How to choose an electric planer - tips on choosing an electrical planer

The manual planer is one of the most ancient carpentry tools. Today, he is still in service, although his electrical successor is becoming increasingly popular due to its performance. However, not only in the performance of the case, choosing a plane, it is necessary to take into account its other features.

What tasks can

do What can such a plane do?

• Plan wooden parts.
• Carry out the fit to the desired size.
• Edge beveling.
• In the tree, select a groove (quarter).

The presence in the kit of additional nozzles and other cutting tools make the electroplanes multifunctional and easy to use.

About the principle of operation of the electric planer

To choose exactly what you need, you need to know how this technique functions.

Principle of operation of the electroplane

As for the principle of operation, everything is simple: the electric motor rotates through a belt drive knife drum, which can reach speeds of up to 19,000 rpm. This drum is set so that the rear sole (fixed) plane is flush with it, and the front (adjustable) base can set the cut depth in the wooden blank. That's the whole complexity.

Electroplaning device

Tool selection criteria: design features, electronics, functionality

When choosing a particular model, the question will certainly arise: which electric planer is better - professional or household?

It is important to know that a domestic appliance has a lower cost, but also a limited resource. Although if you only need 2-3 times during the year to trim, trim and nothing more, is it worth taking a professional device? Most likely, there is no sense to overpay.

In professional models, the resource and time of continuous work are more significant. It should be noted, and functional, which inspires respect for these devices.

Now specifically about what you should pay attention to when buying:

• Sole. You need to take a closer look at this part of the electroplane. It consists of two halves, about which it has already been written: the front - fixed, and the rear, which is adjustable, that is, mobile. The ideal state is when the drum with the knives and the hem of both soles are in one line. From this in the future depends on how accurately and how clean this plane will remove the specified thickness of the layer of wood from the workpiece. Especially it is necessary to check how accurately the edges of the drum knives coincide with the back sole, since setting the installed knives is quite troublesome. What is the sole made of? For example, a combined version is often found among household models: in the front is an alloy, in the back is steel. Ideal if the bottom platform (sole) is solid. However, this is an optional requirement.

Knife Types

• Knives. There are disposable, and there are reusable. Disposable - this equipment, sharpened on both sides. This is done so that the knife itself can be turned over if one of its sides becomes blunt. These knives are made of high-speed steel (fast cut). Reusable have such name because of the prospect of their regrinding. As a rule, it is tool steel. Most often, this type of knives is used in large planing width apparatuses. There is also a rustic and spiral type of knives. A rustic knife gives the tree a coarse treatment, creating a hand-hewn wood effect. Such knives are used for decorative purposes. It is easy and convenient to work with spiral knives. They are used to remove the errors arising from the processing of the tree. This type of knives does not need to be adjusted.

Installing the knife

• Electronics. Not all electric planers have a soft start system when the knife drum spins up at an increasing speed. Such a smooth start-up reduces the load on the network and reduces the wear of the planer parts, reduces the likelihood that the tool will vomit when it starts. There must be a power control system. If you planing wood with a plane, where there are a lot of knots, the system automatically increases the drum speed in those places where the plane finds knives on the seals in the tree, which means that the device will not jam. The device must be equipped with an electrodynamic brake. This is a protection that in an emergency can instantly stop the drum.
• Adjustment. It is convenient when it is possible to adjust the depth of the cut, for example, if it is necessary in some places to remove a different layer from the surface of the part. As such a regulator is the front handle of the device. Such control mechanisms are usually quite tight. This is intentionally designed to avoid accidental changes in the depth of planing.There are two types of the regulator mechanism: spring and inclined. With the spring mechanism, part of the sole just moves up and down. When tilted, it moves along the guides: forward and backward - along the sloping one. The step of moving the bottom carriage is 0.1 mm.

Adjusting the depth of cut

• Availability of protection. Thanks to the spring-loaded mechanism, the support heel or the special casing will help to avoid accidental contact of the rotating knives with any surface at the moment when the turned-off plane is simply necessary to put aside. There are models where there is no such protection. Pay attention to this.

Protection device

• The chip outlet is often one-sided (as rule, right). But there are adjustable. If it is convenient for the release of waste material to the left, then you just need to muffle the right nozzle. You can do the opposite.
• Planing width. It can be 82, 102 or 110 mm. It all depends on what tasks this apparatus will have to perform and how often. It is also worth considering the size of the treated wood. If these are wide boards, then it is better to take a car with a powerful engine: 850-1100 watts. If there is a need, then such a plane can be installed permanently, thus turning it into a mini-jointing machine.

Electric Planer with Stand

• Availability of special accessories. There should be stops in the kit - special guides, which, firstly, allow you to guide the plane during planing as accurately as possible (parallel), secondly, to process wood at a 45º angle and, thirdly, to adjust the depth of planing (vertical).

Of course, the electric plane can be attributed to tools that do not have much distribution among home craftsmen. A plane is, for the most part, a highly specialized tool that can only plane and no more. And yet, if you have decided to purchase an electric planer, then let it be a really necessary tool.

Also read:

• Choosing a tile cutter.
• Inverter welding machine selection.
• Select a punch.
• Which drill is better.
• Tips for choosing a concrete mixer.

Video: review of electric planers