Flat, square, to thickness
This is the machine that turns bought timber into stock you can actually build with. We compare infeed table length — which sets how straight an edge you can produce — cutterhead type, and the two faults that define the category: snipe at the ends of a board, and the time lost switching between the two functions.
1,500 W · 204 mm (8.03 in) wide · 3 mm (0.12 in) cut · aluminum table
The only planer here that publishes how much it takes off in one pass — 3 mm (0.12 in) surfacing, 2 mm (0.08 in) thicknessing — and the most evenly priced across Europe.
Best for: Smaller stock — battens, rails, small beams — where 204 mm (8.03 in) is enough
1,250 W · surface and thickness · €240
The cheapest machine that does both jobs — flattening a face and taking a board to thickness — and the one most first workshops buy.
Best for: A first workshop buying rough-sawn timber instead of pre-planed stock
≈ $835
1,500 W · 254 mm (10 in) wide · 120 mm (4.72 in) high · both functions
A €340 combination planer that takes 254 mm (10 in) of width and states every figure that matters — and costs €939 on amazon.com.
Best for: A home workshop starting to buy rough-sawn timber instead of pre-planed stock
≈ $940
1,800 W · 317 mm (12.5 in) · portable
The professional portable thicknesser: 317 mm (12.5 in) wide, 1,800 W, and built to be carried to a job and used all day.
Best for: Daily use at full width, where the machine has to keep going rather than keep up
1,100 W · 317 mm (12.5 in) wide · €289 in Britain
A 317 mm (12.5 in) portable thicknesser — the widest capacity on this page — and a price that swings by nearly €300 depending on the country.
Best for: A workshop that already flattens faces some other way and needs width
2,800 W · 260 mm (10.2 in) · cast-iron tables
The only machine on this page with cast-iron tables and a 2,800 W motor — and the only one that publishes every figure that matters.
Best for: A permanent workshop that processes rough timber regularly and wants to stop compromising
230 V · planer thicknesser · nothing else published
A €1,098 planer whose listing publishes a part number and a barcode — and which costs €2,017 in Britain.
Best for: A buyer who has already seen this machine and needs a European price check
On a full-width pass through oak, it is the motor's reserve that prevents bogging down — and bogging down leaves a mark across the piece.
Planing width is the machine's physical limit: beyond it you have to rip and re-glue, which changes the project entirely.
Moving from shop-planed timber to rough sawn halves the cost of material. Even the most affordable machine in the aisle opens that door.
Jointing creates a flat face and a square edge; thicknessing brings the piece to thickness parallel to that face. Thicknessing without jointing first reproduces the original twist.
One to two millimeters at most on hardwood, less if the motor slows. Light passes give a better surface and tire the machine less.
Those are the cutterblock's scallops, normal and faint if the knives are sharp and correctly set. Pronounced marks signal a nicked knife or an uneven feed.
In practice yes. These machines produce a considerable volume of shavings that blocks the outlet within seconds without proper extraction.
Only after removing every nail and screw, and while watching for embedded grit. A single nail destroys a set of knives.
The longer the tables, the straighter a long board comes out. On compact machines, infeed and outfeed stands partly compensate.
Disposable knives are flipped once then replaced; thick knives are re-sharpened. A helical head simply has its nicked inserts rotated.
Machines past two kilowatts often want a dedicated circuit, and some want three-phase. The stated voltage and current are checked before anything else.
The planer-thicknesser is what makes rough timber accessible, and it pays for itself on material. Look at usable width and table length before power, and plan for extraction from the outset: on this machine it is not optional.
A column holds only if four machines in five publish the figure. Below that, it would compare what the manuals left out.
| Model | Price | Motor |
|---|---|---|
| Scheppach HMS850 | $835 | 1,250 W |
| Scheppach HMS1070 | $940 | 1,500 W |
| DeWalt DW733 | — | 1,800 W |
| Einhell TC-SP 204/2 | — | 1,500 W |
| Holzmann HOB260ECO | — | — |
| Metabo HC 260 C/2,8 DNB | — | 2,800 W |
| Triton TPT125 | — | 1,100 W |
Specifications: manufacturer sheets for woodworking machines and the matching Amazon product pages. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure in this table names its source.
Most recent revision in this category: August 12, 2026.
Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
