Electric Hand Planer recommendations?

[davidtu]

Lay 'em on me....

[padboy]

Electric Hand Planer

I've got a little Ryobi unit which I use for construction/remodel jobs. It gets dropped a lot but never fails to do the job. Great little tool at a great price. I think I paid 59bux for it at HD.

[tmaceroli]

I have a Makita unit, which I also paid about 50 bucks for, although it was a few years ago. It works very well, although I don't really use it all that much now. I also purchased the chip collection bag, which worked OK. For a small machine, it makes a big mess.

I only used it for edge planing, which is a bit of a pain. The depth of cut adjustment on a power hand planer is on the front of the machine, ahead of the blades. When you are planing an edge, the front of the machine will obviously reach the end of the work piece first, and come off the work piece; but the cutters will still be ON the work piece, and the depth of cut will change abruptly. You have to add a piece of wood on the end, and at the same level as the surface you are planing to hold the depth of cut until the cutters reach the end of the workpiece. It's all explained in the manual, but thought you might like to know before you take the plunge.

A manual hand plane maintains the same depth of cut throughout the operation. If you are edge planing, I would go with a good hand plane. It feels better in your hand, and the sound of the shavings and that wisp of curly wood will provide lots more satisfaction, IMO. Of course, a lot depends on what you need to do with it, and your own personal preferences and needs.

[sweensdv]

My experience with the Makita doesn't quite match Tony's and I would not recommend this hand planer. For one thing, the depth of cut adjustment feature doesn't work very well. I also don't like the fact that the chip ejection port isn't adjustable. Bosch has one with an adjustable chip ejector port but it is a little pricey. IIRC, I paid about $140 for my Makita and quite honestly, for the limited use it receives, I could have been just as disappointed with a $30 Harbor Freight hand planer.

[Tequila]

I've got the Bosch, and I've found that it works well for removing a lot of material fast (like planing down doors or dimensional lumber). I usually end up finishing with a manual hand plane, since it does give a lot more control on the final surface.

What are you looking to use the planer for?

[russd]

Fine Home Building magazine review them in the Sept. 2003.


September 2003
The Eight Best Power Planers
by Andy Beasley
Whether you're hanging doors or framing walls, here are the top picks from a crowded field

After trying out 15 handheld power planers, our reviewer focuses on the eight best. He explains which features are most important and why, then evaluates each planer accordingly. A sidebar on cordless planers points you toward the best choice there as well.

[drumpriest]

I have the little ryobi. It works just great for planing down doors. I'm not doing that all day, so I didn't feel that it was worth the extra $$$ for me to go with Bosch, makita, or any other higher end model.

[jhart]

I have the DeWalt model and it does an excellent job for the few times I've used it. Easy to set. Came with a second set of blades, unused as of yet.

Not something you would use every day, but handy when the need arises. Watch the chip out at the end of the plane. I now generally add a piece of wood to the end to keep it from happening.