JET JWP-13BT 13" Helical Style Benchtop Planer (722130)

4.0 out of 5 stars

By J. S. - Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2019

If you don't have a lot of space, check this out.

As per normal, I will give the short and sweet review and then I will expand a little more for those that may want more detail below... Short and sweet - If you don't have a ton of space and you want to get a good solid planer, this seems like it will be a good fit for you. I have been using mine for about two weeks and I have to say that I am very pleased overall. I am surprised by the amount of snipe that I am still getting on my boards, but I haven't done any adjustments yet. The overall quality of the finish out of this machine is extremely impressive... When I run wood through it, I barely need to sand the finished boards. More Detailed Version - I purchased this because my Dewalt was starting to have some issues and was actually catching/ejecting boards. I tried to fix it and was unsuccessful. After looking at options, I found this little planer out there and decided to give it a try since it is from Jet and came with helical head blades already installed out of the box. I had also heard that the maintenance should be pretty easy on this machine in comparison to some of the others (Dewalt). It was more that I wanted to spend, but I decided to pull the trigger and get this. So far, I am extremely pleased for the most part. 1) It tends to run quieter than the Dewalt did. Not quiet enough to run it without hearing protection, but definitely quieter. 2) The boards come through with a much nicer finish than my previous planer. In fact, there have been several occasions in which I have done nothing more than just a quick sanding before using the planed boards out of this. 3) I love the positive stop system that is employed here. It takes the guess work out of prepping boards. So, if you are working on a project, and you know that you want your boards to be 3/8" thick, you can easily set the positive stop for 3/8" and then work your boards down to that thickness. It's a feature that most nicer planers have, but is typically absent from cheaper planers. 4) The dust collection on this unit is pretty spectacular. I have mine hooked up to a 4" hose that pipes to my small wall mounted dust collection system and it runs perfectly. Hardly anything gets ejected out of the front or back at all. Very clean operation. 5) It's small. It's almost the exact same size as my previous Dewalt lunchbox planer. I have mine fixed to a mobile cart that I can easily put back under my mitre station when I am not using it. It folds up nicely and has been working perfectly. So, to summarize... If you have a ton of space and extra money to spend, you may be better off going with a bigger planer. Jet offers several larger options as does pretty much every other manufacturer. But, if you have a smaller shop and need things to be mobile, this is a good option. As I said before, I built a small mobile cart and attached this unit to that cart. It works perfectly in this capacity.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Amazon Customer - Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2019

Fantastic portable planer.

The Jet 13” Helical planer is the best I have used. I was able to start planing right out of the box. I have used it for about 2 months now and have planed over 40 boards of many lengths. The blades are still very sharp and the boards are so smooth I don’t have to sand much. Although it is heavy to move around, it is solid as a rock when planing. I enjoy using this super planer. I recommend without reservation.

3.0 out of 5 stars

By Bill Jackson - Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2020

Knives don’t last as long as I would have expected.

The Jet 13” planer works as expected. My dissatisfaction is with the quality or hardness of the knife blades. After milling boards of walnut and maple, the blades are dull and nicked up leaving marks in the boards. I would have expected many more hours of use before a blade change is required. Turning the blades to use a fresh edge was easily done in less than 30 minutes. Once the blades were turned, the machine performed very well again.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Rodger - Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2019

Very smooth cut on both hard and soft woods

Bought this to replace an old Delta bench-top planer. I think the spiral design with segmented cutters reduces tear-out and provides a smoother cut. It also creates much smaller chips, which should minimize clogging. I've been using it to plane 12' lengths of white oak and it has pulled the boards through with ease. There is some snipe at the beginning and end of the boards, but that is to be expected on pieces that long and heavy. The chip chute did a great job of directing the chips to the dust collector.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Kindle Customer - Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020

Great planer

As with all Jet products I own this is truly professional grade. I replaced a Dewalt DW735 with this and I am extremely pleased. when I set it up I didn't have to make any adjustments. it was spot on.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Yusuf - Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2020

Great planer that does the job easily and efficiently.

Just attached this planer to a mobile bench and ran my first red elm wood through. It did an excellent job. It’s important to run your wood through in the correct direction to avoid unsightly chipping. This is the same technique you’d use to plane a piece of wood with a conventional hand plane...one direction cuts roughly, the opposite direction cuts smoothly. I wanted a helical style planer vs. a two or three blade planer so any nicks in the blade can be easily dealt with by turning or replacing that individual cutting head instead of the entire blade assembly. There are two cutting edges in each cutter segment, so when they get dull or nicked, just flip them around and you’re in business. Then you can reorder another set of blades. I looked at so many planers before I decided on this one, and for the price, it’s a real bargain. Does a great job easily and efficiently.

4.0 out of 5 stars

By P. Charles - Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2020

Excellent planer

Very quiet (at least for a planer) and easily planes oak, maple and walnut. Only complaint is the height adjustment seems backwards to me. You have to crank counter clockwise to lower cutter head. I had a Dewalt for 20 years and the adjustment was the opposite. I just need to get used to this model i guess.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By m g chapman - Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2019

OH BOY WHAT JOY

What a planner. Fast and runs wood like a beaver