I’m looking to replace my cheap old planer (a Power Devil I bought years ago to edge some doors at my old house) with something more suited to the job. What I need is something reasonably priced and suitable with few or no mods needed. I’ve seen several types but not sure whether they’re any better than what I have already…What are you using? oh and it needs to be available in the UK.
What would be the best tool for the job if cash and location were no object?
Peace!
my vote goes to the hitachi-clark modified planner.
does full cut at just 1\4 turn of the knob.
max depth is about 6mm which is more than twice
of what other planners offer.
and it has that small metal “license plate” -
[ clark foam ] which is kindda cool.
I tried bosch, not modified it’s hell to use and shape with.
tried a really hardcore heavy makita- doesn’t work as well.
also a cheap “hundai” planner… don’t even want to think of it ever again.
hope it helps…
u know the saying:
who pays less- pays more!
a good tool will serve you for a life time
a bad one will make quit shaping.
contact foam-ez the’re great.
You can get one at Seabase UK.
my vote goes to the hitachi-clark modified planner.
does full cut at just 1\4 turn of the knob.
max depth is about 6mm which is more than twice
of what other planners offer.
and it has that small metal “license plate” -
[ clark foam ] which is kindda cool.
I tried bosch, not modified it’s hell to use and shape with.
tried a really hardcore heavy makita- doesn’t work as well.
also a cheap “hundai” planner… don’t even want to think of it ever again.
hope it helps…
Sheesh 6mm depth… I have the Bosch with 2mm cut… with 6mm you eat up a blank in no time! I actually like the Bosch, it’s a half turn to full cut at 2mm so maybe for hobby guys like me it’s not such a bad limitation.
But are you guys using the Hitachiclark with blades or barrels? That strikes me as being a neat option (for EPS, does it cut Balsa wood??)
Cheers all, the hitachi would be nice, but mucho money for the amount of boards I’m doing. Dave is that the bosche with the bevel fence attachment I saw someone using to do rail bands on another thread? That would be cool.
Peace!
I have this one:
There is a fence attachment for it but I think you probably saw the next model:
They are all pretty similar except the bigger one has deeper cut (4mm) and is heavier by about a kg and the motor is more powerful, which is necessary for the deeper cuts.
They also have a neat battery op one…
I’ve got the Bosch… the blue one, but an older model than the one in the pic… Works well, but you have to go slow because it has a single blade barrel. The newer models have double blade barrels, which are nice.
Shop around. Look for a barrel that has two blades, a powerful motor with high rpms, and a deep depth of cut with a smooth-turning knob for adjustment that you can easily twist on the fly. Knobs that ratchet or “click” hard are not ideal.
here in israel a stock bosch\makita\hitachi are about 300$, so paying another 70$ and
getting a hitachi-clark was worth the price.
I use blades and not that legendery “shapers barrel” and it cuts Eps\PU nice and clean no need
for the costly S-barrel.
as for the other planners, I tried some as i posted before and the “clark” has a really different feeling.
i can’t see myself shaping with them, for me it seems imposible.
because of the low cut, it’s not easy to make leveled cuts and go over bumps,
the planer’s front shoe just doesn’t go over them as smooth as it goes in the “clark” planer.
hope it helps u to decide and if someone has a different thought I would like to hear and
understand why i had such a bad experience.
lee
btw-
i’m no a pro either, made 4 boards till now ( 2 hand shaped), and
as i see it, when you have the right tool you enjoy, when you don’t
you cry.
I just called Fiberglass Hawaii and Foam-ez, They both said the clark foam planers are not available any more.
You know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about getting an electric planer… I went back and looked at the “open source swaylocks planer” thread, and there’s a lot of really good ideas there. It would certainly be worth resurrecting with some fresh thought and input.
One question I didn’t see there was, to me anyway, a pretty obvious one… From a usability point of view, what would be the best method of changing depth of cut? Honestly, even though everyone is used to moving a lever back and forth as on the clark hitachi and the skil, is that really the most efficient and sensitive means of adjustment? From my perspective as a power planer newb, it looks like a pain in the butt, with lots of subtle adjustments needing to be made all over the body each time you turn your hand and move your fingers. Why not a bicycle brake lever you squeeze, or a grip you turn perpendicular to the shoe like a motorcycle grip, or a pressure-sensitive switch you grasp between your butt cheeks?
Is turning a knob the best way just because everyone is used to doing it that way?
Just a thought from a guy thinking of modding a planer.
Y’know, that’s actually a pretty good question.
With a ‘stock’ power planer, changing the depth setting on the fly while cutting is pretty much precisely what you don’t want to do, being as they’re made to make wooden things flat. Very, very flat, as flat as they can be made.
Cutting foam is a whole 'nother story. The dust from it ( not shavings, especially not wet sticky oak shavings) isn’t the same issue. You can pretty much cut all the thing will do.
Controlling depth of cut - that’s kinda interesting. If I was going from a blank slate, I’d have to think a while.
See, you are gonna hold the back handle/trigger with your strong hand. Your right, if you’re right-handed and your left if you’re not. Your other hand is up front, on a knob or something. It’s not the one you have the best control with.
So, maybe the controls should be mostly if not all in the rear handle. Say, power on/off done with either a trigger or a thumb button and the depth adjustment with the other one. That lets the front hand - the one you’re less coordinated with, all that has to do is hang into the front and steer. Rather than the strong hand doing little but holding a trigger while the weak one controlling something fairly fine and fairly difficult to do right.
There’s a technical issue here. If the control is too easy to operate, that means the spring the depth-gizmo is operating against is has to be kinda weak. And that in turn means the front ‘shoe’ is gonna tend to bump up and down on its own rather than staying under control.
Also, should the depth adjustment be direct, kinda like picking up or lowering down a thing on a stick. Or should it be the spiral ramp deal that it is on some of the better planes. Or a cam, like it is on my favorite, the Rockwell 653? All of them have good points and bad.
Certain ease of machining issues - the Hitachi screw thread setup is dumb easy, it’s also used on most cheap planers. The spiral ramp isn’t too bad either. The cam is a beeyotch, it kinda needs either good machining or really good casting.
But something else occurred to me - these things don’t have to be all metal, which requires casting, forging, machining, etc. It could be made , at least in part, from wood. At least the working models.
So, gentlemen…and any ladies that may want to play ‘design-a-tool’ - start your saws, planes, chisels and what have ya…
doc…
IMO, having the depth adjustment on the fly at your fingertips is key. A subtle turn of the knob to deepen or lessen your cut is all it takes. With the knob being in your (my) left hand, I can grip it and keep it at the desired depth and not worry about it changing. So yeah, it could possibly be improved on, but right now, simplicity is golden.
Your planer model is influenced by several factors, discussed above. And cost. And how well you shape. And, of course, your ego.
For years I have used a pair of chinese-made Makita knockoffs that I got for 35 bucks each on fleabay. There are, as far as I can determine, identical to the real thing (I’ve held them side by side and even the flashing on the case castings are the same). And the Makita drive belts fit too, which si good since they both dumped their belts within a month of each other, years ago. Screw on-the-fly depth adjustment.
35 bucks. Fleabay. why not. Yeah I have three other planers too…an oldish Craftsman, spiral-blade Rockwell, and something else. But I use these two knockoffs. Nice and light.
You do have to do one thing though, as posted previously: make sure that the front platen is on the same plane as the rear. I had to use some JB Weld to accomplish this. At the same I filed all platen edges round, too. Were I energetic, I’d cut the rear platen short to better cut nose deck rocker, but slanting the planer is enough.
Would they handle production work? I don’t care, I don’t do that.
Currently, the Bosch two-blade is the best one on the market today in my opinion. I’ve repaired Hitachi’s for the local production guys here, and the Bosch is a better designed and constructed tool. There is another thread on modifying the handle and depth control on the Bosch, and several others on Skil alternatives.
Festool makes an interesting planer, with the depth control on a side handle like a motorcycle throttle. Unfortunately, it’s only a single blade and cuts too slow for production guys. Festool is interested in the board shaping market, and came out to a local shop a couple of year’s ago. We told them about the Skil 100 standard which planers are measured against, and they came back later with a two-blade design (angled, not straight). It was a prototype, and the cutting drum wasn’t correctly aligned, so it was sent back to the factory (in Germany). It’s still an open case, and I’m telling this story because there are specialized tool manufacturers who like niche markets like Festool.
Festool makes an interesting planer, with the depth control on a side handle like a motorcycle throttle. Unfortunately, it’s only a single blade and cuts too slow for production guys. Festool is interested in the board shaping market, and came out to a local shop a couple of year’s ago. We told them about the Skil 100 standard which planers are measured against, and they came back later with a two-blade design (angled, not straight). It was a prototype, and the cutting drum wasn’t correctly aligned, so it was sent back to the factory (in Germany). It’s still an open case, and I’m telling this story because there are specialized tool manufacturers who like niche markets like Festool.
That’s great new! If Festool pulls it off I will be the first to buy one. Keep me posted.
My Clark Planner works pretty well. It would be good if Festool makes one closer to the Skill 100 only a bit lighter.
Thanks for the information.
My cordless planer
Fatbaslardass,
Sears has a cheap planer ($69.95 US) that has full depth adjustment with rotation of the depth adjust similar to the Clark Hitachi. It has a click mechanism that is easily disabled. Its not heavy duty but it works great for hobby surfboard shaping. A new shaper here has been using one. Don’t know if there is any version of Sears in the UK.
regards,
Dave D
Hey Joe
how does the hand plane work for you? Sharpening issues? Blade set as per wood?
This would be my prefferred method if it works well.