Anyone who’s into woodwork projects has to make a way to make them smoother, flatter, and more even to get the best result. This is what hand planers are intended for, thanks to their sharp blades that specifically targets rough surfaces in wood.
This blade works on the surface of any piece of wood to remove excess and unwanted parts such as pointed surfaces. This will then allow woodworkers to shape the raw material into any form or shape they want.
So, if you need a high-quality hand planer to aid you in your woodwork task, this comprehensive review is for you. Thanks to the efforts of our teams of experts in the construction, handcraft, and woodwork industry, we have compiled the five top-rated products that will suit your needs.
Once you are ready and have found the best choice, be sure to click the buttons below to see their best deals on Amazon! With that, here are five of the best options that we rounded up especially for you.
Best Hand Planers Comparison & Rating
Hand Planers | Features |
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1. TACKLIFE Electric Hand Planer
Dimensions | 12.6 x 7.09 x 6.38 inches |
Weight | 7 pounds |
Motor | 6 amps |
RPM | 16,500 RPM |
This is a great hand planer for an excellent price. It can be used by both professionals and hobbyists alike. It can be used for leveling, tapering, smoothening, and more. The blade is extremely sharp and rotates extremely fast. This allows you to shave excess wood from blocks or beams at smooth, efficient passes. You are also perfectly in control over how deep you want to cut into the wood.
2. BOSCH 3-1/4 Inch Woodworking Hand Planer
Dimensions | 17.75 x 14.5 x 7.25 inches |
Weight | 6.3 pounds |
Motor | 6.5 amps |
RPM | 16,500 RPM |
You will find a stable and reliable electric planer with this tool. It’s the perfect choice for working with 3.25 inches thick and under. It will shave off excess surface wood with smooth and efficient motions. The fence can be taken off in mere seconds and adjusting the cutting depth is a breeze. The machine itself is lightweight and easy to hoist, which makes tapering wooden frames much easier.
3. Makita KP0800K 3-1/4-Inch Planer
Dimensions | 14.57 x 7.87 x 9.84 inches |
Weight | 10.12 pounds |
Motor | 6.5 amps |
RPM | 17,000 RPM |
You are going to love this planer thanks to its ease of use and efficient cutting. You can easily clean up 6 x 12-inch beams and taper wooden surfaces. It allows you to use two different types of blades for versatility. It also comes as double-insulated, for a much better, much safer planing experience. The high-quality poly-v belt is great for durability and it also comes with a lock-on button for continuous operation.
4. PORTER-CABLE Hand Planer
Dimensions | 14.63 x 7.75 x 8.25 inches |
Weight | 8.28 pounds |
Motor | 6 amps |
RPM | 16,500 RPM |
This is a low-cost but high-performing electric hand planer. It’s perfect for making custom woodworking jobs, especially when making furniture. It can easily shave away huge chunks of wood with a single pass. The motor can run for a long time and rotates the blade at incredible speeds for more accurate precision cutting. Holding the machine itself is comfortable and dust and debris are spewed away from the hand for safe planing.
5. Ryobi HPL52K Corded Hand Planer
Dimensions | 17 x 7.88 x 13.25 inches |
Weight | 3.25 pounds |
Motor | 6 amps |
RPM | 16,500 RPM |
Inexpensive but the high-quality performance belies the affordable price. There is never a problem when shaving off layers of door frames, furniture, or whatever else. The finish is always smooth, even without the use of a sander. The blades themselves are extra sharp and never encounter issues with cutting. You are the one in control of how deep you want to cut as well.
Best Hand Planers - Buyer's Guide
You can choose if you want a cordless or a corded electric hand planer, both of which have their advantages and disadvantages. In many cases, the motors powering the blades will also be between six and seven amps. There are planers that go as high as 10 amps, but those are more useful for heavy-duty projects. It’s worth noting that cordless electric hand planers are more expensive.
The power of the motor will have an impact on how fast the blade of the planer will rotate. This is usually measured in rotations per minute or RPM. Good electric planers can start as low as 15,000, which is fine for most home woodworking projects. However, that number can go up to 17,000 RPM or higher, depending on the motor. Hobbyists will be fine with models that are 16,000 to 17,000 RPM.
Electric hand planers can be quite heavy, with some weighing upwards of 10 pounds or more. This is why you’ll want to make sure that you have a handle on the weight of your planer of choice. It can be easy to lose control of the machine if you accidentally shoot past your intended target.
You need to be able to control how deep into the wood you will be able to cut into with your electric hand planer. This will ensure that you won’t remove more excess materials from the wood than you intended to. You will typically find a knob or a dial to help you control this aspect of your planer. You just need to focus on how easy and convenient it is to use.
The more control you have over how much material you can take off of the wood with your hand planer, the better. This is why you need to know exactly how deep and how wide the cutting will be. Wider, deeper cuts can save you a lot of time when you need to turn a block of wood into a much smaller piece. For the depth, they can range from 2/32 to 5/32 inches. For width, the widest it can be is 3-1/4 inches.
Best Hand Planers - FAQs
The main purpose of a hand planer is to smooth out the surface of wooden objects like a door, a beam, a post, and more. They are typically meant to make those objects flat and even so that they can fit into their respective slots. Doors for door frames and holes for pegs. However, it can also be used to taper wood.
Hand planers are essential tools in construction, especially when building structures that involve wood. Examples include cottages, huts, wooden cabins, lake houses, and so on. The tool is also used to make furniture and other woodworking projects. This includes tables, chairs, bed frames, cabinets, and others.
Not necessarily. In function, both types of planers are the same and there is virtually no difference in what they are used for. The difference comes in the form of what you need to do in order to use them. With the non-electric planer, you would need to use your own strength while this is not necessary with an electric hand planer. So if you don’t have strong arms, the latter would serve you better.
In the sense that it comes with a sharp edge, but it is only really a problem under very specific circumstances. The blade is kept underneath the tool and it is generally difficult to accidentally access that area. So the chances of you getting hurt when using a hand planer would be quite low.
