HOW TO KEEP YOUR BENCHTOP PLANER RUNNING LIKE NEW

Now that you’ve spent the money on a new benchtop planer, wouldn’t it be nice if it ran like new every time you want to use it? Well, if you follow these tips your planer will operate flawlessly for years to come and prove to be a worthy investment.

Don’t even think about buying a planer without purchasing a sharpening tool. This is the single best tip we can give you about wood planers. Without a sharpening tool you’ll be cutting slow, damaging your wood, and wearing down what is left of your blade. We recommend the Diamond Hone-Mate (available at woodworker.com). This sharpener allows you to sharpen the planer knife without removing from the tool saving time. Extended blade life is a nice bonus as well. This tip works extremely well on the Makita 2012NB 12-inch benchtop planer.

We’ve seen a few reviews where people are complaining about having to force the wood into the planer, particularly after using the planer for awhile. This is a sign that the blade is dull and needs to be sharpened or changed. You’ll be amazed how easily this cures the problem. Also, if your planer is cutting slowly or dragging, try giving it a quick sharpening and you’ll be surprised.

Another big factor to extending the life of your wood planer is keeping the shavings out of the mechanics. Occasionally remove the side panel and remove any errant shavings that could affect the chain infeed drive. Keeping this are clean of debris will also improve performance.