How to Operate a Planer
A planer is considered by most woodworkers not only easy to operate, but also to be one of the most indispensable tools for furniture making in the wood shop. It has one job and one job only. That is to plane the flat side of either rough wood or milled boards down to a specified size. The use of a planer eliminates the need to join boards together and either hand plane or sands them to uniform size. Using a planer is also much more accurate than attempting to do the job by hand.
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Instructions
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1
Place the planer on a firm level surface if it is a portable planer or attach it to a permanent base.
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2
Measure the thickness of the wood to be planed. Lower the cutter head of the planer to a distance of no more than 1/16-inch narrower than the thickness of the wood by turning the hand crank clockwise until the desired thickness is indicated by aligning the pointer on the cutter head with the scale located on the frame of the planer.
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3
Plug the planer power cord into a grounded outlet. Turn the on-off switch to the "On" position and slowly feed the piece of wood into the feed side of the planer. If the piece of wood being planed is rough stock continue repeatedly feeding the piece through the planer lowering the cutting head no more than 1/16-inch per pass until the side being planed is completely flat. The planer does not need to be turned off while lowering the cutting head.
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4
Turn the piece of wood over and continue to run it through the planer lowering the planer head no more than 1/16-inch per pass until the desired thickness has been attained. Turn the planer off.
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Tips & Warnings
Once the operator starts to feed the stock into the planer, no force is needed to complete the pass. The planer will feed itself.
Step 4 is necessary only if the piece of wood being planed is rough stock. If you are working with previously milled stock plane, only one side needs to be planed unless the piece of wood is "cupped." If this is the case make the first series of passes through the planer with the "bottom" of the cup facing up and the edges on the table so that the piece does not rock.
Always wear safety glasses and protective clothing while operating power tools.
Always read and follow the manufacturer's directions when using any power tools.
