How to Use a Planer in Woodworking

Whether power or not, the planer, or plane, is a valuable tool to have in your woodworking shop. With it, you can create smooth edges with less effort than by using sandpaper. The hand planer shaves off thin curls of wood with a sharp blade; it is good for trimming the edges of boards. Wide boards, up to 10 or 14 inches in width, are most efficiently smoothed with a power planer.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Scrap lumber
• Hand plane
• Power plane

1. Set the lumber up in a vise that will hold it securely, in preparation for using a hand plane. The wood need not be level; in fact, it's best if the far end is slightly higher than the near end.

2. Grasp the hand planer by the knob on the front (the toe end) and the handle or knob on the back (the heel end). Push the planer along the edge of the wood in a smooth motion, keeping the tool even. If you push down too hard with the toe end, the blade with catch and mar the wood.

3. Notice the curls of wood that come up from the blade. They should not be too thick, or else you're removing too much wood at once. You can reset the thickness of your cut by turning the knob above the blade.

4. Set a power planer in place on a workbench or other sturdy support. Adjust the cutting depth as desired; remember that planers work by removing small amounts of wood at a time. A good guideline is to lower the cutting head to the board's surface, remove the board, and lower the head another sixteenth of an inch.

5. Feed the wood into the planer through the intake end, which has rollers to grab the stock and pull it in. Inside the planer, blades will trim a small amount of wood off the entire width of the stock, leaving behind a smooth surface. After it is trimmed, the wood is grabbed by another set of rollers and pushed out of the machine.

Tips & Warnings

• Allow the power planer to draw the wood in at its own pace; do not force the wood through. Turn the wood over and plane from both sides, alternately, to obtain the best possible finish. A variety of hand planes are available to do different jobs, but the jack plane is most common.
• When using a power planer, do not stand in front of the wood as you feed it in. Although planers are equipped with spikes that will grab the stock if it begins to move in the wrong direction, it is much safer to stand aside to prevent accidents. Watch your fingers when feeding the stock into the planer. As you near the end of the piece, use a push stick if necessary.

References

• Surface Planers
• Shop Essentials: Planers

Resources

• Planes and Planers Buying Guide