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Currently making a wardrobe and headboard for the new house and we've decided to go for solid wood doors. I've ordered some rough cut pine (cheaper) but need to plane it down. There's about 24 100mm x 2300mm pieces going in to them and I'm wondering whether I would get away with buying a cheap electric planer for the job.
I'm sure most of the cheap machines would get through that job, and if not you should be able to take it back for a refund, Screwfix for sure.
Generally the cheaper ones have less of a cut, which means more passes, but that should result in a better finish on the timber.
There is a common design fault with many of the more expensive ones that have switchable side chip exhaust ports, often a restriction in the moulding that blocks up easily. I had to take my Bosch, professional(?) 2.6mm cut, apart and get busy with the epoxy to smooth out the pinch point.
Cheers for the reply. Think I'll just get a cheap one and if it breaks take it back.Don't have a screwfix in town, so prob a homebase or b&q job.
You don't need a local branch of screwfix, just mail order. For bench top machines as well as screwfix try FFX, Axminster, D&M tools and the cheap but apocalyptically badly designed Poolewood Machinery website.
I've got screwfix's Erbauer own brand hand held planer - well reviewed and a decent tool for the cash. Hand held stuff will have a narrower blade than your wood through.
There are some cheap bench top planers and planer/thicknessers around by Woodstar and Fox (same machines with different names on I think) Which would do the job too. The thing to watch out with then thicknessing is the first and last foot or so of the plank can get ruined so you need to be working with lengths longer than you'll eventually need.
The other (messier) option would maybe be a belt sander. I've got an AEG HBS1000E and with a bit of jiggery pokery and a lot of gaffer tape you can attach a hover through the dust bag (unzip the dust back and plug the nozzle into the back of the connector) and manage to work quite cleanly
Don't have a screwfix in town, so prob a homebase or b&q job.
Really? I thought Screwfix were everywhere, we even have two here and Cambridge is a pretty small town.
In Kendal so no Screwfix but could do with it today (lack of planning here)! Just thinking handheld rather than bench, because don't really have the set up for abench one. Will look at screwfix though.
Screwfix delivery is free over £50, Toolstation is free over £10, not sure about sending it back if it failed.
Sorry, I don't know about the bottom end of the market 20 to 30 quid, if you are going to use it again then maybe spend a little more.
As above, the blade is usually 82mm so take care with gouging the boards. You can clamp two or three boards together to get less overlap, or wasted passes.
Don't do all your passes in one direction, unless the grain is lifting badly, swap the boards or yourself round often.
Keep an eye on the blade, if it gums up with resin, give it a shave with a good stanley blade with the power off.
Have a bit of scrap board with a small step of timber screwed to it so you can put the machine down without damaging the blade, they are quite brittle.
Just one side of that lot is 55m , thats a lot of work with an electric handplane that will not cover the 100mm width.
Either - order planed timber
or get a Titan planer/thicknesser from Screwfix which will munch through all that timber.
Any planer hand or bench is going to make more mess/shavings than you will beleive - probably about a skip full in volume ..
And your ears will need protection from the noise of eyther hand or bench machine
honestly - get ready planed timber unless you have no neighbors and further use for the machine.
sorry not being negative - but its a lot of work
how about.....
I'm head down to my mums this weekend. You can borrow my fox planer thicknesser - which I think is the same or very similar to the Titan one. Can drop it off in Kendal later today or either sun or monday (gives me an excuse to catch up with a friend there) and pick it up next time I'm passing.
This is with the caveat that I can remember where all the bits and pieces for it are - and if the blades are any good - its a long while since I've used it. If they prove to be duff a set would cost about £20 - £30, but if you have somewhere locally that can re-sharpen them then that would be cheaper.