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What to Look For in a Wood Planer
These are what experienced woodworkers say are important to check when you look at different wood planers:
- Machine accuracy
- Ease of setting knives accurately
- Cutter presets
- Ability to collect dust
In addition there are many features available depending on the type you choose and how much money you want to spend.’
A great benchtop planer is worth its weight in gold for a proficient woodworker. In this infographic, we’ll be going in-depth and reviewing some of the finest wood planers from the different kind/category of planers we mentioned about above.
Important Planer Features
To choose the best planer for your needs, you need to know what to look for. Here is an overview of the features that are available on the most popular models.
Measuring space
You need to know how much space you have in your work area before you buy a planer. When you now exactly the area dimensions, you should add in an allowance for how far out the wood will extend when you are working on it, at both sides of the planer. And remember to include room for you to walk around.
Thickness size
Most planers have a maximum thickness they can handle. For example, if you are working with large blocks of rough wood, which needs a great deal of wood taken off, you will probably need a planer that can handle industrial thickness.
For many projects, a hand planer is fine. Their maximum thickness is about six inches, though you can buy them with greater thickness capacity.
The way most planers are constructed, they have depth stops, also called pre-sets, which let you set the desired width easily. These are usually set to one-, two- and four-inch sizes. This makes work easier and quicker because the measuring is already done. Setting the measure for a custom cut can be time consuming.
Width size
This measure means the maximum width the planer or jointer is made to cut properly. Home planers usually have a width capacity of 12 to 20 inches.
It is important to be aware of the capacity of the tool you decide to buy. It needs to be able to handle the projects that you want to work on.
