Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a fantastic planer for a DIY / semi-professional workshop. I could not justify speeding $4k+ for a hobbyist workshop, but in hindsight, I should not have waited as long as I did to buy the DeWalt. PROS: The dust collection exhaust is fantastic, especially if you have a dust collection system or dedicated shop vac to plug into. If this is your first planer, you simply won't expect the volume of shavings you will produce. The quality of finish is exceptional. With fresh blades there is no visible snipe at all. While under magnification you could likely see small blemishes, to the naked eye, the finish is perfect. This tool paid for itself within about 2 small projects from the time I purchased it. There is a local saw mill that sells #1 common and better quality hardwoods which ends up costing me about 25% - 35% what I was paying at a hardware store/lumber yard. I now build almost exclusively with ALL hardwood, since Oak from the mill is about the same price as pine from the lumber yard. I have put hundreds of feet of oak, hickory, walnut, and maple through. I find "rustic" hickory to be my favorite (great finish, and compliments many other woods well) to work with, which means lots of knots, and relatively hard (dense) wood. The planer handles this work load fine. CONS: There are only two complaints I have about the machine. First, it is the loudest planer I have ever used. I work it in my basement, so the whole house knows it when I am working. That said gun muffs are a must if you plan to work with the harder woods. The only other complaint I would have is the life of the blades. As stated above, I run my machine extremely hard. Many people won't even put a knotted board into a planer, it is rare that I feed a board that isn't. I know I am hard on my blades, so I accept that I need to replace them every 3-5 projects to keep a pristine finish. Even with dull blades, a very light sanding with remove the blemishes. I would say the worst I have seen is maybe a <1/64" blemish. Some 120+ grit sand paper will remove it in about 30 seconds. Overall, I would rate this a definite buy. As I said in the title, I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. The $550+ price tag hurts at first, but you will be thrilled with your savings in lumber, and just the far superior quality of your construction. The finished product is as close to perfect as I have ever worked with. Everything is perfectly square every time, and that is saying a lot with my construction skill set. 6/2012 - I just wanted to update with some savings generated by this machine. I know I was sceptical on the saving potential, for a hobbyist, when investing at first, so I thought others may be sceptical too. I just finished construction of a full size dresser, 5 drawers, solid hickory, with walnut accents. The dresser stands ~40 inches tall, 18 inches deep, and 36 inches wide. A hardwood dresser of this size and species can range anywhere from $750 to $2,000+ retail. When all was said and done I had about $300 in exhausted supplies, of which lumber was about $200. The planer can't take all the credit for the work, but there is no doubt it cut my lumber cost at least in half, and made it possible for me to create professional quality, one of a kind, work with number 1 common grade hardwoods. 1/2015 - Still going strong. Never a hiccup. I have been through probably 5-6 sets of blades at this point. I am seriously considering the HELIX cutter, but that is almost as much as the planer. Still smooth as butter with fresh blades. 12/2016 - Still going strong. I have since added the Helix cutter, which is an amazing upgrade if your budget can swing it. Amazing difference is cut quality, speed, and longevity of cutters.