I was in the local Lowes yesterday and noticed a General Machine Planer ($70) that would go from 0 to 1/8th inch in one rotation of the knob, knob had fairly smooth action. Anyways, I am thinking of buying a cheap planer for my skinning/shaping my first board. Thought I would just buy a Harbourfreight cheapy, but thought maybe this one had some potential for adjustment on the fly.
Anyone familiar with this planer?
Is 1/8" enough depth? (seems to be more than other non-modified planers are offering)
Also, it is a little longer than a Hitatchi planer. Will this be problematic?
Seems pretty awkward heightwise with the motor directly above the cutter head. The cutter must have three blades since they say “48,000 cuts/min” and the spec’s say 16,000 rpm. The dust port in the rear looks like it uses a long channel to direct the cuttings from the head. This may become easily clogged with foam dust. Try it out; Lowes will take it back if you don’t like it. A lot of plastic planers have problems with the bearings melting into their housings (the Bosch is an exception, the Hitachi isn’t). There was a metal planer with a modified adjustment on a post a few days ago, check it out.