Hand planer vs Bench Planer?

[radhak]

I see a bunch of powerd hand planers in HD and elsewhere, that look like belt sanders (at least from a distance). Are these any good? If a bench planer is out the question (for reasons of money and space), can these help me plane out lumber from the lumber yard? And do they work differently from the regular larger planers?

[Tarheel]

Power hand planers are really only good for "hogging off" a lot of material in a very short order! They are great for trimming the bottoms of interior/exterior wood doors. Other than the depth of cut, there really isn't much control. I was under the misconception that it would take the place of a jointer or thickness planer until I could afford them. Wrong!!!! Silly me. I did buy a Craftsman power planer and have used it quite a bit for doors. Don't get me wrong. They are a great tool for removing lots of material, if you are not too concerned about the final finish result.

If thickness planing or jointing is your intention, I would forget it.

Just my own $.02.

Wayne

[LinuxRandal]

I have seen them sucessfully replace a jointer, BUT not by themselves. It was with use of a guided circular saw system. Great for a lot of uses, and a lot more portable then a shop, but you will spend at least as much as a good begining jointer.
Since most of the ones I have looked at are around $99 (better ones), I would recommend that you start watching craigslist, and your local ads (newpaper and freebie throw away ones). I have seen some bargins (late 40's early 50's delta jointer $50 to Craftsman nonbenchtop, with the shorter beds for $75 to $150). Those would be better buys.
While your saving up and looking, see if you can find any local woodworkers or clubs. A friend got started by running into a woodworker, who he would take his stuff over and have it planned, and that guy got the word out, and they started finding him tools. Never hurts to have other eyes looking.

[radhak]

Thanks guys. I will hold off on the hand planer.

More than the cost, the available space in the garage is the factor here.

Yeah, have been looking for a local club myself, not many around.

Did ask a milling shop about planing wood for me, and was told they charge '$65 per hour' !!?? Stumped me - after all, how do I know how many boardfeet can be planed in an hour?

I currently have around 30 bf of mahagony @ $4.45/bf. If it takes them an hour to plane that, that would $65/30 = $2.2 / bf to my cost! Not what I would call viable.