Planer Archives | WoodWorkers Guild of America

WWGOA’s Top 5 of 2019

December 19, 2019 By Editor & filed under Blog.

As we near the end of 2019, WWGOA is looking back at what videos and articles our community has found most useful. We’ve rounded up our top 5 most popular videos and articles, picked by YOU. Read below to see the best of 2019.

WWGOA’s Top 10 of 2017

December 18, 2017 By Editor & filed under Blog.

With 2018 just around the corner, WWGOA has taken some time to look back at your favorite articles and videos from the last year. We’ve picked out our most popular woodworking topics of 2017 for you to check out below! 1. WOOD JOINTS: WHICH WOODWORKING JOINTS SHOULD YOU USE? There are tons of woodworking joint…

The Difference Between a Jointer and Planer

January 19, 2017 By Bruce Kieffer & filed under Buying Advice, Jointer, Stationary Power Tools, Tool Education.

Beginning woodworkers all ask this basic question; what is the difference between a jointer and a planer? The answer is simple, a lot! And is there such a thing as a jointer planer. No! Each machine does a completely different surfacing operation. A jointer flattens a face or straightens and squares an edge, and a…

Woodmaster Tools 718 Review Part 1: Setup and Planing

June 15, 2012 By Paul Mayer & filed under Buying Advice, Product Review.

My lunchbox planer had served me pretty well over the years, but recently as I have started to work with more rough sawn material, and doing a lot more woodworking in general, I came the conclusion that I needed more performance and capacity in a planer. This led me on a research project that involved…

Workaround: My Planer Isn’t Big Enough

October 31, 2011 By David Munkittrick & filed under Skill Building, Stationary Power Tools.

I have been building furniture and cabinets for almost 30 years. For most of those years I’ve owned a 13-in. planer. Of course, there have been plenty of times when I found myself wishing for something bigger, but as the old saying goes, “Necessity (and I would add, a lack of funds) is the mother…

From Logs to Wood Flooring Part 3: Milling Wood

October 18, 2011 By George Vondriska & filed under Skill Building, Understanding Wood.

Lets start milling wood! You saw the logs get cut into planks, and you saw the planks get dried. Now it’s time to turn those planks into wood flooring. Off to Balsam Millwork to take advantage of the big machines. Plane ’em First. Remember that the last machine these boards saw was a sawmill. We’ve…

Face Joint Wide Boards

October 3, 2011 By David Munkittrick & filed under Shop Tips, Skill Building.

Natural edged slab wood can be turned into some amazing projects. But taming the rough slab can be a chore. A planer needs a jointed surface on one face of the plank before it can do its job. A jointer works great for this, but a typical slab will exceed the capacity of most jointers.…

Woodmaster 718 Review Part 2: Sanding, Ripping, and Molding

June 27, 2011 By Paul Mayer & filed under Buying Advice, Product Review.

In the first installment of this review, I looked at the set up of the Woodmaster 718, shared some initial impressions, and shared the results of my planing tests. In this segment I will look at the remaining functions that the 718 performs; drum sanding, gang ripping and molding, and will also share some observations…

General Benchtop Planer with Helical Cutter Head

September 5, 2010 By George Vondriska & filed under Buying Advice, Product Review.

Helical cutter heads have hit a lot of machines, and are a great improvement, but are relatively new to bench top planers. General’s newest addition to this field is their 13″ planer. It comes with a 2 HP (15 amp) motor and a helical cutter head that includes 26 reversible high speed steel inserts. It…

9 Steps to Sizing Rough Lumber

July 26, 2010 By Bruce Kieffer & filed under Furniture Making, Skill Building, Understanding Wood.

Hardwood lumber yards offer you wood either rough or surfaced. Rough is how it’s cut from the log at the sawmill. There they use giant band saws and circular saws with very coarse saw blades, so the work happens fast. Rough lumber looks like it was sanded with a garden rake! Buying it rough, and…