So you want to know what is a wood planer. Don’t feel alone. Many novice woodworkers ask us that question, though we have to admit it amazes us that they don’t. As professionals, a wood planer is as necessary to us as a good table saw. A piece of wood has to get smooth and straight somehow and a wood planer is what gets it that way.
Let’s start with the obvious – a tree does not grow out of the ground in the form of a plank! After it is cut down, it has to be milled into planks of various widths, lengths and thicknesses. This is usually done in a mill with a big wide-toothed bandsaw. Then it is set aside to dry naturally or, more often than not, kiln-dried.
When most of the moisture has been taken out of the planks, they are ready to be planed smooth to uniform thicknesses and widths. The big industrial machines spit out thousands of yards of 2X4’s per day.
Rough sawn wood is usually sold to enterprises that have more exacting needs than the construction industry. Furniture manufacturers of all sizes buy rough sawn wood and plane it themselves. Depending on the size of the operation, these wood planers range from high capacity planers all the way down to portable thickness planers and compact multi purpose machines that combine a table saw, edger and thickness planer in one.
There is a multi purpose machine for almost any sized wood shop. Many medium scale cabinetmaking businesses have at least one that they use for specialty work and many small scale professional craftsmen have found that a good quality 3-phase machine can give them a lifetime of service and produce the fine results they need.
There aren’t many wood workers out there who don’t have a hand held wood planer. It was probably the first one they bought and they still use it for rough work. But eventually, a thickness planer becomes a necessity. It needn’t be an expensive model. You can buy a portable thickness planer that will do the job for softwoods and narrow planks or a larger free-standing unit for wider planks and hardwoods.
One mistake first time buyers often make is that they buy a wood planer for their first project that is not powerful enough for their later needs. Hobbyists tend to take on greater and greater challenges as they gain experience. It may be wise to get a planer that can take on those challenges with you.
What is a wood planer? It is a terrific piece of equipment that can help you get magic results out of a simple slab of wood. When you see your first rough slab of walnut come out the other side of the planer looking like a natural work of art, you’ll be glad you bought one!
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