Best Planers

Capable, reliable and compact planer – I bought this planer in July 2020 upon a friend's recommendation. Though I already had a collection of DeWalt cordless tools, this friend reckoned… Read more

that the cordless planers didn’t use the standard 82 mm reversible tungsten carbide tipped blades, and so with minimal research, I bought this Makita corded model. I later discovered that the DeWalt cordless models do indeed use the standard blades, and so I recently bought one and it’s largely replaced the use of my Makita planer. By the way, I believe the only difference between the KP0800K and the KP0800 is that the former comes with a case.

Don’t get me wrong though, this Makita is an effective planer. I’ve used it extensively, mostly on hardwood. Much of that hardwood was salvaged, and so I would occasionally hit a nail that I’d missed spotting, and if that nail was intact as opposed to pretty rusty, it would generally cause the blade to snap into two or more pieces. The blade can still be used like this because it’s clamped into the planer, but there would usually be a groove across the blade edge, resulting in a ridge left on your timber after planing. So if you’re planing anything where you want a smooth finish, and you hit a nail, you’re generally going to have to replace the blades, or at least turn them around. Blade change-over is fairly quick and easy, requiring you to unscrew three bolts for each blade. I usually use my impact driver to do it faster.

This planer has a maximum depth of 2.5 mm, which isn’t bad. It has sufficient power for most purposes. If you’re planing dense hardwood though, you’ll either have to go pretty slowly at maximum blade depth, or use a shallower blade depth.

The planer is pretty compact, a reasonable sort of weight, and comfortable to hold and operate. I’ve been pleased with its performance and haven’t had any issues. In my experience its main downsides are that it’s quite loud, and that it has a cord, which makes it much more inconvenient to use than a corded planer. The cord just always seems to be getting in the way or getting caught on things. Still, I guess it’s handy to have around if I’m planing a large amount of timber or if I’m planning in two different locations at the same time to avoid carrying one planer back and forth.

Bosch GHO18V-LI cordless planer - a huge time saver – You don't need a planer all the time, but when you do, nothing else will do. This tool has saved countless hours of tedious power sanding or… Read more

fiddling with a hand plane when I need to take a few mm off of anything made of wood.

It just works, and leaves a smoother finish than 180-grit sanding. I've even used it (carefully) on a hardwood retaining wall.

Note that this tool is power-hungry; it needs something like a Bosch 7ah core battery. Smaller batteries overheat and run out very quickly with this tool.

Blades last a good while, are reversible, very easy to replace, and you can use other brands like Makita etc.

I purchased this from Bunnings (the second cheapest 40mm+ blade width plane in store) to fix a warped/sticking garden door frame. For this job it… Read more

worked really well. Unfortunately, I didn't find the well hidden instructions until just now so it was a bit of a faff getting it set up as I haven't used a plane since school, 30 years ago! Note: I have only tested this on a treated pine door frame. I do not know how it fares on other wood types.

For the price, I feel this plane is a great addition to my amateur DIY toolkit, hence 4 stars!

What I like ======= * Use: Once set up it was easy to use and did not require too much force * Feel: Quite solid and doesn't feel excessively cheap * Price: Significantly less expensive than most of the planes in store * Handles: The soft touch handles are nice * Warranty: Lifetime warranty! Including (apparently) if the user breaks it! (I like companies that stand by their products) * Packaging: The packaging was easy to open and did not require tools to do so! (Thank you Trojan :-) ). It is also entirely recyclable! * Finished result: While I did not need the finish to be perfect (just needed to stop the door sticking). I was pleased by the final result. A quick sand down and coat of paint you wouldn't even know the job was done by a complete amateur! :-) * Setup: Simple enough (With instructions - do not accidentally throw them away!)

Room for improvement (In my opinion!) =============== * Instructions: The instructions were well hidden. They are folded up and tucked inside the cardboard insert that I mistook for rubbish. (Probably should have worn my glasses to open it!) * Setup: Tricky to set up without instructions (It does have instructions but the should be removed from packaging before disposal! Ahem, oops!). * MFT Website: Not yet on manufacturer website (trojantools.com.au)

Thickness Planer – This is an EXCELLET Thickness Planer that does an EXCELLENT job The price is right and it has it own stand that you put together A couple of small… Read more

minor problems The manual does not explain things well, And the FONT is is very small Also the Front and Back Extension Tables do NOT stay up when not is Use. I had to use a Hockey Strap over the top to keep them closed Other than these minor problems, The item is excellent The rollers on the top and the tables are a great idea when passing large peices of wood back to put through again. I would highly Recommend this product

Disappointment – I purchased a Craftright brand 9" Jack plane from Bunnings just before the Pandemic..Craftright is a Bunnings house brand..The plane is branded as a… Read more

9" Jack plane,but is a copy of a Stanley #4 plane,which has been copied worldwide for over 100 years...It cost only $31..and at that price..I thought I could afford to take it to outside jobs and not be too concered if I lost it..It looked OK in the box..Several weeks later I needed it and got around to unpacking it and setting it up,only to find to my disappointment,that was a very poorly made copy of the #4..many parts didnt fit or align properly,and the poorly made cast iron body had a dished sole plate,and the blade wasnt sharpened either...Every part was faulty or didnt fit properly...Then when i went to return it I couldnt find the docket....Because of that I decided to stay home in quarantine and fix its many faults myself..using a file...But it was so badly made as to defy belief...and no amount of effort would help..Then I decided to junk it and just keep some of the smaller parts as spares for my good plane..only to find that the parts werent interchangeable either..even though they looked like they should be. Altogether a considerable disappointment..I would strongly advise against the purchase of this particular tool.. If you need a second plane buy a good Stanley one second hand..