Gina Eide and Michael Dobsevage
A thickness planer is an essential shop machine to smooth and flatten boards. Learn how to use a benchtop planer at maximum capacity with tips from this comprehensive video. Roland Johnson covers safety, setup, and mechanics. He details how to read wood grain to minimize tearout and shares lessons on avoiding snipe.
Fine Woodworking Recommended Products
Freud Super Dado Saw Blade Set 8" x 5/8" Bore
Leaves a dado with a flat bottom and even performs excellent on plywood and melamine.
- Two 8", 24-tooth blades
- Six chippers; one 3/32" thick
Rockler Dust Right 1250 CFM
The big motor on this collector left the chamber under my jointer very clean. You’ll need help to get this heavy unit onto its bracket, but if you’re looking for a central dust collector that won’t gobble floor space, this may be the unit for you. Strangely, this huge unit comes with the smallest plastic chip bag, but you can replace that with a taller one from Rockler.
Ridgid R4331 Planer
Priced nearly $300 less than the DeWalt 735X, the Ridgid R4331 is an excellent value. Its three-knife cutterhead left wonderfully clean surfaces on plainsawn white oak and white pine. It did not perform nearly as well on curly maple as the 735X, but it created less tearout than all but one of the other machines (the DeWalt 734 was its equal). Knife changes were quick and easy with the provided T-handle wrench. Dust collection was good, assisted by an internal fan. The 2-1/2-in.-dia. port on the outfeed side of the machine is directed to the side, so the hose is out of the way. The planer’s top is flat and provides a good surface for holding stock between passes.
DeWalt 735X Planer
The DeWalt 735X produced two faces perfectly parallel to one another, with surfaces far superior to what the other machines produced, thanks to its two feed speeds. At high speed, the planer works fast and leaves a smooth surface. But the slower, finish speed produces an almost glass-smooth surface. Knife changes are easy, with spacious access to the cutterhead from the top and a gib screw wrench that doubles as a magnetic lift to remove the knives. The 735X also has great dust collection, thanks to an internal blower that helps evacuate chips. The port has a 2-1/2-in.-dia. opening, but has a built-in adapter for 4-in.-dia. hoses. My only complaint is the location of the dust port. It’s on the outfeed side of the machine, and exits straight back. If you don’t pull the hose to the side, it interferes with material as it leaves the machine. The top is large and flat, so it’s a great place to set material in between passes through the machine.
Grizzly G0495X Industrial Helical Cutterhead 8-in. Jointer
Regardless of the board’s grain, this jointer produced excellent results. Its fence was totally flat, worked smoothly, and locked well, staying in place even after jointing multiple edges. Getting the fence to 90° was very easy, but the 90° stop was a little tricky to set and the fence did not go back to square when using it. For those who would use it, there is also a digital depth-of-cut scale.
Comments
Rollie,
Can you address what I have heard referred to as 'chip dent' or 'chip beat'? I think it has to do with chips following the cutterhead around, getting caught under the infeed roller and then being pressed into the board's face. I have the same DeWalt planer you are working with in the video, and with either my cyclone dust collector attached or with the planer's fan blowing the chips out freely, I still get chip dent.
Zolton
Zolton
I had a similar problem, but found that the inlet cowling to the chip blower had an accumulation of resinous chips that were partially blocking the inlet. I cleaned it up and haven't had a problem since.
This video doesn't play. All I have is audio
Excellent video! This is one of the best I've seen so far. Thanks for the great tips and explanations.
I didn't have a planner for many years and I just had to make-do and sand a lot, but now that I have one, its been a huge improvement in my results. BTW, I went for about 2 years without the infeed/outfeed extensions, but now that I have them, I think they are a "must have".
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