Anyone have a hand-held power planer they can 'recommend'?
(EDIT - the question is still valid, and open for discussion; I have just borrowed one and will see what the results are. END EDIT)
2nd EDIT - posted at thebottom of the thread - my initial experience with the HF tool - end EDIT
I have a project to re-use / re-claim some church pew materials (maple I believe); these have a curvy front surface that I want to (mostly) flatten. I have managed with an old door planer (limited to edges) and a hand plane so far. That 'success' was on about 4 feet and I have about 20' more that I'd like to do (eventually, in the short to medium term, doesn't have to be immediate).
These glued up pieces are about 18-19"" wide (can't recall exactly) and have two low valleys and two high edges, with a 'ridge' in between; I need to remove 1/8-1/4" for a 3-4" swath on each edge and about 1/8" through the middle (also 3-4' swath).
Yes I know a large planer could handle this easily, and I have already done one piece that way ( a few years ago; not my planer). That involves a lot more material handling and I am choosing alternate methods now.
So it seems that a combination of a power planer, hand plane, and sanding may be the way to go - but my door planer is limited to about a 2" swath and will not cut 'in the field', only edges.
Seem like (in approx low-high price order) there are current choices of:
<$100: Wen (2 or more models), PC, Craftsman, and Ryobi (all in the $55-75 range); HF has at least one 'Drill master" under $50 + a cordless model Bauer but neither really appeals to me.
<$200: Bosch, DeWalt are in $150-175 or so are are in Lowe's; did not check HD for stock
<$300: Milwaukee at $225 or so, but that's quite frankly more than I want to spend on this for my expected usage.
There may be others, (Festool?) but not at the right value point for me - so out of contention.
Advice? These are not particularly common items on CL.
(EDIT - the question is still valid, and open for discussion; I have just borrowed one and will see what the results are. END EDIT)
2nd EDIT - posted at thebottom of the thread - my initial experience with the HF tool - end EDIT
I have a project to re-use / re-claim some church pew materials (maple I believe); these have a curvy front surface that I want to (mostly) flatten. I have managed with an old door planer (limited to edges) and a hand plane so far. That 'success' was on about 4 feet and I have about 20' more that I'd like to do (eventually, in the short to medium term, doesn't have to be immediate).
These glued up pieces are about 18-19"" wide (can't recall exactly) and have two low valleys and two high edges, with a 'ridge' in between; I need to remove 1/8-1/4" for a 3-4" swath on each edge and about 1/8" through the middle (also 3-4' swath).
Yes I know a large planer could handle this easily, and I have already done one piece that way ( a few years ago; not my planer). That involves a lot more material handling and I am choosing alternate methods now.
So it seems that a combination of a power planer, hand plane, and sanding may be the way to go - but my door planer is limited to about a 2" swath and will not cut 'in the field', only edges.
Seem like (in approx low-high price order) there are current choices of:
<$100: Wen (2 or more models), PC, Craftsman, and Ryobi (all in the $55-75 range); HF has at least one 'Drill master" under $50 + a cordless model Bauer but neither really appeals to me.
<$200: Bosch, DeWalt are in $150-175 or so are are in Lowe's; did not check HD for stock
<$300: Milwaukee at $225 or so, but that's quite frankly more than I want to spend on this for my expected usage.
There may be others, (Festool?) but not at the right value point for me - so out of contention.
Advice? These are not particularly common items on CL.
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