I am looking to add a planer to my shop. I have looked at the portable 13″ planers as well as the free standing 6″ planers. I can see that on some of the free standing 6″ planers I can change the feeds such that I could put a rabbet on. I have some old flooring that I need to plane down before putting down. Other than the 13 vs. 6″ width, what am I missing as to why I would pick one or the other? Thanks.
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Doug
Your comparing the 6" to the 13", but your not comparing the same tool!
The 6" you are referring to is probably a jointer. Nice tool to have if you need to joint an edge or if you need to take a twist out of a board but not worth much as a thickness planer.
If you need to thickness plane then you need to look at the thickness planers such as Dewalt, Delta, or Ridged just to name a few. All of these will do a decent enough job, as well as some other brands.
Doug
I have the Dewalt 13" two speed planer and I like it Nice tool, the lack of extension tables annoyed me, but for the money I was able to build a better one out of wood. I compared the Dewalt 13" and Delta 13" before I bought, I honestly can't remember the statisitcs but the Dewalt looked and felt like a better tool.
I also have a Powermatic 6" jointer and used the delta, both are good tools.
If you post this over at knots you would probably get a pretty good responce.