Power plane - recommendations please

[Poignard]

I'm thinking a good quality power plane would be a nice Xmas present for swmbo to buy me.

I need it for planing, rebating, and bevelling. Any recommendations, warnings about particular models, please?

I notice that 82mm blade width seems to be standard. Is it possible to plane wider stock with this blade width or would I just end up with a series of 82mm wide grooves?

 

[Blueboatman]

I replaced my 20 year ole ELU last year with a Makita, lighter, powerful, smooth, around the £200 IIRC.
For example it planed down my taffrail teak seats from sawn, which are 300 deep. A light belt sand afterward sorts any edging marks though with all powertools you need a firm but light touch ( and sharp blades!).
Does good rebates too and the dust bag is large,effective and quick release to empty.

Sadly ELU are now De Walt which are IMO (and that of many tool shops), just Black n Decker quality these days. I have many DeWalt tools but wouldn't nec recommend them.

That Chickens and Sawdust Cuchillo bloke knows a thing or two about longevity

 

[Csail]

Very happy with my bosch, not cheap but worth it.

 

[sailorman]

I'm thinking a good quality power plane would be a nice Xmas present for swmbo to buy me.

I need it for planing, rebating, and bevelling. Any recommendations, warnings about particular models, please?

I notice that 82mm blade width seems to be standard. Is it possible to plane wider stock with this blade width or would I just end up with a series of 82mm wide grooves?

Makita
mine is 25 yrs pro use

 

[30boat]

Makita.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I'm thinking a good quality power plane would be a nice Xmas present for swmbo to buy me.

I need it for planing, rebating, and bevelling. Any recommendations, warnings about particular models, please?

I notice that 82mm blade width seems to be standard. Is it possible to plane wider stock with this blade width or would I just end up with a series of 82mm wide grooves?

Don't know about power planes as I have never owned one but it is possible to plane any width of wood with a relatively narrow plane by taking overlapping shavings. I would imagine you would have to be very careful with a power plane as they remove waste in no time. Personally I use an old Stanley for planing and keep it very sharp.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

I've got two hand electric planers a small Makita and a larger cheapo Silverline which I used to quickly get the waste teak from my deck when stripping it. Value for money, the Silverline stuff - planer and the belt sanders are imho extremely good if looked after reasonably.

When sharpening a hand plane blade I thought it usual to have an extremely slight curve on the blade with corners ground back a small amount. I've then used a hand cabinet scraper to finish off the levelling.

Would something like this pay off on the hand held electric planer blades?

My favourite plane in the box and a good additional Christmas gift, is a Stanley block plane with adjustable mouth.

There are some good cheap bench planer thicknessers available. I bought a 300mm one from B&Q a few years ago
http://reviews.diy.com/2191-en_gb/9806509/reviews.htm and as long as you keep blades sharp and don't try to take off too much at a time they give good service.
One of these and a cheap router would possibly suit your needs?

 

[mucklestone]

If you have not used one before I say be very careful as they remove a lot quickly. They sell these where I work and I got one cheaply. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-...owerTools_SM&hash=item19c9778cb1#ht_946wt_952

It works well and I know they sell a lot without problems. Obviously the expensive ones are better but if you only want it for DIY use I would recommend a cheap one and get another present as well!!

 

[PlankWalker]

As with all power tools "you pays your money you takes your choice",

Generally power planers are very good at removing a lot of material fast, but not that accurate and need finishing by hand plane.

If you have the space however a planer/thicknesser is worth its weight in teak.

Plank

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

If you have not used one before I say be very careful as they remove a lot quickly.

and they can remove tips of fingers quickly as most do not have a brake!

 

[Poignard]

If you have the space however a planer/thicknesser is worth its weight in teak.

Plank

That's a thought. Can you recommend one?

 

[PlankWalker]

I only have experience with a De Walt, planed up 4 Tuns of teak over 10 years no problems, sold it when the boat was finished, needed the space.

There are some smaller and quite neat ones available now, but I have no experience of them.
Plank

 

[stav]

My elu planer survived many years as a site chippy, depends if you need to use it in a location or can you take the wood to the machine in which case a jointer/thicknesser is lovely. I have one of these at school. I waited three years for the technician to set it up but gave up waiting and went in on a saturday and spent all day reseting the beds, blades and scales and now love it. It has gone up in price since we bought it though. And I would recommend some training to appreciate how grain affects things and how to straighten a piece of wood over the top.


http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-axminster-aw106pt2-planer-thicknesser-prod650093/

Have fun choosing.

 

[greenalien]

Worth choosing a model that has TCT replacement blades available, as they don't cost significantly more than HSS but last a lot longer.

 

[Didi]

I'm thinking a good quality power plane would be a nice Xmas present for swmbo to buy me.

I need it for planing, rebating, and bevelling. Any recommendations, warnings about particular models, please?

I notice that 82mm blade width seems to be standard. Is it possible to plane wider stock with this blade width or would I just end up with a series of 82mm wide grooves?

For bevelling I would recommend using a router with a bearing guided bit. For rebating a router with straight bit plus fence or straight edge.

IMO a router is just about the most versatile machine you can buy. Unfortunately is also the best for producing clouds of dust!

I have a power plane and very rarely use it - I find it very hard to control accurately. It does however remove a vast amount of stock very quicky! Planing wide stock I would use my floor standing machine or plane it by hand.

 

[Seadog17]

I'm thinking a good quality power plane would be a nice Xmas present for swmbo to buy me.

I need it for planing, rebating, and bevelling. Any recommendations, warnings about particular models, please?

I notice that 82mm blade width seems to be standard. Is it possible to plane wider stock with this blade width or would I just end up with a series of 82mm wide grooves?

I've had the De Walt 4mm for a while now and love it. Wouldn't say you could flatten anything as you would with a good jack plane but it will save an awful lot of time getting rid of the bulk of the waste then it means minimal work following up by hand.

 

[Spuddy]

I've got an Atlas Copco; top quality, German made and in a metal case. Trouble is it's 110v. I keep almost putting it on ebay but never quite get around to it.
Make me an offer by PM if you're interested.
I've got a 240v to 110v transformer that I'd throw in with it but it's very heavy for couriering - or throwing.
I bought it for site work and wanted dependability and exemplary quality. That didn't work out because of deteriorating arthritis so it's had very little use.

 

[rhumlady]

The cheap bit is the ear defenders although if usingit at home you may need extra ones for the neighbours. As others have said I rarly use mine which is a cheap Homebase one. It does the job but I general I use a hand plane or a router. I also have a cheap thicknesser which is the same as most of the cheap ones coming out of China but it needed work to get it accurate.

 

[Poignard]

Belated thanks

I've just gone back to this thread and realised that I never thanked those who kindly gave me their advice.

Better late than never - many thanks!

 

[saxonpirate]

Like Blueboatman all my kit was ELU (and a lot still is) but ELU has gone to the great profit makers over the pond, so it's either got to be Makita or Bosh.