GMC 180mm Power Planer

[Stuart]

http://blip.tv/file/get/Stusshed-Episode37GMC180mmPowerPlaner232.mp4.jpg (http://stusshed.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/episode-37-gmc-180mm-power-planer/)
(Click on the image for the video - it links through to the specific post on Stu's Shed from which you can watch the video. I couldn't work out how to embed it directly into this post. It is too long to put on YouTube (although there is a cut-down version on there))

The GMC Full Width Power Planer.
Retailing at $199, this tool is an impressive development by GMC, and would be a very useful (and cheap) alternative in a workshop that didn't have a jointer, or for someone who needed one to be portable.

Despite the extensive Magnesium casting, it is still a heavy tool, which is an asset in this case. It has a huge infeed and outfeed area, giving the tool superb stability, both before and during a cut.

It also includes a carbon fibre casing, said to be 100% stronger than the traditional plastic casing. And importantly, it doesn't include an unnecessary laser! :rolleyes: (http://blip.tv/file/1227133/?skin=popup&file_type=flv)

[Woodlee]

At 2hrs 23mins to download I don't think ill be watching your vid mate!
Impressive looking tool though .
Might check it out at the local Home hardware.

Kev.

[coffenup]

great video good reveiw next time check your vac line:D
thanks for the info I looked at them in the stores and thought would it do what I need I now know the answer
thanks again
regards michael

[Stuart]

At 2hrs 23mins to download I don't think ill be watching your vid mate!
Impressive looking tool though .
Might check it out at the local Home hardware.

Kev.
I tested it on my connection (which is a 512kbps broadband, so isn't a fast broadband), and it took 42 minutes. There's going to be a much shorter version used by GMC on their YouTube channel, but that's really not the point of this review section.

[bpj1968]

Review was good. Downloaded it in the background so not sure how it took.

Looks impressive. I have even thought that MAYBE it could be mounted upside down as a jointer. Making a steel frame and using the 4 threaded holes for the fence as the mount. Rig up a fence and a blade guard. Extend the outfeed and an adjustable infeed table. Not too dissimilar to how Triton tables started. Only an idea as i have not seen one in real life

[damian]

I was thinking the same thing. Cut a hol in a table, mount some angle on the underside, screw some flat plate to the fence mounts and some horizontal bolts between the angle and plate.

The coda is funny :) love the fast forward and rattling the vacuum hose :)

Very good Stuart.

[chocwheaton]

Looks like a good tool for what it's designed to do for a decent price. I'm struggling to find one in Brisbane to look at. No stores here seem to have them or even know about it.

FYI...this tool isn't unique as such. There's a serious industrial makita that planes 170mm with about the same sole length, but costs about $1000 :o
http://www.justtools.com.au/prod4271.htm.

Hitachi also make a 92mm plane with a longish sole, not as long as the GMC or the big makita, but longer than standard power planes.
http://www.justtools.com.au/prod685.htm

I don't know why long sole power planes aren't more popular. I've just started looking for one to prep slab timber before finish planning. I think a big power planer with a long sole would do the trick nicely. Stuff removing 5-10mm of aussie hardwood tabletop by hand :no:


I was even considering replacing the standard soles of an 82mm makita plane with longer thick pieces of aluminium to get a proper joint set up going. Don't think there's any need now!!

[chocwheaton]

Ordered one...should be able to pick it up saturday. Will see how it goes for what I want to do with it.

Cheers

Greg

[chocwheaton]

I picked up mine yesterday and have given it a good test trying to flatten slab table tops. I was not intending to use it as a make-do jointer or a beam planer. I only wanted to flatten large timber slab surfaces that are a bit warped and often chainsaw rough.

I won't go over what Stu already said as the tool does initially look impressive for the money...but...there are a key issues with the tool I bought that render it unsuitable for what I want to use it for (and I'd say even dangerous!)

The in-feed sole
1. Flimsy
2. As flat as the palm of my hand

Flimsy
The front or in-feed sole plate looks rigid, until you apply some pressure to it. It is way too flexible. It flexes all over the place and there's no way that this tool could be accurate with a front sole plate made out of rubber painted to look like metal.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DRwV88P9LxsPU6hW1yuu6g
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/222IuH-A2_LmXiO7GrPXUQ

As flat as the palm of my hand
Crap. Really crap! Did I say really crap yet? Set one side of the front and rear soles level (at a 0.5mm cut depth with is another issue). So the reference side is all level...slide your flat edge to the other side and you can drive a truck through the gap. I'd say it's easily a little over 1mm off from one side to the other. That's bad...really bad. Oh...there's no way to adjust this!

Soles line up on right hand side...
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Osm9NLXxdNlk5XWbXiYI6g

Not at all on the left hand side!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NSAJwYfxqAV08R6cKK4Qzw

Durability
The tool looks durable, except for the soles. I reckon one drop with the tool falling on a corner of either sole and it'll break easily. That's just a guess though.

Dust/chip chute
Clogs very easily. Especially if planning across the grain which results in chunkier shavings. It seems that the plastic chip port has an internal lip with catches shavings and blocks it all up very quickly. The only solution is to go very, very slow. Much slower than the cutting action is capable of. I ended up taking it off and that solved the problem. No more blockages. But I shouldn't have to take it off. Simply a dodgy design.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BbaykIo2a_-TPrI_oytRug

Did try it hooked up to shop vac, but it made no difference. Clogged very regularly.

edit: this clogging happened on 1mm to 0.75mm cuts.

Blade locking mechanism
This part is scary. With the blades triple checked as being secured, after about 45 minuntes of use I noticed the planer seemed to me gouging more than usual on the left hand side (was gouging anyway caused by the sole issues). Inspect the blades and see that one of the blades has slipped out approximately 1mm. The securing bolt is still very tight, but the blade is coming out anyway. Not good. Not good at all. The whole way the blades are secured stuck me as poor from the beginning, and that's the way it turned out to be. Shameful design with potential to be dangerous.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aSJG2Xx4miN8KCwRvjBJ5w
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3CA59Li8pe595Cd4I2k58g

Motor vents
Seem to become clogged very quickly. May add to motor prematurely burning out? Or maybe it won't make a difference.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Dlod_jH6s9EdfaU_yv9uVg

Quality control
Initial blade set was hopelessly out of wack! I mean really out. No where near close to set properly. No instructions to adjusting it as the blade seat is supposed to be factory adjusted. Good in theory if the factory does it's job. Adjusting was pretty easy though if you've ever set blades on a jointer or thicknesser.

Add to that the poor infeed sole, and I'd say QA on this tool is poor. You might get lucky and buy a good one, or you might be unlucky and get a dud (like me)

Cutting performance
It cut really nice and smooth! Horribly inaccurate due to the sole issues, but quality of finish in each cut was good.

Stu's review
Stu...maybe your unit didn't have my issues? I can only judge the unit I received. I will be returning it to GMC for my money back. It's no where near not good enough and the blade starting to come loose has potential for serious danger. I'm very dissappointed as I had very high hopes for this tool.

[Stuart]

Sure sounds like your unit had a lot of issues, and none that I came across with my unit at all. So not sure what to put that down to - different batch? made on a different day? mine was an early production run? different unit (and therefore random QA)?

I'll certainly take another look at my unit when I have a chance, but as shown in the vid, it did what I was expecting of it without any particular problems (other than the dust clogging issue- perhaps I did remember to turn the vac on! - Irrespective, NOT turning it on guarantees a jamb!)

As put at the end of the comment, you can only judge the tool you receive. True for any end-user review obviously. You just hope that QA (or lack thereof) means that performance from unit to unit is consistent.

[bpj1968]

Sad to see a second differing view. QA is part of the problem GMC need to overcome. I have heaps of the blue gear and never had a problem with any of it, yet others have the same tools and nothing but trouble.

As far as I know GMC just buy their tools from any Chinese manufacturer don't actually make their own. They may even source the "same" tool from several different manufacturers

Have a look at
http://www.alibaba.com/catalogs/141709/Electric_Planers.html

On the first page there are 14 that look the same as my Ozito (Which has suprised me how well it has stood up to eth abuse I have given it.)

You may also recognise your thicknesser GMC, Hares and Forbes Carbatec, Ryobi.......

There are heaps of these manufacturer directories Madeinchina.com is another.

[vicc]

Gents, have any of you been able to source the 180mm replacement blades for the GMC Planer? I am very keen to locate a supplier. Thank you.

[chocwheaton]

Since I don't have mine any more I've never attempted to source replacement blades. Have you asked your local GMC retailer to order them? If they're not available that way it might get expensive. You might have to go to a specialised industrial cutter supplier.

Where are you located?

Cheers

Greg

[beeroll]

I asked the same question on Stu's Shed - he suggested Carbitool, who make a range of blades from 150mm upwards - there might well be something in their catalogue that fits. You'd need to measure the existing blade very carefully, of course.

CARB-I-TOOL (http://carbitool.com.au/)

Chocweaton, there are no local GMC retailers any more, since the tools are no longer distributed in Australia, and I don't think any company is formally handling spares and warranty claims.

[vicc]

Hi Greg and Beeroll,

Thank you both for your responses. I recently purchased the machine on-line for a specific timber recycling project and like it so much I would like to find replacement blades if possible. I am in Perth and have been looking around without luck.

Although GMC are selling gear in the US and UK, the 180mm Planer does not appear to be a current model. I will drop into a UK GMC retailer on my holiday later this year in case I get lucky and they have some old stuff out the back.

Cheers guys.

[damian]

dealsdirect (.com.au) had them for sale the other week. They might know where/how spares can be had.

[vicc]

I have just emailed them. Thanks Damian.

I will post if they are able to help. Cheers.

[Bushmiller]

I've been a fan of large hand planers for a while. When I saw the GMC planer come up on ebay in the last year at around $200 I was quite interested. I twigged that it has non-sharpenable tungsten blades so I contacted the ebay seller to find out availability of blades.

He was courteous, but explained they were only selling them for a supplier. He contacted the supplier and advised as a result that there were no blades available through that avenue.

As a result I did not go ahead and purchase as efforts through the net to locate a source failed.

I am still looking for some replacement parts for my ancient Ryobi L520, which I bought about 30years ago (it is 150mm wide) and I currently have a Makita monster, (170mm wide.)

As I said, I am a fan of large hand planers.:rolleyes:

Regards
Paul

[enak]

Paul,

How do you find your Makita 170mm planer, I have only a small workshop and need a means to flatten wide slabs efficiently. I have a job coming up that would require cleaning up 600mm wide slabs and this looks like a nice tool that would save me a bit of running around :)

Regards,
Kane

[Bushmiller]

Paul,

How do you find your Makita 170mm planer, I have only a small workshop and need a means to flatten wide slabs efficiently. I have a job coming up that would require cleaning up 600mm wide slabs and this looks like a nice tool that would save me a bit of running around :)

Regards,
Kane

Kane

I have not used this machine to flatten slabs only wide boards. I have no doubt that it will plough through whatever timber you have and cut a swarth 170mm wide. I was planing ironbark. It is quite heavy, but this works in it's favour as long as it is used in a horizontal position.

You must appreciate that it will leave some marks, which you will have to clean up either with hand planes or a belt sander before final finishing. If you wished you could probably carefully modify the blades for your job by easing the corners to avoid sharp lines

You would also need to keep the blades sharp possibly with spare sets handy.

It is a bit on the pricey side. RRP $1200+, but probably in reality <$1000. You will also have to hunt around for a stockist. very few stock them.

It is an awesome machine.

Also consider for your job setting up steel bed with rails and a cross carriage along which you can run a router . Use a large diameter straight cutter (>32mm) for the flattening process. I made up one for the bed of my sawmill, but have never actually got around the using it:(.

Regards
Paul

[enak]

Thanks Paul,

Easing the corners sounds easier than setting up the rails for a router i think. I'm tending towards the planer purely for the fact that I get a new piece of machinery! I have no problem cleaning power planer marks with a hand plane, also a router would also leave machined marks anyway.

Just did a search and Norwest Tools have it for $967, still a bit expensive but better than doing it all by hand I guess.

Regards,
Kane

[damian]

Is it going to be a lot quicker than the normal makita power planer ? The reason I ask is that apart from the much higher buying price the blades will be dearer.

The only makita tool I own is a planer and I bought a set of 10 blades on ebay for about $20 similar to:

Planer Blades Tungsten 10pk Universal BUY 2 GET 1 FREE! | eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Planer-Blades-Tungsten-10pk-Universal-BUY-2-GET-1-FREE-/320684996663?pt=AU_Tool_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aaa50b837)

I decked the timber section of my trailer floor and was able to rip it down very quickly before reducing the cut depth and finishing the work.

I just would have thought you'd need to do a lot of slabs to make the extra expense worthwhile ?

Just a thought.

[Bushmiller]

Is it going to be a lot quicker than the normal makita power planer ? The reason I ask is that apart from the much higher buying price the blades will be dearer.

The only makita tool I own is a planer and I bought a set of 10 blades on ebay for about $20 similar to:

(http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Planer-Blades-Tungsten-10pk-Universal-BUY-2-GET-1-FREE-/320684996663?pt=AU_Tool_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aaa50b837)


Damian and Kane

It is a point to consider. These days I have a sharpener (it will cope with a 600mm blade) and consequently is not an issue for me. In fact I only have one set of blades for the makita.

When I was using the Ryobi, before the darstardly dog ran off with the parts, I had two sets of blades and I used to resarpen them on a large diamond plate. This was satifactory as long as I did not let the blades go too dull before resharpening. I was planing 150mm and 200mm exposed, ironbark rafters when we built our house.

The point of the wide planer is to reduce the marks left by the machine. Like I said the planer is not cheap, but it does do it easily.

Regards
Paul

[itsposs]

I just brought a Maktec 82mm planer no Idea how to use it but what it leaves the sander gets

[Glen]

I copied this link from another thread http://torqueworkcentres.com/, looks like a fairly useful bit of kit, :D

[damian]

The torque is great and if I were starting from scratch again I might consider one, but:

They are not cheap.

Like most multi-purpose tools they do few jobs as well as the dedicated machine. It is a more versatile saw than a table saw, but it's not as good a table saw as a table saw if you see what I mean.

As always it depends on what your making, how much space you have and how you prefer to work. You could for example pick up a good second hand professional grade 3 phase combination machine and a generator (or inverter) to drive it for similar money to setting up a bigger torque. You'd get a 12" jointer, thicknesser, 10" saw and a shaper. Won't do everything the torque can do but it can do a lot well.

You could almost argue we have too many good options :D