Subject: Planer

From: Claude Livernoche <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 10:19:18 -0500

I want to get a planer and i am considering the 12 1/2" Craftsman. I
would appreciate your comments.
Also, any comments about Craftsman 6 1/8" jointer (3 blades)?
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[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 23:00:53 -0500

> Also, any comments about Craftsman 6 1/8" jointer (3 blades)?

I've had my Craftsman jointer for years and love it!!  Now, I don't do
anything fancy with it, and I'm not a cabinet maker or any of the like,
just a home handyman.  But it does the job for me.

Paul

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From: Ralph Hybels <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 10:33:36 -0600

I'll keep my reply short because the topic of Craftsman power tools has
been all too well-covered already in this group.  Peruse the DejaNews
archive for more than you'd ever want to know about what's wrong (and
possibly occasionally right) about Craftsman tools.

But in short: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES BUY ANY CRAFTSMAN POWER TOOL!!!!

There, that should cover it.

If you want to learn about alternative not-too expensive brands, peruse
DejaNews from this group looking for discussions of planers and
jointers.  One company to consider is Grizzly, but there are several
others.  Just whatever you do, don't buy Craftsman.

Ralph

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From: [email-masked] (Steve Rehrauer)
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 17:47:16 GMT

>would appreciate your comments.

I was also just looking for a portable planer.

Last year ShopNotes magazine had a review of small planers, of which
the Craftsman was one.  (I don't recall the exact issue #, but I can
dig it up for you if you like.)  They liked a few things about it,
but on the whole were fairly unimpressed.

Also, the Nov '96 issue of Wood magazine reviewed about 8-10 planers.
The Wood review went into a little more detail on issues like the
amount of sniping each model produced.

Both reviews put the Makita 12" at or near the top, albeit with the
caveat that it's pricier than many of the others.  The Ryobi also got
high marks from ShopNotes.  If I recall rightly, Delta and Jet got
high marks for the quality of finish, but the 22-540 Delta was dinged
by ShopNotes for their in/outfeed table design.

(Based on the reviews, and articles I've gleaned from lurking here,
I opted to spend a little more on the Makita.)
-- 
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From: StanR <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 02:17:43 -0800

> just a home handyman.  But it does the job for me.

Well, I've got one of these, paid under $180 for it, too. And I'm very
happy with it. I put a lot of wood throught it, too.

It was in the returns plie at Sears. They wanted $250 for it after a
week or two. I offered 180, after the 10% discount-night, the guy talked
to the manager and said ok if I bought the service agreement also. So I
sprang for it and got an additional employee (my ex's) discount. 

On the way home, I dropped it off at the sears service center. After two
weeks, they still hadn't finished with it. Seems it was returned for
'frequent popping circuit breaker' because the motor was bad. So they
replaced the motor ($250 if I had to pay for it) after changing the
circuit breaker. They put in and set new blades also.

It's a quite good planer since everything's working right. Reasonable
powered and smooth cut. But if I were going to pay full price, I would
probably have gotten the Delta, although I hear there are problems with
that one. Anyway, I couldn't beat the price and the perormance is
certainly more than adequate, so I'm a happy camper with my $180 planer.
:)

Stan