Popular Woodworking 2001-10 № 124, страница 60

thicknessplaners

You can't buy too much raw power when choosing a planer.

The biggest mistake people make when buying a thickness planer is that they don't buy the other machine you need to make the planer work properly, and that's the jointer. These two machines work together to turn rough stock (or even dressed stock) into usable parts.

You can get by with just a planer, but be advised that you'll need to shim the high spots under each board during planing. Why's that? The feed rollers on a planer will press warped wood flat during planing. Once the board leaves the planer, it will spring back to its original bow. The other way to get by without a jointer is to use a hand plane to flatten one side of each board before planing.

You basically have two choices

when buying a planer. Benchtop models are getting better and cheaper all the time, but they aren't for heavy-duty all-day use. Induction-motor stationary planers with cast-iron beds and serrated infeed rollers are built for that job, but you're going to pay $800 or more for one of these. So check your wallet, think about your woodworking and figure out which machine is for you.

Benchtop Planers

We've tested every benchtop planer on the market, and after using them for several months we concluded they are less reliable and less gutsy than floor-model planers. When it comes to the quality of the cut, however, benchtop models hold their own

SHOPPING GUIDELINES

for planers

• If you're buying a benchtop model, get the beefiest motor you can afford.

• One critical difference with all planers is the ease of changing the knives. At the least, buy a machine with springs or jackscrews.

• On stationary planers, insist on a machine with serrated metal infeed rollers, which are more durable than rubber infeed rollers.

• Don't worry about the accuracy of the depth-of-cut indicator — they are all designed to just get you in the ball park.

• Two-speed stationary machines are valuable when surfacing figured woods.

The Jet JPM-13 is a 13" planer that is capable of cutting all sorts of mouldings. If you want to make your own trim that would be impossible to make (or nearly so) using a router, look into buying a planer/moulder.

when compared to the big boys. And they are generally easier to set up and maintain. Most woodworkers will do fine with one of these benchtop machines — as long as they don't ask too much of them.

For us, the most important factor when buying a benchtop model is the motor. We tested the efficiency of the motors to see how much they would bog down in a cut and how much more amperage they would need to maintain their speed. The results are available on the chart on the following pages.

All planers have a tendency to "snipe" a board. Snipe is when the first and last two or three inches of a board gets cut deeper than the rest of the board. You can adjust your machine to remove most of the snipe in normal planing operations, but you'll never be free of it entirely. Benchtop machines tend to snipe more than stationary ones.

However, these portables do have some real advantages. The blades are generally easier to change than those in stationary machines. The machines can be stored under a bench when not in use, and the price is reasonable for the home woodworker.

When shopping, check out how easy it is to adjust the infeed and out-feed tables. These reduce snipe. Check how easy it is to change the blades. This varies from unbelievably simple to a task requiring three hands. Look for portable models that come with two-sided disposable blades that will give you twice the life of single-edge blades. Also see if you can adjust the blades side-to-side slightly so you can cancel out any nicks in your blades.

Cutterhead locks are another feature that're appearing on portable

10 Popular Woodworking October 2001