Hand Electric Planer

[Bill George]

I've got it narrowed down to a couple and this would not be used hardly at all. The Bosch planer PL1632 seems to be fine, Except for this confusing statement in the description "ELECTRONICALLY COUNTERBALANCED SINGLE-BLADE DESIGN SYSTEM
Automatically positions blade at ideal cutting angle; reduces drag, enabling faster operation and smooth cutting."
What are they saying???

I might go with a new or used one or a new Preformax

[Jimmy Harris]

I have no idea. Maybe it's a counterweight inside the drum that moves with the blade, so when you dial in a different depth, it keeps the drum balanced.

Though, are you sure this is what you want? They're pretty aggressive and hard to control tools, and generally only used by construction workers where speed matters and finish does not, because the surface your working will be hidden (like the bottom of a door behind a door sweep or studs behind drywall). If it is, cool. But I just want you to know it's not really in the same category as a thickness planer or hand plane, even if it looks like a combination between the two.

[Bill Dufour]

I think they mean the cutterhead with blade was balanced at the factory by a machine.
Bill D

[Cameron Wood]

It means that there is a single blade + words to make it sound like that is a good thing.

I had an earlier version of that tool. It was OK but did not last long- I think about a year. Another in a rather long list of Bosch tools that I have owned that performed poorly, leading to my recommendation: avoid Bosch.

IME, these are semi-disposable tools, & the brand doesn't matter much. Being able to direct the chip ejection L/R is a big plus. I've settled on these as a good value:

https://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-...54&sr=1-1&th=1

I also have the top end Makita one which has some plusses, but really is no better than the others. Also have some larger planers, which have the same basic mechanism, but are much higher quality machines.

[Kevin Jenness]

Lightweight handheld planers are great for scribing and roughly leveling surfaces too wide for one's jointer. The twin blade Bosch buzzers I have used worked fine once the blade height was adjusted correctly. They have good dust collection to either side.

[Warren Lake]

makita 1100 still working as new even if had a hard life. 11 lbs, really good quality.

Got a Matika battery powered for when I rebuilt my roof just to make things line up nicer before the new facia went on. Fast simple and easy and light.

[William Hodge]

The old Porter Cable Model 126 power planes were a pleasure to use when hanging doors. The are selling for $150-$200 on Ebay. The spiral cutters were great for not tearing out. The cutters are going for $50- $75. The one thing the 126 didn't do was anything wider than the cutter. The motor hangs down below the cutter.

The Makita power plane I have has poor dust collection. The port is rectangular. Otherwise, a good power plane.

The Bosch power planes are good on dust collection. I use a 2 blade one for beveling doors. I also have a beater Bosch for cleaning wood with sand on it, saves the jointer knives.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

My old blue Ryobi is still going strong after over 30 years. The blades for it are obsolete and I doubt I can get another sharpening out of either of the old sets. This reminds me to visit eBay and continue the hunt for some NOS blades. I had decided to replace the Ryobi with a Makita but am having second thoughts because the ones with the carbide cutter inserts look very convenient. I can't find anything on the web that explains the self adjusting, electronically balanced, single cutter that the new Bosch has. The RPMs on that one are very fast.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have a GMC that I picked up on closeout nearly 20 years ago.
It works. It also can do more damage quicker than a 12 ga. with high brass #5s.
Make sure that your cord has plenty of slack in it and there isn't anything for it to catch on.

I might go with a new or used one or a new Preformax

You mean the Menards bargain brand?
IMHE - that junk has been worse than anything Harbor Freight or 1960s Hong Kong ever dreamed about putting on a shelf.
I'm by no means a snob buyer - I'll even load up on Temu stuff - but - that garbage from Menards is one thing I have learned to never buy.

[William Hodge]

Make sure that your cord has plenty of slack in it and there isn't anything for it to catch on.

Power plane cutters are very effective if you decide to just cut the power cord.

[Cameron Wood]

I've got it narrowed down to a couple and this would not be used hardly at all. The Bosch planer PL1632 seems to be fine, Except for this confusing statement in the description "ELECTRONICALLY COUNTERBALANCED SINGLE-BLADE DESIGN SYSTEM
Automatically positions blade at ideal cutting angle; reduces drag, enabling faster operation and smooth cutting."
What are they saying???

I might go with a new or used one or a new Preformax

All cutterheads automatically position the blade at the ideal cutting angle. This is like marketing a car by saying "specially designed so that the rear wheels aim in the ideal forward direction"


IME, one of the best uses is to remove paint or surface crud from reused or salvaged lumber, hooking up the dust port to a vacuum to contain the chips. The carbide knives are not precious, so if metal is hit it's not too bad. The foot soldier of woodworking tools.

[Warren Lake]

never used it with dust collection the work got done. They make adapters to go from the makita shape to round hose.

[Jim Becker]

The only one I've ever used is the Festool when I had it to "test drive" from Bob Marino a very long time ago. Impressive tools for what they are designed to do. I think there is limited application in "fine woodworking", but there is always a use case. I do agree that something that can provide dust collection is very desirable...these things make a mess!

[Cameron Wood]

never used it with dust collection the work got done. They make adapters to go from the makita shape to round hose.

Clean shavings are fine, lead paint- not good to spread around...

[Rich Engelhardt]

Power plane cutters are very effective if you decide to just cut the power cord.

In my case, the cord hung up on a corner of a door I was doing and dragged the planer sideways across the face of the door and chewing the daylights out of it.
Up until that point, it had been doing a great job of just skim cutting a very fine thin layer off the front of the painted flat panel doors.
I had done about a half dozen before that bloop