Planers
Planers might bring to mind your father or grandfather removing a door that was too tight from its hinges and shaving a little off the edge with a hand planer. While those versatile hand tools are still around, today’s power planers can make trimming a door a very quick job – hanging the door back on its hinges might be the most time consuming part of the project.
Power planers are one of those power tools that are nice to have in your workshop if you want a complete collection, but you probably aren’t going to need it for many home improvement projects. However, if woodworking is a hobby or you enjoy building shelving and cabinets, a power planer can almost be a necessity. They can also be handy if your future plans include a lot of interior trim work.
Types of Power Planers
Planers are very similar to jointers in that they use rotating blades to remove wood down to a predetermined depth as the material is passed through the power tool or the tool is moved over the wood. The primary difference between the two types of tools is that jointers are either bench mounted or freestanding stationary machines normally confined to workshop use, but portable power planers can be taken out to your jobsite. The two main types of power planers to consider for your workshop:
- Handheld Power Planers – these are much like the hand tool your father or grandfather used, but cutting is done with a rotating blade(s) instead of a fixed edge powered by your arm muscles. Most portable power planers have a blade width of 3 ¼ inches which is suitable for shaving wood doors, interior trim, and many common framing lumber sizes. Some upper end models feature two blades which can allow you to trim to greater depths with each pass of the tool. Planers in this range often offer higher amp motors that provide more RPMs to the blades than entry level models.
- Workshop Planers – while the basic principle is the same, large workshop planers are quite a bit different than the portable models found on a jobsite – these large power tools are for the serious woodworker who often dresses his own lumber. Workshop planers are sized according to the width of the boards they’re capable of handling – 20 and 24 inch are two workshop planer sizes commonly found, but you may not need a unit that large for your own workshop. The most common use for workshop planers is to dress rough wood found at sawmills for cabinetry, furniture, or millwork use – the machine is capable of removing the board’s roughness and producing finished surfaces suitable for woodworking, but additional sanding is often required as well. Many workshop jointers also feature planer functions, but if you plan on dressing wide boards, you’ll probably need to purchase a separate unit.
Planer Safety
Whether you have a portable planer out on a jobsite or a large workshop model, the power tool should always be unplugged before placing your hands or fingers near the blades. If a planer can shave tough 100 year old oak lumber without any difficulty, you can imagine what it’s capable of doing to your fingers. You should also wear ear and eye protection whenever using a power planer and when trimming a lot of wood with your workshop planer, it can be a good idea to wear a dust mask and have adequate ventilation in the room.