Thread: Electric Planer

This may sound barbaric to a Festool fan but for what you are about to do I would get a cheap $30 planer, do the job and if it gets chewed up by the nails in the wood it is no great loss. If it survives then keep it for the next dirty job you would not use a good tool on.
Regards
John

Thanks for your answer but for ethical reasons I don't like this idea of buying cheap staff to throw them away when it's dead and they finish in a landfill. That's also why I buy Festool usually as you can easily get it fixed if anything happens, they last forever, and they are not cheaply manufactured in a chinese factory by poorly paid workers.
I'm just wondering if it's worth paying an extra $200 to go on a festool instead of a Bosch or a Makita for example.
Also I saw the sole on the Festool is only 65mm instead of 85 for the others..

Originally Posted by lecozthomas

Hi,
I'm about to buy an electric planner but i can't decide if i should go for a festool or not (i already have almost all my power tools Festool). I know some of their tools are not worth buying compare with other brands. I saw the Bosch ones that seem good too....
I don't think i can connect the dust extractor festool on the bosch as it's probably not the same diameter.
I don't use that tool a lot(maybe cause i don't have one yet!) and it's first job will be planning an old hardwood wall frame in a house to make it straight before plastering.
If you have any advice/experience that would be great..
cheers

I understand your requirements, but still aren't really sure to which tool you're referring: the small one handed planer or the big 850.

There's a world of difference in the two. The smaller of the 2 is a delight to use. Small, light and easily handled. They're mostly used by kitchen installers and the like, for "second fix" work. It's not really a framing planer. The bigger planer is very, very big. I personally like it a lot, but wouldn't really like to be using it for extended periods overhead. It's a bit too big & dangerous for this. Boatbuilders absolutely love them. The "spiral" blades in both create a beautifully smooth even and chatter free cut, even when starting to dull. For underplaster framing, again this is quite unnecessary.

I haven't ever used any Bosch planers, so cannot comment authoritatively on them. I do however own and use an Elu 1050w tool, which is my most "sophisticated" feeling tool, despite being 30 years old. There's also two 102mm AEG's, now also long discontinued, which are the best framing planers I've used by virtue of their width of cut, short length, light weight and the safety of a retractable blade guard. Metabo also do a lovely little 900w standard-width planer with similar electronic soft start & cruise controls (but without the electronic brake) to the Festools. It's smaller and lighter than their less powerful model. It has a swivelling dust spout on top, which is an absolute godsend indoors (and a nightmare outside). You are able to direct the dust just where you do or don't want it inside, and it blows everywhere, including over the user, in windy conditions.

Personally, I don't even consider using dust extraction with a planer unless I'm working indoors on a workbench, which for me is extremely rare. I just find that the damn hose becomes inconvenient in all other situations, and downright dangerous where the planer is being used on its side or vertically or above waist height. But that's just me.

Given all of the above, and the fact that you'll principally be planing the edge of dried scantling rather than the "face", or rather that the face of your timber will actually be the narrower edge of the plates, studs and noggins, I think the ideal tool for you to be using up a ladder vertically, horizontally, on edge and in other rather safety-compromised positions, is the little 65mm Festool, the only planer small and light enough to be safely used one handed. If that's perhaps a bit too small, and you intend to do heavier work on other projects, then look at Metabo's Ho E 0983, only slightly bigger, but with far greater capacity for serious work.

Just don't try to use the flamin' hose up a ladder, or it will all end in tears. You can always use a dustbag.

As an aside, most plasterers I know would pack out a wall for plumb and truth rather than plane away the inconsistencies.

Originally Posted by lecozthomas

it's first job will be planning an old hardwood wall frame in a house to make it straight before plastering.

Hi lecozthomas.

Are you talking about old studs, possibly with old enough to have had lath and plaster rendering on them. Having removed the laths and now want to straighten the studs. Or not quite that old a place?

No not quite that old, the old fibered plasterboards were nailed on the stud and with the time they twisted a bit!
Anyway a friend lent me an old bosch planner so i'll use it for that and probably buy the festool 65 a bit later

Originally Posted by lecozthomas

No not quite that old, the old fibered plasterboards were nailed on the stud and with the time they twisted a bit!
Anyway a friend lent me an old bosch planner so i'll use it for that and probably buy the festool 65 a bit later

The 65 is a nice planer, problem is the blades are a bit expensive, youl'll be hitting nails galore on those studs to, I'll bet!

If you have any 18v makita lithium tools, the planer is great! Ideal for what your doing. It's my 'goto' planer all the time now.

Originally Posted by lecozthomas

No not quite that old, the old fibered plasterboards were nailed on the stud and with the time they twisted a bit!
Anyway a friend lent me an old bosch planner so i'll use it for that and probably buy the festool 65 a bit later

Still pretty old with hardwood studs and probably decent clout nails holding the plasterboard to the studs. A few broken off just to make it harder.

What I was going to say, assuming your place was older with timber laths nailed to the studs, was... I found when I did similar planing of hardwood studs with many (not all) old lathe nails still embedded in them that there was very little damage to the blade after planing many many studs. The are so old and deteriorated they cut easier than the timber. Still needed to replace the blade afterward, but kept the blade for similar jobs in the future. So the whole issue of straightening old studs with lath nails was not a real problem. Still had to watch out to larger nails though.

But that's not what you have anyway, clouts and other nails are a bugger to hit, but that's obvious I guess.

Anyway, I used an old Bosch with disposable TC blades. I did not have a Festool planer then, but would be happy to use one again for any similar jobs. I treat them all with equal care, doing what I need to do but not abusing them.

Hope the jobs goes well.

I finally did everything with the old bosch and it was good enough for this job, i've been lucky not finding any old nails so the blade didn't suffer!
I'll probably get the festool 65 at some point so I can connect it to the dust extractor and don't make a big mess each time I want to plane something!!
I've noticed the blade is quite pricey like every other festool accessories but there's only one to buy!!

Originally Posted by lecozthomas

I've noticed the blade is quite pricey like every other festool accessories but there's only one to buy!!

Less is more.

Always worth having a spare blade for when you hit the nail when planing.
I do not have a good record - have destroyed two sets of blades in the last four years.

I use a metal detector when i'm not sure about nail remnants. Cheap and old or new and expensive, i hate to wreck any tool on something as trivial as that. In your case and for such jobs, i would buy a reputable brand machine second hand. Buy the standard 82mm width size and make sure that the drum accepts the standard replaceable/reversible TCT-blades, that are widely available and always on offer somewhere. The Hitachi F30, Makita 1100B and similar types/sizes are durable allround machines that are already a good investment when bought used, provided that they are still in a good state (unscratched sole, motor and bearings ok, etc.).

Invest in a new quality machine for delicate work and reserve it for such jobs only. The 650 Watts Festool is a typical small finishing machine for delicate jobs. It is used as such by project furniture installers wolrdwide. This machine cannot replace a full width heavier machine for working on beams and frame rebates.

Yes, the Elu machines are based on experience and the wishes of thousands of German master carpenters. The AEG planers were originally designed by Mafell, so the same story there. It is also a fact that Festool machines are overpriced. There are so many nice alternatives, for less money.

greetings

gerhard