Oliver’s new benchtop planer is the only one I’ve found that includes the unrivaled Byrd Shelix segmented cutterhead as standard equipment. It also happens to be an excellent machine. I put one into service in my school in early 2022, and I’ve recommended it to many woodworkers since.

Once you experience the flawless, tearout-free surface a Byrd cutterhead produces, along with the significant noise reduction, you’ll never want to go back to straight steel knives. Each carbide cutter has four edges, and rotating them is easy and accurate. That said, I’m still using the first set of edges on mine.

Both tiger maple and quartersawn white oak planed flawlessly in my tests, no matter which way I fed them, with no snipe (with the planer head locked).

Thickness is uniform from edge to edge on the widest boards, and the dust collection is so good I tend to forget about it.

The depth of cut on a full-width board is limited to roughly 3⁄64 in., but that is to be expected with a 15-amp, 110-volt motor. My only complaint is the inconsistency of the digital thickness gauge, but I just use my trusty Starrett ruler instead.

—Bob Van Dyke runs the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking in Manchester, Conn.

Photos: Michael Pekovich

From Fine Woodworking #306