Replies

1. 
   BruceS | Nov 27, 2006 06:03am | #1

   I have a Porter Cable Elec planer that I used to take some of the crowns out of roof rafters when I built my shop.  And thats all I've ever used it for.  I use my Stanley 5 for doors.  Feel much more confident using it and the results are far superior.

   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

2. 
   Troy | Nov 27, 2006 06:10am | #2

   I have an older Makita and it works well and the blades seem to be easy to replace.. You probably can get a lot of opinions on the Breaktime area of fine homebuilding.

   Troy

3. 
   alanplanesaw | Nov 27, 2006 07:29am | #3

   I have a Makita, only about 3 years old.  Works great.  Highly recommend it.

   Alan - planesaw

4. 
   nikkiwood | Nov 27, 2006 08:03am | #4

   Starting at the top, here's a PC which has been the planer of choice for the door hanger crowd for decades:

   http://tinyurl.com/yjxczm

   There are a flock of planers clustered around $120, and I don't think you could go wrong with any one of them.

   Personally, I own a Dewalt and it is ok, and has a good set of accessories. A new blade set (carbide) costs about $16-20.

   Among those I have used on sites, I prefer the Makita -- it is slightly smaller than the Dewalt, is very maneuverable , and fits my hand nicely.

   I know a fair number of people with the Bosch, I have used one once, and it did just fine.

   If you can't spring for the expensive PC above, my advice would be to pick a planer based on ergonomics and dust collection. These things really throw the chips around, and it is nice to be able to contain them. The Dewalt has an odd-ball triangular shaped hole, and I don't even know if they make an adapter for it to fit a shop vac. I did get the dust bag, which is a squarish, klutzy thing, but it works.

   P.S. Festool also makes a portable planer, and the price is about the same as the PC. It is the only planer that can cut flush to a vertical surface, and you can buy an accessory stand that will attach to a bench and allow you to use it as a kind of mini-jointer.

   Here's some info:

   http://www.woodworkersshop.com/Festool_Planer.htm

   ********************************************************
   "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

   John Wooden 1910-

1. 
   tinkerer2 | Nov 28, 2006 06:17am | #9

   "Porta Plane - $865"  Oh, Ouch!  About thirty years ago the Porta Plane was about two thirds the price of the Versa Plane, as I remember from Silvo Hardware.  I was going to be smart and bought the Versa.  Over the years, I think it was priced out of the market.  I probably paid less than $400.  The beds are anything but co-planer.  I haven't used it much, never really got to know how to use it, so really haven't had much luck with it.  I wouldn't know how to use a hand plane well either but have better luck with them.  Some day, maybe.

1. 
   nikkiwood | Nov 28, 2006 08:10am | #11

   Well, that's the retail price -- it's about half that from Amazon:http://tinyurl.com/y4b8c4Silvo Hardware ???I bought an awful lot of tools from them back in the 70's. I remember studying the Garrett Wade catalogs (and their great tool descriptions), and then going over to the Silvo catalog to buy the same thing for way less $$.Whatever happened to them? As I remember, all of a sudden they changed the catalog style (probably sold to somebody), raised their prices, and I never ordered from them again.********************************************************
   "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

   John Wooden 1910-

1. 
   tinkerer2 | Nov 28, 2006 08:53am | #12

   "Silvo Hardware"  Maybe they just sold to cheap.  I liked them.

1. 
   EdHarrow | Nov 28, 2006 05:41pm | #13

   Not a SKIL 100 amoungst the lot?

5. 
   Troy | Nov 27, 2006 09:42am | #5

   Another person mentioned the Festol, I have not used this one but one of its neat features is that you can change the cutting head to one that will give you a textured cut to mimick a hand hewn look on beams. An application that I have not needed but kind of interesting.

   Troy

1. 
   RickL | Nov 27, 2006 10:23pm | #6

   We had blades ground for our Makita to do the hand planed texture thing so it's possible to do with any planer, so one is not only limited to a Festool.

1. 
   Troy | Nov 28, 2006 12:03am | #7

   Thanks for the tip, where the blades that you had ground steel or carbide?Thanks

1. 
   RickL | Nov 28, 2006 04:07am | #8

   HSS knives. Had my sharpening shop grind them. They have a template to make sure they are reground to the same profile. A slight arc, maybe 1/8" crown.

1. 
   Troy | Nov 28, 2006 06:31am | #10

   Thanks for the idea. Troy