Grizzly - 1033x 20" spiral extreme duty planer (Rating: 4)

I was recently able to obtain a 5hp Grizzly 1033X 20" Planer for my school shop. Our old 20" planer has been around for 10 years and has seen better days. I convinced admin that this was the way to go and the extra cost would be worth it to cut on noise levels. I have always heard of this but have never experienced it until just a month ago. Boy were they right! We now have 2 planers in the shop. The spiral cutter is quieter standing next to the machine than standing in the same place where the normal cutter is over 100 ft away. We are so investing the $1000 next year to upgrade the other one.

I love the switch box, it is very sturdy, the 3hp previous model had the plastic magnetic switch. Unfortunately one of the students has already found a screw. So I will get to experience blade changing this summer. At this point, nothing a RO won't take care of.

The only complaint is I had some electrical issues with the mag starter. One of the wires was loose, got that solved. It still kept blowing a breaker. finally looking at the electrical diagram, there is a dial for the amperage. It was set at 34 amps, no wonder we kept blowing.

We can fill a 40gallon trash can with sawdust in no time flat, approximately 15-25 minutes with a class building small coffee tables.

We have invested in a cyclone separator, well worth it also. Saves having to shut down the dust collector each hour and empty. 90% of dust goes to trash can and we then just switch cans if it gets full.

I will try and post a pic of the new and the old soon.

Tooldad
Arnold, MO