Hand held power planer

[Jerome Stanek]

I have an old Stanley router head with the plane attachment and spiral head. I looks like the old PC that I used in the 70's I have planed down hundreds of hospital doors with it.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Sparked by this thread, I looked at some of the hand-held planers mentioned here. It seems most of them don't have a fence. My heavy, all metal, PC has a full-length fence that is integral to the design. How do those that don't have a fence even work ? How do you keep it square on the edge ?

[Jerome Stanek]

Sparked by this thread, I looked at some of the hand-held planers mentioned here. It seems most of them don't have a fence. My heavy, all metal, PC has a full-length fence that is integral to the design. How do those that don't have a fence even work ? How do you keep it square on the edge ?

My Stanley has a fence and looks just like the PC that I used.

[Steve Jenkins]

My Festool I had to buy the fence separately. It’s worth it

[Tim Bueler]

Sparked by this thread, I looked at some of the hand-held planers mentioned here. It seems most of them don't have a fence. My heavy, all metal, PC has a full-length fence that is integral to the design. How do those that don't have a fence even work ? How do you keep it square on the edge ?

All my Makita's came with a rudimentary fence. The second one I had got stolen from a job site including the upgraded, full length, fully adjustable fence that was available from Makita at the time. That was 15, maybe 20 yrs ago, don't know if it's still available. The one I have today I have shimmed for door edge beveling which, to me is not a precision operation, but then, a hand held power planer is not a precision machine. Good technique goes a long way but there are better tools and methods where a high amount of precision is required.

If you have the old PC planer I'm thinking of it was purpose built for door edge work. It came in a kit and was a very nice machine but way overkill for what I needed at that stage of my career. It would have been shameful to treat that machine like I have my Makita's over the years.

[Mark W Pugh]

So, what did you get, and are you satisfied?

So, for all other inputs, any reviews of the new products?

[Bob Michaels1]

Haven't bought one yet but should. I suspect it will be the Festool even though the price of admission may defy logic for a seldom used tool.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

What make and model would you recommend for a hand held power planer in the 3 1/4" range for planing door edges and the like. I have a 20" PM for the shop but thought this may come in handy for job sites as well as the shop. I would only use it occasionally. I have a 40 year old Rockwell 167A that is downright dangerous to use because of the way you are forced to hold it. Thanks.

I have a Makita one. I believe the model number is 1700 but I am not sure... bought on the end of 1980s. Actually it is my oldest power tool in use.

I had just to change the blades once as they are double edged so each one doubles the life span.

If I had to purchase another one, certainly I would go to Makita again.

[Tom M King]

My 6-1/4" has a fence, but I've never used it. I've never thought about needing a fence on the 3-1/4's.

[Phil Mueller]

You may want to check out this YouTube video by Louis, who uses them constantly. The review starts at about 2:30.

https://youtu.be/_a1HCqK5i-A

[Bradley Gray]

After seeing Louis use the Ryobi in his boat building videos I bought one, and while I don't use it often, it is great for fitting doors and cabinets.

I found a slightly used one on ebay for $40 - well worth it.

[Jim Becker]

Haven't bought one yet but should. I suspect it will be the Festool even though the price of admission may defy logic for a seldom used tool.

I played with the Festool version a number of years ago when Bob Marino came for a visit...well designed tool including the knife setup. Not inexpensive for sure, but...for someone who needs the utility and wants something that's versatile beyond straight knives, it's worthy of consideration.

[Bob Michaels1]

Thanks Osvaldo. Good to know.

[Phillip Mitchell]

One really handy thing about the Festool is that you can remove the guard on the side of the cutterhead and use as a rabbeting plane across the width of the entire cutterhead.

I find this very useful in certain situations (mostly tweaking big joinery in timber framing quickly on site, when you need to move faster than hand tools) but plenty of other situations as well. Some other power planers can rabbet up to a certain small width, but I haven't seen another that can rabbet the entire width like the Festool. The quality of the cut in tear out prone woods is quite good with the Festool as well.

All that said, it is nearly $700, but I've got enough seat time on them to know that when you need it in a professional / specialized setting then it's totally worth it.