June 10, 201114 yr Any idea what the difference is in the Grizzly G0454 and the Grizzly G0453P I know one is the polar edition, but what is different about the polar edition? They are both 3hp/220 15" planers. I think I would like to try to move up to a 15" model and just wondering?
June 11, 201114 yr John,According the Grizzly's website, the only difference between the two is that the Polar Edition is white and it has a arm mounted on/off switch. The spec's are identical.
June 11, 201114 yr John, its been a long time since I owned my grizzly, but it worked fine for many years. One thing that has been the best investment for me was adding a byrd head to my big planer. It has been worth every penny. If you upgrade, it might be worth the investment. I know grizzly makes a head something like the byrd. Not sure what the difference in cost is. But if you do much planing at all, I would suggest it. Bob Kloeswww.bobkloes.com
June 11, 201114 yr Author Bob, I think the Byrd type head is an additional 500.00. The three knife unit is just under a 1000.00 and the the carbide head is 1495.00 plus shipping. I was debating that and was wondering if I would see a 500.00 better effort from the unit. You may have answered that question. I do a lot of planing, nearly all of the lumber I get is rough so everything has to be planed. Anything else out there in those price ranges you all would recommend. I am not just sold on the Grizzly but it looks like a good unit at a good price.  John MoodyJohn Moody Woodworks
June 11, 201114 yr john i have a 15 grizzly planer. the one i have has the motor under the stand instead of on top of the planer head. this is a better one for the ease of changing the knives. the normal knives work just fine on most woods. if you do a lot of planing on birdseye maple or maby currly maple or the such the byrd head or similar would have less tear out. in my experience with birdseye maple you can run mabe 9 board through with no problems but then mabe 3 would have tear out on the eyes. another way to work it is to use a planer and drum sander in tandem depending on the need. thats what i have found out thanks paul
June 11, 201114 yr Author Thanks Paul, that is a great suggestion. Which one has the motor under the stand? Model number?  John MoodyJohn Moody Woodworks
June 11, 201114 yr John, I have a 24" planer with the byrd head and a 8" jointer with one. My 12" jointer just has straight knives. I only use that for getting 1 face flat to start, so I don't care about tear out. The planer and small jointer are used every day. I have had them over 4 years and I am still on the first set of inserts. I plane a ton of figured wood. No tearout, no bad spots. I use my planer after glueups to run them through again and even out the edges.The knives are carbide, so dried glue does not dull them or chip them. I can plywood edges over the jointer. To me they were some of the best money on tools I have spent. Just knowing you can plane sideways if you want and no problems. The inserts on the byrd heads have 4 sides and they are also curved along the edge, so you planer leaves small marks that sand away with 100 grit paper. I know some people have said it leaves marks in the wood. I don't know of anyone who takes a board from the planer and puts finish on it.If they do, I would not want them to build anything for me.One thing I can say, if you have the money, get the biggest planer you can. I am up to a 24" and would love to have a 30 or 36" one. You will never regret having to big a planer.Bob Kloeswww.bobkloes.com
June 12, 201114 yr john the one i have is a go453 i think. bob is correct though about the byrd head, it is a better system than knives, i am leaning that way when the time comes i think i can get a head for my current planer. for the most part though i think that maybe 90 percent of normal planing can be done with standard knives. i have been playing around with the bevel on the knives when i get them sharpened to see what happens. i know another guy that works almost exclusivly with birdseye and he has a big planer with inserts but what he uses is a wide belt sander for most all thicknessing or surfacing.
June 12, 201114 yr Author So the G0453 and the G0453P would both have the motor under the unit if I am understanding you correctly. I think one of those may be the way I go, but I have just started gathering facts on this purchase and I am not in a hurry, well when a new tool is involved I am always in a hurry, but I want to know what is out there and the major difference, likes and dislikes before I drop this much on a tool. I probably will not replace it for some time to come. Right now I have not worked with any bird eye but I do have a future project that I want to use it on. Most of my work is with Maple, Cherry and Walnut an the maple being with soft or hard. Thanks for the ideas to think about though and if you think of anything else, please put it out hear as I am seriously looking.John MoodyJohn Moody Woodworks
June 12, 201114 yr John, I have run straight knives and dispos a blades before the byrd heads. If you do much hard maple or hickory or anything harder then oak, I lost the blade edges very fast. I bought good brand name blades, just don't hold up to hard material. The dis pos a blades were the cobalt ones. 130$ set and I would go through a set on a couple hundred feet of hard maple. Just my experience. Bob Kloeswww.bobkloes.com
June 13, 201114 yr Author Good information Bob and thanks. I will probably try to go the insert way. It is more money, but makes good sense. I'll just have to save a little longer. John MoodyJohn Moody Woodworks
June 13, 201114 yr I've had a Delta 15" for 10 years now, and recently changed to the bird head. The Delta has the motor on the top of the unit. That didn't seem to matter much when changing knives, the motor tilted out of the way. But the reason I bought that style was that the table stays fixed when adjusting the cutting depth...that seemed real important to me for using infeed/outfeed stands. Over the years I've used outfeed stands, maybe once/twice. So it hasn't turned out to be as big a deal as I thought it would. The bird head, on the other hand, has been a great addition....it's worth the extra cost just for the noise reduction. Prior to getting one, my planer was the only tool in the shop where I had to wear my shooting ear muffs. After the bird head, I just wear ear plugs like I do with everything else. No Ref
June 13, 201114 yr Author Wow, Fred that is interesting about the noise. I don't think I had heard or read that anywhere. I will for sure keep that in mind. John MoodyJohn Moody Woodworks
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