Got a powered handheld planer -- love it

[Carlos]

This isn't something I will use a lot, but when I need it, there's a huge advantage over the other options. Works really smoothly and easily, seems more powerful than necessary, and cuts FAST. Balance is nice and it's easy to use in most any position.

DEWALT DCP580B

[Jim Frye]

I've had a Ryobi corded hand planer for a couple of decades and it is a very useful tool. Might not cut as fine as a good ole Stanley, but it is quick and handy. The vac port works well too.

[Carlos]

Yeah, the vac port on this is about 100% efficient. Without a vac, everything just shoots out the side. So I can plan my work to just shoot the chips into a convenient placing when not using a vacuum.

[leehljp]

Nice one, and this one tool where a cordless has much greater use potential than a corded one. I have a Japanese version of Hitachi corded that is nearly 25 years old. Don't use it often but when do, it sure is handy and quick.

[LCHIEN]

Is this more of a jointer or a thickness planer?

I don't see the long bed of a jointer so it can't be for making long straight flat boards.

It doesn't have the upper cutter/lower support of a thickness planer to make a flat board a constant thickness.

So does it just shave off a given thickness layer without regard to being perfectly flat or perfectly the same thickness?

[mpc]

More of a jointer. It has parallel but offset infeed and outfeed tables just like a jointer... just a lot shorter and narrower. This is one of those "take the tool to the workpiece" items compared to a jointer that is "take the workpiece to the tool." A common use for these tools is to trim a bit off the bottom of a door to make it fit the jam, to clear carpeting, etc. Jobs where "fairly straight" is good enough; not jobs where jointer-straight is required. With skill you could probably use one of these to hog off a lot of material to flatten or thickness something... instead of a #4 or #5 Jack plane. I have the Ridgid cordless version of this tool; I haven't used it in years. I probably should dig it out of its plastic case and see if needs maintenance/attention after all these years.

mpc

[Jim Frye]

I would put this tool in roughly the same arena as a block plane and my experience is that it is best used for very thin cuts. While mine has plenty of power, it seems to be best used for trimming. I've used it to trim an edge to fit against a non-straight surface. Practice is required to use it accurately, and I've used it outside of the shop with a long straight edge to check for accuracy. There are other tools in the shop that can do a better job.

[leehljp]

I agree with Jim that it is best with doing very thin cuts.

That said, its greatest feature to me is speciality trimming near the place of need. A close framing situation where a table saw could take off 1/8 or 1/4 inch but is outside, this could do well. In a cabinet fitting situation where something is 1/32 off or 1/64 off but works, just a tad to tight - and the planer/jointer is at the shop, this is ideal. Doors too long? This is ideal for small amounts and leaves a smooth bottom (or top) and does excellent on small camfer cuts too. These tools have a camfer line/groove down the center for perfect tracking.

[Carlos]

It's good for fixing problems, for example I had a glue joint that walked, and the bottom of a box was lower than the sides. Buzzed it right off, just going slowly with light cuts on the lowest setting. It also has a slot in the base to let you use it on a corner to cut it into a chamfer. I just used it to take the edges off a bunch of redwood 2x2s so they would fit into a PVC tube. I was making supports to hold shade and frost cloth over parts of the garden.