Thanks to its easy adjustment for an accurate and even finish, you won't have any problems with the planing and thickening process. The company also owns the Startrite brand, which covers a line planer thicknesser its power tools that is specifically designed for industry. This produces a board which is the exactly the same thickness across its entire face with perfectly flat surfaces. The W is quite noisy, and the machine needs a little bit of fiddling to get things working accurately. Portable Planer Thicknesser Reviews: Which is the best? It offers the best performance of any planer thicknesser on planer thicknesser its list, with the highest workload capacity. Planer thicknesser its the board passes under the cutting head, a certain amount of material is cut away over its entire surface by the cutting head.

Industrial Tool Supplies London Limited acts as a credit broker and offers finance from a restricted range of finance providers. All Rights Reserved. This site uses cookies. For further info click here. My Account. You have no items in your Shopping Basket. Price match promise. Next day delivery, 7 days a week.

One Hour Delivery slot. Available Soon You can Pre-Order this item today and we will let you know when it becomes available. Free Delivery. Delivered in Working Days. This store has in stock. Invalid Quantity Invalid Quantity. Please Wait. Back to Categories. Dimensions L x W x H 1. Dressing plates L x W 1. To help you get a grip on what's what, the following table should help clarify differences. Essentially, there are 3 types of machine in this woodworking category, Fortunately, they are most easily differentiated simply from their appearance:.

So the planer thicknesser is essentially 2 machines in one, each with a different primary function. The jointer planer or jointer on the upper surface of the machine is used to 'straighten' out any bowing, cupping or twisting that might be present in wood stock.

To do this, 2 adjacent longitudinal sides of a piece of wood are passed over the jointer sequentially, while using the integrated fence as a guide to create an exact 90 degree angle between them. This is better understood with a demonstration. Once the 2 adjacent sides of the workpiece are perpendicular to each other, the 2 remaining longitudinal sides are then levelled off using the thicknesser part of the machine.

To do this, the perpendicular sides just created are used as a 'guide' for the thicknesser to make each opposite side parallel.

The end result is an exact rectangular cross-sectional profile along the length of the wood stock. Well that all depends on what your budget is.

In general, as with any other power tool, the more money one is willing to spend on a planer thicknesser, the better the quality and design of the machine. Since this is a website more for the do-it-yourself-er, only the cheaper planer thicknessers that won't break the average DIY-er's bank account are considered below.

Most of these models of planer thicknesser are quite small in size and are even small enough to be considered somewhat portable. However portability here really means that they can be quite easily moved around the workshop or garage without too much fuss, but are not really designed for easily lugging around to friends and relatives when they are in need of your DIY-ing abilities.

As with almost any other power tool, looking under the hood at the technical specifications of different brands can go some way towards helping make the final decision on which one to choose. These planer thicknessers are described as 'portable' not because they are designed to be carried around from workspace to workspace, but because they are small compared to their more professional brethren, and they can more easily be moved around the workspace.

This can be useful in a small workshop or garage where space is at a premium and the machine might need to be stowed away until it is actually needed. As you will see in the reviews below, one overriding characteristic of the majority of portable planer thicknessers on the UK market today is that many of the machines are made up from identical components, and in a lot of cases, the machines actually look identical with the exception of their colour scheme and branding. However under the hood, things can be a little different.

Power Watts Approx. Weight kg Planing Width mm Planing Depth max. The Erbauer planer thicknesser from ScrewFix is a popular option for consumers who are looking to buy a planer thicknesser for the home workshop.

It has a number of good features but also a couple of caveats. First and foremost, it does an excellent job of planing and thicknessing a variety of different soft and hard woods including Oak, Beech, Mahogany, American Black Walnut, and American Hard Maple just to name a few producing very nice cuts often obviating the need for sanding, and giving more professional machines a run for their money.

The machine itself is very solidly built and weighs very similar to other competitor planer thicknessers in its price category, making it heavy enough to be a sturdy machine while operating, but light enough to be moved around the workshop.

Setting up the machine is a little fiddly and the operating manual is not as clear as it could be, however if you are the patient DIY-er type this should present very little trouble and you should have the machine up and running in 20 minutes or so. The Erbauer ERBBTE planer thicknesser is reasonably well powered with a W motor running on V, it can take up to mm wide workpieces removing up to 3mm on the planer and up to 2mm on the thicknesser with each pass through the machine.

The maximum thickness of wood that can be passed through the thicknesser is mm, typical for this class of planer thicknesser. One of the nice features of the ERBBTE is that the cutting blades are easily replaceable and readily available , although if you are not too heavy a user of the machine the ones that come with it should last a couple of years at least.

A couple of points to note are that one needs to do a little bit of fiddling around when changing from planing mode to thicknessing mode, as the dust extraction port needs to be unhooked and reattached in a different location for each mode taking up a couple of minutes to do so each time. In addition, the dust extraction port is best used with a vacuum system particularly when in planing mode as the port projects upwards allowing sawdust to collect within it if the debris is not quickly aspirated away.

One particular dislike of the machine is that the fence is a little bit on the flimsy side but this is easily rectified with a little bit of DIY hacking by making one's own more sturdy fence see towards the bottom of this page for a couple of suggestions on how to do this on these types of machines. In addition, there is no mechanism to move the fence across the blades as with more expensive machines therefore blades will tend to wear out faster closest to the fence and they will need resharpening or replacing earlier than would have otherwise been the case if the fence was movable.

More recently in , the Erbauer ERBBTE has suffered from what seems to be a quality-control issue where the motor housing appears to be quite fragile and with prolonged use of the planer thicknesser can result in cracking at the mounting points for the motor - so this is something currently to watch out for. This may raise eyebrows for some, however apart from the occasional quality-control issue, ScrewFix seems to pride itself on providing good own-brand tools to tradesmen and consumers alike, and so Erbauer tools tend to have a reputation for being good quality while at the same time being quite economical to purchase.

As a result, Clarke planer thicknessers get slightly larger and heavier with their increasing specifications. Thicknessing height, on the other hand, is identical between the three Clarke machines although the thicknesser can accept increasingly wider pieces of stock as you go up the range of Clarke planer thicknesser.

One other notable difference between the Clarke machines is in the power of their electric motors, with the CPT containing a more powerful motor than its two siblings allowing it to deal with the larger pieces of wood that it may be tasked with. All the Clarke planer thicknessers produce a nice smooth finish.

They are also compact power tools that take up very little space in the home workshop or garage where space is invariably in short supply. As with other portable planer thicknessers in this price range, they are also light enough to be moved around the workspace as needed, with the smallest of the Clarke machines, the CPT, weighing in at only 22kg.

The fence on the upper jointer planer on the two smaller machines CPT and CPT is probably the only disappointment with these Clarke planer thicknessers, with the fence being a bit on the flimsy side.

Fortunately, on the largest of the Clarke machines, the CPT, the company has opted for a much sturdier fence which makes a substantial difference to the overall quality-feel and ease-of-use of the tool. As with almost all other planer thicknessers in this price category, the fence on all three Clarke planer thicknessers needs to be taken off to use the thicknessing part of the machine, which can become quite inconvenient if one has to regularly go back and forth between the planing and thicknessing functions of the power tool.

In addition, as with all the other portable machines discussed here, the fence on the Clarke machines can not be moved laterally, so one has to watch out for excessive wear on the cutter closest to it since this area will naturally see the most work. Overall, the Clarke planer thicknessers are good hobby-level machines that are designed for the DIY-er or non-woodworking tradesman, although a professional woodworker might get away with using them as long as they are not overworked.

Taking into account their reasonable build quality and their prices, these machines end up being a good deal. As for Clarke the company, Clarke International is a UK business marketing a wide range of tools and equipment to the British consumer. Although Clarke itself does not deal directly with consumer purchasing, it does get involved with the after-sales servicing and spare part needs of consumers. The sale of Clarke power products to the consumer is facilitated through a number of distributors.

Clarke has been around since and although it started off as a manufacturer, it now sources its products from abroad. Quality is checked thoroughly though to uphold the Clarke brand's reputation, through both in-house scrutiny and via external organisations. In addition, consumers can also contact the company for any after-sales service support via a dedicated section of the company. Consequently, Clarke products are generally regarded as value for money and buyers of Clarke equipment are generally very satisfied with their purchases.

Like the Clarke machines discussed above, the Charnwood W is another of the 'generic' benchtop planer thicknessers, with many of the parts of the machine identical to other competitor products. Clearly, most of the parts for these machines are sourced from the same suppliers. The W is quite noisy, and the machine needs a little bit of fiddling to get things working accurately.

Unlike other 'generic' planer thicknessers, Charnwood has opted for a sturdier fence to improve the accuracy of the jointer. This fence can also be tilted up to 45 degrees from the vertical to allow the operator to make bevelled cuts. Charnwood is a family-run business that has been around since the s and focuses on providing woodworking machinery for both DIY-ers and professional users. They are located in Leicester and as you might expect from a small family-owned business, the company prides itself on offering quality products and after-sales technical support to customers.

In addition, they are easily accessible if a replacement part is needed for the machine at a later date. Although in the past, Charnwood was more deeply involved in the actual manufacture of the equipment they sell, in more recent years, the company has switched to procuring products from the Far East to remain competitive.

But fear not, the company has kept a watchful eye over the quality of the products that they sell to ensure that their reputation remains unblemished. So, although the W clearly has a lot of generic parts, one can rest assured that the machine has been sufficiently vetted to make sure that it is fit-for-purpose.

Draper is a well known brand amongst many-a-UK DIY-er, selling both hand tools and power tools to the general British consumer. In general, the Draper brand is a trusted brand, and most of the time their tools are of decent quality. In the case of the Draper Planer Thicknesser BPT, Draper has cut a few corners, presumably to remain competitive within the budget planer thicknesser space.

As with the other machines, the majority of the Draper BPT is robustly built, however, like other machines, some of the parts, like the fence and the blade guard, are a bit on the flimsy side. As with other budget planer thicknessers, the Draper BPT is very loud, so ear plugs or ear defenders are required for any extended cutting. In addition, a vacuum system is a must if you don't want the wood clippings clogging up the machine and wearing out the rollers with each job.

In general, a reasonable machine for the price, and OK for the irregular use of a DIY-er, but unlikely to stand up to the heavy use of a professional. It has many of the same physical characteristics as well as technical specifications as similar machines from other brands, however, the Titan TTBPLN can also often represent the best value for money in this category of planer thicknesser as its price tends to be lower than most others.

On the positive side, the setup of the machine is relatively simple with an operating manual that is well-written and instructions that are easy to follow. This means that one can have a working machine up and running within 10 - 15 minutes following unpacking. The machine itself is well-built especially given its cost, and it can be used for extended periods without any problems.

It also has a maximum cut depth of 3mm on the planer and up to 2mm on the thickness planer, although cleaner results are usually achieved when smaller fractional amounts are removed, even if it means running workpieces through the Titan machine more then once. On the more negative side, just like competitor budget planer thicknessers, some aspects of the Titan electric planer thicknesser are less optimal.

One notable issue with the machine that is also found on other competitor generic machines is its poor planer fence, which is a weak stamped-metal affair, as well as being permanently fixed to one side of the cutting surface.

This means that pressing too hard on the fence can cause it to distort slightly resulting in less than perfect cutting results, while at the same time, the cutting blades tend to wear out faster on the side closest to the fence which sees the most use. In addition to the low-quality fence, the locking screw on the machine that is responsible for setting the depth of cut on the planer does not always do a great job of holding the adjustable table in the set position. This sometimes results in a non-uniform depth of cut if one is not careful.

Changing between planing mode and thicknessing mode is somewhat tedious due to the need to unscrew the dust extractor and reattach it for use in the alternative mode some users have changed the fastening nut to a wing nut to make this process a little bit more efficient.

Another notable issue seen on these generic machines including the Titan TTBPLN jointer planer is the almost mandatory need for a shop vacuum system. This is because the dust extractor adapter tends to rapidly clog up with sawdust when a vacuum system is not used. And like all other planer thicknessers, the Titan TTBPLN generates a lot of waste chippings, so having a vacuum system ready to deal with the heavy quantity of sawdust is always a good idea anyway.

Manufacturing fidelity is not always consistent though, so one has to be prepared to test and inspect the machine for flaws early on and be prepared to send it back, more than once if necessary, to get one that works sufficiently accurately for one's purposes. Fortunately, retailers like Amazon and Screwfix are usually very amenable to having the machine replaced if a flaw is found. The Scheppach HT also sometimes referred to as the HMS is once again one of the machines that has been manufactured in the Far East using many of the same suppliers that have been involved in the making of it's competitor machines.

Indeed, its technical specifications mirror closely those of the Clarke CPT As with the Clarke machines, the HT is a solidly built machine but suffers from the same issue of some of its parts being a touch flimsy. Otherwise, as one would expect from a German company, the machine works well and is very sturdy. The Scheppach company is a medium-sized German company that has been around since For a long time, the company specialised in providing consumers with purely woodworking machinery, but in recent years, as the company has grown, it has diversified into other tools for both the amateur DIY enthusiast as well as trade professionals, and in the last couple of years has started to delve into selling equipment for the home garden market.

For instance, take Bill Warmisham , who had to spend some time adjusting the machine to fully eliminate snipe from the thicknesser when he first got it. In addition, it comes with its own stand, so there is no need to clear a space on the workshop table if you don't want to. As with the Charnwood W the fence is of better quality than seen on some of its other competitors, and also tilts up to 45 degrees from the vertical for bevelled cuts if so desired.

The DART formerly Fox brand is an Italian one owned by Femi , which is an Italian company that specialises in providing power tools for both wood-working and metal-working do-it-yourselfers and as well as trade professionals.

If you work with wood in any capacity, then you have likely used a planer thicknesser before. There are a large number of acceptable models out there, but if you have yet to try the Erbauer EPT model, then you might be missing out on a good value machine that also gives a smooth finish to your woodworking project. The Erbauer EPT is a mains electricity-powered machine that works reasonably quickly with a feed rate of 6 metres per minute and has a no-load motor speed of 9, RPM.

The table is made from sturdy aluminium so is quite durable. The extrusion fence is also aluminium but is not well mounted, so you would probably do better to make your own. The power output of this model is Watts, which is pretty standard among models in this category.

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