infinitely variable feed rate | Woodmaster Tools : Testimonials

Steve and Paula Elett built their beautiful kitchen with their Woodmaster Planer and Drum Sander

“My wife, Paula, and I are very serious hobbyists. In fact, our woodworking is a hobby that’s gotten out of control! We built a home with a 1,600 square foot work area and we spend our winters doing woodworking. We build all kinds of things. We’ve made a pool table, poker tables, all the cabinetry in our home, trim, furniture, wine cabinets, even 5 bunk beds for our 9 grandchildren at our family lake house.

Here’s Steve at work with a Woodmaster in the couple’s well-equipped workshop

Our first planer was an old Belsaw we resurrected out of the mud on a farm. We rebuilt it and used it for years. These days, we have top-rated tools like our Woodmaster Molder/Planer and Woodmaster Drum Sander.

Everything we make is for ourselves and gifts for family and friends. We don’t sell anything. We’re retired and we like it that way. We like to travel and spend time with the grandkids. We keep busy in retirement and we do woodworking for the love of doing it.

The Woodmaster Molder/Planer turns rough cut boards into finished lumber.

Nothing as frustrating as equipment that doesn’t work well

Nothing’s as frustrating as equipment that doesn’t work well. Lumber isn’t cheap and you don’t want to be making a cut wrong and doing it over three times. So we buy quality equipment.

Paula’s worked as a professional finisher. Now she uses her skills on all the projects she and Steve make

I looked at all kinds of planers including the cantilever kind where the head’s attached at only one side. I ended up getting a Woodmaster planer because it’s a no-frills, solid piece of equipment. I’ve pushed it, I guess, and punished it, and it comes back for more. It’s a good value for the money. I would love to get one of Woodmaster’s spiral cutterheads sometime.

Woodmaster’s spiral cutterhead has dozens of carbide-tipped cutters. Rotating in a spiral, they “shear” rather than “chop” the workpiece’s surface, resulting in an exceptionally smooth surface with low noise and no chatter.

Rough cut lumber’s very reasonably priced

I got the planer because I wanted to start projects using rough cut lumber. I can get rough cut boards at sawmills at a reasonable price rather than very expensive finished lumber at big box stores. There are lots of small sawmills around here in Indiana and I’ve even cut trees from our back property and had them sawn into boards, air dried them, and put them through our Woodmasters.

Handsome, handmade barrister’s bookcases, straight from the Elett’s shop

If you’re buying rough cut lumber, you must have a planer. The rough boards are usually about 1” thick. I run them through our Woodmaster Planer about 1/100^th of an inch oversize then sand them to the exact dimension with our Woodmaster Drum Sander.

I chose the mid-sized Woodmaster Planer because it was all I could afford at the time. I knew the 12” model was too small, and the 25” was more than I wanted to spend. This planer works for me – I rarely work with boards wider than 15” or 16.”

Infinitely variable feed rate is absolutely necessary

The advantage of this planer is its durability. And the variable speed is absolutely necessary. My old Belsaw planer had just 1 speed. With the Woodmaster, the feed rate is infinitely variable. I can run workpieces through fast, slow, or anywhere in between. And the precise height adjustment lets me achieve tolerances to 0.005. That’s 5 thousandths of an inch.

The Eletts built a pair of these freestanding 9′ tall closets for friends who live in an old home with no closets…and TALL ceilings!

My Woodmasters have never let me down and I don’t have any stones to throw. Every machine has its limits and I try to abide by them though, really, I do push it a little hard sometimes. I talk up Woodmaster every chance I get.”

— Steve and Paula Elett, Woodmaster Owners, Angola IN

SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Molder/Planers – sale prices, online specials

SAVE BIG NOW on Woodmaster Drum Sanders – sale prices, online specials

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

3 WAYS we can help you!

• Call us TOLL FREE 1-800-821-6651

• Email us info@woodmastertools.com

• Connect with us on Facebook

Ed Hess is a retired Shop teacher and an all-around can-do D-I-Y guy. He’s set up his work shop with two Woodmasters — molder/planer (left) and drum sander.

“I’ve owned a Woodmaster Molder/Planer for ten or fifteen years. I got interested in woodworking when I was younger and it got in my blood. I’m retired now but I can’t give up woodworking. I recently built myself a 30 x 46 shop. Half of it is set up for woodworking.

I have a Woodmaster Molder/Planer and a Woodmaster Drum Sander. I got the planer first. Recently, I added their drum sander because I liked the planer so much.

Ed’s son is working on a multimillion-dollar home project. Father and son worked together to run 12,000 feet of cherry through the Woodmaster. Outstanding!

Ed’s a D-I-Y guy

I’ve got a ‘can do’ attitude. Years ago, I built my own house. I didn’t hire anything done. I poured the concrete, did the framing, installed the trusses, wired it, plumbed it, and finished it. Now I’m working on remodeling our current home.

12,000 feet of cherry through my Woodmaster

My son is a cabinetmaker. Right now, he’s working on a multimillion-dollar home. I helped him with the trim work. We used the Woodmaster Molder/Planer to run 12,000 feet of cherry. We ripped all of it with the Woodmaster’s gang ripsaw feature. Then we bought all the molding knives we’d need – a whole box of cutters. We ran all the molding and used the sanding head. It took us all fall to run all the 6” base, crown molding, and more.

At the time I got the planer, I was looking for a dependable machine and Woodmaster got good reviews. I wanted something reliable. And I wanted it on wheels because I had a small shop at the time.

4 key woodworking machines in 9 square feet

I didn’t want separate machines taking up floor space. I liked that the Woodmaster can be set up four ways as needed: as a planer, molder, sander, and saw. It’s great that can do all 4 functions and changing over from one to another is no problem. I don’t think there are any other 4-in-1 machines out there. I’ve run it all these years and it still runs perfectly.

Infinitely variable feed rate — 0 to 16 feet per minute

I do like the infinitely variable feed rate. Both my Woodmaster machines have this feature. I can dial the feed rate anywhere from zero to 16 feet per minute. It’s great to have the option to choose your speed – sometimes very slow on hard or knotty woods and faster on soft woods. It works with an awesome DC motor so it’s trouble free. It’s DC drive with a direct current motor. I haven’t had one problem.

Main advantage

The advantage is I can dial down the feed rate on the go so it won’t chip out the wood. Knots is where it’s the variable feed rate is needed most. I can dial it down at any point then dial it back up again. This is one of Woodmaster’s main advantages.

Ed says his Woodmaster Planer is 10 or 15 years old and still runs perfectly.

I feel good about what I’ve done over the years

I was a Shop teacher in schools for 36 years. That’s where kids can learn to use their hands and their brains. I had a lot of students go into successful careers in building and construction. My son’s a cabinetmaker and these days I’m doing some woodworking with my grandson. I feel good about what I’ve done over the years!”