I bought a Bosch power planer recently. I just wanted to note that the thing really was fun to use, a joy to use and was also a life saver.
This is the one I have: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/toolguide/product-finder/Bosch-1594K-power-planer.aspx
In addition to being a smooth operator, it was quiet. I am so sick of power tools with cheap (universal) motors that just scream and wail. Quiet, indeed, it is a good thing.
Features I found very useful include –
You can change the direction the shavings are thrown. You don’t have to get hit with shavings just becvause you want to go the other way.
It’s relatively small and light wieght, so you can use it all day long without tiring.
It does not pull, at least not with the light cuts I took.
Easy and certain adjustability for depth of cut.
On the down side, I don’t like the looks of the fence. Then again, I didn’t use it much.
Edited 12/6/2009 8:23 pm ET by Mike_Mills
Replies
If it's the same as their old one, you'll keep liking it.
The fence-not the greatest, but with concentration--works like it's advertised.
However, one way to keep the fence tight to the side of the work also ASKS subtly to hold it on the side. Well, on the side and under is a way to get to the blades.
So, be careful when you do that-if you do.
The side direct for chips is vac hose friendly w/o adapter (fein/festool vac)
I us my old hitachi scms bag in a pinch. Flops around a bit but does catch the shavings.
Someone here mentioned I think there's a bosch circ. saw bag that fits it like a glove.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
The Bosch comes with a great dust bag. It's a wire-framed square bag that doesn't flop around at all and holds a lot of stuff.In fact - it's the perfect dust bag for the Festool Circular saw when you're cutting outside and don't need the vac hooked up or even when you are inside - it catches most of the sawdust and fits like a glove.JT
Thanks Julian, you were the one I read that mentioned something about the bag. You've just refreshed my memory!A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I had a Makita Power Planer 20 years ago and it worked nicely, but loudly. I had to hang a door in an existing frame in my house and needed to plane about 1/8" of the sides. Tried renting a planer from my local rental yard but the unit was a POS.
Since I am mostly into fine woodworking these days, I got my Lie-Nielsen #8 out of the cabinet and had a very nice AND quiet workout taking 2 thous off at a time. It was really nice to see a pile of savings, rather than sawdust on the floor after the 60 or so passes.
Michael in San Jose
I just bought the same one, and I have to agree, I love it. It was myself at the store, Makita in one hand Bosch in the other for a long time. I slowly put down the Makita, despite the fact that everyone I know has the old Makita. Glad I did.
Good choice.
The Makita is outdated now. Leader of the pack
for many years but things change. No one has mentioned my favorite feature- It cuts deeper then the Makita!! That is HUGE and wonderful. (The case is way to big though).
It is a BIG case. Not necessarily in volume per se, but awkwardness. But it's got a good spot in my truck.
Great points on the bag, the same engineering that went into the planer, went into the bag. Made to match...
I haven't yet tried the bag. I was up in the rafters, taking some relatively fine cuts. It was as if it was "snowing" down below. The shavings were very light weight from the thin cut and were gently drifting down to the ground.
I put a nice piece of wood on my fence.
It is about 5/8" thick and makes the fence much larger.
It makes the planer much easier to keep from tilting.
If you look at the size of the stock fence compared to the planer it is topp heavy.
The larger fence changes those proportions.
Will Rogers
I didn't try the auxiliary
I didn't try the auxiliary fence yet but yesterday I did try the bag. It was great. It captured 100% of everything I was hoping to catch. I was working outdoors on a sunny, breezy day, so I don't know about how it handled the super-fine sawdust usually generated.
It will be a few days before I use it again, maybe by then I'll have the aux fence on it.