Woodworker's Journal 2008-32-2, страница 61
By Chris Marshall ■ ■kbkI Eh woodworking is only a casual hobby, ; or if you rarely have trouble fitting '•vide lumber through your benchtop planer, flip to the next story. This tool review is not for you. On the other hand, maybe your woodworking "hobby" is starting to turn a profit. You might be dabbling in the craft show marketplace or finding yourself building more cabinets, bookcases, built-ins and commissioned furniture these days. If the shop lights are on more than ever — especially if you're taking orders — then sooner or later you'll want machinery that will suit your budding business. That's when an industrial, 15"-capacity thickness planer isn't just a fanciful dream tool ... it's an investment in the future. I use a benchtop planer, just like many of you do, so I jumped at the chance to round up six of these workhorses and see how they compared to my machine. For a planing test, I set them loose on 4' lengths of 5/4 poplar, glued up into 14"-wide boards. I limited cutting depth to 1/16" and measured snipe on both board ends following each pass; then I calculated an average after making a dozen passes. Once the test boards were turned into hamster bedding, I took a closer iook at each machine's features. At the end of a couple of days of testing — well, actually more like kid-in-a-candy-store revelry — I've decided I'm going retire my benchtop model and invest in a bigger planer. Here's what I learned about these tough-as-nails board munchers. Snipe is a Reality, but Let's be Real First off, let's clear the air about snipe. Snipe, or a planer's tendency to cut more deeply on the ends of boards when only one feed roller is in contact with the wood, is typical with power planing. Every one of these test planers left some degree of "scoop" on the ends of boards. You'll see in the specs accompanying each tool that snipe averaged from an incredibly low .0006" with the Steel City planer to between .002" and .003" for the rest. Keep in mind, however, that we're splitting hairs here ... literally. A sheet of office paper is around .003" thick. The worst case of the snipe I measured was .006" — enough to see and feel, but definitely still repairable by scraping or sanding. With some fine-tuning, I expect all six planers could be improved beyond their factory settings to reduce snipe even more. A little snipe isn't worth much hullabaloo. Craftsman Professional 21702 Craftsman's 21702 planer is affordably priced, yet it comes nicely equipped. Its two-speed gearbox provides a 25 foot-per-minute (FPM) setting for quicker "dimensional" planing as well as a 16 FPM "finish" setting. The cast-iron support tables create an overall bed length of 42", and it will plane thicker material than other test units, up to a full eight inches. Craftsman outfits this planer with a digital depth gauge, which can be calibrated to display overall stock thickness, the relative stock you will remove on the next pass or both. If you prefer decimal accuracy, you'll love this kind of control. The planer powers down with an oversized kill button, and the switch locks off with keys — both good safety measures. I wish it were mounted topside instead of on the base, where it would be easier to reach in an emergency. During the planing test, I noticed milling marks at both speed settings, and the conventional straight knives seemed to scrape the wood surface, which left it rougher than I would like. Still, it was Tool Review continues on page 64 ... ■ ■ill Woodworker's Journal April 2008 63 |
