How to Make Budget Thicknesser using a Hand Planer. Homemade Thicknesser. DIY. 4 in 1 workbench

Thank you very much, Michael, for taking the time to show us this. I have been looking for exactly this type of solution for a while now. Sure it could be made better with more rigid rails etc. but the implementation is simple, elegant and inexpensive. I have been reading through the other comments, and I thought I would try to respond to some of them: In Australia the comparable machine is called a thicknesser. Other regions call it a thickness planer or just a planer. In Australia, we would simply call his Ozito electric hand planer a planer. In Australia thicknessers are not cheap and there are not many brands available. You can buy a 13" thicknesser for around $400-$600, but if you want bigger than that (which I would need) then you can basically start at $2000 for a 15" and go up from there. You can buy everything this man uses in this video for about $100, so to those saying "save your money and buy a thickness planer", I say, "do the math". A thicknesser also takes up a decent chunk of space in the workshop -- in my case that is space that I don't want to waste on something that would not be used that often. This solution also has several advantages over a traditional overhead thicknesser in that it can be used on pieces of arbitrary size and shape (as demonstrated in Michael's other video where he works on a log) and there is no snipe from any feed rollers to worry about. Also if the load on the (Ozito) planer becomes to great (such as when working on end grain) then the sled can simply float off the workpiece safely and not cause your glue-up to shatter and damage the thicknesser along with destroying the workpiece. I am convinced that even if I had a thicknesser, I would still want this homemade solution in my workshop anyway because of the problems it solves. It could also easily be adapted to use with a belt sander or a router. To those who asked "why not just lower the planer blade on every pass?" the answer is that electric hand planers don't work that way. On an electric hand planer, the blade depth is fixed to be in plane with the rear shoe. What is adjustable is the height of the front shoe, essentially governing how much material can be fed into the fixed blade and rear shoe. This adjustment is usually between 0mm and 3mm, but in this arrangement the front shoe is not needed and could be removed altogether if desired (which could also open up additional mount point possibilities for the planer chassis). As for the comments about the quality of the Ozito hand planer being used, I have found most all consumer power tool brands to be equally crappy: Ryobi, Bosch, Makita, Ozito, WorkZone etc. I've had tools from all these brands break down way before they reasonably should have and others carry on for years and years -- it's all a quality control gamble. Most of these manufacturers seem to be only interested in making tool skins for their line of battery products now. If you fell better paying $250 for an electric hand planer (or $499 for a thicknesser) then good for you but the $69 Ozito will work great for this purpose. As for the table lifting via the screw thread, this design is brilliant in its simplicity and should be very accurate. M10 is 1mm pitch so one full turn = 1mm adjustment; 1/2 turn = 0.5mm; 1/4 turn = 0.25mm. So provided you visually turn the wing nuts in 90° increments the result will be totally predictable. The only disadvantage with the implementation in the video that I can see is that it would quickly become a nuisance having to adjust 8 wing nuts on every pass, but others have suggested possible improvements there, such as use of springs or embedding nuts in spacer blocks etc. Anyway, thanks again, Michael, for sharing. You have helped me solve my problem.

We recently lumbered a 36" maple, a 36" white ash, and a 32" pecan. After drying, we tried planing with a Rigid (Home Depot) 13" planer with 2 HSS knives youtube.com/post/UgkxIzvvTi3_Qc8JnVdYYRJCvuoDC4QjT… . This job was clearly too much for that machine. The pecan was particularly difficult, due to heavy mineral deposits, and a sharp pair of HSS knives would be consumed by a mere 3 boards. We were also having lots of problems from chip bruising, due to poor dust collection. The shavings came off like straw and jammed in the 4" hose.We bought the DW735 simply to be able to run carbide blades, which worked brilliantly for the pecan. However, we found it to be a much, MUCH nicer machine. It was far more rigid than the "Rigid" planer, and far more accurate as well. But what I liked most about it was the dust feed. This machine has its own blower, which shreds the "straw" like shavings as they come off the cutting head and helps boost the shavings into the dust collection system. No more clogs! It's also nicely sealed so that the internals stay quite clean. This is just a well tempered machine that's a delight to use. It literally cut the labor in half. Just another example of getting what you pay for.

Like others, I can only agree with this comment. Like most ingenious solutions, their genius lies in their simplicity. It's actually one of the simplest and most cost-effective solutions to an otherwise necessary bulky tool that actually arguably comes at a price anywhere in the world if you want to achieve a truly usable finish - if you want to self-produce your material from raw wood to end use down the material chain ( or as a recycling freak must/can). Even when using my modest income, I have to do extreme calculations and have always thought back and forth about which machine I should save money for next. The thickness planer is always at the top of the ranking, but then had to give way to a less expensive device for economic reasons. That applies to me with the simple tools, e.g. B. also for the simple screw clamp, of which one (almost) never has enough in the workshop, if it is to be sufficiently strong, long and equipped with a reasonable projection. I already have a vague solution in mind with solid (16-20mm) threaded rods, washers and square profiles, similar to the pipe clamps (with the threaded rod instead of the pipe), but maybe there is a similarly simple solution here on YouTube . But that's just a side note. This thickness planing solution can be implemented in no time and will definitely be one of my next projects. Luckily I have two relatively solid electric planers (without the battery-powered weak-matic solution) but in the antique cable design. One of them is a Black&Decker device from Idstein/Germany from the time when B&D actually still had a few solid devices in their product line (around the beginning of the 70s of the last century) alongside the rest of the home hobbyist crap. My father, who trained as a carpenter and furniture maker, hated B&D products, but the electric planer was the only piece of equipment from B&D that he actually accepted and then used regularly and apart from the sharpening of the knives off-site by the sharpening service, the thing is up still in active use today - as far as the solidity of products from the Stone Age... Kudos to all professionals and also to all DIY makers from beginners to high-end workers!

Awesome, i have been looking for a cheap alternative to a thicknesser, this is the best one ive seen so far that doesnt require a router

Amazing, no words, just showing

Excellent idea! I have been struggling with buying a planer but the cost of a good one is several hundreds of $$. I have one of these I can use!!! Thanks for this video man. Truly appreciate helping us out with this great idea!

Fantastic idea. Also a great way to flatten warped planks if you build a longer bench.

OMG!!! That is much better than using a router. Just add a bull eye level to the sled and one to the table to make sure everything is level to each other.

Excellent!! Thanks for sharing the talents God gave you😀

Love this. Going to make this, this summer.

So simple, yet so effective. Thank you for this idea 👍

I don't have room for a thicknesser in my workshop so this is a brilliant solution, especially since I already own an electric planer.

Great idea, That saves room and the need for an expensive tool.

una brillante idea 😀😀😀😀

And after all that effort and cost, you are left with a less manoeuvre able planer. Well done sir

Great simple set up with stuff that is easy to access and you don't need a ton of tolls to make it! Well done!

He needs to use aluminum C channel for the jig. There would be no risk of warping or flexing and it's almost as easy as wood to work with. I would then use Johnson's paste wax as a lube for the aluminum C channel planer jig. It won't react with the wood and it's great for keeping your parts gliding smoothly. I use it to keep my stationary tools looking good. It's works great for a table saw table protector and lubricator. It keep the wood moving smoothly and helps to prevent binding. Try it on your planer and your jointer.

Simply brilliant

very good idea im really enjoy for watching.

Very impressive! Some thicknesses put a gear like a drive sprocket on each of those threaded rods and a chain makes them all turn at the same time when you turn the adjustment handle. It wouldn’t be too hard to add that to your design. Maybe people with lathes and mills would make their own gears or you can buy gears and bore and tap as required. Anyway you have shown us how to make a start which is amazing.