Power Planer and hand tools

I use a planer and TS to dimension, hand planes to smooth for finishing, joint for glue ups, flatten and smooth glue ups. Joinery is sometimes a combination, or all power tools, depends. Hand planes to smooth over mismatched joints, etc after assembly. Use very little sandpaper.

I have a Rigid 13” planer and chose that brand for two reasons. It has a lifetime guarantee and I saw guy using one to make signs at a fair and it had no snipe. Mine is pretty snipe free but not completely on long heavy boards.
I sold my Delta bench top planer because it always had snipe and I could not get away from it. I think it had something to do with the positioning of the drive rollers but not sure. I have used a few DeWalt planers and they are very good machines!!

I take it you don’t have a power jointer. The one thing to remember about a planer is that it cuts to dimension but it does not flatten. You have to first have one side down flat before feeding it through the planer. You can do that with a jointer or a hand plane. Then you get good results on the planed pieces.

You will love that addition to your workshop!!

cheers, Jim

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!! Variety is the Spice of Life!!

Hello mdraft, if you are looking for a great planer, go with the DeWalt 735. What a great machine, I got one about 2 months ago after having one of every kind that is manufactured through the years. No snipe and what a powerhouse, I am well pleased. Check out the reviews part of this forum for other recommendations on the DeWalt. Have fun, make some dust.

I usually use a planer sled to get one side of a board flat. Sometimes a handplane can do it quickly so the board doesn’t rock when going through the planer, just a judgement call.

Just bought the dewalt 734 I like it no snipe. Of course the boards were only 4 feet. cedar couple pieces of oak. rigids life time warranty isn’t what it sounds like none of them are, normal wear n tear is not covered and rigid parts cn be hard toget once the thing is a few years old but hey.

-- "Boy you could get more work done it you quit flapping your pie hole" Grandpa

I’ve got a power jointer and planer but they’re only for roughing things out. I do most of my finish work with hand planes.

-- Trust me I'm an engineer.

The power planer isn’t the only power tool in my shop but if I ever decided to go far more towards the hand tool side of things I think it would be one of the last 3 power tools I owned alongside a lathe and bandsaw and even the lathe there are good human powered options to build/buy. Being able to thickness a board by hand is a good skill to have but it’s hard work and something that shops 150 years ago would give to the junior apprentices. Given that I don’t have a abundance of apprentice labor a power planer is the next best thing.

I view a jointer and planer are time saving tools. Although I do as much work by hand as possible, with only so many hours available per week in the shop, I’m happy to use them. The will do the work in a fraction of the time.

Same thing with my power mortiser, unless I’m only doing 1 or 2, another huge time saver.

I am limited by my 8” jointer, so I flatten wider boards by hand. The little bit I do that is a satisfying experience.

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!

Ditto to all

Machine dimension and hand joinery and smoothing

-- Shooting down the walls of heartache. Bang bang. I am. The warrior.

A jointer is usually bought before getting a planer. But, if you do get the planer first, I highly recommend the Dewalt 735. With 3 blades and two speeds, it gives a smooth surface and minimal snipe.

Often I need to thickness rough wood that’s too wide for the jointer. For that, I’ll use hand planes to partially flatten one side (the easiest one to flatten), then run it through the planer with semi-flattened side down. If done carefully, it works pretty well.

And I wholeheartedly agree with rwe2156.