Despite the wide range of electric planes offered by stores, ordinary hand tools are still quite popular with joiners. The fact is that with their help, wood processing can be performed somewhat better. Most often, modern joiners have in stock both types of planers. Electric is used in the initial processing of workpieces, and manual is used to fine-tune them.
Design features
To know how to choose a good hand planer, you should have an idea of its design. Such tools consist of the following main parts:
Body. This structural element is most often made of wood. It is in it that all the main nodes of the planer are attached.
Knife. Sharpened at a certain angle.
Clamp. It can be made of different materials. It can be a metal plate or bar.
Chip breaker. Set slightly above the knife. As can already be judged by the name of this element, it serves to break the chips and its direction.
Adjusting screw. This structural element is responsible for changing the position of the knife relative to the work surface.
All universal hand planers for wood have such a design. The basic elements described above are also present in other specialized varieties. On the body of any plane, among other things, there are two handles.
What to look for when choosing
The main element in the design of the planer is a knife. It is on its quality that you should pay attention in the first place. This element should be made of quality steel. In this case, the planer can be used as long as possible without the need for sharpening. Of course, it is visually difficult to determine how successful the material was chosen for the planer knife. Therefore, in the first place it is worth paying attention to the reputation of the manufacturer.
Of course, the cutting tool should never stagger. When buying, it is worth checking the front handle. She must also hold tight. In addition, when choosing a planer, you should pay attention to the size of the handle for the right hand. The length of this element is different. A tool with a small handle may simply not work for a person with large brushes.
Varieties
Of course, you should choose a manual planer based on the purpose for which it will be intended. Today on sale there are several varieties of planers. The most popular are:
Universal. This is an ordinary planer that can be used for most carpentry work.
Jointer. The body of this tool is longer than a conventional one. A jointer is used for processing overall workpieces.
End planer. The knife of such a tool is located at a flatter angle. This allows us to process precisely the end fiber.
Zenzbel. A planer of this variety is mainly used for sampling various joinery joints and folds.
Reviews of planer brands
In the modern market, carpentry tools of this type from different manufacturers are being sold. Many brands are of very good quality. Good reviews from the masters, for example, earned the planer of companies such as Bailey and Handyman. Bailey tools are valued above all for their excellent knife quality and long service life. Sharpening a manual plane knife of this brand is quite rare. Sometimes there are comments that mention a poor build. But even if any flaws are found in the purchased tool, they can usually be easily and quickly eliminated, and on their own. Handyman planers, judging by the reviews, are also convenient and reliable. Their disadvantage is considered only not too neat design.
Experienced craftsmen do not recommend purchasing Groz brand products (India). Despite the fact that products of this brand belong to the category of expensive ones, judging by the reviews, they do not differ in particularly good quality. The build quality is simply disgusting, and at the same time it is inconvenient to work with them.
How to use
Hand planers for wood are simple in design and quite easy to use. The main thing is to do the job smoothly, without jerking. This is especially true for very long workpieces. Subject to this condition, the surface of the finished product will be very neat and even. Stand when planing should be on the side of the workpiece, with one foot forward.
The top and bottom surfaces of products are very easy to handle. A bit harder to do work on the edges. In this case, it is important to fix the knife very firmly. He should not vibrate in the block in any case. The edges should only be touched in the direction of the fibers.
There is also a technique that allows high-quality processing of very wide workpieces. In this case, the product is first cut with a planer along the diagonals, adhering to the direction of the fibers. Next, the plane is checked for evenness using a special ruler. At the final stage, refinement is performed. At the same time, a thin layer of chips parallel to the edge is removed from the workpiece.
How to sharpen a knife
Of course, a manual planer, like any other tool, requires some care. No matter how good steel the knife of this tool is made, sooner or later it will become dull anyway, and it will have to be sharpened. Most often, this procedure is performed on a special stone called a donkey. The latter is pre-wetted with water. When sharpening, it is advisable to moisten the knife itself. Press it to the stone should be as tight as possible.
The angle of sharpening a manual planer, depending on the model, may be different. Most often, this figure is 30 degrees. When working on a donkey, they usually just pay attention to how the blade was sharpened initially.
Sometimes experienced joiners sharpen a planer knife and in a circle. In this case, it should not be pressed to the edge, but to the side surface. When using a circle, you can also get pretty high-quality sharpening. A manual plane with such a knife will be very convenient to use. But only subject to the use of an abrasive fine-grained abrasive wheel. After sharpening, such a tool is usually refined. Perform this procedure either on a piece of sandpaper fixed on the table, or on a bar. Checking the quality of the grinding is pretty easy. To do this, just carefully inspect the blade. If it does not shine, then the knife is sharp enough to be used.
How to set up a manual planer correctly
You will need a special screwdriver to complete this procedure. Such tools are intended for tuning planers. Their distinguishing feature is a large width and short length. The main purpose of adjusting the planer is to set the output of the blade above the surface of the sole. If the knife protrudes too far, the planer will begin to take off very thick chips. A slightly exposed blade will simply slide over the surface of the wood.
For the initial processing of the workpieces, the yield of the knife should be about 0.5 mm. If the planer is supposed to be used for finishing, the blade should protrude slightly less above the sole.
How to store
Experienced craftsmen believe that a knife for a manual planer is dulling, to a large extent, not even during operation, but because of improper storage. After rounding off the blanks, this tool should be cleaned of chips and put in a box specially designed for it. In this case, the position of the tool should be such that the knife blade protruding from the body is not at the bottom, but at the side.
If a manual planer is supposed to be stored for a very long time, it must be taken apart and properly cleaned before being put into a box. Knives and other metal parts should be wiped with oiled rags.