What are your recommendations for a hand held power planer? I had a 3.25″ Bosch which I never really liked that much. I broke it within the first month that I had it – fell of the tailgate, landed on the concrete. I glued the plastic back together and admittedly I used it for maybe 8 yrs and it worked OK. When trying to change the blades recently one of the Allen head cap screws snapped off in the rotor so I tossed it in the yard sale pile.
Anyway, I went to home cheapo and Lowes and saw more Bosch ones similar to what I had and a few others but none really stood out. I didn’t even pick up the B&D, Skill or Riobi ones. Also I was wondering if I wanted to go bigger than 3.25″ but was thinking it might be a bit more unwieldy. Maybe only once a year I really needed the > 3.25″ width. Do most have 2 blades or what? Are they all single speed?
I will only use the thing intermittently – like maybe for making exterior hand rails or maybe window sill exterior nosing or planing a door.
Thoughts? What do you own?
Replies
No expert here - just rambling...
I have a sub hundred dollar chinese Hitachi that works fine fo r me, but my subs had Makitas that were so much nicer.
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Thanks Sphere and Piffin...
When looking around at Amazon the one that caught my eye was the Mikita, and I seem to remember wanting that one when I got the Bosch but didn't want to cut loose of the $$$s. Kinda weird shopping for power tools on line though - I wana pick em up, turn the knobs, feel how it feels in my hand, pull the trigger, see what pieces are plastic, etc....
At Blowes they had a Freud. I remarked to the clerk that I didn't even know Freud made power tools. He said "Oh yea - they are great". I just smiled and said thank you. the height adjustment knob seemed weird on that one. It was like you had to crank it a bunch of times to change the cutting depth.
Makita here I have had mine for years , works well
And I will pass along a tip. Unscrew the front adjusting screw, remove it and grind it down just a bit. (1/32-1/16th or so) Doing so allows you to remove more wood in one pass when hogging stock off.
Guy I worked with discovered that the depth of adjustment was set by the length of the screw bottoming out, not the compression for the rubber filler. I also would put a vote in for the PC spiral cutter versions if all I did was doors. They are one sweet tool and I am glad to see the decision to re-market them.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Got a brandy new condition DeWalt at a pawn shop in an emergency ( my Bosch sucked too, kept jamming up with chips_) for about 90 bucks or less, its great.
Also recently picked up a "Master craft" or "Tradesman" cheapie at Lowes, 49.00 , and it's just 1 3/4 or so wide, and handier than I expected, works really well..I just had to superglue a stupid safty button in the ON position cuz it was annoying. All in all, I am really suprised how often I grab it, instead of the DW.
All I've known are 2 knife , 2 speed..on and not on (G)
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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buddy of mine has an old power plane, he loves it. Porter Cable has re-issued it, not cheap, but it'll be the next one I get. I have a Bosch, but it doesn't have the long base plate, so its hard to control for a straight cut on doors. Anyway, I guess the PC is really only for doors, not as wide as you specified.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004U0SZ/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
The old "porta-planes" were awesome, spiral cutter, iirc.
Wish I had one.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
$50 + shipping it's yours.
Are you serial? I mean serious?
SOLD.
Spheramid AT aol.comSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
When I brought up that link there is an adv that says that there is a newer version available:
There is a newer model of this item:
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Black & Decker 7698K 5.2 Amp 3-1/4-Inch Planer View Image (5)$86.96
Somehow I don't think so.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Matt
I second what Piffin says about the Mikita.. it's very nice, durable, and has held up beautifully for the years I've been building my home.
Capable of hogging out massive amounts of wood or producing shavings so fine as to have only one side <grin>
What size do you have?
Matt.
I have three Mikita power planers. One 3 1/2 inch and two 6 1/4 inch
The Makita has been known as the one most often seen in a finish carps toolbox, but there are higher $$$ models that are better.
If you buy the Makita it won't let you down, but often you can find a referbished Dewalt for much less. I bought the Dewalt at toolking and it has worked well for many years.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
I have a portercable porta plane with a spiral cutter that I use for doors only.
Have had many 3¼" planers, the best so far is the Bosch 18V cordless... have yet had its cord screw up a pass.
For strictly doors the Porter Cable 9118 (the old 126) can't be beat. It's been discontinued again but there's still NOS still around and I see them on eBay pretty often. For a less expensive all around planer I'd get the Makita N1900B. It's been around a long time, well proven, light and well balanced and hard to kill. Makita has other 3 1/4" models but I'd stick with N1900B- it's tried and true. No dust collection so you'll have a pile of shavings to clean up afterwards. Makita makes larger planers- all the way up to 12" but unless you really have a need for it I'd pass; they'll cause serious pain in the backside area where your wallet is. They also make a curved base planer if you want to make a hand hewn look.
P.J. O'Rourke
I just ordered the Mikita 1900b off amazon. I was trying to figure out what the difference was between that and the 1902. couldn't relly figure it out except my guess was that 1902 had more plastic on it...
Makita for sure.
Forrest
Don't own one. Friend from here lent me his Dewalt to plane some joists and it did a fine job.
But there were two things I didn't care much for on it.
The foot that kicks down to prevent you from marring the work...you had to flip that up with one hand while starting the trigger with the other. I found it to be bothersome.
The other thing was the button to lock the power on...it was too easy for me to hit it accidentally.
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Don't know about the one you were using but mine has that little black thing so you can set it down on base and not eat something or damage the blades. Any sweeping forward movement puts it in trail position.
For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Thanks. I tried that IIRC, but it didn't kick back easily with a forward sweep. Almost like it had a hitch to the movement. Maybe the newer versions behave a bit better.It really did a nice job once it was rolling though.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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I scored mine a few years back at a Sears, they had about three of them sitting there and the gal said she was supposed to get rid of them and I got it for either 40 or 45 bucks with metal case.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Makita corded 3 1/4 does a great job, seems to be what most have. I own a Bosch 18v that I use most often though - no cord, finish is real good (start with fresh battery) and inexpensive blades. They are 3 1/4 but a lot skinnyer (?) than the makitas, they have an edge on both sides and you get 2 blades for 12- 15 dollars so its like you get 4 blades, and it only takes one at a time.
Its my favorite and gets used the most. I would recommend it especially if you have other 18v Bosch stuff, which I do so fresh batteries aren't a problem.
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I don't hve other Bosch battery stuff so it's a no-go...
The only "portable" hand-held power plane I own is the 12-1/4" Makita (the big beam planer). It's not all that portable at 50 lb.
If I needed a smaller one I'd either get a cheapy Harbor Freight plane or ditto nearly everyone else's response and get the 3-1/4" Makita. The blades are really easy to get, they just about sell them in the supermarket.
I've had three Bosch planers - 2 electric and now the 18volt version. Had an electric one - sold it when I got the cordless, and bought a newer electric one when leveling the cupped boards of an attic room floor before glueing and screwing a new 1/2" osb subfloor down.They'll clog up only when planing cross grain where the shavings get elongated. Otherwise, no real clogging problems.More importantly, I cannot see how you guys accept using a planer without dust collection - what a farkin mess!I can plane a door with the cordless bosch on site and literally have no clean up even when just using the dust bag.The other great feature it has is the ability to switch the dust port from one side of the tool to the other - that's come in handy so many times I can't count when the dust bag or vac hose would not be usable in tight spaces.The blades are cheap - they slip right in - no adjustment, and the tool is made in switzerland.As an added bonus - the dust bag that comes with it is a square wire frame re-enforced dealy that fits right on and works GREAT as a dust bag for the Festool circ saw.
JT
Edited 8/25/2008 10:44 am ET by JulianTracy
I've owned the DeWalt for four years. It doesn't get that much use, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. But when I use it, it definitely saves me time or money, and usually makes for a better job. I was going to buy the Bosch initially, but got a better deal on the DW, and have no complaints.