Old school vs electric hand planers

Jaket123 · January 09, 2016, 08:07:48 PM

Anyone on here have any experience with electric planers? The hand held type? If so any input would help I'm considering buying one. But debating if I should go with standard planes or go modern with the electric plane. Thanks guys!

gfadvm · January 09, 2016, 08:14:13 PM

Those power planers are great for planing a door edge to fit but not so good for trying to flatten a panel or slab.

Jaket123 · January 09, 2016, 08:42:11 PM

Ok that's what I was wondering. Cause I know from time to time when I glue up a table top or something I'll have a board that's a little off and thought it might save some time Over a std plane.

starmac · January 09, 2016, 08:56:18 PM

Not a lot of experience with them, but what I found was if you were planing something narrower than the bladed, in my case 3 inches, it does a nice job. If you try to make another pass on something wider, it just doesn't work, or at least I haven't found a way to make it work. I have been told it will do a better job on wider pieces if you grind the corners of the blades to a rounded edge, but haven't tried that.

Darrel · January 09, 2016, 08:56:41 PM

The electric plane will only be marginally faster than a good sharp well tuned hand plane and it won't do as nice a job. Add on top of that fact that the electric makes dust and a heluva lot of noise and I'll take a hand plane any day, even for a door edge.

tule peak timber · January 09, 2016, 08:58:34 PM

We use a power planer A LOT to flatten very large slabs prior to sanding. An indispensable tool ! Rob

Darrel · January 09, 2016, 09:08:25 PM

Quote from: tule peak timber on January 09, 2016, 08:58:34 PM
We use a power planer A LOT to flatten very large slabs prior to sanding. An indispensable tool ! Rob

Rob, that isn't my experience, sadly, I wish it was. Maybe I haven't used the right power planer or maybe I just don't know how to use it. I have some large black oak slabs that need to be surfaced and am not particularly looking forward to the workout.

Bruno of NH · January 09, 2016, 09:14:04 PM

They make large hand held power planes .
Timber framers use them a lot .
I bet Rob has a very nice Feestool .
Bruno

Darrel · January 09, 2016, 09:25:56 PM

I'll try again and do a bit more research and if I find something that'll change my experience I'll buy it, Jaket123 probably would too. Eventually I'd like to get a 42" planer but I haven't made that much money yet.

tule peak timber · January 09, 2016, 09:27:34 PM

Yes A Fesstool . Some pics of slabs we planed with the Fessfool tool.

One of the pics is a matched set of Black oak slabs. Three common ways to flatten material; slake by sawmill, wide belt sander, or electric planer. Once you get the hang of it , the electric planer is a potent tool ! Rob

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 09, 2016, 09:38:50 PM

I could floor my trailer with 1 slab.

tule peak timber · January 09, 2016, 09:41:06 PM

Man ,,,must be a really nice trailer ! :D

Bruno of NH · January 09, 2016, 09:41:48 PM

Makita makes a wide hand held power planer that work well .
Bruno

Larry · January 09, 2016, 10:03:39 PM

I have a fairly new Porter-Cable planer. It has a couple of uses for rough work but mostly a junk tool. Could have got something in the same class from Harbor Freight.

I bet the Festool planer is sweet and well worth the money. Seeing Rob's pictures makes me want one bad now.

gfadvm · January 09, 2016, 10:13:16 PM

Anyone have a video or a link to one flattening a slab with a hand held power planer? I need to learn their technique!!! I wrecked a benchtop with a power planer (and it only took a few minutes).

tule peak timber · January 09, 2016, 10:53:04 PM

A single frame video of how to rub the planer. Cheers Rob

Darrel · January 09, 2016, 11:32:07 PM

Quote from: tule peak timber on January 09, 2016, 10:53:04 PM
A single frame video of how to rub the planer. Cheers Rob

Now this I find very helpful! Look out black oak, here I come!

Clark · January 09, 2016, 11:55:28 PM

I've used a DeWalt electric planer and enjoy using the my old Stanley planes also. I would say the electric version is good for removing lots of material quickly. It produces shavings, not dust, so cleanup can be pretty easy.

I don't have the need for a Festool planer but I'm sure it can do a better job than the DeWalt. If you've got access to the "common" tool brands I would leave the more detailed work for the old fashioned plane.

Clark

ScottAR · January 10, 2016, 02:00:32 AM

I have a Bosch and use it quite a bit for finish carpentry. They are amazing for fitting doors and working to scribed lines. The real trick to using one is take a smaller bite than you think you should.

Many try to use them like a belt sander but planers remove material much faster so light cuts are best. You can always make another light pass.

When fitting doors I set the depth of cut on 1/16" or 1/32" usually and count my passes to know where I'm at. For flattening, start with the smallest depth of cut and see what happens. Mine starts at 1/32th.

I like the bosch I have. The exhaust can be directed to either side by flipping a tab. Small detail but nice as sometimes you need to change positions and redirect so it doesn't fill your pants pocket with chips.

OffGrid973 · January 10, 2016, 02:58:05 AM

I love the one frame video...my HF planer and I never got along but I will try this complex diagram of left, right, up and see what is was missing. Last time I went electric I had lots of single passes with edges that needed to be flattened, this looks like a better method.

WDH · January 10, 2016, 07:47:55 AM

Rob,

Does the pooch come with the instructions? :D

Kbeitz · January 10, 2016, 07:52:07 AM

I got two of them and I love them both. I think they are only good for rapid removal
of a lot of wood real fast. I agree about taking a smaller bite than you think you should.
Then finish up with a belt sander. to large of a bite will leave deep valleys.

21incher · January 10, 2016, 08:42:26 AM

I have a Bosch that works good. I originally bought it to level the face of a 4' x 30' landscape wall I built with PT timbers that was uneven after drying and warping. One thing to remember is they work like a planer with one shoe offset, where a hand plane has a flat bottom with the blade exposed so it is easy to make a gouge if you try to take a big cut.

Hilltop366 · January 10, 2016, 09:05:08 AM

Worked at a boat shop for a short time 20 something years ago, on beams we used a 7" disc sander after the electric planer. Worked really well if you kept moving, it did make a lot of dust though. I should add that this was to prepare the beams for paint on a fishing boat not a fancy pleasure craft.

lowpolyjoe · January 10, 2016, 09:10:54 AM

Great thread!

I bought a harbor freight electric hand plane a few years back and ripped it apart with plans to attach it to a jig similar to a router flattening jig. I started on the project but it didn't go well and I threw all the parts back in a box... which I may have thrown out by now. Those are the kind of chances you can take when you march into HF with a 25% off coupon :D