# HF Bauer 12 1/2 Inch 15 amp Planer - thoughts?



## new2woodwrk

HF has this Bauer Planer on sale this month.

Anyone have any experience with it?

I've not bought a Bauer product before and have bought HF tools which as we all know are a roll of the dice.

At this price, I could probably get this one this month with my 20% discount brings it to about $230.

Thoughts?

Thanks as always in advance


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## Ron_J

I looked at this when I was in the market for a planer. Might want to read the fine print on your coupon...all the ones I had or could find excluded the Bauer stuff.

As for the planer, Home Depot had the Dewalt 734 one sale for $375...Lowes price matched, plus accepted my discount for using my card. That coupled with a generous salesman, and I got it for $350. I am real happy with it to this point.


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## new2woodwrk

Ron_J said:


> I looked at this when I was in the market for a planer. Might want to read the fine print on your coupon...all the ones I had or could find excluded the Bauer stuff.
> 
> As for the planer, Home Depot had the Dewalt 734 one sale for $375...Lowes price matched, plus accepted my discount for using my card. That coupled with a generous salesman, and I got it for $350. I am real happy with it to this point.


Ah, poo yes thanks - just read the crappy fine print LOL

Well it's still on sale this month for $250 without the coupon.

I don't have another $175 for a dewalt though


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## Jim Frye

How is the knife changing/setting done? How is dust/chip collection handled?


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## Ron_J

While you are looking...check out the Wen planer. It gets great reviews and is considered to be the best bang for the buck. I have no first hand experience with it though.


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## GuitarPhotographer

Check availability of replacement blades for that HF planer. My experience is that there are NO spare/replacement parts available for most HF tools.


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## new2woodwrk

Ron_J said:


> While you are looking...check out the Wen planer. It gets great reviews and is considered to be the best bang for the buck. I have no first hand experience with it though.


Thanks @Ron_J,

Yea, looks like an ok unit for the price - a few dollars higher, but doable soon!


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## woodnthings

*Lots to read here ...*



Ron_J said:


> While you are looking...check out the Wen planer. It gets great reviews and is considered to be the best bang for the buck. I have no first hand experience with it though.


There are lots of comments on Wen tools on this site.
http://toolguyd.com/wen-tools/


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## Ron_J

Looks like most of the negative reviews are from people who have never owners one. Kind of typical when it come to something that is thought "too good to be true".


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## Tool Agnostic

I would pass on this one and save your money a while longer. I do not have experience with that specific planer, but plenty of experience with other Harbor Freight power tools.

In case it matters, I recently bought a lightly used DeWalt DW735 for $350. It was in ready-to-run condition. It was mounted on a large cabinet with castors, which the seller included. The DW734 and DW735 are very popular and have been around for many years, so parts and supplies are readily available. I have had my eyes on the DW735 for a long time, but expected to settle for a DW734.


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## jdukovac

I bought one, and finally have had the chance to use it. It worked like a charm. My boards are flat and level, and have no issues with it at all. Overall I am very pleased with this planer. There are replacement blades available at Harbor Freight for $25.00. 

The SOB is heavy, that's for sure. The dust collection seems to work fine. I've attached my small shop vac to it, but will need to figure out a coupler of sorts to go to the larger opening of the dust collector, OR, I'll just need to get a bigger shop vac (which my wife will "LOVE"). 

I don't think you can go wrong with this planer. I've looked at more expensive models, but for the price I'm really happy. But, like all planers, don't try and take too much off at once, go nice and easy and you'll have no problems.


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## Calebbodaniel

*Bauer planer information*

I know this thread is about a year old, but thought I'd jump in with some info. I'm looking for a budget planer at the moment and there is a coupon on the Bauer for $249. I decided to compare it to the Performax planer at my local Menards. I can get it for about the same price. Well, looks like they are the exact same planer. I looked at the manual for both and the exploded drawings in the manual are identical copies along with them looking the same physically besides color. Just some FYI.


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## woodnthings

*The same goes for the OSS ...*

I bought an oscillating splindle sander at Menards as a spur of the moment purchase because it was on sale at the time for under $100.00:
https://www.menards.com/main/tools-...g-spindle-sander/os1400pf/p-1489990855712.htm


The identical sander at Harbor Freight:
https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-oscillating-spindle-sander-69257.html


Another version by Wen:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-3-5-Amp-1-2-HP-Oscillating-Spindle-Sander-6510T/307868273


By Grizzly:
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-Benchtop-1-2-HP-Oscillating-Spindle-Sander/G0739


Don't buy this one:
https://shop.opticsplanet.com/grizz...2UgWQ9J7AerE2R_PeMOdiVhPtg4uukqxoCwTYQAvD_BwE



They all appear to be identical, just have different brand names and different prices. :surprise2:


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## Mycrossover

Ron_J said:


> I looked at this when I was in the market for a planer. Might want to read the fine print on your coupon...all the ones I had or could find excluded the Bauer stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> As for the planer, Home Depot had the Dewalt 734 one sale for $375...Lowes price matched, plus accepted my discount for using my card. That coupled with a generous salesman, and I got it for $350. I am real happy with it to this point.


And you can actually get parts for it, unlike anything from HF.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## Pineknot_86

Check on the warranty. If I recall, HF is only 90 days; may have to buy an extended warranty.


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## Tony B

Don't let 'exactly alike' fool you.

Just because they look alike and come from the same factory dont mean squat!

Each 'manufacturer' has different specs.

Sheet metal housings may be 22 ga for one 'manufacturer' and 20 ga. for another coming out from same real manufacturer using the same molds.

Some use nylon parts, some use plastic and others may use metal, all coming from the same factory. 

Qaality Control and inspection is another issue with many Chinese manufacturing plants. 

Anyway, you get the idea.


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