Thread: Hand held electric planer?

Bob,

I reckon it depends entirely on what you do. I have one, use it rarely. So rarely that when the "good" one was stolen I replaced it with a Ryobi!

It's great for knocking off big lumps quickly, when-eight siding a timber mast or spar for instance, or if you have a whole heap of timber deck framing to arris. Last job for me was taking a 25mm chamfer off half a dozen hardwood sleepers.

For me, it is a carpentry tool rather than a joinery one. If you are making small pieces only, don't bother, but if you are playing with big lumps and want to remove timber quickly, go for it.

I find a small belt sander to be a more flexible machine (different job though).

Now I'm looking forward to the views of others!

Cheers,

P

Bob,

Unlike bitingmidge I'm going to make an assumption that you are a weekend woodworking warrior like myself. In which case I would give you the following advice.

The plane is a usefull tool, it can remove large quantities of material very quickly. I have had one for many years and have found it invaluable, until recently when I went out and baught a Ryobi thicknesser. The plane has sat on the shelf since that day. It still gets the occasional bit of work where I have an odd shaped piece that can't go through the thicknesser but generally it just sits there.

If you have a thicknesser then you will find that you will not use a power hand plane as much as you may think. I would spend the money on a good small belt sander.
As bitingmidge has suggested it is far more versatile machine.

If you have already made up your mind to buy the plane then do as bitingmidge did and don't get an expencive one.

regards,
H.

Thanks for the advices. I'll hang on to my funds for now.

Bob H.

I agree with Bitingmidge's description of a power plane being more of a carpenter's tool than one for fine woodworking. Frankly, I think that they are nasty, noisy, and potentially very dangerous unless you are very skilled. They excell at smoothing rough timber, but I would not let them come nearer than a mile to my furniture projects.

I had a top-of-the-line Makita, originally purchased when I was restoring a house, and sold it on this Forum in near-new condition for a song. I don't regret this for one moment since my hand planes do it all, and better.

Regards from Perth

Derek

One use that everyone seems to have overlooked is in dressing up 2ndhand timber for recycling. A lot of people on this forum use recycled timber and it's preferable to find a nail with a replaceable 80mm wide tungsten blade than with a 300mm wide HSS one. I use one often for hanging doors but not for much else.

Mick

Mick

I still prefer to dress recycled timber with my tablesaw (having carefully checked for nails), followed by handsaws, not by a screaming banshee. I don't think that I really ever mastered the depth of cut on my Makita. That thing scared the bejesus out of me!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek,
I find that suprising as it's relatively difficult to hurt yourself with one. If you hold a power tool with both hands it's nigh impossible to lose a finger, but it's easy enough on a table saw. However I know that plenty of people are uncomfortable using hand held power tools. I know when I started out I was uncomfortable using a power saw, but I was crouching on top of wall plates trimming rafter tails.

Mick

I reckon an electric hand plane is a piece of cake to hold. A 9inch angle grinder is a bit of a beast to hold.

Mick and Bazza

Now I find a 9" angle grinder less threatening than a power planer, and a 4" angle grinder is a walk in the park. Hmm. ?????

Derek

I have always thought of a power planer as a sort of electric adze. Sort of chops out chunks of timber, but not with any great degree of control and even less finesse