Performing work with an electric planer is not a very difficult task if you have minimal skills in working with it. But it will be somewhat more difficult to plan a wide board with an electric planer. Qualitatively, not every specialist can perform such work. This is due to the difficulty of removing a uniform layer between the processing boundaries.
Performance of work: instruction
In order to achieve high-quality processing of the board, before that, it is necessary to initially do a trial processing on lumber waste. At the same time, the planer can be used in different modes of operation: it is manual mode and stationary. The stationary mode consists in passing the workpiece through the rotating blade part of the planer.
In order to perform work using manual mode, before starting the process, it is necessary to set up the tool. not much different from setting up a conventional hand planer. To do this, you need to adjust the depth of cut of its knives. Most often, this size is 1-4 mm. When setting up, it is necessary to take into account the fact that a smaller depth of planing of the material will improve the quality of its processing.
Moreover, setting the knife to a shallow cutting depth will allow it to move more easily over the workpiece. In this case, you need to press on the tool at the edge of the passage and round off the back edge of the edge (which will help avoid injuries).
The less the rotating knife protrudes beyond the sole of the planer, the smaller the layer of wood it will remove, therefore the boundaries between different passes will be less noticeable.
In the case when deep processing of the material is necessary, then during the first pass the planer knives are adjusted to the maximum depth of processing. And then they are reconfigured and perform a more accurate final planing.
Over time, you can learn how to properly complete the pass on the back edge of the material and select the correct planing depth. This will help speed up the process of work and do it not in 8-10 passes, but in 4-5.
In order to correctly set the knives, which depends on the difference in the upper marks between the front and rear ends of the planer, it must be done using a metal ruler.
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Proper wood processing
When using an electric planer, it is necessary to choose the direction of material processing correctly.
It is usually accepted to take it along the direction of the fibers on the wood. But in the case when workpieces are processed, which are assembled from several boards or bars, having large protrusions at the joints, then processing can be carried out in a diagonal direction. The knives of the electric planer rotate at a fairly high speed and therefore allow you to perform such a procedure. Of course, with a conventional hand tool, this will not work.
In order for the processed edge not to turn out during oblique processing, it is necessary to apply an angular stop, and not rely only on individual skill and eye. It must be attached to the side of the instrument to its base, in a strictly perpendicular position relative to its axis. Now, to plan, you need to attach the planer tightly to the plane of the board, and its base should be located exactly at an angle of 90 degrees.
The corner stop must be very firmly fixed, since during long work the screws of its fastening can loosen, which will lead to the working surface of the planer becoming tarred. If this still happened, then you need to wipe it with white spirit.
To avoid chips on the edges of the board, they need to be slightly dulled. This is done by chamfering. The same procedure must be performed on the parts, which will then be varnished. This will help create a smooth transition line between the two surfaces.
Having completed the processing of a wide board, you can resort to the procedure for cycling it. Cycling is the process of aligning seams between different passes on a board. It is performed using a special machine. Processing such as scraping must also be performed in the direction of the board fibers. Its use will remove all unnecessary roughness.
An electric planer facilitates manual labor, with the help of it the result is of high quality and is achieved quickly. An electric planer is useful to anyone involved in woodworking. It will certainly help in the repair and construction, if wood is used. The rapidly rotating blades of the tool will remove chips of the required thickness from the workpiece, bring the workpiece to the desired size, make the edges smooth and even, chamfer or make a large bevel, select a fold.
The power tool must be led along the workpiece, without making significant efforts, which are necessary when working with a conventional planer. The surface is processed in accordance with the settings, the quality does not depend so much on the inaccurate actions of the operator.
What are
On sale you can find household and professional (semi-professional) electric planers. They differ from each other in color and markings. The first ones are cheap and light. The latter are more expensive, more powerful and weighty. Their motor resource is many times greater, they can do work every day for many hours.
As a rule, there is no such need in domestic conditions, an electric planer is used from time to time, so purchasing a household model for the home, but from a well-known manufacturer, is a common solution.
The processing width in one pass for household models is usually 82 mm, less common are models with knife lengths (knives are arranged horizontally) of 100 mm and 110 mm. Professional models may have more.
The bed of the tool is divided into two parts - the front, adjustable, which rests on the workpiece in front of the knives, and the back, which rests on the already processed wood. 
On the front of the bed there is a longitudinal recess (several recesses of various sizes), into which you can hang the edge of the workpiece when chamfering, which will allow you to chamfer most accurately.
The front handle usually has a chip thickness adjuster (depth of cut).
Another important node is the chip removal system. When planing, a significant amount of chips is formed. The planer has a nozzle into which dust and chips are ejected during operation. 
An industrial vacuum cleaner can be connected to the nozzle. But you can also connect a bag to collect chips so as not to clog the room with it.
Some models of electric planers are equipped with such a bag. But you can make it for any model yourself.
How to make a chip bag? You will need a spare tube from the vacuum cleaner, which is connected to the nozzle of the planer. As well as a piece of fabric, a zipper sewn into the fabric to extract chips, and a crimp collar to secure the neck of the bag to the tube.
Some models are equipped with side and top stops, which allow you to guide the planer along the edge of the workpiece at a certain distance from it and to a certain depth of planing. This allows you to make a selection of folds.
Some expensive powerful models are equipped with a planer-thickness tool or a simpler bed, with which the planer can be fixed with knives up, thus obtaining a small planer (thickness machine).
How to change knives
The electric planer is equipped with knives made of high-strength, abrasion-resistant alloys.
If the knives begin to leave a mark on the wood, this indicates that they are damaged and need to be replaced. 
The knife, as a rule, has two sharp edges, and if one becomes dull, then the knife just needs to be turned over.
To replace the knives, you must first disconnect the electric planer from the power supply. Then it is necessary to unscrew the screws securing the knife holders and remove the holders from the groove, and then remove the knives from them.
By inserting new knives into the holders (turning over the existing ones), you can assemble in the reverse order 
It is important to set the knives in height, which is not easy and requires effort.
The position of the knives is adjusted by the screws of the knife holders. The cutting edges must be set exactly at the level of the rear fixed sole of the electric planer along its entire length. Those. should be in the plane of this sole. 
The setting of the electric planer knives is carried out in the following order.
A ruler is placed on the edge on the fixed part of the sole. Then the knives are slowly turned. The edge of the knife should not lift the ruler, but only lightly touch it. This should occur along the entire length of the knife - when the ruler is moved along the width of the sole. 
The operation of setting the knives in height is performed several times with a ruler until the best result is achieved.
But it is possible to shift the knives due to centrifugal forces during rotation. Therefore, after setting the knives along the ruler, the planer is turned on and kept at idle for about 20 seconds, after which they again check the position of the knives and, if necessary, adjust them. Periodically, the position of the knives is checked during operation.
Features of working with an electric planer
The effort of moving (feeding) the planer along the workpiece must be such that the speed of rotation of the knives does not change
The quality of processing will be high if the movement of the planer over the workpiece is smooth, slow enough so that there is no significant slowdown in the rotation of the knives.
Processing is started after the engine and knives have developed the nominal idle speed.
The workpiece must be firmly fixed on the workbench or its stop must be strong.
Chips from the workpiece should be removed in a timely manner. It is important that the chips do not fall under the sole of the planer, this must be constantly monitored.
Planing usually starts from the end of the workpiece, the front of the sole of the planer is placed on the workpiece, then with a smooth movement of the planer it moves forward along the workpiece.
When the knives enter and leave the workpiece, the planer is pressed against the workpiece with increased force to prevent the occurrence of unplanned places along the edges of the workpiece.
To obtain high quality and uniformity of processing, longer workpieces are used than required. After planing, the ends of the workpiece are cut off.
Professional electric planers can be turned into a stationary planer for planing wood using a planer-thickness tool. The electric planer is installed on the frame up with knives, which are closed with a protective curtain. It is important that on this machine you can set the required dimensions of the part and use them to make several parts from different-sized blanks. At the same time, the accuracy of right angles and the cleanliness of processing remain quite high.
The work is carried out as follows. On all blanks, one face is processed. Then the machine is reconfigured and the next face is processed on all workpieces, etc. To maintain a right angle, the workpiece is firmly pressed against the side stop of the fixture. When working, you should not approach the planer and follow the workpiece, you need to feed it, intercepting it in your hands. 
Handling difficult places
When choosing an electric planer, you need to pay attention to its complete set with stops or the possibility of their additional purchase and use with this model.
Humps, "herringbones", "ladders" - such planing defects are easy to make using an electric planer. How to avoid them? We study the nuances.
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On the picture:
Basic moments
Contact with metal is prohibited. An electric planer is designed for planing wood. To avoid unpleasant surprises, before work, check if there are any nails or self-tapping screws in the board - otherwise you will ruin the knives.
Do not load the engine. The tool is led along the fibers. The depth of planing is chosen depending on the task, while it must be taken into account that a large depth creates a strong load on the engine. If we are talking about hard wood, you need to remove little by little.
How to prevent a hump?
Distribute effort on the handles. At the beginning of planing, firmly press the front shoe of the planer to the surface, pressing harder on the front handle. When the tool comes off the board, the effort is already accentuated on the rear handle. Thus, longitudinal distortions of the tool do not occur, and there is no hump.
Planing a wide plane
Photo: AEG PL 750 planer.
Several passes are needed. Such work is not particularly difficult, but a flat surface is not always obtained.
A common defect is the “herringbone”. It occurs due to the fact that the front shoe or knives are skewed.
The main thing is the accuracy of the setting. To check the accuracy of the setting, set the depth to "0" and attach the ruler to the bottom of the sole. Ideally, both shoes and the edge of the blades should be exactly the same level on both the right and left edges. If a misalignment of the knives is detected, it should be eliminated, and then the surface will be without a herringbone.
Quarter planing
A quarter is a groove along the edge of the board. In our case, it is formed by successive passes of the electric planer. A quarter should be even.
You need a parallel stop. It is often provided as standard. Without it, you will not achieve accurate quarter planing. The stop leads the electric planer along the edge, so that the quarter turns out to be even.
"Ladder". Sometimes it is formed on the wall of the quarter during planing. This, again, is a sign of inaccurate blade adjustment.
How to set up blades. Ideally, their edge should lie in line with the side edge of the sole (this is easy to control by attaching a ruler). If the knives do not reach the line, they must be moved to the side. Guide the planer without distortions and make sure that the stop is snug against the edge at all times.
Chamfering
In the photo: GHO 40-82 C Professional planer from Bosch.
Constant angle of inclination. It must be maintained when chamfering, and this is not so easy when you have a heavy tool in your hands. It is better that the workpiece is at an angle, and not a planer.
V-grooves on the sole. They help to form a chamfer in one pass. The V-groove is only used for the first pass. If you need to increase the chamfer, do it already on a smooth sole. It will not be superfluous for a beginner to practice on draft boards before work.
Marriage when planing ends
- Hump. Make sure it doesn't stay on the ends.
- Rolled edge on a narrow end. This is due to the instability of the planer. If you have several thin workpieces of the same size, it is better to plan all at once, placing them vertically. This will provide stability to the planer, and generally simplify the task.
- Chipped edge of workpiece. It can be made by knives at the end of the passage. To prevent this from happening, dock a bar to this edge and remove the material a little at a time. The bar will not allow the chip to separate.
Images used in this article.
Many beginners are interested in the question of how to work with an electric planer. At first glance, there is nothing complicated: plug it into an outlet, press a button, drive back and forth along the surface, removing chips. However, at the first attempts, the result is far from always impressive.
When buying a tool, you need to check its performance, completeness and appearance. It is worth paying attention to the quality of sharpening the installed knives. If there are spare knives in the kit, you need to check them too. The cutting edge should be smooth, sharp, without potholes and bends. All other settings must be checked at home in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
Checking and adjusting the position of the front plate
All tool adjustments must be made in the off state. The plug must be pulled out of the socket, otherwise you can not only disable the electric planer, but also cause serious injury.
When checking the position of the knives, the front plate must be set to the position of the minimum planing depth with the standard adjustment knob. Set the electric planer on a flat hard surface with the drum up.
To check, you can use a metal ruler or a piece of window glass of suitable sizes. The drum with knives should be rotated until one of the knives is in the upper position, above the axis of the drum. The ruler or glass must be laid on the plates along the planer. The surfaces must be in the same plane.
If the control device is tilted on any of the plates, check the position of the front plate and adjust it. Such a defect occurs during long-term operation of the tool without maintenance. Internal cavities can become clogged with wood dust and small chips. Excessive force on the depth adjustment knob will move it out of its original position.
To eliminate the defect, you need to remove the handle, front plate, clean the cavities from dust and chips, and lubricate. Put the plate in place, check the installation on the ruler, fix the handle, checking the alignment of the dial with the index mark.
Cutting edge adjustment
Adjusting the position of the knives is carried out according to two parameters:
- height of the cutting edge relative to the back plate;
- the size of the protruding part of the knife for planing quarters.
Having installed a ruler or glass, you need to turn the drum, controlling the gap between the knife and the fixture along the edges of the plates. The edge of the knife should lightly touch the fixture without lifting it. If the knife clings to the fixture or does not reach it, the position must be corrected.
Usually the knives are fastened with a special wedge with expanding bolts. With a key of 8 or 10, you need to wrap the bolts in a wedge until the bolt free play appears. Then, with the installed eccentrics, align the height of the cutting edge with the fixture. Tighten (unscrew) the fixing bolts, check the position again. The desired result can be achieved after several repetitions of this operation.
At the same time as adjusting the height of the cutting edge, the protruding part of the quartering knife must be controlled. The optimal size should be indicated in the manufacturer's instructions. On most models, it is 1 mm. The size is set by moving the knife to the left or right along the axis of the drum. It is important to set the size correctly. It should be the same for all knives. This can be achieved by using a feeler gauge of a certain size or by measuring the distance with a caliper (columb with a protruding back) from the edge of the knife to the drum. After adjusting the first knife, you need to move on to the next ones. The operation for all knives is carried out in the same way. If some knife cannot be set in the required position, you need to remove the wedge, check the eccentrics for integrity and free rotation.
It is necessary to complete the adjustment by checking the free rotation of the drum and the fastening of all knives.
Preparation for work
You can work with the tool in two positions:
- stationary position: the electric planer is attached to a hard, stable surface;
- portable: the tool is moved manually along the workpiece.
Many models come with special clamps and a bracket for the start button. In a stationary position, it is more convenient to process lumber of small length, which can be moved through the tool alone. It is desirable to process long workpieces with an electric planer in a portable version.
Wood must be dried, raw lumber is poorly processed. The board must be well fixed on a hard surface. The part should not bend under the weight of the planer and move in any direction during operation. When processing side surfaces on a workbench, it is advisable to install them on special fasteners that protect them from bending and moving. In the area of rotation of the drum with knives, there should be no metal elements (brackets, nails, screws) on the treated surface and fasteners. A blow to the metal will leave a gouge on the knives, and a protrusion will form on the treated surface. Knives will have to be sharpened by removing a thick layer of metal, or changed.
Surface treatment
An electric planer can perform three operations:
- chamfer at different angles;
- choose quarters on blanks;
- cut surfaces.
The main purpose of the tool is to plan surfaces of various lengths and widths.
When working, the planer must be placed on the surface of the workpiece with the front plate so that the knives do not touch the surface. Press the start button, after a set of revolutions (the sound stops changing the tone), start moving the planer over the surface. The tool must be held strictly parallel to the surface to be treated, the movement must be uniform, without jerks and stops. At the beginning of the movement, you need to increase the pressure on the front part, when leaving the surface on the back part. The planer should work smoothly, without vibration. If there is a strong vibration, the sound changes during operation, you need to turn off the tool, determine and eliminate the cause of abnormal operation.
The depth of the pass must be set depending on the purpose of processing. If you want to change the stock size, you can use the maximum size. When leveling the surface, it is desirable to work with a small depth of processing, achieving the required quality in several passes.
Also, the depth of processing depends on the material. Hard rock should be run several times at shallow depths so as not to overload the tool.
Additional features of the tool
To chamfer, you need to use a special triangular groove cut on the front plate of the planer.
The tool should be set with a groove at the corner for processing, run and move along the part, keeping the slope. The first pass is made along the slot, subsequent passes, if necessary, are carried out in the usual manner.
To make quarters on a planer, you need to install an additional stop to limit movement away from the direction of movement. The second stop, which limits the depth of the quarter, is located on the side surface. The stops must be set to the required dimensions. The distance should be measured from the corner of the cutting edge of the knife in the up position. Quarter sampling is performed in several passes. If the vertical surface of the quarter turns out to be steps, it is necessary to increase the protrusion of the knives beyond the side surface of the planer.
A wide surface of lumber can be processed in several passes. Processing must begin from the left edge, setting the adjustment to the minimum depth. The next pass should be carried out with an offset to the right by about a third of the length of the knives. In this way, you need to go over the entire width of the workpiece. If the quality is unsatisfactory, repeat the surface treatment in the same way.
Conclusion on the topic
An electric planer will help to significantly reduce the time of work, save money on the purchase of lumber.
When working, you must comply with the necessary safety requirements to avoid serious injuries to the limbs and other parts of the body.
The world's first electric planer was produced in Japan in 1958. Its appearance on the market is due to the desire to facilitate manual labor, which is a very tedious, monotonous and time-consuming task in wood processing.
This power tool can significantly save the family budget - untreated wood costs several times cheaper than planed wood.
In order not to damage the tool or the material being processed, as well as not inflict accidental injury on yourself, you need to know how to work with an electric planer correctly.
What is an electric planer
The electric planer is intended for leveling flat wooden surfaces after rough processing. When planing, a thin layer of wood is removed - roughness, irregularities and other defects are removed. The surface of the material after using the power tool becomes glossy and looks polished outwardly.
All electric planers consist of the following main parts and mechanisms:
- Front movable support with adjustable height
- Housing (most often aluminum) with removable belt cover
- Electric commutator motor
- Front handle that allows you to set the depth of planing
- Rear handle
- Trigger with protection against accidental activation
- Drum with cutting elements mounted on it
- Fixed back support
- Electric wire with plug
The principle of operation of the electric planer
The main part of the electric planer is a rotating drum, on which the cutting elements are fixed. It is driven by an electric motor, the rotation is transmitted by a toothed belt. The tool is powered by a 220 volt household power supply by means of an electric wire.
Usually planers are equipped with motors with a shaft rotation speed of over 1000 rpm, and power from 550 to 950 watts. Motor elements that require special attention are carbon brushes. For convenient control of their condition, cleaning or replacement, a special removable casing is installed above the motor.
Planing should begin only when the drum picks up the maximum speed of rotation. It is necessary to carefully bring the planer from the end of the workpiece and begin to slowly move it forward. The sole of the tool should be directed parallel to the wood being processed. At the same time, at the beginning of the workpiece, the force is slightly transferred to the front handle, and at the end - to the back. Planing should be smooth, on average, the processing speed is 150–200 centimeters per minute.
How to work with an electric planer
First of all, you need to understand that planing with an electric planer is applicable only to wood. Before starting work, it is required to securely fix the processed lumber - the quality of the resulting wood and the safety of the work process will depend on this. The presence of play may cause the workpiece to be thrown to the side upon contact with the rotating drum, possibly resulting in personal injury.
The lumber must be fixed in such a way that the worker carrying out the planing has the opportunity to move freely with the planer from one edge to the other of the workpiece.
The difference between planing on a wide board
The difference between planing a wide board and working on a narrow board is that the process is carried out in several passes along the canvas. This is due to the fact that the width of the cutting knives is not enough to process the surface of the workpiece in one pass. The main difficulty in this case is the exact parallel alignment of two adjacent processed lines.
What can be done with an electric planer
Using an electric planer, you can prepare polished blanks for the production of various wood products and crafts: stools, birdhouses, furniture, toys, etc. With this power tool, chamfering, grooves, and quarters are cut.
When working with an electric planer, great attention should be paid to safety, as the tool is potentially dangerous. If you follow all the rules and instructions for using the tool, you will get high quality processed wood without spending a lot of effort.