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For several years I thought Makita was just making high price junk but they definatly have once again are manufacturing quality equiptment. I haven't had to change blades yet so I'm not sure if it's as easy as they say. I recently purchaced the Makita 2012NB planer and found it to be more than I expected. It is fairly light and easy to move around and it's operation is easy and it does a remarkable job, little or no snipe and requires very little sanding.
To get at the drum, the side if the housing must be removed by undoing phillips screws and allen bolts. These, unhappily, seem to have been written by someone with no working knowledge of either thickness planers or the English tongue. But finally came the day when I knew I had to change bladse.Which was an adventure. Exact fit is achieved by a pair of cleverly designed magnets that align the edge of the blade and allow the blade/strip assembly to be placed on the drum while screws are replaced. Unlike some other customers, I found this product to be really good right out of the box, easy to operate, and, once the $20 deflector was attached, easy to clean up after.
Doubtful. Was poor assembly a virtue, showing how well the machine could do on only half of its complement of bladss. Little or no danger to fingers here, if handled according to instructions. So what did we learn. But fitting it back in there (if it ever fitted before and wasn't made for some completely different contraption, like a nuclear device or a toaster) is still beyond me. Quality control should assure that both blades extend beyond their housing far enough to be of some use. The role of the part wasn't hard to determine -- its size and shaps suggested it was a diagonal brace. The planer had been hobbling along on one foot, a single blade cutting nicely without help from the opposite side.Makita knows better.
It's given me many hours of excellent service. But the ordinary intuitive approach works pretty well here, and with little effort the whole system was restored.I write all of this because, when I disassembled the system for the first time, I discovered that one of the blades had been set back so far from the edge of the metallic strip that it was completely hidden, and so had never once touched wood in all those months of service. Poorly made or badly assembled machinery can teach us only to be more careful ourselves, perhaps by disassembling the easy to reassemble parts before using the machine, to mske sure they're where they need to be.Next time I do that, I may even discover where the diagonal brace goes. As I removed the last of these, a heretofore hidden part clanged to the bottom inside of the assembly. But I have it in a drawer, just in case.The blades themselves are held in place by the usual single metallic strip, fixed by six bolts (ratchet wrench this time) whose tightening pinches the blade against the drum.
So I had a little trouble with a very good end result. Then a second conversation with a much nicer, more knowledgable, rep gave me a 5% discount on my card that more than covered the part and shipping. the computer and had a handle on the way while we were still talking.
I have no reservations in recomending it to anyone, as with all my Makita tools. I had one aggravating conversation with customer service in that it was suggested I send the whole planer back instead of getting a replacement handle. The planer was all I hoped for, smooth and powerful.
As we were talking on the phone I went to'[.]. All I have ran through so far has been red oak.The planer is so simple to use and the wood will be glass-smooth when you are done, I love it, lets me step up my quality on projects a lot, money well-spent. The method of shipping was the only problem, though, as it was shipped in it's original box with no additional packing.
I think that would have been OK if the crank had been removed for shipping as it was broken.
It may be a little expensive but worth every penny. Recently I had an incident where the planer will not plane and the boards were getting stuck. Get this one and you will enjoy your woodworking a lot more. What turned out was that I did not attach a dust collector and the chips were coming in the way.
I have been using this on and off for a year. I have yet to change the blades. Most of the times the surfaces do not need to be sanded. I have planed Hard Maple, White Oak and also soft wood.
Once I cleansed the chips it worked like a champ with no problems whatsoever. I am hoping that it will be an easy task.Previously I had a Dewalt 733/34 and I did not like it.Tools that I used most:Makita Planer - 5 starFestool Domino - 5 starBosch Table Saw - 4 starFestool ATF 55 - 5 starBosch cordless drill/screw driver - 5 star It does a fantastic job. I though it was a dull knife.
As far as I am concerned, it paid for itself in the first trim out job. I am a contractor and was surprised to unpack, turn on, and watch it plane perfectly. I could not be happier with this tool.
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