did you tile the floor yet? If not, why don't you go over the floor and hand nail the masonite with some 4D ring shank headed nails. Yeah, it'll be time-consuming, and a PITA. But the nails won't pull thru, and will take out any flex in it.
If you need to replace the masonite, I know there's 1/8" door skin ply available. I used to get it at a place in Elizabeth, but they're no longer there. It's gotta be available somewhere, tho.
The floor is all done including tile... well, it WAS all done.
According to the customer (I haven't seen it yet), it's buckling a little in the middle of the room. I'm hoping to repair it by replacing tiles in the middle of the room only. 2 sheets of 1/8" door skin ply should be enough. I'm planning on calling around to try and find some. I'll try Jaeger, Homeowners Heaven, Huston lumber, Somerville Lumber and Liberty Wood Products in Cranford.
Ring shank nails are a good idea. Someone else suggested that I glue down the masonite (http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=124079.1). I'm pretty sure that would work, but just in case I have to redo the entire floor a few months from now, I don't want to deal with glued-down underlayment.
Darn,
I was rooting for ya!! Been out of town so didn't see your message until today. My experience was that the hardboard "bubbled" even though hand nailed as close as 6" o.c. pattern (Used that pattern in the heavy traffic areas, went lighter off to the less traveled ares of the room) with #4 ring shanks on.
What might work is to glue the hardboard down with a floor mastic along with the nails, but again , I would try a test first.
Edited 9/7/2009 10:24 pm by dovetail97128
Thanks. My other thread is here:
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=124079.1
I'll update that thread when I get around to re-visiting that floor which should be next week.
It's a bit late in the day for you I know. Anytime I ever used hardboard as an underlay I would've soaked it and let it dry before fitting and nailing it.Mind you,we have a different climate than you (mainly cold & damp).Ring nails are better for holding and @ 4½" O/C will stand up to most flooding,but I thought everyone knew that!
mack.
A planer is also on my list of tools to buy. I've had good experiences with the Ridgid cordless planer. We new floor joists on an 80 year old house. I just aquired my Grandaddy's old Stanley hand planer. The dang thing must be 30 years old. I sharpened the blade first, and then spent two days just getting the darn thing adjusted so that it will work. I think I may have to grind a steeper angle on the blade. It's a thing of beauty when those wood shaving curl up about two feet long. I still haven't mastered the technique yet and I want an electric one as well.
I'd also like to get 3"+- electric planer.I do have a Rockwell/PC 126 Porta Planer. Kinda like a hand-held jointer.There is an out-of-production electric plane, the PC Versa Plane, kind of a shipwright's plane. Sometimes seen on Ebay, and they go for high prices.But I'll tell ya what. There is nothing like a good old handplane, my first choice every time if appropriate. I have Stanley Bailey's #5 and #6, each about 40 yrs. old. I absolutely LOVE using them!
Edited 9/1/2009 6:29 pm by kenhill3
It had never really dawned on me how useful one could be until I saw that Ridgid on the job site. Half of the floor had to be reframed, and joist by joist we leveled the new wood with a planer. Now I've just got to have one even though I wouldn't use it all that much. Most of the people I work for aren't really that meticulous. They do it quick and dirty most of the time. I work on old houses when I can find the work, and I can think of many times a planer would have saved me a migraine or two.
I must confess that I don't know a whole lot about them. When I do finally go shopping for one, what should I be looking for and why? The biggest difference I've noticed in them is motor size and maximum cutting capacity, but is there something else I need to be looking for?
I put a steeper angle on my hand plane, by the way, I haven't had a chance to see whether or not it will work for me. It is an old Stanely, but its too rusted to get a model number off of it. I might as well have struck gold when I found it in my Grandmother's closet.
Stan- I've got the higher-end Bosch (they also make a cheaper one). I got it off of Ebay for $100, brand new. It works great and I would buy it again if I had the choice. I don't know why I didn't get one years ago. Super useful. Get one and you won't regret it.
Do you remember the model number?
Thanks!"Projects beget projects and projects beget the need to buy new tools and that is what the cycle of life is all about."
Stan-
It's the 1594K. Amazon's selling it for $158 last time I checked. Like I said, I got mine on Ebay for $100 and it was brand new, unopened in the box. Must've fallen off the truck or something, you know?
I would check CPO Bosch. I have seen it there in the past at a pretty good deal for refurb.
I have the same Bosch ... got it on sale at Lowe's last year for $130. Works well, just be very, very careful around any type of nails. I "discovered" a hidden nail in a door (who the hell puts nails in a door?!!) and had the privelage of buying new blades for $13. It takes a little learning - it removes waaaaay more material than you expect. I still prefer to have it for rough stuff then "finesse" the finished product with a really good hand planer.
Anybody ever use the Ryobi electric planer? I just don't need one enough to buy a $200 unit. But when I need one, I need it to work. I see sheetrock in my near future, as well as bowed or uneven studs. I like the price of the Ryobi, and there have only been a few of their tools that I disliked so much that I took them back to the store. If not the Ryobi, does anyone have a suggestion for the first time buyer/budget minded consumer?
I finally got that hand planer I inherited working! I put a steeper angle on the blade with a bench grinder and needed to shave off some scribing on a piece of trim I ripped down with the table saw. The sheet rock was uneven, can you believe it? There couldn't have been a more perfect tool for the job than that rusty old hand plane! It took several passes, but if I hold the plane just right, wood starts coming if in long, thin ribbons.......I'm in love!
I had one, but I let the magic smoke out of it doing a pretty beefy cut in oak. Wouldn't get another one, but it would probably be OK for occassional light work.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
Stan,
I've used the Hitachi P20, the Makita (model # unknown) and the Bosch (2 models, I think). My planer is the Bosch 1594. If I was just planing studs, I'd go with the Hitachi @ $75. It is a good machine.
Jim x 3
Thanks everyone for your insight.
Stan"Projects beget projects and projects beget the need to buy new tools and that is what the cycle of life is all about."
I think for most folks a planer isn't used all that often. So getting a real good one isn't so important.
But that is most people.
Will Rogers