When it comes to head to head tool battles, I can’t think of anyone that does a more comprehensive job than the team over at Tool Box Buzz. In the past, the TBB Crew has tackled in-depth comparisons ½” cordless hammer drills, portable jobsite table saws, and tape measures, among several others. Most recently, the team compared 8 different benchtop thickness planers in a variety of tests and determined the overall winner.
As you may know, stock lumber is not perfectly consistent on their dimensions, so there may be some variances in lumber thickness, leading to some inconsistencies in woodworking and carpentry. Other times, you may buy unfinished lumber and need to smooth it. Enter the thickness planer. While there are versions that are extremely large and powerful out there costing thousands of dollars, those immobile units are mostly found in higher end finish woodworking shops. On the jobsite, you’re most likely to see a benchtop planer.
In their most recent head to head, the TBB Crew examined the following benchtop planer models:
To judge the planers, they used a variety of tests to determine which had the best feed rate, thickness accuracy, surface finish, and price. A winner was determined in each of those categories and the scores were then totaled at the end to determine the winner.
I encourage you to watch the video below or check out the full article at Tool Box Buzz. Like I said above, TBB always does a fantastic and thorough job with these comparisons. They’re all professional tradesmen and led by the Concord Carpenter himself, Rob Robillard. I’ve been to many tool events with Rob and everyone knows Rob is the real deal. There’s always a crowd surrounding him when he tests a new table saw – or sawr, as he would say. Enjoy!
Full article: Best Benchtop Thickness Planer – Head-to-Head | Tool Box Buzz
Last summer, Hilti announced that they had developed their first exoskeleton designed for construction tradespeople in a partnership with Ottobuck, a prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton provider. Earlier this month, Hilti officially released the exoskeleton, announced more details, and published its retail price on their website.