Planing is a traditional alternative to sanding. Especially when the wood grain is to be emphasized, the old method can bring significant advantages. But how is planing correctly? A guide book.
Where planed, chips are falling – the proverb is old and still true. But while it seems rather totalitarian about people or societies, it is simply a realization for the handyman: the planer cuts a thin layer of a wooden surface with a sharp blade over a large area to make it smoother or fit. The resulting chips are, ideally, long, thin-thinned wood fiber papers, which curl. This makes the planer an ideal tool for anyone who wants to restore a cabinet, for example. But even a sliding door – after laying a new flooring, for example – can be shaped perfectly with a hand-held tool.
Application scenario: If the living room door slides over the floor and the hinges are not to blame, shorten the door leaf with the handgrip by a few millimeters.
All you need is a best planer and a workbench on which you can clamp the wood or, in the case of large workpieces, a way to fix it elsewhere. Then it can start.
Hand tool: The ideal tool
The first step is to decide which type of planer is to be used. In the market, there are two types of planers: hand planers and electric planers, in addition to large professional planers for joinery. While the former are traditionally powered by physical force, the latter provides for a very simple planing experience thanks to the built-in electric motor, but without the satisfactory feeling that planes leave behind the woodworker. Also, the noise caused by the engine is not insignificant.
Wood planer hand planer
In the case of classical hand-tools, a distinction is made between European, Anglo-Saxon and Japanese planers. While the former is the classic model of beechwood, which is known from German carpentry workshops, the Anglo-Saxon model is made of metal. The Japanese variant, the so-called “Kanna,” is served differently from the European models: instead of pushing the planer, it is pulled. Otherwise, the concept is similar: in the massive planer body, a very sharp hoof is ironed, which is variable. The angle and the height of the iron to the planer body determine how coarse or fine the surface is to be machined.
Which model is used depends entirely on the personal preferences of the woodworker, since all three types are equally suitable for processing.
Caution: The cutting angle is not variable
The cutting angle of a planer is typically not variable, but there are models here and there, especially electrical, which allow one setting. It is therefore important for the woodworker that he knows beforehand how fine he would like to work his wood. Steeper cutting angles provide for a greater, smoother abrasion, but the forced expenditure also increases massively. By default, the cutting angle is 45 ° for the iron planer, and European planers typically have an angle of 49 °.
Smoothing Plane
In the case of classical hand-tools, a distinction is made between European, Anglo-Saxon and Japanese planers. While the former is the classic model of beechwood, which is known from German carpentry workshops, the Anglo-Saxon model is made of metal. The Japanese variant, the so-called “Kanna,” is served differently from the European models: instead of pushing the planer, it is pulled. Otherwise, the concept is similar: in the massive planer body, a very sharp hoof is ironed, which is variable. The angle and the height of the iron to the planer body determine how coarse or fine the surface is to be machined.
Which model is used depends entirely on the personal preferences of the woodworker, since all three types are equally suitable for processing.
Caution: The cutting angle is not variable
The cutting angle of a planer is typically not variable, but there are models here and there, especially electrical, which allow one setting. It is therefore important for the woodworker that he knows beforehand how fine he would like to work his wood. Steeper cutting angles provide for a greater, smoother abrasion, but the forced expenditure also increases massively. By default, the cutting angle is 45 ° for the iron planer, and European planers typically have an angle of 49 °.
Step-by-step instructions: How to plan correctly
- To plan the lower edge of a door, first, lift it out of its hinges. First, you should have an “exercise board” that matches the type of door (hardwood or softwood):
- Fix the exercise board and try out all work steps at first!
- Afterwards, place the iron in the handgrip. You can vary how far the blade protrudes below the handgrip to adjust the thickness of the chips. Caution: Do not plan to plan several times more than once. This prevents errors and makes work easier.
- It is important that you hold the handgrip firmly and push it evenly and forcefully over the test wood. Be careful not to bend the grain with the grain.
- Then, check on the pro-piece, whether the thickness of the abrasion and the force required for you are correct and whether the quality of the planed surface corresponds to your expectations. Otherwise, change the depth of the blade. Repeat this until you are satisfied with the result.
- Now you can devote yourself to the actual work piece, the door. Tighten them in the same way as you have clamped the sample work piece and slide the planer along the area to be cut according to your exercise.
- Repeat until you have removed enough material and close the door again without leaving any marks on the new floor.
By the way, the iron makes the difference
The quality of the handgrip depends very much on the cutting and processing of the planer body itself. A BilligPlaner is usually – like almost every low-cost tool – of poor quality, which is why the iron is expected to become dull in a short time, and the fixtures, fixtures, and handles of the planer become wobbly. Under these circumstances, the precision of the planer suffers massively and worst of all, spoil the tool. If you are planning to work more frequently with planing, it may be worth investing in a higher-quality device or an electric planer. Although flat iron can relatively easily be replaced or regrind, which, of course, is associated with an effort, which is not worthwhile with a Billig Planer. In this respect, to decide from the outset for a better model. In summary, the choice of the right planer model is a science in itself. The decision depends strongly on the personal preferences, the quality requirements and the money bag of the woodworker, but also on the frequency with which the tool is used.
