Shop Tested Benchtop Planers
Tool Review

Here's the skinny on thickness planers: They'll add dimension wood accurately, but the best performers leave less clean-up work for you to do afterward. Think of buying a benchtop planer as an investment that pays dividends in lumber savings. By using it to surface less-expensive, rough-sawn stock, you free yourself from buying costly pre-surfaced lumber. To make sure you get the right machine, we put 11 benchtop planers through extensive resting to sort the smooth operators from the roughnecks.

Watch a free video on beating planer snipe at woodmagazine.com/videos.

Featured in the March 2010 issue of WOOD.

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