Best Thickness Planer of 2024

By Lisa S

A Thickness Planer allows you to adjust the thickness and make the wood smoother. Tune the bookshelves, kitchen cabinets, or planks finely, with a Thickness Planer.

But as these are compact in size they do not handle heavier woods. We are here to help you find the Best Thickness Planer for your purpose.

Best Overall- Dewalt 2-speed Thickness Planer
Awesome addition to the shop. Leaves a very smooth surface after cutting.
Best Size- Wen PL1326
Love the Quickness of the tool and not too loud.
Best Quality- Vevor Foldable Thickness Planer
Easy to set up and use. Sturdy and easy to adjust. Does an excellent job on rough, dented wood.
Most Powerful- Mophorn Heavy-duty Thickness Planer
This unit comes with a variety of options. You can mount it to a table or the provided frame.
Most Affordable- Craftsman CMEW320
Great for small DIY projects. Easy setup. Adjustments work well.

You might use a Thickness Planer as a Benchtop Planer also. Because of their size, they are easy to mount on a bench and hence the name. For shaving off the layer of wood, planers have rotating blades.

Easy installation and accessibility help beginners use the Thickness Planer for DIY projects. And as they consume less space, workshop owners also find the Planer as a good investment.

Item 1- Dewalt 2-speed Thickness Planer

Dewalt 2-speed Thickness Planer

This Planer comes with multiple accessories in the package. The planer is 13 inches and has a 2-speed gearbox to cut the wood at 96 or 179 CPI. To reduce unwanted movement while the planer is in use, you can use the automatic carriage lock.

Extra blades and table fasteners come along with the Thickness Planer. It also comes with a dust hose adapter. The aluminium base makes the planer 2 times more rigid. The overall weight of the planer is 101 pounds.

What We Like:

  • The 15-amp motor produces 20,000 RPM
  • You get to choose from 3 styles
  • The company assures a 3-year warranty and a 1-year free service contract
  • It works great for heavy wooden planks

What We Don’t Like:

  • The outer material is plastic
  • The chip ejection port restricts the flipping of the out-feed table
  • This planer is a little loud

Item 2- Wen PL1326

Wen PL1326 Thickness Planer

The basic style of this Planer is the Spiral cutter head. Other components that you get in the package are an adjustable dust port and a depth stop. The spiral cutter head uses 26 staggered and rotating HSS blades. Through this, it gives a cleaner and smoother finish to the wood.

The Thickness Planer has an onboard gauge. It helps in determining the amount of material coming out. The weight of this Planer is 80 pounds.

What We Like:

  • You can choose from 5 patterns available
  • Customers appreciate the cutting quality of this Planer
  • This one is not loud at all
  • It leaves a smooth touch to your wood
  • The motor produces 10,000 RPM

What We Don’t Like:

  • The brand does not provide any warranty or after-sales service
  • It makes a lot of wood mess as per some customers
  • According to some users, the chip control needs improvement

Item 3- Vevor Foldable Thickness Planer

Vevor Foldable Thickness Planer

This is a 12-inch Thickness Planer with a motor that produces 8000 RPM. The comfortable crack handle allows you to adjust the height of the cutter head.

To provide a reliable working environment you get an electromagnetic switch. It also has 2 return rollers and a dust-exhaust interface. If you are planning to work on used wood, rough or worn wood, or even bamboo, this planer works best.

This is the sturdiest Thickness Planer you will ever get. It uses iron, stainless steel, and aluminum as base materials and hence is of good quality.

What We Like:

  • It comes with a stand while other brands do not provide a stand for the Planer
  • It has a detachable stand for extra operating space
  • It weighs 66 pounds. It is lighter than its counterparts

What We Don’t Like:

  • The company does not assure of any warranty
  • As per some buyers assembling the stand is a bit difficult

Item 4- Mophorn Heavy-duty Thickness Planer

Mophorn Heavy-duty Thickness Planer

Mophorn brings to you a high-efficiency wood Thickness Planer. If the motor overloads, you can trip the over-current protector. This gives you a sense of security while using the Planer. The Planer weighs 86.9 pounds. It has a 15-amp 1800W motor that produces 8000 RPM.

Users generally complain about the wood dust that such machines produce. Here, you get a dust collection pot. This prevents dust from spreading here and there. And it saves you time by cleaning the flying wood chips.

What We Like:

  • You have 2 styles to choose from
  • The package includes a stand, foot pads, and spare carbon brushes
  • It has an automatic feeding design to auto-feed the material

What We Don’t Like:

  • The brand does not claim any warranty
  • Some buyers do not like the quality of the stand
  • Assembling the Planer is confusing as per some users

Item 5- Craftsman CMEW320

Craftsman CMEW320 Thickness Planer

When it comes to affordable machinery options you are sure to find Craftsman. This budget-friendly Thickness Planer is useful for hard and smooth wood. For maximum wood stock removal, it uses a Poly-V cutter head drive. The cutter head speed gives 16000 cuts per minute.

For anyone looking forward to DIY projects, this is going to be a great buy. You can use this Planer if you want to work with glued-up materials. It also comes in handy in dimensioning lumber.

What We Like:

  • It has a vacuum port for dust collection
  • The Planer comes with double-edge reversible knives
  • The weight is 61.2 pounds
  • Users are happy with the quality of the Thickness Planer

What We Don’t Like:

  • No warranty available
  • It does not have a side placement or extra space
  • The adjustment needs little improvement as per some buyers

The Best Thickness Planer

If you ask us, we have 2 options for you. Our number 1 choice is Dewalt 2-speed Thickness Planer. We like all the features and the quality of this Planer.

Powerful 15 Amp, 20000 RPM Motor

Our suggestion number 2 is Craftsman CMEW320 Thickness Planer. Not only that the price range is affordable but the features are good too.

Anatomy of a Thickness Planer

Thickness Planer Buying Guide

1. Type of Wood
  • It is true that Thickness Planers are woodworking machines. But not all such Planers are compatible with all wood types. Some Planers work well for soft woods only. There are some Thickness Planers that work well with either hard or soft woods.

Amazon Review

  • All the 5 Planers in this list above are good for all types of woods. Our suggestion number 2 is Vevor Foldable Thickness Planer is compatible with bamboo as well.
2. Stand
  • Placing the Planer on the bench or stand eases your task. The stands that come along with the Thickness Planer have a supportive design. These stands have extra space for easy operation. But the stand needs to be of good quality.

Extra Steel Stand

  • See the review in the image below. What if the stand breaks in the middle of your work? Hence, get a stand that is sturdy enough to hold the Thickness Planer well. Craftsman CMEW320 provides a durable stand along with the Planer.

Amazon Review

3. Quality
  • Without any doubt, the quality matters the most. A Thickness Planer of low standards is of no use. You cannot use it for smoothening or edging the wood. When we talk about the quality we also talk about cutting depth and feed roller.
  • If the feed roller does not work properly you will find issues in inserting the wood. Your wooden plank will not slide inside the planer. Therefore, a feed roller quality has to be top-notch.

Amazon Review

  • Cutting depth decides how much wooden material the planer can accept. If it accepts very less plank, it is going to be a tedious task for you. If the planer cuts a lot of wood in one go, it saves you time and energy.

Amazon Review

4. Snipe of Wood
  • Did you observe how some planers dig the wood more than essential? The extra digging takes place either in the beginning or at the end of the wood. This is a wood snipe. To avoid this, you need to adjust the Infeed/Outfeed tables.

Amazon Review

  • You can also avoid the snipe by adjusting the angle of the wood while working. Investing in better Planers helps you stay away from snipes.
5. Blades
  • You will find 2 types of blades in Thickness Planers. These are “knives” in machinery terms. Straight knives and spiral knives are the 2 basic types. Another name for spiral knives is the cutter head.

Three Knife Cutter Head

  • Wen PL1326  has a spiral cutter head. The Dewalt 2-speed Planer has straight knives.
  • Sharp blades give a proper finish to your wood making it look professional. You can choose how many blades you want in your Thickness Planer. Some Planers support 2 blades while some support 3 blades.

Conclusion

Is this the first time you are buying a Thickness Planer? Don’t forget to refer to the Buying Guide for better clarity. We hope our 5 best Thickness Planer suggestions will help you purchase the best one.

We also have recommendations for Mortisers and other such machines.