# A little spendy for a portable, but an amazing planer.



## Brad_Nailor

Thanks for the review! I have been eyeballing this planer since I saw it in their new products catalog six months ago. It is exactly like the older Rigid 13" planer I am using now, except for the helical head. I really like my Rigid allot and I can only imagine how putting a helical head on it would make it that much better. I like to work in figured woods and the helical heads seem to excel at that!


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## waynep

One thing I will relate from this past weekend's milling. The depth lock isn't optional. On my delta, I rarely bothered to lock the head after moving it down for another pass and things were fine in all but the toughest boards. With the Steel City, if the head isn't locked, it will snipe the board, both ends. The rollers on this have a lot more vertical travel it seems. However, with the lock engaged, there is basically no snipe. The contrast is pretty remarkable.


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## a1Jim

Thanks for the review


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## KentS

Good review. Thanks for the information.


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## Brad_Nailor

Wayne..thats is true with the Rigid I am using…you HAVE to lock the cutter head or there is noticeable snipe. If you do lock it there is no snipe at all!


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## cstrang

Thanks for the review, I have been looking at Steel City for a while now and am planning on purchasing this planer and a granite bed jointer in the not too distant future, Steel City is a new company and it is really great to hear these good reviews about their product, thanks again.


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## DrBreakIt

I think you have had your planner for about a half a year now. Are you still happy with it? I have been looking at this one myself and was wondering about how it is holding up. I have not seen a lot of reviews on net about it except for yours. Thanks


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## waynep

Still loving it and would still recommend it highly.

I have put about 200-300 board feet through it. I work in mostly air dried Red Oak and it's handled that with no problems. Also some Cherry, Walnut and Maple.

Changing the blade is really rotating the 26 little square cutters 90 degrees to expose a fresh edge. This is a little tedious. I suppose they don't all need to be roated at the same time (if you nick one, for instance), but I am pretty diligent about varying how I feed the boards to balance out the wear. If you have large hands it's a bit tight. However, don't be tempted to loosen the screw just enough to rotate the blade and reseat it. A little of that superfine sawdust goes a long way to giving you an uneven cut if it slips in under the cutter. I now blow the machine out with the compressor before I change/rotate the cutters and pull them all the way out to be sure there is no dust trapped down there.

This is my first helical cutter head machine and it won't be my last. In fact, this probably saved me from replacing my Grizzly joiner since a replacement helical head is available for that. I have really spent far too long screwing with knives in that thing (which other than resetting the knives I do really like). So I will gladly spend a little extra time rotating cutters to have them perfectly indexed each time.

I will reiterate, the snipe lock isn't optional. With it off, it's going to snipe. With it on, it only snipes if the board isn't properly supported coming off the cutter (or yank it a bit, not that that ever happens…).


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## BobCysyk

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum look forward to learning from all of the seasoned woodworkers I see here. I am planning on replacing my Delta 121/2 inch planer and have been looking at the Steel City with Helical head that Wayne seems pleased with. Has anyone else had any experience with this planer yet?

-Bob-


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## Karson

I've got a helical head planer from Grizzly and they are great. I'm glad that they are making them in smaller models.


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## BobCysyk

Well I finally made the decison and ordered the Steel City Planer. It should be here in a few days. Can't wait to give it a try on a project my wife wants me to build.

Bob


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## happy_budah

great review ive heard a lot of great things with the helical head planers, ive been using the 13.5 dewalt planer and am loving it, i dont have the in/out feed tables and get some snipe occasionaly. looked in to getting a helical head replacement and decided to wait until the price was less than a new planer


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## DRJZ1974

Wayne,
I am about ready to place my order for this Steel City planer with the helical head. I have debated between this unit and the Dewalt DW735. Are you still happy with this planer and feel it is the superior machine? Thanks for any more info you can give. Still not many reviews out there on this unit, I don't know why.


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## BobCysyk

DRJZ1974 - Just thought that I would weigh in here. I have had my Steel City for some time now and love it. Last week I planed some very hard Jatoba and Sapelle. It hardly even bogged down. I am very pleased with this machine.

Bob


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## waynep

DRJZ1974 - Yes, I still love it. I think in the time I've had it, I choked it exactly once with a piece of rough saw red oak that was a might thicker at the back end then the front and stalled the machine before I could kill it. Honestly for 110v machine, it does an amazing job. You won't be sorry.


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## DRJZ1974

Thanks guys, that was what I was waiting to hear! Placing the order!


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## DRJZ1974

Got my tracking number, will be here next Wednesday!


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## BobCysyk

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

Bob


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## sh2005

Can the owners elaborate a little more on the noise level of this, compared to the straight blade ones? Is there any difference? Wayne mentioned it's quieter than the Delta he had, but is it because of the difference in the cutter or that the Delta's motor was just louder? I would like to buy a planer in the future and this is certainly in my list. Because of layout of my garage, noise is a factor I always have to consider.


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## DRJZ1974

I got mine last week and have gotten to do some planing. This is my first planer, so I can't compare noise level. I always wear hearing protection, but this planer is quieter than the shop vac I use for dust collection. I think it is pretty quiet and don't think twice about running it at night. I really like this planer!


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## TopamaxSurvivor

Thanks for the review


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