I had planned to post this under the “Industry talk” section but, given it is of concern for the garage shapers as much as for the pros, here it is; if anybody wants to move it somewhere else, so be it.
This adresses european, UK and south african shapers: Pete Casica gave me the exclusive distribution of his modified planer for these countries. I already have a few modified planers available and also a few modifications kits (for those who already own a Makita KP0810 and wish to modify it themselves).
A specially dedicated website will be on line soon but right now you may contact me here through PM for any details.
Mine seems to work fine although I do not use the rubber adapter that Pete provides in his kit since the elbow itself fits my vacuum hose all right; but Pete tells me that US hoses have a smaller diameter; I don’t know if there is a relation. Also, my vacuum is quite powerful (2200 Watts) so maybe this has an influence, too.
Thanks for putting this up Balsa. Pete sent me a kit to try out. Most guys here can do it. But it’s not for the un-mechanical.
It’s a pretty powerful (7 1/2+ amp) short base tool. Pete’s mods make it a real pleasure to use. Heresy I know but this is the planer you grab when you otherwise think you need a 7.5 amp Skil.
I’m having some trouble comparing because you express power in Amps whereas we (in Europe, at least) express it in Watts. This planer (Makita Kp0810) is 800 Watts in 230 V but there is a more powerful version (which I own) and which is 1050 Watts for 230 V; this one is called KP0810C and it is exactly the same model except for the more powerful motor. Unfortunately, this more powerful model runs a bit slower than its brother and therefore tends to tear foam. But it is great for balsa wood. Which one is yours?
The simple form to express this is: Watts = Volts x Amps. However, this is not an algebraic equation since volts and amps cannot be separated in the simple form, so unless you know the amps you cannot solve for watts. The US Makita KP0810 is 7.5 amps @ 110 volts = 825 watts. The only way to directly compare the power in amps would be to actually measure the current of the other tools since it can’t be calculated. The reason is that watts are a measurement of electrical or mechanical power but amps are just the electrical current rating of the device. We can compare them in terms of horsepower though: 800 W = 1.07 HP, 825 W= 1.10 HP, 1050 W = 1.40 HP. Compared to the approx. 800 W versions, the 1050 W has about 21% more power. However for shaping it is critical that the RPM is the same in all comparisons.
