Electric Planer Vs Planer

[Petemcr]

Sorry if this has been covered,

Just wanted to ask peoples opinions for someone new on this subject.

I've got a few projects on the go which I'm working on, one of which I could do with planning the wood down and I've been looking at the two options, but I was wondering and this is purely off the discussion I've had with a mechanic friend I have.
He's always said he won't let his apprentices use the power tools when they start and he makes them use hand held so they learn to not cross thread bolts in and "run them home with the dugga dugga" as he calls it and once he's confident they're not going to go wild, he then lets them use power tools as a lesson.

Is this going to be the same principle with planes, is it best to start with hand held, struggle but learn the technique and not take too much off when starting out, or just best to get electric and learn that on its own as they're different beasts and are handled different anyways? Or personal preference.

Just want to check before I make a purchase, hopefully this is in the right section.

Thanks

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Most people use them for different things - power planers are for fast, rough removal of structural timber, hand planes for cabinet making and joinery.

 

[Petemcr]

Most people use them for different things - power planers are for fast, rough removal of structural timber, hand planes for cabinet making and joinery.

Answers my question as to which to learn, thank you sir.

 

[Windows]

Whichever type of plane you use, you still need to understand about wood grain, how tear out happens, and supporting the plane as you leave the board so some skills are transferable. Handheld electric planers are good both for thicknessing and surface smoothing. If you have the time and resources and can experiment with both kinds of planes, I’d recommend it. If you try an electric plane, set it to the lowest setting that removes material and leave it on that setting. Removing a lot of material in one pass is an advanced skill, but if you keep to that lowest setting you can get a beautiful surface finish just like with a non-powered hand plane.

 

[RobNichols]

Whichever type of plane you use, you still need to understand about wood grain,

I have to say I think this over and above anything else is why learning to do things by hand is so important. With a machine you are somewhat abstracted from the wood. You don't feel it the same way you do with hand tools. If you want to learn how wood behaves and how to work with that behaviour, start with hand tools. And if ultimately you end up on the machine route the knowledge of wood behaviour gleaned from using hand tools will help you get the best from the wood you shape.

 

[BucksDad]

This is a very good thread which shows using an electric plane to flatten slabs rather than a router - a lot quicker too!

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/my-portable-wide-slab-flattening-jig.117420/

 

[Dolau]

This is interesting as I have rough sawn lumber that I am using to make deck steps and wanted to improve the finish- nothing more than a little smoothing and was going to use my power plane for that

will take my time as it is a long project anyway involving routers, jigs and concrete and angles I haven’t used before

and that is before I think about hand rails

 

[hlvd]

There’s always a better tool than a handheld power planer.

Maybe useable for removing crap off a board ready to be machined but definitely not for anything that needs a tiny degree of accuracy.