Tools...Tools...Tools

I tend to go through tools. I buy 'em, try 'em and if I don't like 'em, I get rid of 'em. Recently, I received a new planer. It is my 4th stand-alone planer. The first planer was a 12" Dewalt portable planer. It was VERY loud, kind of under-powered and would bog down from time to time. I sold it to a co-worker. Planer #2 - now that was a planer. A vintage (made before I was born), 1200 pound 16" Powermatic planer. The entire thing was cast iron. I think it was made sometime in the 1950's. That machine could plane anything and not break a sweat. I really liked that planer, but quite frankly, it was overkill for my little shop. I eventually sold it to a local lumber yard. Planer #3 was a Hitachi 12" Planer I bought from an estate sale. Very, very nice planer. I sold it on Ebay, to make room for Planer #4, another Powermatic planer with a Helical Cutting head. I think the helical cutting head is a concept long overdue in woodworking. Instead of separate elongated knives mounted on a cylindrical shaped head, the helical head has dozens of carbide tipped square shaped cutters arranged in a helical (or spiral) pattern around the cylindrical cutting head. The helical head cuts by shearing off pieces of wood at an angle, similar to the way a hand plane might shear wood off. The results are very pleasing. OK, the results are amazing. This planer looks like a keeper.