Considering a hand held power planer.

[Dusty1]

I really want clean tight seams when I join planks together for my projects. Until now, I've tried finishing the rough edges of my boards by hand using sandpaper strips glued to my bench (a great idea that I came across in this blog) and a couple of other methods, but can't produce the really clean, virtually invisible joints that I want.
Before I buy a power planer, can anyone offer any more suggestions, or what to look for in a good power planer?

[Paul_Guraedy]

There is always a learning curve with new equipment. It certainly is a long one with the air brush; but the hand planer, in my estimation, is impossibly so. If your objective is to get two pieces of wood to form a tight joint.

I watched the contractor who built our house use one. He handled it like an expert; but, he was using it to plane down tops, edges and such. I asked him about using it for joints. His comment was simple, "get you a bench planer/joiner! They don't leave off the 'joiner' on this thing for nothing!"

[xsailer]

What Paul said.
I bought one (a good one) years ago and used it but a few times to no good.

[TreeWizard]

A hand held planer is only good for items a couple inches thick, If you want to plane glue-ups you need a joiner which will do stuff 6" or more. You can plane one side, flip the glue-up over and plane the other side for a total of up to 12 inches.

[Dicky]

My Bosch hand planer makes the chips fly but has become a dust collector. I now use a jointer/planer. Most pros also use them for glue-ups. They are now producing smaller bench top models.

[Dan S]

How big are the planks you wish to join together? If they are large I can see the need for power equipment. If they are not so large, perhaps an old jointer handplane like a Stanley #7 or 8 would do the trick. I've used them for years on lumber with no problems.

Dan

[Dusty1]

My "thanks to each of you" for your input. You've pretty much confirmed my thoughts on the subject. I have no space for dust collectors in my half of the garage. And, the learning curve for mastering the art of hand planing is probably well beyond my reach...Opportunities to spend time with my hobby are fleeting... I will look into the Stanley hand held joiner that you mentioned, Dan. I didn't realize there were any bench top planer/joiners, Dicky. Again, Thanks yous all 'round!

[abrakadabra]

I recommend you to use a router as a poor man's jointer. For this job, a router should be relatively powerful - 2 hp with a 1/2" shank and variable speed.

You can use a straight and wide (5-10" so it doesn't bend; the longer, the wider it should be) plywood or MDF as a template, and route along this template using a flush trim or pattern bit.

If you cut a board a little bit longer than the final size, you can use screws to connect the template. Drill a line of holes in the template each 1" or 1/2".

If you connect the template at the top of the board, you can use a flush trim bit. The bit should be longer that the height of the board. 1/2" diameter and 2" long bit will do most jobs.


A shear angle flush trim bit is better for burly woods.

If you attach the pattern at the bottom, you can use a pattern bit.
I recommend this method for small planks.


The positions of the template that I mentioned are correct for router tables. If you use a hand-held router, reverse the positions of the template.

You can make an initial straight edge on the template using a long flat aluminum piece.

One additional consideration is that the router bit will likely not be a perfect 90 degrees to the base. To compensate for this error, route one board face down, then next face up, alternating as you go. This will cause this error to be mathematically eliminated.

Before routing, cut boards on a saw leaving 1/16" to the final mark.

There is a significant advantage over a jointer - you can use curved templates with any shapes. If a shape is symmetrical, make just a half of the template and turn it over; but you should route down the curve, not up.
Router bits are relatively cheap if you buy online: MLCS Flush Trim router router bits


Here is a photo of a scrap plywood template and an aluminum flat bar I used to create a straight edge. The bar flexes a little bit, so I had to screw it in the middle.


Here is a pattern bit.

[JimPletcher]

Edge-to-edge joints.
Those who are good with hand planes (I'm not) can do this manually with a shooting board. The rest of us use jointers or a router.
If you use abrakadabra's method (which I do often) be sure the template is thick enough to prevent the bearing from over-riding it. A 1/2" template is OK, but a 3/4" is better. The other thing is to regulate your (feeding) speed to avoid getting "chatter scallops".

Surface joints:
I've never seen anyone THAT good with a hand plane. A bench plane will yield a servicable finish, but following up with a drum sander gives me much better joints. Even with this, equal overall clamping pressure is important.

[Merle Rice]

Hey ABRA,good information in your post, thanks for showing it. Merle