How To Use A Planer? - The Hemloft

A smooth wood can make working on them more accessible. There are many tools like the sanders and planers that help us do this. They can make our work finer and smoother. They may be an essential tool in both your shops and your garages too. But many beginners may not know how to operate them in the right way. So here we have the steps and methods to use a planer.

Contents

How To Use A Planer Using Two Different Methods

You can use planer in many different ways. So lets look at each method in detail.

Method 1: Working With A Benchtop planer

Step 1

Get your workspace ready and make sure there is a big flat surface to work on. Now set the benchtop planer near the workspace. Check the blade area of the planer. Make sure to clean it once and clear away all the dust. This is because the planer is a tool that gives away a lot of sawdust. So removing this is essential before starting to work on a new piece of wood.

Now focus on the blades of the planer. They are vital in doing the work. First, check the blade if it is proper and not dull. If it is dull, it is better to change the blade. After checking that, it is time to set the blade. Set it at the height of the board that we are going to work with.

Step 2

Planing the wood is not a process that can get over soon. A lot of accuracy and precision are essential while doing planing. We may need to plane off small amounts of the board at regular intervals. So now we may need to focus on the board that we are going to work with. There should be no screws or nails on the surface of the board. This may disturb us while we use the planer. This may damage the planer and also our work.

Step 3

Now, we can start working with the planer. We should turn it on and leave it untouched for a few seconds. Now we can run our board through the planer by its length. Start by running over the flat or wide side of the board.

Do not take away large amounts of the board at a single time. Try to do it by adjusting the planer a little more than the previous planing so that it goes uniform. So if you are going to plane many boards, follow this order.
1. Run the boards through the planer set at a height. Plane them altogether if we need everything with the same thickness.
2. Adjust the planer down to make the planer peel away more wood.
3. Now rerun the boards through the planer.

Step 4

The edges are also crucial for the wood board. So it is essential to clean up the edges too. It is not a complicated process, and it is as easy as how we did the flat sides. We run the board through the planer on the side of each board. Now, this makes the narrow edge of the board smooth and flat. If you’re working with many boards, plane them at a time. Don’t finish one and go to the next as the uniformity may reduce in the next task. After completing the first side, do the same with the other side too.

Step 5

Now, there may be many chances of the planer getting stopped, or the planer may not work through the wood. This may be because of a mistake from our side. The main reason is it may be a tearout. If we put the wrong side of the grain to the planer, it may result in a planer.

This happens when we put the rough side to the planer first. This can ruin our cut and also may cause gauging. So before cutting any piece of wood, have a good check of it. Make sure a smooth edge enters the planer, and also the wood shouldn’t have any irregularities. If this is proper, then we may make our planer do some smooth and neat work.

Things Needed To Work With A Benchtop Planer

These are the list of things needed to use a benchtop planer.

The benchtop planer
The board
Some cloth or brush to clear away the sawdust

If we follow the above steps well, we can plane well with the benchtop planer.

Method 2: Working With A Hand Planer

They are like the handheld version of the benchtop planer. They can work like normal planers, but they can’t work on a large scale. They are better for making the surface smooth rather than milling the board. In the benchtop planer it can handle most of the job. But in the hand planer, we must give the necessary force to achieve the task. They are still good to plane the board and are better in portability too. Let us see the steps needed in detail to work with a hand planer.

Step 1

Get the hand planer and make sure to have the right planer for the job. Shorter planers are better for work that needs more accuracy. If the length of the body of the planer increases, it can straighten wood better. So choose the right planer if you are buying a new one.

Step 2

The next important of the hand planer is the blade. So have a thorough check of the planer’s blade. There are many chances of the blade being dull, and this can ruin our work. So if it is dull, try to re-sharpen it. If not, changing it is also a good option. A 220 grit sandpaper is enough to get your blades re-sharpened.

If the blade is right, set the right angle for the blade. The angle is critical as it decides how much shavings we take away from the surface. A wrong angle can make our work tough, and we can also jam our planer. So we may have a small wheel behind the blades to adjust the angle. Adjust the angle and make it a bit shallow.

Step 3

Now, if the blade is set right, we can start our work. Position yourself in a way that the board is visible while working. Place the planer at the edge of the surface and begin smoothing the wood at a uniform speed. We may apply pressure down on the front knob so press forward with the back handle. Now push the plane across in a smooth motion. Follow an excellent method to go across your surface. Do not overdo any part of the surface and try to maintain uniformity across the whole surface. There may be some uneven spots, so try to give it some extra work so that it matches with the remaining.

Step 4

Again, we may have problems while using the hand planer too. We must work well and try to avoid tearout. A tear-out can ruin our work and also make our job very tough. While we start planing, there are high chances that we may catch the wrong grain. They are like the imperfections in the surface of the wood. So this can make our planer cut unwanted chunks from the wood surface. This is a tear-out, and we must try to avoid it. Make sure to start planing with the smooth edges so that this doesn’t happen. Check the surface for any unwanted irregularities too. This will make sure we are not disturbed while we are using the planer.

Step 5

So many users take the planer in their hands for accuracy on the surface of the wood. So before ending your work, we can check the surface for accuracy and smoothness. The straight edge can help us do this. So what we do is lay the straight edge on the surface of the wood. The straight edge should sit flush on the surface. If there are any gaps under the straight edge, then we may have some more work to do with the planer. Even a try square will help us check the accuracy. We can use it to check the accuracy between the adjacent faces of the wood. These steps can make us work correctly with a hand planer.

Things Needed To Work With A Hand Planer

The hand planer
A 220 grit sandpaper to re-sharpen the blade
The board
A cloth or other material to remove sawdust.

Final Thoughts

A planer can be of great use to make the surface smooth and uniform. This may be very important for various woodworking projects. Using the planer may look easy, but the user has to do the job with concentration to get it perfect. If we follow the steps mentioned above, we can do a great job with the planer. Happy planing!!