Electric Hand Plane

[tdukes]

As Croc Dundee said: "Now this is a hand planer" https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/KP312

[video=youtube;05skwtveTnE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05skwtveTnE[/video]

OMG!!!!! That's a beast!!

 

[bob vaughan]

Years back a friend had me work on a Mafell brand hand planer. I was in awe when I first saw it. In the years since, I've learned that these hand planers are as common to a timber framer as a hand router would be to a cabinetmaker. Shown below is my Stanley electric hand plane beside the 12" wide Mafell.

 

[Phillip Mitchell]

I'm a timber framer by trade and have used many a power planer for many a task. It seems that many of you just aren't that experienced with using them and how versatile they can be. Expecting a finished surface on anything more refined than a timber frame is probably expecting too much, but for quick material removal, there's nothing quite like it.

My personal favorites are the Makita KP312 (shown above in a video.) You can surface 12x wide timber with this planer, which is a huge benefit in timber framing. I also like the 6" Makita for 6x or less sized material.

The Festool 850 is also a fantastic planer that has a spiral cutter head and can be used as a rabbet plane, which is unique to other planers to my knowledge. I would buy one for myself if they weren't $680...

Mafell is in a category of tools at the very top of the heap. I haven't had the pleasure of using a Mafell planer, but have put lots of time on a mortiser, portable bandsaw, and drill guide in timber frame applications and they are the best tools for the job that money can buy. If I were starting my own timber framing or similar business, I would strongly consider buying as many Mafell tools as I could because they are that much more efficient, well made, and amazing to use.
_

 

[Pop Golden]

I don't own a portable plane. 1 - I don't need one, 2 - I don't want to spend the money for what little use I would get from it, 3 - I'm scared of these things. I've been told many times they were a finger eater. I have a shop full of cutting machines RAS and all. I can just see me absent minded reaching under the fool thing with it running.

Pop :no:

 

[Gotcha6]

I don't own a portable plane. 1 - I don't need one, 2 - I don't want to spend the money for what little use I would get from it, 3 - I'm scared of these things. I've been told many times they were a finger eater. I have a shop full of cutting machines RAS and all. I can just see me absent minded reaching under the fool thing with it running.

Pop :no:

Good for you. :icon_thum
A man's got to know his limitations........
I think Mike Davis said it best in another thread, "Will it satisfy 90% of what I need it for?"
I have too many tools now that are just something to dust off occasionally.
But if you DO need it.........

 

[Hmerkle]

Bought mine primarily for flattening pieces of log to attach a faceplate to mount on a lathe. My friend Knud Oland showed me the trick long ago and it works well. I've also used it to trim the bottom of a door after carpeting or new flooring goes down and when hanging a new door. Very loud and messy is an understatement, but quick and effective.

GEEZ!
Just name drop that "My Friend Knud Oland!"
First it is REALLY cool you know him - second, that you are close enough to call him a friend!

 

[ehpoole]

I see these used from time to time, cheap. Any recommendation on which brand or model to be on the lookout for?

TIA

My preference was a Makita as I found the build quality more to my liking than most of the other usual suspects, but YMMV!

 

[tri4sale]

My preference was a Makita as I found the build quality more to my liking than most of the other usual suspects, but YMMV!

I bought the Makita KP0800 Kit off Amazon (bought kit for the storage case) to rehab a house that had a ton of doors we had to scrape 80 years of paint off the sides so they'd close. It was a lot faster to use this then hand plane or sand. Practice before you use them, when you get to the end of board planing it's easy to push down and make an uneven cut.... just saying, I think it is, it's not like I did that or anything on my first pass....

 

[tdukes]

After watching this guy making custom recurved bows, guess I have a new appreciation for an electric hand plane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkmMTQ5Hbyw&t=605s

 

[Joe Scharle]

I have an older (20+years) 3" DeWalt and it has a DC port and a rabbet fence. Dust collection is OK when the work is wider than the blades and the rabbet fence is only adequate. As previously mentioned, it will take a divot if I fail to put all my weight on the backside prior to coming off the work.

 

[tandemsforus]

O'k
Here's a story Don't let the wife or kids read this
I had several hundred Board Feet of sawmill cut green white pine beams that needed planed. The wood was heavy cut 6x12 and 6x8.
rough cut wood, all 14-16 ft long. Wood started out at maybe 3/16 extra thickness the planer to remove.

I removed the bottom plate off my Dewalt 735 planer leaving the adjusting acme screws on. I would put the planer on the wood, put a 45 lb weight on the top of the planer and turn that babe on. The cutter blades still wouldn't meet the wood so I would lean down and lay my ample weight to the mix. That worked. The planer would roll over the wood at low cut speed, planer blades doing their thing
It worked great. Instead of wood going through the planer, the planer would roll over the top of the wood cutting. Once I figgured out how much weight to apply, it would roll over the wood making very nice cuts removing saw marks from the mill.It would take a couple passes to get the wood down to a smooth finish. I Left plenty of room for snipe but I was surprised how well it worked. I planed a timber frame porch using this method. Once finished I put the planer back together and been using it for 5 years afterwords with no ill effects.

Thus I had a 13 1/2 inch 75 lb powered hand plane...

 

[tdukes]

o'k
here's a story don't let the wife or kids read this
i had several hundred board feet of sawmill cut green white pine beams that needed planed. The wood was heavy cut 6x12 and 6x8.
Rough cut wood, all 14-16 ft long. Wood started out at maybe 3/16 extra thickness the planer to remove.

I removed the bottom plate off my dewalt 735 planer leaving the adjusting acme screws on. I would put the planer on the wood, put a 45 lb weight on the top of the planer and turn that babe on. The cutter blades still wouldn't meet the wood so i would lean down and lay my ample weight to the mix. That worked. The planer would roll over the wood at low cut speed, planer blades doing their thing
it worked great. Instead of wood going through the planer, the planer would roll over the top of the wood cutting. Once i figgured out how much weight to apply, it would roll over the wood making very nice cuts removing saw marks from the mill.it would take a couple passes to get the wood down to a smooth finish. I left plenty of room for snipe but i was surprised how well it worked. I planed a timber frame porch using this method. Once finished i put the planer back together and been using it for 5 years afterwords with no ill effects.

Thus i had a 13 1/2 inch 75 lb powered hand plane...

wow!!