An essential Dewalt power tool for a serious woodworking enthusiast
is the Dewalt planner. The reason I say that is, most wood working
patterns require thicknesses that may be hard to find at the local supply
store. With a Dewalt planner and a few passes, you can have the exact
thickness you need for the project at hand.

For example, if your replacing a wooden slat on a porch swing. You
really don't want to use one inch lumber for this do to weight and
appearance. So you run the one inch board through your Dewalt planner
an dress it down to to about one half inch or five eighths inch. Then you
take it to your Dewalt table saw and rip it into strips for the desired width.
You can then go back to your Dewalt planner and dress the edges to get
that nice smooth finished edge. Now you have the exact size slat you needed
to fix your swing. It's that simple, and much cheaper than buying a new swing.

On the aspect of being cheaper lets talk about how the Dewalt planner
can save you some money. If you have been to the local hardware store you
know that the price of lumber is not cheap. If you have access to a local saw
mill or lumber dry kilns, buying rough cut lumber is the way to go. Most saw mills
will sell small orders to individuals at a much cheaper price than you can get at
at the store.You can then finish it yourself using your Dewalt planner. If used for
this purpose your Dewalt planner will pay for itself in no time at all. This is
something to think about if there is a lumber yard nearby.

A tip to help make your Dewalt planner last longer. Set the depth gauge to take
about one sixteenth of an inch per pass, so not to overload the motor. Keeping
the knives sharp will also help with this to.

Safety tip: never stand directly in line with the board your running through your
Dewalt planner. The knives could catch a hard knot and cause the board to kick
back and hit you. Always stand off to one side.

Gary Brown is the author for MisterPowerTool.com. You can find
this article with a variety of dewalt power tools on our website.