Jet has come out with a new 13″ helical-style benchtop planer (JWP-13BT), featuring 6 rows of individual cutters, 26 in total. Each quick-change knife insert can be rotated if damaged or worn, or replaced when needed.
Usually, helical-style and knife insert planer cutter heads provide a big advantage in that users don’t have to replace or sharpen entire knife blades if there’s a chip or other damage in just one spot. Helical-style planers are often quieter than machines with straight knife cutter heads.
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The Jet planer doesn’t look to have a true helical cutter head, but you should still see some advantages over straight knife blades. Jet’s cutter head has 6 rows of cutters that look to create two complete cutting passes. Instead of square inserts, Jet equips their cutter head with rectangular inserts, and each is fastened to the cutter head with two machine screws.
- 15A, 2 HP
- 10,000 RPM
- 18/26 feet per minute feed rate settings
- 4-post design
- Cast iron table bed and steel cover construction
- 1/8″ maximum depth of cut
- Maximum workpiece size of 13″ wide, 6″ tall
- Adjustable depth stop
- Adjustable and folding infeed and outfeed tables
- Built-in side handles
- Weighs 74 lbs
- 4″ dust port (400 CFM dust collector is recommended)
- On/off power switch with removable safety key
The knife inserts are made from high speed steel (HSS).
We asked Jet about the rectangular blade shape, and why two bolts are used to fasten each insert to the cutter head, and were told that the shape reduces the number of inserts that woodworkers need to work with during maintenance tasks, and two bolts are used to ensure maximum hold-down to the cutter head.
I would imagine that the shape and fastener configuration also ensure that the cutter inserts self-position themselves into perfect alignment.
Price: $800
Jet Intro Video
Discussion
There are other helical-style benchtop planers to consider:
Cutech 13″ Professional with carbide inserts
Cutech 13″ Deluxe Model Plus
Rikon 13″ with Helical Head
There are also of course many planers with traditional double-edge knife cutters.
So why buy this Jet?
Well, looking at say the Rikon planer, that model also has 26 cutter inserts in 6 rows. However, they use square inserts. From the looks of the Rikon’s cutter head, the cutter head makes one pass per rotation. With this Jet, and its rectangular inserts, it makes two cutting passes per rotation of the cutter head.
The other 13″ helical-style planers I’ve looked at also have 26 1/2″ inserts.
10,000 RPM seems to be a common cutter head speed. This Jet has two feed settings, which is a feature other models might not share.
In theory, cutting two passes instead of one could result in a finer finish. Also, being able to reduce the speed feed could potentially also result in a finer finish. Lower speeds can sometimes produce better results in certain types of wood.
Frankly, I can’t tell you definitively that THIS is the planer to buy if you’re looking for a), b), and c). But, it does bring some different features to the table.
I’d be a little concerned about the availability of replacement HSS inserts. There are plenty of sources of double-edged 1/2″ cutter inserts, in both HSS and carbide styles. You could always rotate inserts if worn or damaged, and can move inserts around if need-be. If I were buying this planer, I’d simply plan on buying a couple of spare inserts at the same time, for peace of mind.
The price is a little higher than I would have expected, but Jet’s semi-annual promos might help with that.
It’s good to see new competition in this space. A lot of 13″ planers are different in name only, which makes Jet’s distinctions (most notably the rectangular inserts and 2 speed settings) stand out even more.
Update
Jet emailed us emphasizing the importance of the cast iron table, which they say is not available on any other similar benchtop planer. Most other 13″ benchtop planers have cast aluminum or sheet metal tables. Jet says that their 4-post design and cast iron table makes their new planer extremely rigid, which reduces vibration and holds the precision of the cutterhead.
John
“Cast iron table bed” seems a bit misleading. Looks like stamped steel as every other bench top planer. Also this has zero helical geometry. It’s just an indexed cutter head. Using “helical-style” is a bogus term and means nothing here; just call it an indexed cutter head.
Sjl
If you turn the planer over the bed is cast iron. There are multiple milled circles to reduce the weight. Over the bed is a sheet steel cover, that you see when the planer is in normal position.
Adam
Quite frankly, I think this is just an overpriced attempt to cash in on the hype with little regard to the actual qualities that make a helical cutterhead useful.
This planer goes against two of the main benefits at the core of the insert-style cutterheads: you can’t just turn one or two cutters 90-degrees to get a fresh cutting edge (useful when you knick something), and the cutters aren’t carbide, meaning they won’t last any longer than regular HSS knives.
Personally, for that price, I would rather spend an additional $150 and combine a DW735X and a Byrd Shelix cutterhead.
David
I’m with Adam on this. I snagged a DW735X on sale for $350 new with the tables (thanks to a camelcamelcamel alert on Amazon sale prices) and bought the Shelix head with a coupon. All told, I’m in less than the cost of the Jet although I’ll have some time into the upgrade process. The 735X has a nicer design in many ways, and the quad post setup seems more accurate and stable.
Scott
The DW735x has never been that price according to camelcamelcamel.com. The lowest it has ever been is $469
Matt J
It was an amazon warehouse deal (assuming David got one same time I did…). Open box, 90 day warranty, but still worth it IMO. I’m more interested to know where he got the Shelix coupon and how it’s been vs the stock cutter head. I’ve been pretty happy with the stock head with Infinity carbide knives I’ve got on it now, but it does still have some tearout and I’d certainly love it to be less noisy.
Brandon
My thoughts, as well. Better planer and better cutter head for not much more. And if you can’t afford the Shelix right away, you have a little time to work through your first set of knives before you switch over.
Stuart
I picked up a Shelix head for my DW735 test sample, and plan to do some testing this summer.
One of the benefits over a machine like this vs. a machine upgraded with the Shelix head is that the motor is spec’ed for the load, and the depth control is accurate. With the DW735, there are two cutterhead options, but the smaller one is far easier to install. It does throw off the cutting depth gauge a bit. I don’t remember who it was, but I was told that the Shelix head can greatly accelerate wear of Dewalt’s motor. So, you have to be a little more conservative about how much material you remove with each pass.
If someone wants to buy a helical-style benchtop planer, this is one more option to consider, and it seems to have benefits over some competing options.
If I were shopping for a new benchtop planer, something like Cutech’s might be in my shortlist. While the cutter heads are far from being true helical, they do have some benefits over straight knife cutters.
Brandon
I *have* heard that the Shelix head can put more load on a motor. I think it was in a WoodTalk episode, someone wrote in saying they replaced a head in their Jet(?) planer and it definitely made a difference. It’s likely on a planer-by-planer basis, but I don’t think I’ve heard anyone report problems with the DW735 specifically. There is a bit of info on the Shelix site about this, maybe the size change is why it hasn’t been much of an issue:
“Byrd’s default SHELIX head is 1/8” smaller in diameter to enable you to install the SHELIX head without having to remove all 40 knives. The disadvantage is that this will reduce the cutting ability by 1/16”. As this machine [the DW735] by default can only remove 1/8” per pass, equipped with this SHELIX head, you will only be able to remove about 1/16” per pass. Due to the fact that spiral heads require more horse power, you cannot remove more than 1/16” anyways when cutting wider stock.”
https://shelixheads.com/SHELIX-heads_for_Planers/SHELIX_Heads_for_Planers_by_DEWALT/SHELIX_for_dewalt_13_inch_Planer_(DW-735)
Joe G
You should always, always, always be taking very light passes with a jointer or planer. Sure, it takes a little longer, but you’ll end up with less snipe, less tear out (on difficult wood), and better cutterhead and motor life.
Stuart
Agreed! Unfortunately, I know that a lot of tool users don’t always adhere to best-practices. There are times when I stray as well, although I try my best not to.
Dave
I’m seriously put off by brands that market their products as quality-“style”. Even the newer grizzly with more teeth and more spiral, which are carbide to boot (hss squares is just laughable, almost as laughable as hss, rectangles???) calls itself a spiral head because that’s what it is – no more, no less. It’s also significantly cheaper!
Mark VanDyke
Wow, he said what I have been think. I am looking for a new planer and have narrowed it down to the DeWalt 735x and the Jet 13″ HH JT. I was leaning towards the DeWalt and later down the line updating the cutter head. Adam makes a good point and nice to have a second opinion.
Adam
I understand the issue was that the Shelix head was slightly heavier than the original 3-knife head. Combined with the fact that it takes more power to spin a helical head of equal weight compared to a standard straight-knife head, and that meant the motor was under additional constant load.
The smaller, lighter head was supposed to compensate for that problem, but introduced two new problems of its own: the depth gauge offset and the tendency to chatter more with heavy cuts. While I never use the depth gauge on my planers as more than a “stop here, you’re too close to the table” indicator, being forced to take lighter passes could be a bit annoying if I was dimensioning a lot of lumber.
On the other hand, anyone running enough board footage through one of these lunckbox planers to actually wear them out (even prematurely) is running a _lot_ of wood through that opening. Somewhere down that line, it might be time to look at a larger machine that’s better suited to the amount of wood being processed.
Nathan
I can’t help but look at that picture and think the JET is a WEN – produced by WEN in new colors with a different cutter head. That uses proprietary blades that nobody else will replicate that I bet cost a small fortune too.
Jet tools just don’t impress me these days – I used to lust over their mitre saw and joiner. Not so much today. If this said it had a brushless motor and faster RPM speed lower power, I might could see the price point.
Also as someone else said those outfeed tables looked like stamped Stainless. Maybe it’s a cover over a cast iron base. which would make some sense.
Nathan
Sorry too quick on the button again.
I find the 2 passes thing dubious – OK so it’s resultant RPM is 20,000. Again I’ll be curious on the testing but I can’t see the dollars / performance being in line.
Dave
The dewalt is 20,000 rpm with three blades, does that make its “resultant” rpm 60,000?
Ryan
Looks like a Cutech.
Steve
Grizzly has a new bench top spiral head planer that has 36 four sided cutters. I’ve had one on order since February and unfortunately the ship date keeps getting pushed back and is now sitting in July. I’m hoping I made the right decision going with this. I was set on a Cutech.
https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-13-2-HP-Benchtop-Planer-with-Spiral-Cutterhead/G0889Z
Alex
Hi Steve! I ordered the Grizzly 13′ Bench top with the spiral cutter head in July. After a long delay it was finally shipped. After setting up the planer I ran 3 separate boards through. After the 9th pass the cutter head got stuck. I went to crank up the cutter head and a gear fell off into the machine. Needless to say, it was returned and I am again in the market for a reliable bench top planer. Unfortunately this cost me a ton of production time and a job that cost me as much as the planer did! I hope you had better luck with your purchase. After this experience I have shied away from Grizzly all together.
Steve
That’s crazy! I’ve only used it a few times with no issues so far, but the ridiculous wait time has soured me on them. Sorry you had such bad luck. I’ll keep my fingers crossed
Mike C Brewer
anyone here familiar with Cutech? Most large woodworking tool places have never heard of them
Stuart
Cutech Tool 6-Inch Spiral Cutter Benchtop Jointer (Have You Ever Heard of This Brand?)
Nathan
I believe they are a relatively new company and their focus at start has been helical cutter system based planners, joiners, and the like. Have started to branch out a bit but they have one of the most economical and widely regarded planer and joiner on the market.
I first saw them on here some years ago and I’d venture they aren’t much more than 10 years old but I could be wrong.
Drew M
$800? HAHAHAHAHAHA My Powermatic #100 cost me $1000 and it would eat this thing for lunch, “cast iron” table and all.
Brian M
Calling this “Helical” is a shady business practice IMO. I’m with the others that say DW735X with the Byrd Shelix…Use it as it ships until it’s time to replace the blade, then upgrade and it helps stomach the cost of that setup too(with the added bonus of seeing the difference it makes).
This Jet isn’t worth a consideration with that design and that kind of labeling.
Nathan
actually for that money I think it would be worth buying the CUTECH device. I fact that’s on my short list right now.
dave
The fold down tables, cut depth indicator, side carry handles, motor controls and dust chute hookups look pretty much like my 10 yr old Ridgid……not much new here for twice the price.
Frank D
I did not dare to say it earlier, but I had a similar thought, that it looks like a variation / sibling of my ryobi.
Sjl
I bought this planer and am very satisfied. I use it as a small parts finish planer. Because the infeed and out feed rollers are very close I can use it down to pieces that are about 7 inches long. I have almost no snipe, but I tend to angle a board when I feed it into the planer.
I have a larger jointer and planer both with straight knives. I am very impressed when milling figured wood with almost no tear out.