Thread: Recommendations for a new electric planer

Used the Makita N1900B a fair bit. Quite like it myself.

Seems to have enuf grunt for what I use it for. Most of the time that is planing entrance doors.

Have a GMC unit which works ok for a cheapie. Bit lacking in power tho for my liking. Best part about it is one can adjust which way the shavings exit the unit so arent hit with as many shavings.

Havent used the units u are asking about tho. If I was to buy another planer I would look seriously at one with a bag to catch the shavings. And of course one u can get replacement planer blades for easily. For the price it wasnt worth stuffing around trying to resharpen the blades when I killed the Makita ones on a nail.

Hi Bertor

Like Jatt, I also have a Makita 1900B and have generally been satisfied with it. Its still going strong after 10 years.

However, before Christmas I bought a cheapy planer/thicknesser - an Icon 12.5 inch - which only cost $109 from M10 - and I have not used the hand planer since.

There are plenty of planer/thicknessers around the $300 mark, and I think that is a much better deal than a hand planer in the low $200's.

Of course, it depends on what you want to use it for.

Cheers

Graeme

Dear Bertor,

If the following sounds like a Review, that's because I'm also intending to post it over in the "Reviews" sub-Forum in order to win some Lollies...

So anyhow, I have the AEG "PL 750" 750w 82mm Planer, and overall it's not a bad unit without being outright brilliant. I trust you realise that in spite of its belonging to a German brand, the unit is in fact made in China - regardless of the highish price tag (I paid $165 for mine on special at Glenfords…) that sits somewhere between traditional Made-In-China and Made-in-Germany prices. In fact, I strongly suspect that it is coming out of exactly the same Chinese factory as the latest generation of parent-company Ryobi’s Planers. If you’re near a library that carries Australian Wood Review magazine, Forumite "Dean" Bielanowski reviewed this particular AEG amongst a few other upper-spec Planers back in Issue 56.

At any rate, my unit is pictured in the first photo below. Whilst the machine is supplied with two sets of reversible "Slither" type blades, I bought it because it was the most affordable unit on the market that was setup to also take full-size resharpenable "Planer Knives", as well as having the ability to eject woodchips to either side. Planers that will take full-size Knives don’t exactly grow on trees nowadays; TradeTools sell a sort of house-branded clone of the Maktec clone of the Makita 1900/1902 for under $100 which takes proper Knives, but like the Makita original, it’s Chip Ejection is to one side only (which quickly becomes the wrong side if you’re right-handed and wanting to plane upside down!..) In addition, one would have to buy the original Makita "Chip-Chute Adaptor" (cost unknown…) in order to hook the TradeTools unit up to a ShopVac-type Extractor, so its cost advantage over the AEG would have decreased. Of further appeal to me was the AEG’s low weight of only 2.7kg (again important for overhead planing...), which made it one of only three name-brand Planers that boasted weights of less than 3kg, and its cord length of 4m was simply unrivalled. Throw in the fact that the AEG was presented in a good-quality Carry Case (with plenty of room for the cord, and with proper Hinges instead of just bending bits of plastic...), and came with a two-year warranty, and for me the price tag of $165 seemed quite reasonable, since it was also the lowest asking price for any name-brand Planer on the market.

Upon handling the unit for the first time, however, the first thing I noticed was that the Power Switch had a somewhat "spongey" feel to it. Since then, I've had a "feel" of a couple of other PL-750’s sitting on the shelf at two nearby BigB’s and they've both pretty much felt the same as mine. As things have turned out, this "sponginess" hasn't constituted a problem yet in use, but only time will tell in this regard because Power Switches can burn out on tools just as often as can the Windings on their Motors, so good quality is a prerequisite…

You might have also noticed that the unit employs a pressed-steel Baseplate instead of the more-typically-used cast-alloy type. Having had the machine apart, I can confirm that the Plate is of a sufficiently-chunky gauge – with a turned-up lip around the edge for stiffness to boot – as to ensure ongoing flatness in use. If you look closely at the second photo below, you might think that you can see "wear" marks on the Baseplate (especially along it’s rear, and bottom edges as you look at the photo), but in reality that's just the Plate’s original metallic silver paint coating that is wearing off. I have no doubt that the steel Baseplate will "wear" more slowly than the more-commonly-used cast-alloy Baseplates that are found on other Planers. And in case you’re thinking that "non-flatness" is the reason that the paint is wearing more quickly off the edges of my unit’s Baseplate, it isn’t. Rather, the rear paint-wear is prominent because I straighten a lot of warped timbers with the Planer, as well as mildly "contouring" a few for jambing against unstraight walls, and in doing so I end up having to lower the unit onto a lot of timber somewhere in from the timber's end quite regularly. In this situation, you have to drag the thing along the rear edge of its Baseplate just a little to begin with in order to disengage the small plastic drop-down "Blade Protector Stand" that recesses upwards into the back, which otherwise happens automatically if you are planing in the normal fashion wherein you start from the end of a timber stick. This dragging of the Baseplate’s rear edge to disengage the Blade Protector Stand is the cause of the rear-edge’s extra paint wear. As for the paint-wear on the side edge of the Baseplate, this is due to the fact that I attach the thing’s Fence to the opposite side every now and then in order to centre it on 70mm WIR Jambs, and then instinctively pull over towards – and in doing so lean more heavily on – the side of the Baseplate that is showing the paint-wear, in order to positively engage the Fence against the side of the timber stick in question.

As regards the issue of outright Baseplate "flatness", it's quite good actually. It only just misses perfect parallelity to the Blade Drum by the slightest of "poofteenths" on just one side along it's front edge (ie. just behind the Blade Drum on one side), but the rest of the Baseplate - even on that same side - becomes more or less perfectly flat from about an inch or so behind the Blade Drum backwards. You can sort of pick the small patch that I am referring to in the second photo by the giveaway sign of a thin coating of dust on top of the upper left Baseplate screw in the photo, while the other three are shiny and black. But since the Baseplate becomes more or less perfectly flat across it’s whole width from behind this patch backwards, it performs for all intents and purposes on timber as a perfectly flat surface should. In other words, flatness is fine...

Regarding the parallelity of the height-setting Shoe at the front with respect to the main rear Baseplate, it seems very good also. As you can see from the second photo, the Shoe has been made of cast-alloy in order to allow the machining of a "Chamfering-Groove" into it. There is no detectable wear evident across the Shoe yet, but then again I haven’t used the unit as heavily as it might sound from this review.
One particular gripe that I have with the Shoe is the fact that because I sometimes start planing from somewhere in from the end of a timber stick (rather than from the more typical starting point at the very end), a completely straight front-edge to the Shoe would be more preferable than the unit’s slightly curved front edge that you can see in the second photo. This is because when planing in this manner, one leans the unit forward so that it supported by the combination of the Baseplate’s front edge, and the Shoe’s front edge. A perfectly straight front edge on the Shoe would obviously allow better control of this "contouring" technique, without any prevailing tendency for the unit to roll over slightly to one side or the other.

A critical parameter for Planers, Shoe "Steadiness" – both front to rear, as well as side to side – seems very good without being perfect (and certainly much better than the older generation Ryobi that I previously used). I have certainly not yet detected any telltale signs of a shortcoming in this regard in any of the timber that I have so far planed with the AEG.

With respect to another critical parameter – the Cutting Alignment for an installed set of non-adjustable Slither Blades with the bottom of the Baseplate - my best estimate is that they project a cut of approximately 0.5mm below the bottom of the Baseplate. In practice, however, this slight projection below the Baseplate does not seem to constitute a problem, or warrant any technique other than that normally used with Planers, because I have always achieved good results regardless. Perhaps uncoincidentally though, I have also noticed that with the Blades rotated out of the way, the Shoe has to be wound "up" to it’s first non-zero cutting-depth setting of 0.4mm in order to become perfectly aligned with the Baseplate. You can gauge such alignment by sitting a Planer on top of a very flat surface like a 32mm Laminated Benchtop and then looking sideways at it for giveaway slivers of light shining through from underneath. It may well be that quite a few other models of Planers are setup with this slight Cutting Projection below the Baseplate.

In the course of having the unit apart, the quality of the construction has appeared quite good to my eye, with proper Ball-Bearings at each end of both the Blade Drum Spindle and the Motor Armature. The internal design is quite clever in so far as the Chip Ejection facility is of the "Powered" variety, being "fan-forced" (so to speak) by the Motor's Cooling Fan as a result of the Chip Chute being in-line and "upstream" of the escape route for the Motor’s exhaust air. As a result, when hooked up to a ShopVac type Extractor – and even when planing material as fine as white ceiling plaster (yes, I said ceiling plaster...) – I have found the Dust Collection to be virtually perfect. I believe that the latest generation of Planers from parent-company Ryobi utilise the same system. I haven’t yet bothered to test the Dust Collection using only the supplied Bag, but being "powered", I imagine it would still be very effective. Any weak link would undoubtedly boil down to the good old "Usual Suspect" – namely the cloth that the Bag is made of…

As regards the "finish" of timber that I have planed with the unit, it is simply excellent. The third photo below is of an unsanded piece of hardwood that was planed using the standard "Slithers", and illustrates the complete lack of any type of "scalloping" that might otherwise result from either an uneven Blade Clamping arrangement or an unbalanced Blade Drum. I have seen the unit produce a very-slight flakiness when planing against the grain of very-young lightweight softwoods, but since there has still been no scalloping present, I have deemed this flakiness to be both unavoidable, and easily removed with a light sanding. Furthermore, in the course of hitting some very tough old hardwood sticks up to 75mm wide with it, I’ve not yet been able to "Bog" the thing down, so the "grunt" factor can be considered as sufficient.

The Fence arrangement is very good, by normal Planer standards, but still too short in length (as are all Planer Fences…) to allow completely carefree Fence usage. When will Powertool Manufacturers realise that Planer Fences have to extend backwards significantly past the point where the user’s hand grips the tool, in order to prevent lateral "skewing" to a "foolproof" degree?... I note that parent-company Ryobi’s own latest-generation 750w model – the ERP7582K – comes with two fences; one for each side, for concurrent use. This is a very clever idea as two fences would keep the Planer on correct track along wide timbers without any effort whatsoever.

All in all, I’d have to say that I am quite happy with the PL 750, but by way of comparison I’ve only had significant hands-on experience with two other Planers: my brother’s legendary Makita 1900, and my own previous older-generation 650w Ryobi. To summarise, the main drawback that I have found with the AEG is the slightly-curved leading edge of it’s front Shoe, which hinders the unit’s ability to accurately "contour" (ie. to commence planing from somewhere along a piece of timber, rather than from its end). I note that proper Made-in-Germany AEG Planers (which are almost impossible to buy over here) have straight leading edges on their front Shoes, as do all Bosch, DeWalt, Hitachi, Makita, Metabo, and Milwaukee Planers. That surely must be saying something about the issue. The "spongey" Power Switch is also a drawback, but of a so-far secondary nature.

Given that the latest 750w Ryobi Planer is of a remarkably similar specification – a 750w Motor, powered Chip-Ejection with switchable Exhaust-Direction, pressed-steel Baseplate, Made-in-China, Heck - it even almost looks the same as the AEG, and it also comes in a Carry Case, but has two Fences instead of just one (and I can tell you, that second Fence would make planing much easier on wider timbers) – you’d have to ask yourself whether it was worth the extra money to step sideways into the AEG, and also whether the AEG wasn't in fact just coming out of the same factory as the Ryobi anyway. But bear in mind whether you might be wanting to "contour" or straighten some timber at any stage down the track, and therefore whether a curved front-edge to the Planer's "Shoe" will end up being a drawback, because like the AEG the Ryobi has this curved front-edge also...

I hope this addresses any queries you might have had with the machine. Please post any more that I might be able to help you with…

Best Wishes,
Batpig.

Very useful, Batpig!

Hi Bertor,

I've got a Dewalt DW677. It was about $230 a few years ago. I'm pretty happy with it - have planed lots of Australian hardwoods as has not missed a beat. I picked it up from Bunnings. It appears to be of more solid construction than the Bosch green series, but is also more expensive.

Cheers,

Tom

makita.

i have the makita 82mm planner and it hasent missed a beat and its getting pretty old now.

never missed a beat and its had a beating.

Hi all - just my two cents worth. I'm a new member but an experienced planer and I've experienced the AEG as well as many other planers and here's what I think.
I don't think you'll start too many fights here by suggesting that the best all round planer in the known universe is the B model makita... it just has the right stuff and it goes on and on just like the energiser bunny.

At the risk of sounding like I'm disagreeing with Batpig, I'd have the say that I thought that the AEG is crap... at least as an all round machine anyway. In it's favour, the AEG was light, and it wasn't very heavy, and also it didn't weigh very much. just my attempt at humor. Really though, it was nice and light, and it came with a nice big fence and a dust bag and it had left/right dust ports but I found it lacking in every other aspect.

The biggest issue I had with it was the debth adjustment on the front shoe. At first instance it looked great and easy and all other good words but I soon found that the design was such that the foot could adjust it's own debth (especially in the rough stuff)... and we all love a plane that can do that.

That was it for me... back to the shop it went with a big "you can jamb this planer up you". On returning it to Glenfords they told me something like "well it's not meant to be a trade use thing or anything like that". As far as I'm concerned though, if it can't plane a couple of mills off a bit of 35mm pine then it can't call itself a planer.

All in all thogh I guess it is an OK thing for light use. After all it was really cheap compared with the makita.

Thanks for the advice from all replies.

Batpig, I really appreciate your in-depth analysis and the parameters you have used to assess the suitability of the planer. They are extremely useful. The information about the curved front plate is certainly a valid point.

Considering all the feedback I have decided to consider a Makita planer.

Thanks again for all you commenrts.

Cheers

bertor

I didn't want to comment on any particular planer because the Blue Bosch is the only one I've used that is still made. (I've used my mated Elu, which is good but heavy). People have said good things about the blue Bosch, but my experience is different. Whatever plane you get, make sure the front sole doesn't move once adjusted and that both soles are parallel to the cutters and to each other, at all depths of cut (the problem with mine).

Cheers
Michael

Dear Belk,

Originally Posted by belk

The biggest issue I had with it was the debth adjustment on the front shoe. At first instance it looked great and easy and all other good words but I soon found that the design was such that the foot could adjust it's own debth (especially in the rough stuff)... and we all love a plane that can do that.

I found the Cutting-Depth Adjustment in particular to be something on the AEG that you could safely bet the Bank on. On the occasions where it has mattered enough over the months, I’ve kept an eye on how much material is being removed relative to scribed target lines on the side of my sticks, and I’ve found the results with the AEG to be both consistent and accurate according to the dial. The reason for this consistency is that the Shoe itself is held captive in an interference-style fit within a pair of shallow-angled wedges in the Planer’s chassis, and its adjustment is effected by an Eccentric that turns around on the end of the Depth-Set Knob that is locked in detents by a pair of spring-loaded Ratchet-Balls. In being turned by the Depth-Setting Dial, the Eccentric in turn drives the Shoe back and forth – and thus up and down – on the said chassis wedges. It is a superior arrangement to the Makita 1900/1902’s, because the wedges assure both lateral and fore-aft stability in addition to the primary function of depth-setting, because the Shoe is always bearing on the Wedges on both sides along its whole length. In comparison, the Makita’s single central vertical depth screw offers good theoretical depth-setting, but little in the way of lateral and fore-aft Stability – the lack of which can very easily affect the depth that ends up being planed off anyway. Only something like compressive destruction of the AEG's front end in a Vice would generate enough vertical force to actually defeat the "lock-in" caused by the wedges and ratchet-balls of its Depth-Setting arrangement...

But you don't have to take my word for it. In their latest generation Planer - the KP0810 - Makita have swung away from the 1900/1902’s obsolete Depth-Setting arrangement, and over to a system that is identical in concept to the AEG's...

Originally Posted by belk

That was it for me... back to the shop it went with a big "you can jamb this planer up you". On returning it to Glenfords they told me something like "well it's not meant to be a trade use thing or anything like that".

That is strange, because the thing carries a full 2-year Trade Warranty, and I would have thought that everyone at Glenfords would know this full well. Also, because the AEG Warranty involves "Repair" of their tools, rather than "Replacement", you simply just can't take a broken unit back to the dealer for a refund if it's in any sort of "used" condition. Rather, you are instead directed to deliver the tool for repairs to be effected at the closest nominated AEG Service Centre, which in Brisbane is over at Camp Hill. You just can't take an AEG back to the dealer (even if it is Bunnings...) for a refund if you have used it in any way, Period. AEG is very, very strict about this, and not even the BigB will take them on regarding the issue.

Originally Posted by belk

As far as I'm concerned though, if it can't plane a couple of mills off a bit of 35mm pine then it can't call itself a planer.

Heck, someone mustn't have told my unit that it was supposed to be hopeless, because I've hit several pieces of 45yo, 75mm Hardwood with the thing in full 2.5mm deep passes in the past, and it hasn't even sounded like missing a beat. And just in case Pine has become a little bit harder than old Hardwood these days, I was hitting 70mm Pine with it for 2 days of last week, and again not a beat was missed...

I still think it is most probably just a trumped-up Ryobi though, but there's not necessarily anything wrong with that. Some of their tools are very good by all accounts. If I was looking again, however, the curved front-edge of the Shoe would probably put me off.

Best Wishes,
Batpig.

P.S. Dear Mick D... What are you doing with a photo of my Brother's Cat in your Avatar? [Does he follow you around a bit like a Dog, by any chance?...]

Hi Batpig
Perhaps I was unlucky with my AEG and I do want to stress that it was in the rough and tough of trade use that the unit was useless - and mostly due to shoe self adjustment (not a measure of power). The AEG was physically capable of planing pine, though not with any consistancy. I am however quite surprised that yours still works after planing 70 for two days - it's a big ask for any finish planer - even a Makita
I think it would serve a cabinet maker or similar tradie well where all timber is neat and refined. As for the Makita turning to the same system I can't comment. I haven't seen anything like this on the scene so far.
I'm aware that AEG have a repair policy, however in this instance there was nothing broken to repair, just a bad design that Glenfords agreed was not fit for (my particular) trade use, hence the refund. The refund was given after discussion with an AEG rep. And while we're on topic the repair policy is useless too. Do they think that people buy a new planer because they have a spare one to use while their new AEG is getting repaired for a month? No - you buy a new planer when you're old one is broken, so you end up buying a second planer to do you over the repair period. If a product has a 2 year trade warranty don't you think that they should assume the fist month or two to be a replacement period?