Investing in a planer/thicknesser

As the size of workpieces increases, the amount I can do with hand tools becomes prohibitively time consuming. One particular task that I would benefit from some time saving is flattening multiple boards to a consistent thickness – time to invest in a planer/thicknesser!

A planer/thicknesser (UK, thicknesser USA) is allows you to plane boards down to a consistent thickness and width. As I use a lot of pallet wood, construction lumber, and rougher-finished hardwood in my projects, this will allow me to easily transform rough, uneven timber into smooth, uniform boards.

After a whole lot of research, I decided to go for the Triton TPT125 Planer Thicknesser 1100W (not sponsored), as it can deal with material up to a width of 317mm, as well as adjust the cutting height from 3.2-152mm. I also liked the large folding infeed and outfeed tables, as that allows me to store the planer out of the way when not using it with a pretty small footprint.

I mounted the planer on a piece of white melamine-coated chipboard (I still have a few odd bits in the workshop from old wardrobes!), using four bolts through from the underside. The melamine coating allows the planer to easily slide on and off my shop cart when I need to move it, or it can be used on the shelf of the cart too.

So far I’m really impressed with it – it leaves a fantastic finish to the lumber, reducing the amount of sanding required; and is actually quieter than a number of other tools I have in the workshop. I did discover dust collection is a challenge with only a shop-vac setup, as the wood chips (rather than sawdust) quickly block up the small diameter hose as the airflow is not fast enough. I have since used the planer outside and simply swept up the wood chips, which is what I imagine I will do for most projects going forwards – pending my future investment in a significantly upgraded dust collection setup! 🔨