10 tune-up tips for perfect planing

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10 tune-up tips for perfect planing

Few benchtop planers will continue to deliver the kind of results you want—and expect—without maintenance. Getting and keeping your planer in top condition is the key that unlocks the door to peak planer performance. Although you might occasionally run across circumstances that require professional repair, such as a cutterhead out of alignment with the feed rollers, you can successfully perform the following maintenance to keep your machine in top shape. Just be sure to read your planer's manual for procedures specific to that make and model. And always unplug your planer before working on it.

Here are some basic ideas to remember: The cutterhead cuts parallel to your planer's table as boards are fed across it, so keep it flat, clean, and smooth. Keep your planer and its parts that contact the wood clean and free of chips, dust, sappy residue, and lubricants. A little TLC will help your planer be a reliable workhorse in your shop for many years.