There's a market niche for tools that bridge the gap between having nothing and spending several hundred dollars on a single function tool. I was ready to spend $400 for a bench planer, until I ran across Robbie's video. While searching for the planer, I found a lot of people searching for it, not only instrument builders, but other woodworkers. I think that there is an upsurge in amateur woodworking. Stewmac is smart to carry it. Now we need someone to sell the thickness sanding attachment.Bob Gleason wrote:I use my Wagner with the cutterhead flat to the table. I see that the O'Brien video shows slightly tilting the table out of square to the cutter so that the leading edge does the cutting. Although it cuts fine at square, the tilt might make some sense for ease of cutting. I have a 25" wide belt sander and another homemade 18" drum sander in my shop. The Safety Planer will do some things that neither of those will do. I see that they are suddenly back in fashion in the catalogs, with the Stew-Mac one and another Woodtek model avaiilable. Wonder how that happens with old tools?
I did as Robbie O'Brien suggested, with the folded sandpaper on the leading edge, when I planed the mahogany bridge plate for my classical top. It cut down on the friction and heat.