EHL 65 E One Handed Planer

[dirtydeeds]

i see from the usa website that you guys will be getting this in april

ive had one for years

DECLARATION....  festool SAID they would pay me shed loads of dosh to write this 

plus points

much quieter than any other make of planer

light and easy to handle. most electric planers going at full chat "walk in the air". this doesnt

a cutting width of 65mm (2 and 9/16th inches)

who cares? how thick is an external door ? so it WILL do 99% of all carpentry work

negative points

because its a one handed planer, dont let any stray pinkies (fingers) get near the moving blade

i may (or may not) had personal experience of this 

 

[joez71]

Another thing worth mentioning is while its a great planer , give it a test run first if your a left hander.

I found turning on the unit on very awkward, but i've only used mine about half a dozen times, hopefully i'll get better at it.

joez71

 

[Dixon Peer]

i see from the usa website that you guys will be getting this in april

ive had one for years

DECLARATION....   festool SAID they would pay me shed loads of dosh to write this 

plus points

much quieter than any other make of planer

light and easy to handle. most electric planers going at full chat "walk in the air". this doesnt

a cutting width of 65mm (2 and 9/16th inches)

who cares? how thick is an external door ? so it WILL do 99% of all carpentry work

negative points

because its a one handed planer, dont let any stray pinkies (fingers) get near the moving blade

i may (or may not) had personal experience of this 

The "external" doors I make are 2 1/4" thick, so this planer would work for me, but I run the door over the jointer to put the bevel on (a two man job with these heavy doors).  I too thought of the potential for harm with this one handed planer.  Years ago, I took off the top half (to the first joint) of my right thumb (I'm left handed) with a one hand Rockwell planer.  Of course, I was doing something stupid, and I don't consider myself a stupid man.  Sometimes one lets one's guard down.

 

[pingvinlakrits]

The EHL 65 is excellent, though it could be refined in ergonomics. Something any chiropractor or dr of Naphrapathy would attest to if they had a look at the grip.

Thanks to it's small frame and light weight you often work a piece (like a window frame) from the side and sometimes from the top. In my work I restored a couple of hundred window frames using the EHL 65 and because you have to depress the switch all the time when working with the plane your underarm muscles will strain - a lot - from it because of the grip, when holding it at an angle. Which you do if you work your way around the frame. The grip could and should be improved, together with the switch.

I have complained about this many a time and even sent Festool Germany an email.

Since the work becomes static (your underarm muscles don't work well with static gripping tasks, especially not at an angle) you will develop strain and fatigue over time, do stretch a lot.
I am a recreational climber with a fairly strong grip and don't usually complain but the EHL 65 needs reworking. As it is now it is a professional machine with hobbyist ergonomics.

A slightly wider, more oval grip and a larger switch/clutch would do the trick. The best thing would be a grip you could swivel or turn on its axis, three stops would be enough.

 

[Programmergeek]

When talking to the Festool rep about this he said it was a old design they just brought over.  This came up when I critised it for not haveing a plug it cord.  Kind of annoys me that they will not just retrofit one when they did the 110 V change, they could of just done a pig tail or something.  Looks like they took a short cut.   

 

[pingvinlakrits]

yup, it doesn't come with the pigtail in the rest of the world either.

I fitted my planer with a pigtail though it was slightly more cumbersome to do that on the EHL 65.
But it works.