Festool HL 850 Planer Flatness

[rilliemi]

Hello All

I've just received a brand new HL 850 planer from Festool. I'm not expecting the precision of a hand plane but I'm surprised how much of a difference in height there is between the front and back plates. Running my Starrett square's ruler from front to back shows a very noticeable gap (no need for a feeler gauge).

Does this seem correct? I've spoken to Festool and they aren't able to tell me over the phone if this is as it should be, or not.

Please see the attached photo for reference.

[attachimg=1]

 

[MaineShop]

The front of a handheld planer adjusts up and down relative to the rear. That is exactly how a planer should be. There is no time that you would use a planer and have the beds dead level with each other. In theory if it is set on zero it should be pretty much flat between the two, but it is not a usable setting. Your planer looks perfectly normal and usable to me. I use one a couple times a week for a living.

 

[aloysius]

A planer is supposed to "plane", by having the 2 soleplates differentially parallel.  As long as the soleplates are parallel & coplanar, then this shouldn't be an issue.  Yes, I realise the foreplate is currently lower than the rear, meaning that it won't cut at all with this particular setting.  Just adjust your handgrip/depth control to suit.

Rest assured that you have in your hands one of the most uniquely innovative & best quality tools the company has ever made, despite its 45+ year old provenance.

 

[semenza]

The front plate moves up and down. This is how the depth of cut is adjusted. It is also why you might get snipe at the beginning the of cut when only the front plate is on the wood surface.

Seth

 

[DzordanoBruno]

I have that tool and my biggest problems are my hands. So, i thing this is fine
This planer is superb and i dont thing is mean tu be a ultra precise tool

 

[AlexThePalex]

Now how are you supposed to remove wood if the front and back plate are the same level?

 

[rilliemi]

Thanks for your replies. I do realise front and rear plates would not be level when planing but I thought that when set to zero, they should be level. I don't think this was clear from my original post.

The photo shows the planer set to zero.

Good to hear the positive comments about the planer though.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Thanks for your replies. I do realise front and rear plates would not be level when planing but I thought that when set to zero, they should be level. I don't think this was clear from my original post.

The photo shows the planer set to zero.

Good to hear the positive comments about the planer though.

I don’t recall how to do it but I’m pretty sure the scale is adjustable.

 

[MaineShop]

Its important to spend some time putting some wood through that thing before you worry about any adjustments, that is my recommendation. I find that I can best calibrate my tools after I have used them and get a feel for how they operate, I need to feel all their little ticks before I start tweaking them.

 

[Birdhunter]

I own the 850 with all the accessories and I’ve used it several times. I view it as a rough carpentry tool and not as a fine tuned tool. I suggest just enjoy using it.

 

[Cheese]

I'd echo MaineShop's suggestion. I own a 6" Delta jointer and it's completely different when switching over to use the HL 850. Some serious adjustments need to be made with regards to how you approach the 850 especially if you're using it with the bench stand. It's a completely different animal. I think the accuracy is there, you just need to know how to bring it to the forefront.

 

[Birdhunter]

First, I own and use my 850 jointer. I view it as a heavy motorized hand plane and not as a true jointer.

My "real" jointer has 44" by 8" infeed and 35" by 8" outfeed with bed leveling to get the infeed and outfeed beds exactly parallel.

My 850 has 4.5" by 3" infeed and 8" by 3" outfeed with zero bed leveling.

Not competitive tools in any sense. Each has a useful function.

 

[MaineShop]

For me personally the HL 850 is a tool that has some uses that I just can't accomplish with any other tool. I own a big stationary jointer as well as a big planer and large drum sander. Those are all well and good but there are times when I still need this tool. Two stories about how it was the right tool for the job when the machinery just wouldnt do it.

1. The first instance and the job that caused me to buy this tool, we were putting decorative beams up in a great room. 16ft long 6x6 beams made of douglas fir. The home owner wanted a rustic hand hewn look to the boards but didn't want to source recycled timbers. We literally bought the special ax and did some experimenting. In the end I bought this with the rustic head and it paid for itself in that one job. That was a task no other tool can do. Well short of the hand ax and a whole lotta time and sweat.

2. The second was a job where the customer wanted a top for their island in the kitchen we put in. The wanted to reuse an old wooded top from their restaurant kitchen that they sold that they had run for decades. This thing had like 30 years of grease and grime soaked into the wood, think sticky, not to mention several coatings of different oil finish over the years. I needed to get that puppy down to bare wood. It was almost 50 inches wide so the planer and drum sander were out in my shop. Initially we started with a belt sander with some really aggressive grit. The paper would foul quick and honestly once you got through the initial layer of grime the wood under it was bullet proof from all the oiling. I tried some of our other power planers first not really wanted to gum up the festool. Our bosch was ok but still it was gonna take days. So I fired the 850 up and gave it a whirl. About an hour later this thing looked like it had just come out of the clamps. And it did so without needed to be babied due to the greasy wood.

It is a great tool. It is a great portable planer, perhaps the best, and with the swappable heads, can do things no other tool can do.