The Best Benchtop Planers for DIY and Professional Projects, Tested
Benchtop planers—box-shaped power tools that reduce board thickness while smoothing the surface—top many a woodcrafter’s wish list. They fine-tune the wood used to create cabinets, bookshelves, and more, replacing old-fashioned hand planes because they’re much faster and easier to use.
Like our readers, we wanted to know which of today’s popular models perform well in real workshop situations, so we tested them. We selected highly rated benchtop planers and started planing boards—hundreds of ’em! We also reached out to Jay Sanders, licensed contractor and owner of Castle Dream Construction, a home remodeling company based in Baltimore, Maryland, to get his insights on what our readers will want to consider when shopping for one.
Our pick for the best overall benchtop planer is the 15-amp DeWalt 13-Inch 3-Knife 2-Speed Thickness Planer. We chose it based on its built-in infeed and outfeed tables, fan-assisted chip ejection vacuums, and maximum speed of 10,000 rpm.
Keep reading to find out how the following models earned a spot in this lineup of the best benchtop planers for DIYers and seasoned woodworkers.
- BEST OVERALL: DeWalt 13-Inch 3-Knife 2-Speed Thickness Planer
- BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: Craftsman 15 Amp Benchtop Thickness Planer
- UPGRADE PICK: Makita 2012NB 12- Inch Portable Planer
- BEST FOR ROUGH WOOD: Wen 12.5-Inch 2-Blade Benchtop Thickness Planer
- BEST LIGHT-DUTY: PowerTec PL1252 12.5-Inch Planer
- ALSO CONSIDER: Ridgid 13-Inch Thickness Planer w/ 3-Blade Cutterhead
How We Tested the Best Benchtop Planers
When selecting the best benchtop planers, Sanders considers several factors, including cutterhead type, power, and whether the benchtop planer comes with a table that supports the boards. We looked at all of these factors during the selection process, plus we considered how well each planer rated with experienced users. We also considered the brand to an extent. After all, manufacturers such as DeWalt, Makita, and Craftsman have top-notch reputations in the power tool industry. We didn’t stick with just those three; we also included additional highly rated models from other manufacturers.
We unboxed and set up the benchtop planers according to manufacturer specifications. Then, we started planing new wood, reclaimed wood, softwood boards, and hardwood boards. We paid special attention to how smooth the planers left the board surfaces and whether the machines left snipes (unwanted cuts in the last few inches of the board).
We analyzed overall performance and ease of use and awarded points based on a rubric. The better a planer performed, the higher the points. After testing, we averaged the points to help determine the best category and intended use.
Our Top Picks
Investing in the right benchtop planer is important for anyone who’s into woodworking. We put the top DIY and professional models through their paces and scrutinized each. The models that earned a spot in our lineup are among the best benchtop thickness planers available today, so one is likely to find a favored place in your workshop.
Best Overall
DeWalt 13-Inch 3-Knife 2-Speed Thickness Planer
This Bob Vila Approved product carries our brand’s highest level of recommendation.
Bob Vila Approved recognizes the household and DIY products that impressed us most in our real-world testing and that exemplify core values of the Bob Vila brand, including craftsmanship, innovation, and value for the dollar. Winners of this designation come recommended by our professional review team and are personally approved by Bob Vila.
Our Ratings: Ease of Use 5/5; Performance 5/5; Board Capacity 5/5; Dust 4.7/5; Value 4.8/5
Product Specs
- Motor: 15 amp
- Blades: 3 straight knife blades
- Allowance: 13 inches wide and 6 inches high
What We Like
- Shaves up to ⅛ inch per pass; 2 feed speeds included
- Built-in infeed and outfeed tables, plus an extra set of knives
- Fan-assisted chip ejection vacuums chip off cutterhead and exhausts it out of machine
What We Don’t Like
- Quite a bit more expensive than our other picks
- Unhandy location for chip-ejection port
Those in the market for a high-capacity planer with plenty of features will want to consider the DeWalt 13-inch thickness planer. This benchtop planer can handle materials up to a 13-inch width capacity with a 6-inch length. This heavy planer weighs in at 92 pounds, and we found its weight was beneficial in keeping it in one place during operation. We put the planer on a reinforced work surface—this tool is too heavy for most portable-type bolt holes in the base.
We’re familiar with the high quality of many DeWalt tools, and this thickness planer is no exception. It boasts a powerful 15-amp motor and a three-blade cutterhead that spins at 10,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). It can be set to plane off as much as ⅛ inch of wood in a single pass. It comes standard with front and back stainless steel infeed and outfeed tables that help support the boards as they pass through the planer. A unique option on this benchtop planer is the ability to adjust the feed speed. A lever on the front let us select either 96 or 179 cuts per inch (cpi). At 95 cpi, the DeWalt planer pulled the boards through twice as quickly as when we selected 179 cpi, but the surface was slightly rougher. Interestingly, even at 96 cpi, we found the boards were smooth enough for most high-end woodworking. At 179 cpi, they felt as though they’d already been sanded. This is in large part because of the three straight blades in the DeWalt planer. Most of today’s planers have only two blades.
We planed dozens of boards with the DeWalt model: softwoods, including pine and cedar; and hardwoods, including ash, oak, and walnut. The DeWalt planed all of them smoothly, and we found little to no snipe on any of the boards. We attributed this benefit to an extension outfeed table that helps support the boards as they exit the machine. The benchtop planer has a fan-assisted chip-ejection port on the back of the machine that we connected to our dust-collection system. The chip-ejection fan is so powerful that when we walked behind the machine to grab the board as it passed through, the chips stung when they hit us. Impressive! And slightly painful. The downside is that the chip-ejection port is positioned just over the outfeed table, so the hose on our dust-collection system kept dipping down and interfering with the boards as they exited the planer. Our makeshift fix was to tie the hose up to keep it out of the way.
We believe this top-notch planer would be an asset in any DIYer or woodcrafter’s shop. It’s powerful, the feed speed is adjustable, and the ruler gauge is accurate. (We measured the planed boards with calipers to determine gauge accuracy.) The model comes with a “bump” on/off switch in the front that allowed us to shut the machine down simply by bumping the switch with our hand or arm. This is a safety feature in the event something goes wrong—such as a board getting caught sideways or an article of clothing getting drawn into the machine. Just a bump, and the DeWalt shuts down.
Get the DeWalt benchtop planer at Amazon, Lowe’s, or The Home Depot.
Best Bang for the Buck
Craftsman 15 Amp Benchtop Thickness Planer
Our Ratings: Ease of Use 4.5/5; Performance 4/5; Board Capacity 4.5/5; Dust 4.5/5; Value 4.8/5
Product Specs
- Motor: 15 amp
- Blades: 2 high-carbon steel double-edged reversible knives
- Allowance: 12 ¼ inches wide and 6 inches high
What We Like
- 8,000 rpm cutterhead speed provides up to 16,000 cuts per minute
- Fold-up infeed and outfeed tables for easier storage
- Built-in dust-collection port for a cleaner workspace
What We Don’t Like
- Requires bolting to workbench to prevent movement
- Creates small snipe on last 2 inches of board
As a reasonably priced wood planer that can handle up to 12.25-inch-wide boards, the Craftsman benchtop thickness planer is worth a look. The manufacturer has a long and reputable history of making durable tools and quality machines. At just 61.8 pounds, the Craftsman was a bit easier to lift and position on the work surface, but we noted that this lighter weight resulted in the machine “walking” just a bit when we planed large hardwood boards. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: Just bolt it down to a workbench. The benchtop planer has a 15-amp motor that produces cutter speeds up to 8,000 rpm. Thanks to its two-blade straight-knife cutter design, it provides 16,000 cuts per minute, which we found to be more than adequate for most small cabinetry and furniture-building projects.
This Craftsman planer accepts boards up to 6 inches long, and it comes with a safety bump on/off switch on the front and a precision gauge along the side for selecting the correct cutting height. The planer shaves removes up to ⅛ inch. The Craftsman doesn’t offer a feed-speed adjustment, and we couldn’t find a feed-speed rating listed in the owner’s manual, but we used a stopwatch and came up with an approximate feed speed of 23 feet per minute. The planed boards were smooth enough that a light sanding would remove any residual grain roughness, but we did find a 2-inch snipe at the end of every board we planed. This is a common occurrence with planers; we didn’t deduct any points—just be aware that it occurs and plan to plane boards a couple of inches longer than the desired finished length. Those who won’t use a benchtop planer often and are a bit short on space might appreciate the fold-up infeed and outfeed tables that make storage a bit easier. We found this handy for setting the planer out of the way under a table.
Get the Craftsman benchtop planer at Lowe’s, Amazon, or Craftsman.
Upgrade Pick
Makita 2012NB 12-Inch Portable Planer
Our Ratings: Ease of Use 4.7/5; Performance 4.7/5; Board Capacity 5/5; Dust 3/5; Value 4.5/5
Product Specs
- Motor: 15 amp
- Blades: 2 straight knife blades
- Allowance: 12 inches wide and 6 3/32 inches thick
What We Like
- Makita’s exclusive Interna-Lok automated head clamp eliminates snipe and improves board stability
- Very stable for improved planing performance
- Quieter operation than competing models; registers only 83 decibels
What We Don’t Like
- Dust collector port is sold separately
- One of the more expensive benchtop planer models on our list
Anyone looking for a portable planer that provides extra maximum thickness—for timber frame mailbox posts, say, or heavy furniture—will want to check out the 2012NB 12-inch planer from Makita. This machine has an above-average 6 3/32-inch maximum thickness capacity, which is slightly higher than the others we tested. The real draw of the Makita 2012NB comes in its stability and quiet operation. It’s remarkably stable for its relatively light weight of just 61.9 pounds. It didn’t walk or shift, even when we ran large hardwood boards through, making it one of the best portable thickness planers that do need to be bolted down. Plus, though hearing protection is still recommended, it’s noticeably quieter than the other models we tested—a sound output of 83 decibels, according to the manufacturer. The other planers don’t list the decibel factor but were, in our estimation, about a quarter louder than the Makita.
This planer has a 15-amp motor that produces 8,500 rpm on the cutterhead. It has two straight-knife cutters and a cutting depth of up to 1/8 inch. The Interna-Lok head clamp holds the board in place better than standard rollers, and we didn’t find any snipe on boards shorter than 4 feet long. As we planed longer boards, however, we began to see a faint snipe line on the last 2 inches of the board. By supporting the end of the board as it came out, we could eliminate the snipe line. Whether we removed 1/8 inch or 1/64 inch, the planed boards came out very smooth and would need only light sanding for most projects.
The feed speed is not adjustable, but the Makita makes quick work of pulling the boards through—the manufacturer lists the feed rate as 27.9 feet per minute, which seemed about right in our tests, but keep in mind that heavy boards typically move slightly slower than small lightweight boards. The planer comes with a bump power switch and a precision gauge, and although it doesn’t have a built-in dust-collection port, an attachment is sold separately.
Get the Makita benchtop planer at Amazon, The Home Depot, or Ace Tool.
Best for Rough Wood
Wen 12.5-Inch 2-Blade Benchtop Thickness Planer
Our Ratings: Ease of Use 4.5/5; Performance 4/5; Board Capacity 4.5/5; Dust 4/5; Value 4.2/5
Product Specs
- Motor: 15 amp
- Blades: 2 straight blades
- Allowance: 12½ inches wide and 6 inches high
What We Like
- Can adjust the depth from 0 to ⅛ inch with each pass
- Leaves wood smooth and includes a dust port
- Well suited for resurfacing rough lumber
What We Don’t Like
- We noticed some snipe on the last couple of inches of the board
- Machine requires bolting down to keep from moving
Those looking for a robust planer for resurfacing rough or reclaimed lumber, or smoothing and thinning new lumber, may want to consider the Wen benchtop thickness planer. We found this model well suited to removing up to 1/8 inch of wood from the surface of boards up to 12.5 inches wide. In addition, it handles board heights of up to 6 inches. With 10,000 rpm, this planer offers plenty of power for smoothing rough wood. Its two straight blades make up to 20,000 cuts per minute. The height adjustment handle on this planer is slightly smaller than some—and it’s located at the top of the machine—but it still follows the same general rule of one turn equals 1/16 inch.
When we planed the first board on the Wen and then measured it for precision, we found it was 1/32 inch too high. That may not sound like a lot, but it’s substantial when it comes to creating uniform board height for a project. Fortunately, the gauge is adjustable, so we used a small screwdriver to adjust it 1/32 inch and then ran another board through. Perfect! Most planer gauges come preset, but occasionally one can be slightly off. Just adjust it and try again. We did notice some snipe at the last couple of inches, so we recommend planing boards at least 2 inches longer than needed. There’s no feed-speed adjustment, but according to the manufacturer, the planer moves boards as quickly as 26 feet per minute, depending on size.
At just 55.6 pounds, the Wen is slightly on the light side, and we needed to bolt it down to keep it from moving during operation. It comes with a conveniently located port that we attached to our dust-collection system. We did notice some small chips remained on the feed plate after planing. This isn’t a big issue, but the ejection fan didn’t seem to eject all of them through the port. If necessary, this can be remedied by just blowing the chips out before inserting a new board. Like many other quality planers, the Wen has a bump-type on/off switch for added safety.
Get the Wen benchtop planer at Lowe’s, Amazon, or The Home Depot.