Mastercraft Unlimited Rebate Planer, 6.5-A

I bought this on sale thinking it wouldn't be very good as the price was very low. Well you could imagine my surprise when it did some of the nicest work I have ever seen. Great product

Really nice build quality on this tool. The description on the site does not fully take credit for some of the high tech aspects of this product, like the use of carbon fiber and magnesium body elements, which help bring that weight down a bit while maintaining strength. Feels good in the hands with adequate control over the tool through the two well proportioned handles. Compared to competitor brands, this MasterCraft model is a good value at full frice and a steal when it goes on sale.

So, what is a rebate? It's a recess or groove cut into the EDGE of a piece of wood, unlike a dado joint which is cut into the middle of the wood. It's better known as a rabbet joint, and is used in woodworking projects like bookshelves and drawers where you would like part the end grain hidden. We usually use a router for this kind of work, but we were looking to replace our old wood planer and decided to give this rebate planer a try. Usually a planer has the planer drum in the middle, so you can't do an edge cut. This planer has the blade drum on the outer edge of the planer, which lets you make rebate cuts at the edge of the material. The 3.25 inch blades have tungsten covered tips. They will keep an edge for a long time. the literature that came with the planer says you can make cuts as deep as an 1/8 of an inch. You can, and the cut isn't bad, but the machine chattered a lot when we tried that. We reduced the cut depth to 1/16 an inch and had smoother performance. You have to make more passes to make as deep a cut, but it saves wear and tear on the blade drum. This planer handles pretty much like any other electric planer you might own. It will feel odd using the rebate feature the first few times. We quickly got the hang of cutting rebate joints with this thing, but we practiced on a lot of scrap pieces. Keep the shop vac handy. The dust bag works, but you will still end up with a mess of sawdust and chips on the floor. That's the only reason we gave it four stars on the performance front. We only bought the planer a month ago, so we can't comment on durability or how often you need to replace the blade drum. For that reason, we gave it a four star rating for durability. I think a regular homeowner would be quite happy with a regular planer, but a woodworking hobbyist would appreciate the extra features on this planer. Keep eyeballing the CT flyers because you will be very happy with this planer when if you can get it on sale.

I just bought it and plane 4 doors with it. Wow! Very precise and easy to use. Love it.