Delta Model 22-590 13″ Portable Planer Review

Having the right tool for a job makes all the difference.  The right tool means saving time, saving money and producing quality work.  It also saves your sanity because there is nothing more frustrating than trying to get a job done with the wrong tool or a cheap tool.  That’s why we were excited about getting our hands on the Delta Planer model 22-590.  Delta has a long history of making planers and is known for quality, so lets see if the 22-590 matches Delta’s reputation.

As the title indicates, this is a portable planer while it does weigh 76 lbs.  the top and bottom handles make it easier to move around.   Delta also designed into the base of the planer four spots to bolt the planer in place.  When we ran the machine, we didn’t have it bolted down.  Weighing 76 lbs and the smooth operation kept the planer in place.

On each side of the machine there are tables, infeed and outfeed.  The tables are spring latched to keep them in place.   One thing we did notice when we lowered the tables was the quality.  They are not cheap.  Actually they are thick metal and very sturdy.  We didn’t need to, but if you need to adjust the tables, there are two support screws on each side to make minor height adjustments.  One thing to note is that everything on the planer is easy to access.  Changing the blades or attaching the dust port is a snap.  Delta includes a small magnetic tool, so it saves time having to rifle through your tool box to find a tool.

Another cool feature is the dust collection system.  Now we didn’t test the dust collection system, but it was very easy to set up.  Just remove four screws and attach the provided dust chute and you are set to go.  The outport is 4″ on the dust collection system.  When we ran wood through the machine without the attachment, the wood was deflected down, so you don’t have wood shooting in all directions.  Also there seems to be more than enough power pushing the wood out, so you won’t get any clogs if you use the dust collection attachment.

The meat and potatoes of the machine is the cutting head, well the motor too, but we will cover that in a bit.  The system has three knives which produce a cleaner cut.  The knives are not meant to be resharpened, but they are double sided.  So once one side gets dull, just flip the blades and you are off to the races.  New blades will run you about 50-60 dollars, so overall not too bad.  We didn’t test this claim, but we heard these blades will last longer than other manufacturers three blade systems due to the angle the blades contact the wood. 

Another great way to make your blades last is by alternating every cut.  So if you run wood through on the left side of the planer, the next time you make a pass, use the right side and so on.  Changing the blades takes about ten minutes.  The owners manual provides detailed instructions on how to flip and replace the blades.

Performance

As we noted this bad boy packs a powerful punch with a 15 amp motor.   With the three cutting blades it rips through just about anything and leaves a clean finish.  The three knife system provides about 50% more cuts per minute over a two head system, so we were happy Delta decided on the three blades.  We ran a bunch of wood through the machine, both hard and soft wood and each time we were impressed by the end results.  If you watch the video below you can see the planer in action, unfortunately the camera doesn’t do justice in showing the finished product.

The locking cutterhead lock works great by reducing snipes in your board.  Just remember if you are cutting a long piece of wood, make sure you have supports on the outfeed end to prevent any snipes.  With both tables open you get a total of 35″ of planning surface.

Conclusion

Overall this is an awesome planer and Delta matched their reputation by producing a quality planer.  Yes we know some of you might not like the manual cutterhead locking system, but everything else this planer has to offer we think outweighs the manual lock.  We were happy Delta decided to go with a three blade system to provide a better finished product.  While the material removal gauge is not new, we like how Delta incorporated a full length pressure bar, so the user can insert the wood anywhere to get a reading instead of the inverted pin system.  As you probably have noticed from reading the review we could go on and on about the pros to this machine, but we won’t recite everything again.  This is one bad *ss planer and this would be a planer any woodworker would be proud to show off in their workshop.

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