Electric Plane (Planer)

[pinnerite]

My bench is comprised of two palettes. (bad gor my back).

Today I cut two 2400mm furniture boards lengthways with my new Erbauer ERB690CSWplunge saw. It is pretty good but despite triple checking my measurements, the two resultant strips were too wide.

I had had to cut them in two sections because the tracks are only 1400mm max.

I hand-planed out imperfections but they were still up to 8mm too wide. They are made of coated chipboard. :(

I have decided to bite the bullet and look for an electric plane. It doesn't need to be cordless but I do not want to pay more than I need to do the jobs I have ahead of me.

I have checked all the reviews. It seems the Erbauer EHP 1050 at £59.98 from Screwfix will do the job.

As I always get good advice here, I would be grateful for your input.

TIA

Alan

[John Rumm]

The first observation that springs to mind is that with a track saw you can make cuts right on the edge of a board - even closer than the kerf of the blade, such that half the thickness not not engaged in the cut - that in many cases ought to make planing for anything other than final finish unnecessary.

However the plane you mention looks like it will take a vacuum hose which is handy. Personally I don't find much use for my electric plane these days. I bought it for a specific job (taking a couple of mm off some melamine faced plinths). If you have to plane made made boards, then it is probably the best way to do it. However a table saw would have been quicker and easier if I had one at the time.

[pinnerite]

I agree with you but I don't have a long bench. Planing is done on a 50 year old Black & Decker workmate.

Alan

[John Rumm]

A quick and easy way of accurately dimensioning stuff with a track saw is using a sheet of rigid insulating material like polystyrene on the floor. Lay the material to be cut on it, set the depth of cut on the say to just deeper than the material, and cut away. The sheet of insulation will protect the blade and give you a nice flat surface to work on.

[williamwright]

I wouldn't be without my electric planer. It's a very old Black and Decker. It's very well made and heavy. It works extremely well. The drum rotates at an astonishing speed.

Bill

[RJH]

I've got an Aldi/Lidl electric planer - I find it too difficult to use for anything approaching subtle.

That's a good tip, thanks. I've taken veneer thin edges off doors etc. using a circular saw and a length of clamped wood as the guide. Works for me, and that's despite supporting the work on something far less stable (table in the garden, usually).

[Andy Burns]

An electric planer will cause pretty bad chipping of melamine faced boards.

[williamwright]

Even if you set the depth to the minimum and angle it inwards a bit? How about scoring it first?

Bill

[Andrew]

Not if you push the planer along slightly angled in towards the underlying chipboard/mdf, if the drum is rotating counter clockwise ?

[pinnerite]

The Erbauer has a 2.5mm scoring setting. I used it. I got a clean score. I then reset to the full drop of 20mm and viola!

I am delighted with it.

alan

[John Rumm]

Are you talking at crossed purposes? I think Bill was talking about how to minimise chipping when using an electric plane, and it sounds like you are talking about the plunge saw?