[2024]The 6 Best Benchtop Thickness Planer

The benchtop thickness planer, replacing the old-fashioned hand planer, becomes essential equipment for any workshop. It can help you plane boards, beams, or planks to a consistent thickness efficiently and quickly. When tackling basic woodworking or other home projects, it is a more compatible choice than other professional planers.

As time flies, benchtop thickness planers are endless on the market, and it makes you confused about which is the best. Therefore, in this review, we compared the 6 most popular thickness planers in their practicality, performance, and pricing. After reading, we hope you can find your favorite one.

Comparison Table of the 6 Best Thickness Planers

Brands	Verdict	Prices
FB131H 13" Helical Planer	4-row helical cutter head with 40 tungsten carbide inserts	$699.99 after 13% off on FindBuyTool
DEWALT 735X	3 straight blades machine with a dual-speed feed rate	$599 after 25% off on Amazon
WEN PL1326	2 straight blades machine with spiral(26 HSS blades) or helical cutter head	$408.51 after 13% off on Amazon
CRAFTSMAN CMEW320	2 blades straight knife cutter head providing 16,000 cuts per minute	$349 on Amazon
Makita 2012NB	A portable machine with disposable 2-edge blades	$792.79 on Amazon
Ridgid 27263 Planer	3 straight blades machine with Ind-I-Cut depth gauge	$414.98 on Amazon

FB131H 13" Helical Planer

FB131H 13" thickness planer, equipped with a 4-row helical cutter head and 40 tungsten carbide inserts, produces a smooth tear-free shear cut with minimal noise and delivers a flawless finish on all types of hardwoods, weathered wood, and engineered wood. Its powerful motor boasts high-temperature resistance and a long life span (over 200,000 hours). With a raise/lower handle, you can control and display the height of the cutter blades to a maximum of 6 inches by rotating it.

Technical Details

• Motor: 15 amp
• Max Width: 13"
• Max Depth: 1/16 inch
• No-load speed: 10,000 rpm
• Feed rate: 27.5 fpm
• Blades: 40 carbide inserts
• Weight: 77 lb

Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
40 replacement inserts	The handle is not smooth enough.
Visible thickness scale.	Poorly positive chip removal.
Stable construction and precise cutting.	The components seem to be damaged after disassembly.

Price: 

• $699.99 (13% off) with free delivery at FindBuyTool
• $759.99 with free delivery at Amazon

DeWalt 735X

(image source: Amazon)

DeWalt 735X (DW 735X), identical to DW735, is one of the best thickness planers that can support the plane in all types of woods without snipe because of the stainless steel infeed and outfeed tables. It has an automatic carriage lock to reduce snipe. The three-blade cutter head design makes the blades last longer and replacing them easier. Besides, the two-speed gearbox allows users to change the feed speed, 96 and 176 cuts per inch. At 96 CPI, the surface is slightly rougher and the planning speed is twice as quick as 176 CPI, suitable for dimensioning; but at 176 CPI, the surface is more smooth, ideal for finishing.

Technical Details

• Motor: 15 amp
• Max Width: 13"
• Max Depth: 1/8 inch
• No-load speed: 10,000 rpm
• Feed rate: 14 or 26 fpm
• Blades: 3 knives
• Weight: 92 lb

Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
2 feed speeds included at 96 or 179 CPI	Chip-ejection port is on the top.
Includes infeed and outfeed tables & extra blades	Not going to run well on a 15A circuit.
Fan-assisted chip ejection

Price: 

• $599 (25% off) with free delivery at Amazon
• $779 with paid delivery at The Tool Nut & Grainger

WEN PL1326

(image source: WEN)

WEN published various models of thickness planers and WEN PL1326 is the upgraded version of its previous model. It is compatible with both spiral and helical cutter heads, in which the spiral cutter head consists of 26 staggered HSS blades. It can plane boards up to 13 inches wide and 6 inches at a 26 fpm feed rate. And it can plane a perfect finish to hard and soft woods alike. Equipped with an adjustable dust port, this machine can keep your area clean.

Technical Details

• Motor: 15 amp
• Max Width: 13"
• Max Depth: 1/8 inch
• No-load speed: 10,000 rpm
• Feed rate: 26 fpm
• Blades: 26 HSS blades
• Weight: 63.7 lb

Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Adjust the cutting depth from 0 to 1/8 inch.	Need to bolt down to keep from moving.
Equip with an adjustable dust port.	Can't clean the area under the cutter head.
Less noisy than those straight-knife planers.	Expensive than straight-knife planers.

Price: 

• $408.51(13% off) with free delivery at Amazon
• $479.99 at WEN and the shipping depends on your location

CRAFTSMAN CMEW320

(image source: CRAFTSMAN)

If you consider the price-performance ratio, CMEW320 is your good choice, which is cheaper than most straight-knife planers. It can tackle up to 12.25-inch-wide boards. With a dual-blade straight knife cutter head design, the cutter speed is up to 8,000 rpm and can provide 16,000 cuts per minute. The double-edged, reversible knives offer a long cutting life. Due to the poly-v cutter head, it can easily handle various types of wood. This machine is ideal for small cabinetry and furniture projects.

Technical Details

• Motor: 15 amp
• Max Width: 12.5"
• Max Depth: 1/8 inch
• No-load speed: 8,000 rpm
• Feed rate: About 23 fpm (The official website and owner’s manual does not mention the feed rate.)
• Blades: 2 high-carbon steel double-edge reversible knives
• Weight: 61 lb

Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Foldable infeed and outfeed table.	Need to bolt down to keep from moving.
Build-in dust collection.	Need to adjust the level of the infeed and outfeed table.

Price: 

• $349 with free delivery at Amazon & LOWE'S
• $349 with paid delivery at ACE

Makita 2012NB

 

(image source: Amazon)

Makita 2012NB is an ideal benchtop thickness planer for cabinets, closets staircases, furniture, and more. Because of disposable double-edge blades, you can change blades faster and more easily. With Makita’s exclusive Interna-Lok automated head clamp, it can eliminate snipe for improved planning performance. The most obvious features of this machine are compact and lightweight design, so it’s convenient for you to take to the job site.

Technical Details

• Motor: 15 amp
• Max Width: 12"
• Max Depth: 1/8 inch
• No-load speed: 8,500 rpm
• Feed rate: 27.9 fpm
• Blades: 2 straight blades
• Weight: 62 lb

Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Compact and lightweight design.	Expensive.
Detachable toolbox for storage of the standard equipment.	Warranty over 1 year needs extra fee.
4-post design and diagonal cross support for stability.	A little noisy.

Price: 

• $792.79 with free delivery at Amazon (No Stock Right Now)
• $939 with free delivery at ACE

Ridgid 27263 Planer

(image source: Ridgid)

Ridgid 27283 Planer is a three-knife planer, which can board up to 13 inches wide and 6⅛ inches high. Featuring a separate Ind-I-Cut gauge on the front of the planer, you know the amount of wood coming off before passing the board through. Although it is only 9,000 ram at the cutter head, it can translate 27,000 cuts per minute. With 8 adjustable depth stops, it can easily tackle with versatile types of wood. If you are looking for a three-knife benchtop thickness planer at a reasonable price, there is no harm in considering this one.

Technical Details

• Motor: 15 amp
• Max Width: 13"
• Max Depth: 1/8 inch
• No-load speed: 9,000 rpm
• Feed rate: 23.5 fpm
• Blades: 3 straight blades
• Weight: 73 lb

Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Ind-I-Cut to see the removing wood before each pass.	Only one speed is available.
Eight adjustable depth stops.	A lifetime warranty is only available on The Home Depot.
Chip impeller dust removal system.

Price: 

• $414.98 with free delivery at Amazon
• $449 with free delivery and lifetime warranty at The Home Depot

Bonus Tips: Choose the Best Thickness Planer for Woodworking

Nowadays, there are numerous benchtop thickness planers in front of you, so choosing an ideal one might be challenging for you. The best thickness planer should match both your budget and working requirements. Therefore, it's necessary to consider some indispensable factors.

Cutterhead Types

The most important factor you should consider is the cutterhead type. There are 3 options: straight, helical, and spiral.

• Straight Cutterhead: This type typically contains 2 to 4 blades, which are more likely to tear out. Because they are more affordable than other cutterheads, it's easy to replace. But straight cutterhead might be more noisy when planing boards.

• Spiral/Helical Cutterhead: The cutting action of these two cutterheads is segmented across the whole cutter head diameter while is opposed to at two or three certain spots, so they might be quieter than a straight cutterhead when processing. These cutterheads are helical designs with small square-shaped cutters or blades. The biggest feature of them is that you don't need to change the whole blade when the inserts get damaged. But the price must be higher than the traditional cutterhead.

The obvious difference between spiral and helical cutterheads lies in the orientation of each insert. The indexable inserts on the helical cutterhead have an inclined angle, typically around 14 degrees; the inserts on the spiral cutterhead are aligned parallel to the axis of rotation, with no title angle.

Motor

The capacity of motor power depends on the task you need to handle. For cutting softwood, the motor with 1 to 1 ½ HP is enough; for cutting hardwood, you need the motor with 2 HP.

In addition, the amperage rating of the thickness planer is also important. 15 amp is the most suitable. If the amperage power is less than 15 amp, the machine may not have enough power to finish the task.

Capacity

The capacity means the widest board that can pass through the thickness planer. If the width of the planer is 12 inches, it indicates you can't pass the board wider than this. As usual, a 13-inch thickness planer can match most of your general woodworking tasks.

Cutting Depth

Cutting depth means how much material a planer can remove in one pass to give them the required thickness. Typically, a cutting depth of 1/8 inch might be ideal for most woodworking.

But sometimes, it might be unnecessary to remove so much material at one time, so the thickness planer is best to allow users to adjust the cutting depth to match different working requirements. However, the machine might be overheating if you are planing multiple boards at the same time. Thus, it should have gauges, scales, and visible direction of planing boards.

Speed

Expect the above factors, you need to pay attention to the cutting speed of the thickness planer, including cutting speed, cutterhead speed, and feed speed.

• Cutterhead Speed: It refers to the speed of the motor to rotate the cutterhead in a minute, counted in rpm(rotation per minute). Speeds above 8,000 rpm may get the best cutting result.

• Cutting Speed: It refers to the number of times the blades touch the boards. For instance, a cutterhead speed of 8,000 rpm on a two-blade cutterhead means a cutting speed of 16,000 cuts per minute. The more rpm, the faster the cutting speed and the smoother the surface.

• Feed Speed: It refers to the rate of the board passing through the thickness planer. Some types of thickness planers allow you to adjust the feed rate to change the CPI(cuts per inch). The higher the feed speed, the rougher the board will be; otherwise, the smoother the board will be.

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