Planing width
The width of the strip that the planer processes in one pass. The larger this width, the fewer passes will be needed for surface treatment and the more convenient it will be to work with large workpieces. In most modern electric planers, this figure varies between 80-100 mm.
Note that a larger width requires a more powerful engine and can significantly affect the cost of the tool.
Grooving depth
The greatest depth of the groove that can be cut into the workpiece with a planer.
Grooves are narrow and long slots used, in particular, for tenoning wooden parts. Some models of electric planers are equipped with special tools that make it easier to cut grooves.
Knives
The design of knives intended for use with a planer and, usually, supplied as standard. The type of knives does not affect the performance of the tool, but in the case of dullness or nicks, the methods for correcting the situation differ significantly.
— Unilateral. As the name suggests, these knives are sharpened on one side only. If defects appear on the blade, it can be removed and sharpened or the edge straightened. Technically, such an operation can be carried out many times, but it requires not only time, but also appropriate skills and equipment.
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Bilateral. Knives sharpened on both sides are very convenient due to the fact that when the edge becomes dull or serrated, it is enough to remove the knife and install it on the other side, with a “fresh” blade. On the other hand, such blades do not allow sharpening — when the second side of the knife becomes unusable, the only option is to replace it.
Features
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Soft start. The presence of a soft start function in the electric planer.
By themselves, the electric motors used in modern planers "start" very abruptly. This leads to jerks of the tool at start-up, due to which it is possible to spoil the workpiece or even drop the unit, which is fraught with injury. In addition, during a normal, non-soft start, the motor consumes a very high current at the moment of start, which leads to voltage surges in the network and an increased load on it. To avoid this, some tools are equipped with a soft start system — an electronic unit that limits starting currents. Due to such electronics, the engine enters the “slowly” mode, without jerks and power surges, which positively affects both the state of the network and the safety of use.
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Maintain momentum. The presence of the function of maintaining speed in the electric planer.
This function is designed to keep the motor speed constant regardless of the load on the blades. Without speed maintenance, this speed decreases as the load on the tool increases and increases when the knives are released. At the same time, the features of the use of planers are such that in “problem” areas (knots, uneven wood, etc.), where the resistance increases, high speed is just needed for high-quality processing, and with low resistance, it is not necessary to keep the speed particularly. Accordingly, the electronics responsible for maintaining
...the speed monitors the resistance of the material and automatically regulates the power supplied to the engine: as the load increases, the power also increases, and vice versa. This not only allows you to cope with difficult areas, but also improves the quality of processing in general, reduces wear, and also allows you to use electricity more rationally — the planer "takes" a lot of electricity only when it is really needed.
— Brushless motor. The presence of a brushless (brushless) electric motor in the design of the tool. As the name suggests, this electric motor does not have a brushed commutator used in traditional electric motors. This design is more expensive, but it offers a number of advantages: in particular, brushless motors consume less energy, heat up less, have a lower noise level, and also practically do not spark, which makes it easier to work with a tool in high fire hazard conditions.
— Curved outsole. The presence of a curved sole in the design of the tool. In this case, a sole is meant that is curved in length — in such a way that its front and rear edges are above the middle. Such tools are not suitable for general planing, but they do a good job with some specific jobs. For example, when removing bark from large logs, the curved sole does not cling to knots and other irregularities, and the tool moves freely along the surface to be treated. Actually, the removal of bark from logs is often stated in such tools as the main purpose. However, the matter is not limited to this, the curved sole can also be useful for other tasks — for example, processing concave parts, where a conventional flat planer could not reach the surface. Anyway, curved planers are a rather highly specialized tool, and therefore are extremely rare.
— Quarter sampling. The presence of the function of sampling a quarter in the design of the electric planer. The selection of a quarter can be described as cutting a groove along the edge of the board — thus, instead of a protruding corner, a rectangular recess is obtained. For such work, planers use a special device — a parallel stop: it allows you to move the tool strictly along the edge of the board, ensuring accurate cutting of a quarter groove. If in this model the possibility of sampling a quarter is claimed, this, usually, means that the parallel stop is initially supplied in the kit.
Theoretically, a quarter can be sampled with almost any planer, without a special stop. However, in fact, in order to achieve this more or less tolerable quality, a very high level of skill is required, while even a beginner can cope with such a task with the presence of a parallel fence.
— Folding shoe. The presence of a folding shoe in the design of the tool.
The drop shoe is an additional stand designed to ensure that the planer can be safely placed directly on the sole during non-working hours. The need for such a function is primarily due to the fact that the planer knives, after turning off the engine, continue to rotate by inertia for some time — and this time can be quite significant, on the order of 20 – 30 s. Without a special stand, the planer would either have to be held in hands (which is not very convenient) or laid on its side (which is not always accessible and not very safe — not all tools can lie stably in this position). And if there is a stand, the tool can be placed with the sole down, without fear of spoiling the surface under it: the shoe slightly raises the sole, and the knives rotate in the air without touching the supporting surface.
Such a stand is usually installed in the back of the sole and is made spring-loaded: while the planer is in the air, the shoe is folded down to its working position, and to fold it, you need to lightly press the tool, moving it forward. This minimizes the chance of a planer with unstopped knives resting on the support when the shoe is folded.
— Stationary installation. A planer with the possibility of stationary installation can be turned upside down and secured in this position. When working, accordingly, the user will have to move not the tool over the workpiece, but vice versa — the workpiece over the tool. In other words, the planer in this position actually turns into a compact planer. This format of work is especially convenient if the weight of the workpiece is small, and it is more convenient to hold it in your hands than a massive planer. And if you need to process many small parts at once, a stationary installation can be a real salvation.
Note that the method of fixing can be different: some models are equipped with their own stand, others are fixed on the workbench using a special clamp. The specific installation method for the selected model needs to be specified separately, as well as the presence of the aforementioned stand or clamp in the kit: usually the planer is immediately supplied with everything necessary for stationary placement, but there may be exceptions.
