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I am a hobbiest with a Foley-Belsaw (or maybe Foley Belsaw) 710/712 planer (Sears Badge) with Leeson 5hp 240v motor. Bought used, but believed to be fairly low mileage. I am spending too much time sharpening knives.
A Shelix head is ~$1300. New feed roller ~$60. Maybe bearings guess ~$150. Total ~$1500.
If this planer worth the investment? Or, sell it and by ?????
Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
tom
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03-30-2022, 07:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-30-2022, 07:26 PM by EdL.)
Had the same planer for a number of years, very good machine. It wasn't mine so it went to the owners son when l bought a like new used pm15hh.
It would be worth it to upgrade at todays new prices.
Ed
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Perhaps you just need better quality knives. (Or get faster sharpening and setting them)
Sign at N.E. Vocational School Cabinetmaking Shop 1976, "Free knowledge given daily... Bring your own container"
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I have 2 of those minus the sears name badge.
I have also considered an insert type head for them, but can’t bring myself to do it for a few reasons.
First of course is cost,
Second the ability to use it for molding is nice to have although rarely used.
Third related to the second, it is my understanding that these have the infeed and out feed rollers further away from cutter head to allow for molding knives making them something of a compromise, and perhaps not the best candidate for making a dedicated planer.
Considering the age of the rest of the machine, rather than take the risk of breaking something that’s not available as a part anymore, I would look more at a newer machine that was designed with an insert cutter head from the ground up.
That’s just my 2 cents worth and it’s worth what you paid for it.
Good luck, and if you do it let us know how it goes
Duke
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If I weren't planning on moving on to a different planer any time soon (ten years or more), I would do it.
The chances of you making back anywhere near that price if you sell it are almost nil, which is why I added the ten year caveat.
It's a great planer and will run just about forever. But it's loud and setting blades are a pain. That's why I went with a Byrd for my Powermatic 100.
Is this a hobby? Is it a business? Will the money hurt when it's gone?
Semper fi,
Brad
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(03-30-2022, 07:19 PM)anwalt2 Wrote: I am a hobbiest with a Foley-Belsaw (or maybe Foley Belsaw) 710/712 planer (Sears Badge) with Leeson 5hp 240v motor. Bought used, but believed to be fairly low mileage. I am spending too much time sharpening knives.
A Shelix head is ~$1300. New feed roller ~$60. Maybe bearings guess ~$150. Total ~$1500.
If this planer worth the investment? Or, sell it and by ?????
Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
tom
As a hobbiest, no, makes no sense to me, but I'm cheap. Spending $1500 on a machine that can often be bought for $500 makes no sense to me. No one is going to pay you $2000 for it after the upgrade; you'd be fortunate to get $1000. The molding function would be gone, too, one reason many folks buy a FB in the first place.
I don't like spending a lot of time on maintenance either, but I never found changing the knives on the FB planer I had for about 5 years to be a big deal. I got a set of planer pal type setting aids and that made setting the knives a simple task. 30 minutes tops to change them.
John
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That was the first planer I owned. I never liked it because It never would stay sharp for long. My theory is the blades hit the lumber much faster than needed. It seemed to burn lumber quickly. I never had it for more than a year, Sold it and bought a 20" grizzly for a couple hundred more. never looked back. it never ever would burn lumber no mater how dull the blades got. now it has the spiral index head on it. . still going since 1989. love it.
I would sell the Sears and move on
Life is what you make of it, change your thinking, change your life!
Don's woodshop
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(04-01-2022, 08:39 AM)Woodshop Wrote: That was the first planer I owned. I never liked it because It never would stay sharp for long. My theory is the blades hit the lumber much faster than needed. It seemed to burn lumber quickly. I never had it for more than a year, Sold it and bought a 20" grizzly for a couple hundred more. never looked back. it never ever would burn lumber no mater how dull the blades got. now it has the spiral index head on it. . still going since 1989. love it.
I would sell the Sears and move on
I never had that problem. The knives on a FB are sharpened at a different angle (42 deg IIRC) than most planer knives. That might have been the reason for the problems you had. The cuts/inch on the FB is consistent with other planers.
John
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(03-31-2022, 12:07 PM)jteneyck Wrote: As a hobbiest, no, makes no sense to me, but I'm cheap. Spending $1500 on a machine that can often be bought for $500 makes no sense to me. No one is going to pay you $2000 for it after the upgrade; you'd be fortunate to get $1000. The molding function would be gone, too, one reason many folks buy a FB in the first place.
I don't like spending a lot of time on maintenance either, but I never found changing the knives on the FB planer I had for about 5 years to be a big deal. I got a set of planer pal type setting aids and that made setting the knives a simple task. 30 minutes tops to change them.
John
John, your logic is good, but I already own the planer. From where I stand, can I get a 12in planer with a 5hp motor with a Shelix head for $1500?
tom