My old no-name brand planer finally gave in with a broken belt. I will try to source a new belt, however since it’s a noname I dunno if I will be able to find the right drive belt. So I’m looking for some advice on a new planer. I had a look at the cheap green bosch planers (and any other planer I could find in a number of stores here) since there was some discussion some time ago. The green bosch looks nice as it only requires one third of a revolution to open it fully. However the quality of the green bosch is not all that great. I couldn’t find the blue bosch in the stores here, however from pictures it seems like the blue bosch have less max cutting depth and that you need to turn it half a revolution to get to full depth, is this correct? Is it OK to need half a revolution to get to full depth? I would prefer less. I’d also like to have a little more max depth, atleast 3-4mm. Are there any good planers out the that are relatively inexpensive yet easy to modify?
While I’m at it, anyone know anything about old Elu brand planers? Found this on the local equivalent of craigslist http://www.finn.no/finn/torget/tilsalgs/annonse?finnkode=37512511 Looks vaguely similar to the skil100
Well, not really. The skil 100 has been called the gold standard, among planers. Why not hunt one down? Is there a possible problem with the voltage in Europe, and U.S. power tools?
The problem being 220-240. Which can be easily solved with a "step up/down voltage converter transformer. There are lots of them on Ebay priced very reasonably, Also been some good deals on Skils lately as well.
I’ve got a number of stepdown transformers so that should not be a problem. Maybe it’s time to hunt for the real thing…
Dddddddduh. Yeah, its time to get the real thing.
The belt may be a real hunting expedition to find. If there’s other stuff wrong with the planer or if the motor is sounding weak, maybe it’s time to move on.
Never seen the Bosch green planers, only the blue ones. I really like the 1594 (have one), but the single blade PL1682 isn’t so good. Light and easy to use if you loosen the depth control. The Elu planer seems like it’s heavy, and the depth control is on the knob like every other contemporary planer. It does have the handle in the right position. The 1594K goes for about $125 USD, and there is a Euro version of this. Here’s an old photo that was posted here years ago of a modified 1594 (not mine).
