180mm for that. I see makita makes a planer about that size also (170mm...smaller than the gigantic beam plane monster), but it's $700 or so in the US. There are used versions from japan for about $200-$250. Worth of considering for what I mentioned, used at least.
Electric hand planers
- Thread starter Kittyhawk
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
180mm for that. I see makita makes a planer about that size also (170mm...smaller than the gigantic beam plane monster), but it's $700 or so in the US. There are used versions from japan for about $200-$250. Worth of considering for what I mentioned, used at least.
By co-incidence, I spent much of yesterday trimming 8 doors after new carpet was laid in our house. I thought I'd do it the easy way & borrowed a (very inexpensive) power planer. I haven't used one of these things for more than 30 years & found it very awkward to hold it on it's side against the bottom of the door and make cuts that were reasonably pperpendicular or straight, especially as my strength & co-ordination ain't what they uster be. My first few swipes left a very odd surface & the more I tried to correct my biased cuts, the worse they got! After a bit I sort of got the hang of it & managed to remove the bulk of the waste, leaving an edge that was sort-of square & sort-of straight. I cleaned it up to a more tolerable surface with a block plane!
Most of the doors needed about 3-4mm off, so I opted for the safer method of sawing it off with a hand saw & tidying up with a few swipes with a hand plane. Ended up using the planer only on the couple where the amount that needed removing was too narrow to support the saw.
I guess if you fit doors regularly, you soon learn to control one of these little beasts & I can appreciate they could save much time. If I'd been more competent it would probably have speeded the job up significantly, but most of the time was taken up removing & replacing the doors, the actual trimming didn't take very long, even with the old hand-powered gear, which greatly reduced my chances of screwing up. I didn't have a vacuum connection for the planer & rediscovered how far & wide the darn things can spray shavings!
I imagine that if you persisted you could learn to do a reasonable job with a power planer on a flat board, but I doubt you could ever match the finish of a well-tuned hand plane in semi-competent hands. I think I'll just stick with the ones without tails for the remainder of my time....
Cheers,
Most of the doors needed about 3-4mm off, so I opted for the safer method of sawing it off with a hand saw & tidying up with a few swipes with a hand plane. Ended up using the planer only on the couple where the amount that needed removing was too narrow to support the saw.
I guess if you fit doors regularly, you soon learn to control one of these little beasts & I can appreciate they could save much time. If I'd been more competent it would probably have speeded the job up significantly, but most of the time was taken up removing & replacing the doors, the actual trimming didn't take very long, even with the old hand-powered gear, which greatly reduced my chances of screwing up. I didn't have a vacuum connection for the planer & rediscovered how far & wide the darn things can spray shavings!
I imagine that if you persisted you could learn to do a reasonable job with a power planer on a flat board, but I doubt you could ever match the finish of a well-tuned hand plane in semi-competent hands. I think I'll just stick with the ones without tails for the remainder of my time....
Cheers,
Last edited:
sometimewoodworker
Established Member
likely to be useful if you are cutting your own framing material for a timber framed building.
sometimewoodworker
Established Member
Orraloon
Established Member
I have had my old makita plane for over 30 years. In the early days I did not have a jointer or thicknesser so it got a workout. It is more suited to stock removal than finishing so mostly you get down almost to the line then finish off with a hand plane. I saw a clip of some old boatbuilder who grinds off the corners of the blades to avoid the tram tracks. These days I use it to clean up recycled wood before it goes through the thicknesser or jointer. It also gets a bit of use to balance up big turning blanks on the lathe. This saves a lot of time. I have also made mistakes with it when you think it will be a great short cut then had to patch up the bottom of a door. A very versatile tool but you have to think first before wading in.
Regards
John
Regards
John
Unfortunately, John, thinking things through thoroughly ahead of time has never been my long suit......
I'm not against powered tools, they most certainly have their place, and I have a few of the tailed & tail-less variety that my ageing body is grateful for at times. I'm (slowly) learning to think ahead more thoroughly, and meanwhile, one good thing about hand tools is they (sometimes) give me time to take evasive action if things start going in the wrong direction.......
Cheers,
Ian
lee celtic
Established Member
I have three I bought second hand (less than a tenner each) and just fitted new blades that I buy in bulk.. 82mm wide reversible blades are cheap.. I use them for cleaning up the face on pallet wood to expose any metal I've missed then clean up with a hand plane if it's clear..
I like the bosch best due to the fact you can start off a zero thickness cut and end in 2-3mm just by turning the knob at the front as you go..
others do the same but not as smoothly.
For this they are great but I do find less than tram lines I get ridges across the board if you go too fast.
But for fast removal of excess timber where there is a chance of nails they are great.. I've seen a few designs for turning them into fixed thicknessers that I'm interested in trying.. ok it will only be 80mm ish wide but it's a start..
for the record I have a few Stanley smoothing planes and several block planes by Stanley and Hobbies.. I still use them for finishing work.
Also Have a plane made of solid Brass with a depth adjuster that has a knurled wheel on it and sticks out about an inch above the blade above the rear handle that I will be posting pictures of in the hope it can be identified.. Has no markings at all.
I like the bosch best due to the fact you can start off a zero thickness cut and end in 2-3mm just by turning the knob at the front as you go..
others do the same but not as smoothly.
For this they are great but I do find less than tram lines I get ridges across the board if you go too fast.
But for fast removal of excess timber where there is a chance of nails they are great.. I've seen a few designs for turning them into fixed thicknessers that I'm interested in trying.. ok it will only be 80mm ish wide but it's a start..
for the record I have a few Stanley smoothing planes and several block planes by Stanley and Hobbies.. I still use them for finishing work.
Also Have a plane made of solid Brass with a depth adjuster that has a knurled wheel on it and sticks out about an inch above the blade above the rear handle that I will be posting pictures of in the hope it can be identified.. Has no markings at all.
I have an 18v Makita planer. Really handy. I tend to use it for effectively milling timber on site. Awesome for that when working on old buildings where old meets new.
Prefer a track saw for door trimming.
Prefer a track saw for door trimming.
