Replies

1. 
   RMillard | Apr 06, 2006 03:31am | #1

   I have the Makita model 1100, which is no longer made, but it is very similar to the one they make now. I've had mine for 21 years, and have run the tail off of it. I highly recommend it.

   Rob Millard

    

2. 
   donr | Apr 06, 2006 04:13am | #2

   I also have a Makita and have used it for over 15 years.  Only problem I have had was setting it down still spinning and cutting the power cord.  I use mine for finish carpentry and plane crown and casing, etc.  I would like to have a cordless one should this one ever give up.

1. 
   EdHarrow | Apr 06, 2006 05:43am | #3

   I have an ancient Skil.  It rocks!

3. 
   rcobb | Apr 06, 2006 11:39am | #4

   Highly recommend the Festool HL850 with the accessory fence.  I hated hand held planers before I used and then bought this one.

4. 
   USANigel | Apr 06, 2006 02:51pm | #5

   They are very useful!! Cheap and great working is the Black and Decker (really and made in UK) get carbide blades when you can. Also the blades seem to be made to the same specs. so the make/packing is not important. Ridgid has a cordless but the blades look different and I've never seen a spare set in HD.

1. 
   Yewman | Apr 06, 2006 05:10pm | #6

   Thanks, folks,

   I walked into HD last night and they had a Bosch 3365 on the shelf with a mangled up box.  The contents were in good shape but it was missing the manual.  They gave me 10% off and I downloaded the manual from the Bosch site.  I have other Bosch tools and really like them so thought I'd take a chance on this after seeing reviews I finally found on-line about the battery powered version of this tool.  It came to less than $100 with the discount.

   But I'm still interested in your opinions if you want to submit them.

   john

1. 
   Marion | Apr 07, 2006 03:30am | #7

   I have bosch 1594 it has nicer fence on it. I also have the bosch 18 volt cordless. They are both great planners. The chip collection is great. Hook it up to vac and no chips. Good luck.
   Marion

1. 
   Yewman | Apr 07, 2006 03:44am | #8

   Thanks, Marion, Bosch has done me well in the past so I'm pretty comfortable with my purchase but it's good to get another positive recommendation.

    

   john

5. 
   RW | Apr 07, 2006 05:02am | #9

   FWIW, I only have 1, but it's the 4th I've owned, and its the higher end PC. I'd almost recommend it, but I don't know what you want to do with it. So here's the accolade. It's an excellent machine, the cuts are about as flawless as you could want. The spiral blade I think is to blame for that. The downside, the fence isn't something you can just flip out of the way if you decide you want to. And replacement blades are about $150. Ouch. (Don't know anyone who cares to take a stab at sharpening a spiral blade)

   For planing door bottoms, edge work on site, this is a champ.

   If I were to buy another, boy I would look long and hard at the Festo. I have 3 of their sanders, a vac, the saw, blah blah. It is all really nice stuff. I haven't bought their router yet because I have about 6 that need to die before I really "need" another router. But they make good stuff, and the cost upfront thus far has been worth it.

   "Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton

6. 
   frenchy | Apr 07, 2006 05:08am | #10

   johnb

    I have four Mikita's. two 1806B's  That's a wide 6  1/4 inch one I use for timberframing.. I have a curved base planer used to do,, duh, ummm, curved bases?    (actually it can also be used to make timbers look handhewn) 

         And one little portable one like you are thinking of..

       I use the heck out of them and except for one knob that broke when I dropped it they've been flawless. 

1. 
   Yewman | Apr 08, 2006 03:20am | #11

   Thanks, folks.  Good recommendations, all, and good feedback.

   I'll be using it to trim jamb extensions on the windows of a 100 year old house I'm renovating.  The walls were built out of every conceivable kind of 2x4 imaginable including rough sawn and full sized so none of the new Anderson windows are flush with the new interior walls.  I'll install the slightly oversized extensions and then plane them flush with the walls.  A fence, of a sort, will be used to ride on the wall surface as the reference surface.

   Once I'm done with this job I'll use the planer for taking some nice cherry planks I was given from rough cut to something more dimensional and making some furniture that'll go in that old house. 

   Should be fun.

1. 
   zorrosdens | Apr 08, 2006 03:44am | #12

   I'll add 2 cents....The smaller Makita is the most comfortable to my hand compared to all the others, that's just me maybe, but look into it.  I used to call it my "rat" plane because I would use it wherever I needed some material "handily" removed, instead of the finer plane below.  The Makita is a bit more $ and I would seriously check it's feel.

   The other PC with the none removable fence, IMHO, is the finest door and board edge portable planer available (all due respect to the Festool).  Probably about every "door man" has one.

2. 
   nikkiwood | Apr 08, 2006 07:34am | #13

   If you're going to use your new planer to trim down jamb extensions, how do you intend to attach the extensions?I assume you have some slick method (biscuits?) so you don't have to plane through nails.********************************************************
   "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

   John Wooden 1910-

3. 
   RW | Apr 10, 2006 06:01am | #14

   John you're going to have much better results on jamb extensions if you don't try to power plane. Here's my thoughts.

   You could nail them up first, then plane, but you run the risk of planing drywall with a power plane. Or you could cut them close to the correct taper on a table saw, plane for smooth, and nail them up, and risk their not being flush in the corners.

   Having done this way too many times, I typically prefer to make a box which is at least as deep as the deepest part of the wall (oh yes, they're never identical, are they) and staple the corners together, rabbets & glue, leaving the staples shy of the face. Then set the box in place with just enough shims to hold it where it's going to live. Press tight to the window with one hand and scribe the outside where it hits the wall.

   Then I take the whole box and set it on the floor standing up (unless its real narrow, then straddle it across the corner of a worktable) and I use a Festool guide rail and the saw to cut the line, leaving just a hair long. Then I nail it up. Usually, you can't face nail it anyway, unless of course it is very narrow. If it's deep, side nail it through the shims. Then I take a block plane set very shallow and keep the back on the wall and the blade skewed on the jamb stock. Just enough to remove saw marks. If you want a slight radius, a laminate trimmer and 1/8 RO bit does well. Sand. Install casing. "Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton

1. 
   Yewman | Apr 10, 2006 04:48pm | #17

   RW,

   That's a great idea.  I finished installing the jamb extensions on all thirteen windows this weekend.  Took about 7 hours for this rookie, part of which was prepping the walls to get rid of excess mud, etc, so the jamb extensions could be scribed.   I have to disclose l'm an amateur woodworker and don't really do much of this kind of work on my other projects.

   Most of the jamb extensions only needed to be 3/4" deep at most.  There's a rabbet on the window frame and I cut a corresponding tongue on a piece of 1x2 material by cutting away a portion along the two edges so I could use the same piece for both sides and a corresponding shorter piece for the top and bottom.  Once I cut for the one side I flipped it end for end to mark for the other side since it was somewhat of a complementary offset in the wall.  The top and bottom extensions I made as straight tapers to meet and match the ends of the side jambs since nobody can see the gaps that might be above or below the window trim.  

   I set the 1x2 into the rabbet and scribed it to the wall, cut them rough freehand on my table saw, and planed flush to the scribed line or just a little shy of it.  I nailed them into the frames and set the nails.  There was only one window that need a little work with the hand plane to get the corner flush.

   The wife has a blog about our project but it's not quite up to date.  See http://www.rowe2rowe.blogspot.com.  She did a great job on the staircase this weekend. 

   The power planer really saved a lot of time and I didn't try to plane anything once I'd installed it for fear of eating a nail.  But I'm beginning to wonder if I really needed to scribe the side extensions so perfectly.  The face trim won't always sit flush with the wall since it doesn't have as much give as the thin jamb extension so maybe I'm going to be using more of that magic cure-all, caulk, than I thought? 

   Trim will be 1x3 for the window sides and 1x4 for the header on the windows.  I'm planning a simple sill/apron made out of 1x3 and will use a 1x4 baseboard.  This is a very simple house and we're trying to keep it simple on the trim.  Should I go with 1x6 baseboard instead?

   Thanks, RW, good to get the advice of someone who's done lots of this and the box idea is one I hadn't thought of.  I still have to trim out a few existing doors and I'll be installing a few new ones as well plus trimming a few fixed windows that aren't flush with the wall, either. 

   Then it's on to baseboard, etc, etc, etc.  The fun never ends!

    

   john

1. 
   RW | Apr 10, 2006 08:08pm | #18

   The face trim won't always sit flush with the wall since it doesn't have as much give as the thin jamb extension so maybe I'm going to be using more of that magic cure-all, caulk, than I thought? 

   Theres a special place in carpenter hell for that. I think Dante figured out it was right next to the guys that burn walnut and cherry as firewood.

   But seriously, as the saying goes, caulking is not a piece of trim. You should scribe it that tight, and scribe everything else as tight as your abilities allow. The casing might have a little flex, but I would think the extensions should not. If they're moving, anchor them better. after the casing is firmly attached to the jambs, then pop just a couple of nails into it farther out to hold it to the wall.

   When it comes time to finish, your life, and the overall appearance, will be much more pleasing if any unavoidable gaps are between the casing and the wall as opposed to the casing, jamb extensions, windows. I can pretend to be snooty about it but fact of the matter is with paint grade trim caulking a tiny clean bead on virtually all of the joints is not only commonplace but it just looks better. And it will be far less noticable at the wall / casing than anywhere else. If you don't already know, get it all primed first. Then spackle the nail holes, sand it all, then do your caulk beads, then shoot your top coats.

   Then worry about your wall paint after the trim has dried (and use the right masking tape!!!)

   I looked at the pics. You're not just muddling around with some tiny little weekend warrior project there, are ya?"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton

2. 
   Yewman | Apr 10, 2006 08:52pm | #19

   Nope, this ain't no weekend warrior kind of project. We bought it from a guy who did most of the really hard work like tearing out the old stuff and putting all new plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc and re-siding with Hardiplank, new roofing, exterior paint, trim, etc. We got it just after it had been drywalled and mudded. He did most of the work himself and the local pro carpenter says we were lucky he did. He's a perfectionist. He's also the local carpet/flooring shop owner so he'll do our cork floors on the main level and carpet upstairs.I agree, caulk is the last resort and that's why I questioned whether or not the extensions should be scribed so tight to the wall. They don't move once I installed them but now the trim has to follow that same wavy wall (and jamb extension) surface and that's what's got me thinking I'll have gaps on the window side. 1x3 and 1x4 trim won't flex to follow the contours very well, I don't think. So maybe I should have made everything an angled cut so that I met the high points and straight lined it from corner to corner all the way around. That would have left me with a roughly planar surface on the in-the-room edge of the jamb extensions on which to attach the trim. I'd probably have some cock-eyed trim sticking out from the wall here and there, anyway, though.That said, I agree gaps on the wall side won't be as big an issue. Every time I look throgh the windows I'll see the trim job surrounding the view. I hope it's as good as I envisioned making it. The first few windows took me a lot longer while I was working out my measure/scribe/cut/plane system and by the time I got to the last 7 I was down to about 10-15 minutes each including the trips up/down the stairs and outside to the saw (the wife was painting indoors and there was no way I was going to survive getting sawdust on her wet stair railing). I had primed the extensions but we'll have to paint the windows anyway so I'm not sure I saved a lot of time.john

7. 
   DougU | Apr 10, 2006 07:07am | #15

   Another vote for the Makita 1100

   Doug

8. 
   mikegagne | Apr 10, 2006 07:25am | #16

   I had a Makita for years and really liked it. It took a dive off the back of my truck when I forgot to secure it. I bought a Bosch Woodrazer to replace it as I didnt like the new Makita machine. The Bosch has been good, has reversable blades which are inexpensive. It has performed well. aloha, mike

9. 
   BanyanTree | Apr 10, 2006 09:25pm | #20

   John,
   It will come as no surprise that my vote goes to the Festool planer.

   A while back, I used the Porter Cable 9125, which I didn't like. I then moved up a notch to the Bosch 3296, which was pretty good. Then I had a chance to use the Festool HL 850 for a while and what a huge difference. The depth control is so much smoother; the shearing action of the blade is better, and it just feels more in control in your hands.

   Unfortunately, I don't own a Festool planer. I don't need to do this kind of work very often. I only had one to use for a while, but that was enough to convince me.