What the machine does, and what it does not
Feed rollers pull the board along a table under a spinning cutterhead, and the knives take a shaving off the top face. Because the board is pressed to the table, the top comes out parallel to the bottom, and repeated passes bring it to a set thickness. That is the whole job of a wood thickness planer. It copies the face below; it cannot make that face flat. DEWALT's DW735 manual says so plainly: a bowed board is pushed flat by the rollers and springs back as it leaves, and 'to properly remove the bow, use a jointer'. Its planer, it says, works best on material run through a jointer to produce one flat surface.
Four machines that are not the same
| Machine | What it does | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Jointer | Flattens one face, then squares an edge to it | Set thickness or make two faces parallel |
| Thickness planer | Makes the second face parallel to the first and sets thickness | Remove bow, cup or twist on its own |
| Electric hand planer | Takes a hand-guided cut, up to about 3-1/4 in wide, for fitting and trimming | Guarantee a flat or parallel face the way the machines do |
| Combination jointer-planer | Both jobs on one cutterhead, one mode at a time | Run both modes at once; it is changed over between them |
None of the four is another's synonym. A hand plane, unpowered, is a different tool again: see the hand plane guide.
Names blur. DEWALT headed its thickness planer's rules 'Safety Rules for Surface Planers', while British usage calls a jointer a surface planer and a planer a thicknesser. Bare 'wood planer' searches mean both the machine and the handheld tool. The pages that follow keep the four apart: jointers, electric hand planers and combination jointer-planers.
The parts that feed and hold the board
Powermatic's 15-inch planer manual names them in order. The infeed roller grips and pulls the board in; the chipbreaker, just ahead of the cutterhead, holds it down; the knives or inserts cut; the outfeed roller carries it out. On that machine both rollers sit 0.032 in below the knives' arc and the chipbreaker level with it, set at the factory; Powermatic asks owners to call it before touching the roller springs. Gravity-hung anti-kickback fingers at the infeed stop a board being thrown back, and must be kept free of pitch. Benchtop machines carry the same idea in a smaller head; DEWALT's DW735 adds a fan to blow chips out.
Width, depth and thickness, by maker
| Machine | Width | Thickness | Deepest cut | Shortest stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEWALT DW734 (page) | 12-1/2 in | Up to 6 in | Not stated on the page | Not stated on the page |
| DEWALT DW735 | 13 in (manual rule: no wider than 12 in) | 1/8–6 in | 1/8 in on boards 6 in wide or less | 12 in |
| Makita 2012NB | 304 mm (12 in) | 3–155 mm | 3.0 mm under 150 mm wide; 1.5 mm to 240 mm; 1.0 mm to 304 mm | 130 mm |
| Powermatic 15S/15HH | 14-7/8 in | 3/16–6 in | 1/8 in full width (3/16 in maximum) | 8 in |
| Powermatic 209/209HH | 20 in | 1/8–8 in | 3/32 in full width | 6-3/4 in |
Each figure is the maker's own. Depth limits shrink as the board gets wider, so a single 'maximum depth' hides the rule; DEWALT's own manual gives 13 in as the width and 12 in as the widest stock to plane, and both are shown.
Speed: rpm, cuts per inch and feed are different numbers
- Cutterhead rpm is how fast the head turns: 10,000 for the DW735, 4,500 for Powermatic's 15S. DEWALT's DW734 page also quotes a '20,000 rpm motor' beside its '10,000 rpm cutter-head' — two different shafts.
- Feed rate is how fast the board moves: 14 or 26 ft per minute on the DW735, 16 and 20 on the 15S, 8.5 m per minute on the 2012NB.
- Cuts per inch combines the two: the DW735 gives 96 at its fast feed and 179 at its slow one, which DEWALT recommends for the final pass and for hard or figured wood.
- Cuts per minute is knives times rpm on a knife head — 13,500 on the 15S. Makers disagree about insert heads: Powermatic calls the figure 'not applicable' on the 15HH yet prints 20,000 for the 209HH.
Equipment notePaid link
13-in thickness planer package
DEWALT DW735X
DEWALT's DW735X package: its page gives the same two speeds, 96 or 179 cuts per inch, that this section explains with the DW735.
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Power and wiring, as each maker states them
Amps, horsepower and watts are different measures and are not converted here. DEWALT's DW735 is a 120 V, 15 A machine and asks for a separate circuit of no less than #12 wire on a 20 A time-lag fuse. Powermatic's 15S is 3 HP, single-phase 230 V, drawing 15 A on a recommended 30 A circuit; its 209 comes as 5 HP single-phase 230 V or three-phase 230/460 V, and the 460 V hookup needs a separately bought switch, with a qualified electrician recommended. Makita states 1,650 W for the 2012NB. Match the supply to the nameplate, and leave any change of voltage or phase to an electrician and the manual.
Dust and chips
A planer throws a large volume of chips. The DW735 has a 4 in port and a fan, and DEWALT advises against a shop vacuum because most cannot keep up and the hose clogs; Makita, by contrast, offers a hood to connect a vacuum cleaner to its 2012NB. Powermatic's planers have 4 in and 5 in chutes. A port's diameter says what hose fits, not how much air a collector moves; where a maker states a required airflow — Powermatic's 1285 jointer asks for at least 800 CFM — that figure belongs to that machine.
Snipe, moisture and wood that will not plane well
Snipe is a deeper cut at one or both ends. DEWALT blames an unsupported end that drops and lifts the other into the knives; Powermatic lists roller settings, support, uneven roller pressure, dull knives and boards not butted end to end, and says snipe cannot be eliminated, only minimized. There is no single cause, and the planer tutorial covers the fixes each maker gives. Powermatic traces fuzzy grain to wood with high moisture content — measure it with a moisture meter — and DEWALT suggests taking equal amounts off both faces so the board dries evenly; how much a board moves with moisture is in the wood movement calculator. Makita forbids planing badly bowed wood that cannot sit on the infeed table. Choosing and reading boards is in the lumber guide and reading grain.
Rules the manuals share
- Keep the guards in place; DEWALT and Makita say never to run the machine with its covers off.
- Let the cutterhead reach full speed before feeding, and never switch on with a board touching the rollers or knives.
- Never reach into the cutterhead, chip chute or rollers while the machine runs. Clear a jam or chips only with the power off — DEWALT: off, unplugged, then raise the carriage.
- Do not stand in line with the board, and never feed into the outfeed end.
- Respect the machine's minimum length and thickness, which differ: 12 in and 1/2 in on the DW735, 8 in and 3/16 in on the 15S, 130 mm on the 2012NB.
- Plane only wood free of nails, staples and loose knots; support long boards at both ends.
Safety— In a workplace
OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.213 requires an employer's planing machines to have every cutting head covered by a metal guard and the feed rolls guarded, and sectional infeed rolls or sectional kickback fingers where several pieces are planed at once.
Before planing
- One face already flat, from a jointer
- Board longer and thicker than the manual's minimums
- Depth set within the maker's limit for that width
- Nails, staples and loose knots checked for
- Supports at both ends for long boards
- Guards and covers on; dust port connected
Where to go next
- Machines: jointers, electric hand planers, combination jointer-planers and planer knives and inserts.
- Using them: how to use a jointer and how to use a thickness planer.
- Comparisons: jointer vs planer and a combination machine vs a planer.
- Choosing a planer: any type, benchtop, portable and cordless.
- Choosing a jointer: any size, benchtop and a combination machine; choosing an electric hand planer.
Sources
Every width, depth, speed and power figure is the named maker's for its own machine; another planer's differ, and its manual governs. Makers do not count speed the same way: Powermatic gives cuts per minute for one insert head and calls the figure 'not applicable' for another, and DEWALT's DW734 page gives two different rpm figures for motor and cutterhead. The Makita manual is the European edition. No machine was tested.
- 1.
Used for: The DW735: 120 V AC, 15 A; 10,000 rpm no-load; feed 14 or 26 ft per minute; 13 in (325 mm) wide; 6 in to 1/8 in thick; 1/8 in deepest cut on boards 6 in wide or less; 96 or 179 cuts per inch; never plane stock shorter than 12 in, narrower than 3/4 in, wider than 12 in or thinner than 1/2 in; snipe from an unsupported end; cupped, twisted and bowed stock, and 'to properly remove the bow, use a jointer'; one flat face from a jointer first; planing both faces; a jam cleared with the power off and unplugged; guards left in place; a 4 in dust port and no shop vacuum; a separate circuit of no less than #12 wire on a 20 A time-lag fuse; helical cutterheads not tested and not recommended.
- 2.
DW734 12-1/2 in. Thickness Planer with Three Knife Cutter-Head. DEWALT.
Used for: The DW734: 120 V, 15 A, a '20,000 rpm motor' and a '10,000 rpm cutter-head' giving 96 cuts per inch, 12-1/2 in wide, a four-column carriage lock against snipe, 33-1/2 in of infeed and outfeed support.
- 3.
Used for: The 2012NB: 304 mm wide; deepest cut 3.0 mm under 150 mm wide, 1.5 mm from 150 to 240 mm, 1.0 mm from 240 to 304 mm; 8,500 min⁻¹; feed 8.5 m per minute; never cut recesses, tenons or moulds or plane badly bowed wood; chips removed only with the blades stopped; nothing under 130 mm long, as the feed rollers are 129 mm apart; figures from the European edition.
- 4.
304 mm (12") Planer Model 2012NB, Automatic Thickness Planer (specification sheet Z13946-2). Makita, 1999.
Used for: The 2012NB's 1,650 W continuous rating input and 3 mm to 155 mm thickness range.
- 5.
Operating Instructions and Parts Manual, 15-inch Planer, Models 15S and 15HH (M-0460286, edition 8). Powermatic, 2024.
Used for: The 15S/15HH: infeed roller, chipbreaker, outfeed roller and anti-kickback fingers; 14-7/8 in by 6 in; 1/8 in full-width depth; 8 in minimum length and 3/16 in minimum thickness; 4,500 rpm and 13,500 cuts per minute for the knife head, 'not applicable' for the insert head; feed 16 and 20 ft per minute; 3 HP, single-phase 230 V, 15 A on a 30 A circuit; snipe that 'cannot be eliminated but can be so minimized as to be negligible'; fuzzy grain from high moisture content.
- 6.
Operating Instructions and Parts Manual, 20-inch Planer, Models 209 and 209HH (M-0460283, edition 17). Powermatic, 2025.
Used for: The 209/209HH: 20 in wide, 8 in thick, 3/32 in full-width depth, 6-3/4 in minimum length; 5,000 rpm and 20,000 cuts per minute for both the knife and the insert head; 24 and 31 ft per minute; 5 HP single-phase 230 V, or three-phase 230/460 V with a separately bought switch for 460 V and a qualified electrician recommended.
- 7.
Model G0633/G0634 Jointer/Planer Combination Machine owner's manual (revised February 2018). Grizzly Industrial, 2018.
Used for: A combination machine's planer: 12 in wide, 8 in thick, 1/8 in full width and 5/32 in on a 6 in board, 22 ft per minute.
- 8.
Operating Instructions and Parts Manual, 12-inch Jointer, Models 1285 and 1285T (M-0460216, edition 7). Powermatic, 2023.
Used for: A jointer whose maker states a minimum dust-collection airflow (800 CFM for the 1285) — a figure for that machine only.
- 9.
29 CFR 1910.213, Woodworking machinery requirements: (j) jointers, (n) planing machines, (s)(12) jointer knives and push sticks. U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Used for: For workplaces: every cutting head of a planing machine covered by a metal guard, feed rolls guarded, and sectional infeed rolls or sectional kickback fingers where several pieces are planed at once.
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