Carbide indexed cutterheads continue to gain popularity in the portable planer market, which makes General International’s new 30-060HC M1 Planer that much more appealing. Its helical cutterhead features 26 carbide inserts with two sharpened edges each. They can be reversed quickly and easily when they dull or get nicked, and they’re indexed for correct height adjustment automatically.
General outfits this machine with a 15-amp universal motor (wired for 120-volts) that spins the cutterhead at 9,700 rpm. Feed rollers draw stock through the machine at a rate of 26 feet per minute. Workpieces are supported by two steel outfeed tables in front and back that fold up for storage. When folded down for use, they combine with the planer’s middle middle bed to create 33-3/4-in. of stock support through the machine.
The planer will accept stock up to 13-in. wide and 6-in. thick, and it can remove up to 1/16-in. of material thickness with each pass. Each turn of the machine’s large height adjustment wheel raises or lowers the cutterhead by 1/16-in. To make initial depth-of-cut assessments, General provides an easy-to-read thickness indicator with graduated scales in both metric and inches. The 30-060HC M1 also has eight preset depth stops at 1/8-, 1/4-, 1/2-, 3/4-, 1-, 1-1/4-, 1-1/2- and 1-3/4-in.
Snipe is a common problem with portable planers, but this machine has two safeguards against it: the planer’s motor rides on four posts that ensure parallelism and head stability during aggressive cuts, and a snipe lock bar can be engaged to park the cutterhead securely at any height setting.
An included dust hood connects to either a 2-1/2-in. shop vacuum nozzle or a 4-in. dust collector hose. Inset lifting handles and onboard tool storage are also provided here. A lockout key on the machine’s paddle-type On/Off switch prevents unauthorized use.
The General International 30-060HC M1 Heavy-Duty Benchtop Planer weighs 91 lbs. It’s available through distributors now and sells for $699.99.
