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If you're using it in a workshop for 5 minutes, you can expect half an hour with the broom afterward sweeping up the shavings which it fires all over the place. The quality is great and it's easy to use, but why don't they supply it with a detachable bag to collect the shavings. It's a great piece of kit otherwise, and a lot of planer for the money.
This planer has met all of my expectations. Accurate cutter depth control.
All in all a very nice tool. I would have given it five stars except for the useless chip collection port.
Extremely easy to change/sharpen blades. Small inconvenience though.
I needed a good heavy duty planer to scarff 1:8 slope joints in plywood sheets (I build boats). Plenty of power.
Chips and dust dump out right by the motor fan.
it has lots of power ,use it to do 2x4 & 4x4 in one pass.will hog well also.but it is big
I went for the 4 3/8" model because I could true a built-up beam in one pass. Finally, the exhaust port on the Makita dumps out the chips (often plentiful) right next to the air intake for the motor (the Porter-Cable has a two door system that lets you vent the chips to either the right or left side). It's way powerful which I believe calls for the extra weight and compared to, say, a Mag 77 worm drive saw it's a fly weight. The next thing I noticed is the drive belt on the Makita is not fully enclosed like the one on the Porter-Cable (I nicked my finger with it, and for a brief second I thought it was the blade that nicked me).
Compared to other powerplanes, well let's say the Makita's flaws are evident (are you listening, Makita), but it's still a way useful tool. Compared to no plane there is no comparison. For me the bottom line is how much I use a tool, and it's a rare day that I don't press the Makita into service. I thought I'd get the same model Porter-Cable, but it appears Porter-Cable replaced it with another model. Further, all the reviews I read about Porter-Cable power planes in Amazon.com left me somewhat confused so I thought I'd try Makita, a brand with which I've had good success. The Makita is heavier and at first blush seemed better suited for a shop rather than a jobsite (one must always keep in mind bigger might not be better). Despite these short comings I really like the Makita.
Compared to muscle powered planes, I think you will wonder why it took you so long to power up. I used a friend's Porter-Cable Model 367 power plane and quickly began to wonder how I got along without a power plane for so many years. When I got the Makita I first noticed the weight difference between it and the Porter-Cable. It's very smooth in part because you're limited to 1/16" cut, the cutter head turns @ 16000 RPM, and my blades don't yet have any nicks in them.
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