Delta 22-580 13-Inch Benchtop Planer

sounds like a great tool gary

That looks like a great addition to your shop Gary.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Gary I have the next model down from yours – and I also have the Wixey planer gauge on mine. Your review is right on the money – it’s a great little machine (as long as you have DC connected).

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Great review Gary.

You sound quite pleased with it. It’s funny, I see some commercial shops going to smaller planners such as yours, and getting rid of the big units, as they take up too much space.

I went the other way, and upsized. The first time I used the larger machine, I kept looking around for the rest of the wood. I just couldn’t believe I was finished already.

I still use my smaller one on jobsites though

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

I have this same unit. I completely agree with the review. The cost of the dust chute is annoying but use it for a day without the chute and you will get over it…

-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN

I’ve had the same planer as you guys for just over two years as well…I finally purchased the dust collector attachment last month. It was the last thing on earth I wanted to drop $30 on, but I’m tired of getting on my hands and knees to pick up all the shavings off the floor. However, I don’t have a dust collector. Not sure the shop vac has enough cfm to handle it, nor the holding capacity (this is the reason I pick it all up by hand and only vac what I miss). The planer sure seems to push the chips and dust our pretty forcefully, so I was thinking that just routing a short length of 4” hose into a garbage can could do it. The hose would go directly in the lid with a filtered vent for air to escape but dust and chips to stay put.

For those that own this planer, what’s your gut on my silly idea?

Thanks for the review Gary – it’s right on. I love this planer and wouldn’t trade it for the Dewalt 735.

I mean it.

Of course having missing parts when I first got it was a drag, but Delta had them to me in a week or so, and I could still use it from day one. If I recall it there was no knife tool and the bolts to hold on the handles were missing. At least, that’s what I remember.

Still wouldn’t trade it.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

While I’m at it – do you know where to get a good deal on knives. I meant to stock up a while back when I saw them at Lowe’s in the $30 range, but never did. Of course, they are not an item that Lowe’s stocks any longer and the woodworking outfits want about $50 for the set.

What do you think?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

The knives are double sided and very easy to change out. I bought the dust chute and added a 90 degree elbow to blow the sawdust into a trash bin. It’s still messy but 99% of the chips end up in the can. The chute works great but will clog easily, especially when planing wet wood, or planing too deeply.

You guys are right though with this being one of the best planers I’ve ever used. I’m definately satisfied and would recommend this unit to anyone.

Thanx for the great review Gary.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Gary, I have the same tool and have used mine for several years w/o any problem. I have planed serveral hundred feet of cherry and maple and only have a minor nick in one of my knives. Today I added a dust collector to it and have the Wixey gauge on order.

Your review is right on the money.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Dorje, In answer to your question about dust collection I doubt if it would work very well. You are dealing with such a large shavings volume that I am sure it would just clog the hose. I have seen some posts that advise against using a shop vac for dust collection because it just doesn’t have enough pull, not to mention enough volume, to handle this job. But I am going to try it anyway and see if it can work.

If it doesn’t then I can always continue to wheel my planer outside or maybe use this as an excuse to buy a legitimate dust collector.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

I have had this planer for a couple of years, and I agree—it works great! I haven’t run as much lumber through it as I would like (darn day job), but what I have done comes out beautiful.

As to dust collection, I too hated to drop the extra $$$ for the chute, but when connected to my big shop vac (Rigid 12 gal x 5 hp), there isn’t enough dust on the floor to worry about. Yeah, it fills up fairly quickly, but until I can afford a ‘real’ DC system, it’ll do.

-- There is nothing in the world more dangerous, than a woodworker who knows how to read a micrometer...

I now have the dust collection attachment, with a 10’ run of 4” hose…I put the 2 1/2” shop vac hose 3-4’ into the 4” hose and the vac picks everything up without clogging…

Doesn’t have the capacity of a DC, but sure beats picking chips up off the floor!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Dorje – Makes a big difference, huh?

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX

I don’t have this particular planer (I have a DeWalt 734), but until I got a dust collector I used a shopvac attached to the dust chute of the one I have. It worked pretty well, but like Dadoo said if I planed too deeply or planed wet wood, chips went a’flying. Now with the dust collector, post-plane sweeping is at a minimum.

-- 10 fingers, 2 eyes, and healthy lungs. for now. :P

GaryK - let’s just say it makes enough of a difference to set it up each time!

dH - I’ll have to get a dust collector one of these days!!!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA