Last Updated on December 27, 2022 by Stewart
Choosing a planer can be the make or break for the job at hand. There are a lot of these available on the market, with various price points, features and quality.
They are an essential tool for many joinery tasks, including trimming (planing doors). Due to the ever increasing prices of wood, and the cost to replace items should you choose a poor planer to carry out the task, I would always recommend spending that little bit extra on a high quality electric planer. Otherwise, the money you’re saving by doing a DIY project could cost you dearly in the long run by having to get a new door etc.
Last update on 2023-12-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Black and Decker 750w Rebating Planer
After buying my new house and having to get flooring installed, the cost from the flooring company to plane the doors was coming to over £600 for 7 doors. This worked out at a staggering £85 per door. With that in mind, I decided I would try this planer instead of paying their fees.
I chose this because of the high quality associated with the brand, as well as the fact that the increments for this go up in 0.2mm stages. For those that know how much they want to take off right away, it can be set to the maximum cutting depth of 2mm.
However, since I was doing this on my doors, I wanted to take my time with it, even after practising on a lot of different cuts of wood.
What I really like about it is that it comes in an extremely sturdy storage case, meaning that it can be stored safely. Unlike some other brands as well, it also has a bag included to collect the dust on it. Some brands don’t include that, and it’s an optional extra (which is a bit annoying). You can also hook it up to your vacuum cleaner to extract it that way, but I’d make sure it’s a shop vac instead of your trusty Dyson.
The cutting performance on it is excellent, and I also really liked how there was a fence guard on it that really made the cutting as smooth and as easy as possible. Whilst I didn’t use it for planing the doors, there is a chamfer grove on it as well. I tried using the grove on an old scrap of wood and it left a great finish. As a nice addition, there’s also a rebating option on it as well. It’s not particularly deep (it goes down to 12mm), but it’s a help if you need to do work to that depth, without paying extra for a separate tool.
- Robust and powerful 750 W motor
Last update on 2023-12-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Bosch Professional GHO26-82D Planer
A bit more expensive is the Bosch Professional GHO26-82D. At the time of writing, this is double the price of the Black and Decker, and I would say that whilst it is an excellent planer, it’s really more suited to those that will be doing a lot of DIY work, or perhaps for those that are doing handyman work for others.
As is the case with the Black and Decker, the Bosch Professional also contains a dust bag to collect the saw dust, and it also has an extremely heavy duty case as well. The overall build of the Bosch Professional is nothing short of amazing. It’s a very sturdy planer, but it’s not unwieldy or excessively heavy.
Whilst it’s a bit less powerful (by 40w) than the Black and Decker, it has a larger overall cutting depth of 2.6mm in one pass. Moreover, this can be adjusted in increments of 0.1mm, making it perfect for those more intricate tasks that only require a small adjustment to them. It can rebate as well, but this is down to a depth of 9mm.
There is also a grove in the middle making it perfect for smooth out edges. I tried this on old, weathered wood as well as on brand new wood and in both instances, the finish really was great. Yes, it is double the price of the other planer mentioned here, but as mentioned, if you’re going to be using this regularly for businesses, then this is the option I would go for. It’s been tailored for long term, continuous use so it’s definitely worth the investment if that’s your overall aim as opposed to a planer that will just be used now and again.
For those that want a high quality, frequently used planner at a lower price point, this is the option for you.
- The GHO 26-82 D Professional corded planer offers universal wood planing performance.
Last update on 2023-12-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Makita KP0810K Planer
My last pick is from Makita. Makita is a well known brand in DIY circles for their excellent build quality and also after sales when things do go wrong. That reminds me that the warranty for this is 3 years, as long as you let Makita known that you’ve bought it within 30 days of the purchase.
I’ll be honest and say that this is the most expensive item on this list (nearly three times the price of the Black and Decker), but it’s features to add up to the price.
First off, upon unpacking it what I noticed right away was the build quality. All three of these have excellent build quality, but I would say that the Makita feels the sturdiest overall.
Also, despite Amazon not showing it in the photos, there is a dust back included in it, so you don’t need to fork out extra money for that. They do mention it in the description, as well as saying the item is LARGE (which did make me laugh). After unboxing it, it is a large planer, but the difference in size between this and the other two is negligible.
The first difference though is that this uses two blades in tandem to complete the cut in a shorter time frame. The blades are easy to swap out, but it should mean that you won’t blunt the blades as quickly.
The next thing is the cutting depth. This has a whopping depth of 4mm in one pass. That’s really considerable, and for those that know what they’re doing with these, it’ll make quick work of the task in hand. For peace of mind, you can increase the increments by 0.1mm each time.
There is also a rebating attachment included as well. Again, this is another area where the Makita shines. The maximum rebate depth is 23mm which is the largest on this list.
I was really impressed with the quality of the cut, and the overall performance of the Makita planer was first class. It was a joy to use and really did well on a variety of different quality woods. It also has three different groves in the base plate making it easier to chamfer to the desired width.
Yes it’s expensive, but if you need a sturdy unit with a three year warranty that can carry out the task to these depths mentioned, it’s the one for you. I was really happy using it, and have no issues recommending it.
- Planes up to 82mm wide and 4mm deep in a single pass
Last update on 2023-12-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.