WoodMaster 18" planer/molder/sander
I agonized for years over whether or not to take the chance and purchase this machine. I was bombarded, as I'm sure many of you have been, by mail advertizing this machine on sale. One of the main road blocks to buying this machine was, as is for most purchases of woodworking equipment, the cost of the machine(over $2500.00 on sale). I was impressed by the fact that this is probably the last "American made" woodworking machine out there. Not that there aren't many fine woodworking machines made in other and by other countries, I just wanted to purchase something made here for a change.
Well, once I began construction of my new shop, I was finally able to coax my wife into letting me purchase this machine( I'd been dropping hints and telling her of all the things this machine would allow me to do for years).
I would suggest to anyone considering this machine to go ahead and buy it. The quality of this machine is great. With the 5 hp motor it has all the power you will need to plane any wood you need. The motor for the planer head, sanding drum, gang rip blades and molder head is fed by a 220 volt 30 amp circuit and the drive motor for the power feed is powered by 120volt 15 amp circuit. Ideally, these two supplies should be next to each other. My outlets are about 4' apart and the power cords reach them with no problems.
I've run hundreds of board feet of white oak through the planer and the finish is awesome. With the variable speed power feed you can run the material through at the perfect speed needed to get the finish you want. Changing from the planer head to the auxiliary shaft, which is used for the drum sander, gang rip saws, and molder head or heads, is a matter of loosening two bolts, pulling the morse taper shafts, lifting the planer head out, then you slide the auxiliary shaft through two pillar block bearings, place the lock collars on, change the pulleys(a larger, single belt one is supplied that reduces the speed of the shaft for the use of the drum sander, gang rip saws, and molder head). It takes only minutes and the sanding drum makes sanding a cinch. You'll look forward to sanding those 18" table tops or boards for jointing to make larger table tops with this machine. I haven't used the gang rip saws, but I know they will come in handy when I get to making my own molding and when I have the need to rip wide boards into narrower ones in large quantities. Just think of it, power fed ripping!
With hundred of choices in molding knives, I haven't decided on which one or one's to purchase, yet.
The CD and printed manual provided with this machine is the most helpful information I've ever seen provided by a manufacurer on the proceedures of assembly and use of a woodworking machine. It covers just about everything you could want and if you have any questions, the answers are just a toll free call away. I found the people that work for WoodMaster to be very knowledgeable and helpfull, too.
I've mentioned before in another writing that I made a seperator out of a Rubbermade garbage can to seperate the wood shavings before they could enter into my Delta dust collector because my 4" hose would plug up when planning. Like I said, this machine makes short work of planing and sanding. The large shavings could not get past the intake screen on the dust collector, besides I figured that it wouldn't be good for the impeller on my dust collector to have all those shavings going through it anyway.
Visit their website: http://www.woodmastertools.com/, for more specs and prices. I have no connection with WoodMaster other than being a very satisfied customer. This machine is worth looking into!
I agonized for years over whether or not to take the chance and purchase this machine. I was bombarded, as I'm sure many of you have been, by mail advertizing this machine on sale. One of the main road blocks to buying this machine was, as is for most purchases of woodworking equipment, the cost of the machine(over $2500.00 on sale). I was impressed by the fact that this is probably the last "American made" woodworking machine out there. Not that there aren't many fine woodworking machines made in other and by other countries, I just wanted to purchase something made here for a change.
Well, once I began construction of my new shop, I was finally able to coax my wife into letting me purchase this machine( I'd been dropping hints and telling her of all the things this machine would allow me to do for years).
I would suggest to anyone considering this machine to go ahead and buy it. The quality of this machine is great. With the 5 hp motor it has all the power you will need to plane any wood you need. The motor for the planer head, sanding drum, gang rip blades and molder head is fed by a 220 volt 30 amp circuit and the drive motor for the power feed is powered by 120volt 15 amp circuit. Ideally, these two supplies should be next to each other. My outlets are about 4' apart and the power cords reach them with no problems.
I've run hundreds of board feet of white oak through the planer and the finish is awesome. With the variable speed power feed you can run the material through at the perfect speed needed to get the finish you want. Changing from the planer head to the auxiliary shaft, which is used for the drum sander, gang rip saws, and molder head or heads, is a matter of loosening two bolts, pulling the morse taper shafts, lifting the planer head out, then you slide the auxiliary shaft through two pillar block bearings, place the lock collars on, change the pulleys(a larger, single belt one is supplied that reduces the speed of the shaft for the use of the drum sander, gang rip saws, and molder head). It takes only minutes and the sanding drum makes sanding a cinch. You'll look forward to sanding those 18" table tops or boards for jointing to make larger table tops with this machine. I haven't used the gang rip saws, but I know they will come in handy when I get to making my own molding and when I have the need to rip wide boards into narrower ones in large quantities. Just think of it, power fed ripping!
With hundred of choices in molding knives, I haven't decided on which one or one's to purchase, yet.
The CD and printed manual provided with this machine is the most helpful information I've ever seen provided by a manufacurer on the proceedures of assembly and use of a woodworking machine. It covers just about everything you could want and if you have any questions, the answers are just a toll free call away. I found the people that work for WoodMaster to be very knowledgeable and helpfull, too.
I've mentioned before in another writing that I made a seperator out of a Rubbermade garbage can to seperate the wood shavings before they could enter into my Delta dust collector because my 4" hose would plug up when planning. Like I said, this machine makes short work of planing and sanding. The large shavings could not get past the intake screen on the dust collector, besides I figured that it wouldn't be good for the impeller on my dust collector to have all those shavings going through it anyway.
Visit their website: http://www.woodmastertools.com/, for more specs and prices. I have no connection with WoodMaster other than being a very satisfied customer. This machine is worth looking into!
