# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  Low priced electric planers

## tigger

I have only a very occasional use for an electric plane and therefore don't want to buy one in the $200-$300+ range. Bunnings have two that look like they would fill the bill: the Ryobi 780w 82mm Rebate Planer (RPL780G) and the Bosch 710w 82mm Planer (0603210040) both currently at $99. I've no experience with any electric planer so I wondered if anyone has an opinion on these or any similar?
Thanks in advance.

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## OBBob

What do you want to do with it? I guess look for replacibale blades that are preferably reversible. Also the easy of depth  and bkade angle adjustment .

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## Marc

I have a Ryobi blue that has not missed a beat in 10 years ... but a Ryobi yellow? eeew ... Buy a Bosh from a proper tool shop not the green shed

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## SilentButDeadly

Honestly you'd be better off buying $99 worth of wood shavings... 
If you only need it occasionally then get an old hand plane.

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## METRIX

That Bosch Green planer is the worst planer I have ever used, the protection switch is awkward to use, it planes like a piece of garbage. 
At that price you will get what you pay for, you can pick up a nice Blue Bosch for $189, and it's 100 times better than either one you listed.

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## tigger

Thanks everyone! I'm glad I asked as I had no idea how poor these cheapies obviously are. I'll follow your suggestion Metrix and have a look for the Blue Bosch.

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## boyracer

i have a red one...goes faster. Can't remember the brand as the sticker wore off years ago.
It cost 29 dollars in a damaged box at LHS. 
Takes standard replacement blades/belt...it's  just a 'copy' though. 
Used for multiple shopfittings and reno's and never missed a beat.
Take 'em out of the box and compare blades and blade fixings /belts and drives/ covers/ position of safety switch , etc. You will soon realise who's are any good / able to be fixed and or tuned up.

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## PlatypusGardens

> I have only a very occasional use for an electric plane and therefore don't want to buy one in the $200-$300+ range.

  Yeah.... 
The thing with tools, even those for "very occasional use" is, you want them to work every time and do a decent job. 
Buying "a cheap one" will often come back and bite you when you DO need it, and if/when it breaks you'll end up spending either the same amount on another cheap one, or buying a better one.   :Smilie:

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## phild01

Bunnings used to sell XU1 tools and their $30 planer was an almost exact Makita copy.  It worked as well too but didn't last long, and only used as a backup.  My old Makita still goes great.... with a mangled cord.

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## Snipper

I work with a bloke who has a Bosch blue 82mm planer.  I found it a lot heavier than what I have and only has 1 blade (reversible slither)  He reckoned the 1 blade design was so it's easier to set the blade perfect but just felt a bit different to use and would take some getting used to.  I've usually always had Makita planers.  They feel so well balanced but I'm sure there are plenty of better planers around  (Festool??) 
I picked up a Hitachi 82mm planer about 2 years ago for $99 and has been pretty good.  Very light with all plastic casings but built to a budget.  Use for framing mainly.  Have the 18v cordless Makita 82mm planer which is great for fix outs but is a bit heavier than the plug ins but so good not having a lead in the way.  See many planers around with electrical tape patching the many nicks and gashes in the lead. 
My Father had a red one many years ago. (10 maybe)  Branded NRG.  He thought it was pretty good for $50 but I used it once, it was crap.  Bulky and the front adjustable toe was not parallel to the heel so was hard to use.   Regardless of brand and $, as long as the adjustable toe is parallel with the fixed heel then it's a start.  The most important thing is setting the blades to be dead flush with the heel using a straight edge over the heel and rotating blades and setting to only just contact the straight edge.  Factory settings are not always right.  The perfect set blades allow for smooth, consistent, efficient planing and no drop in at the end of the cut once the toe is no longer supported by the stock.  
Drop in (probably has another name) is due to blades set higher than the heel and if they are set lower than the heel it will hardly cut at all.  The blades have to be perfect and is a very tedious job but well worth it.

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## PlatypusGardens

> Bunnings used to sell XU1 tools and their $30 planer was an almost exact Makita copy.  It worked as well too but didn't last long, and only used as a backup.  My old Makita still goes great.... with a mangled cord.

  
The XU1 tools were way better than the Ozito crap

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## Marc

Ozito is cheap and nasty but sometimes it is a surprise. My daughter's father in law did a lot of free work for me so I try to buy stuff for him to somehow repay in kind. Among other things I bought a rotary hammer only because he insisted on an Ozito (?)
Surprisingly he uses it all the time on building sites and can not kill it. 
I had to strip some SHS from old paint and rust once and found the 5" grinder fitted with a wire brush to be too fast so bought an Ozito 7" polisher and screwed a brush on it. Worked like a charm. Was a bit slow at first until I realised it has an adjustable speed 1-6 and I was workin on 1 ha ha. The D handle is great and you can lean into it all you want. I will kill it eventually but for $99 who cares? So far it goes like the clappers ...  :Smilie:  
For an electric planer however I don't know, better to have something slightly more on the decent side. Bosh blue seems to do passable stuff. Another idea is to go for good brands like Metabo, Festo or Makita second hand at Cash Converters. Usually priced at $50 or less. Take it straight to the power tool repairer, get new brushes and bearings and a new cord if that one is in poor condition and you got yourself a bargain of sort.

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## PlatypusGardens

Yes yes some Ozito tools made on a Wednesday in certain factories will outlast a Metabo, we all know that.
Overall I found the XU1 tools better, lighter and more powerful than Ozito though.

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## Gaza

My favourite is my 18v Lxt makita followed by Bosch blue 240v then new style makita 
I have bit of planner fetish

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## Marc

Made on a Wednesday ... mm ... will keep that in mind next time  :Rofl5:

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## PlatypusGardens

> Made on a Wednesday ... mm ... will keep that in mind next time

  
Yep.
 You know how it goes.....    
Monday - no good as the workers are moaning about going back to work 
Wednesday - Good day - Hump day, halfway mark, wooohoo let's get some work done 
Friday - no good - Come OOOONNNNNN is it the weekend yet?  
Tuesday and Tursday......could go either way   :Smilie:

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## OBBob

> Yes yes some Ozito tools made on a Wednesday in certain factories will outlast a Metabo, we all know that.
> Overall I found the XU1 tools better, lighter and more powerful than Ozito though.

  
Yep ... my dodgy little inverter arc welder is Ozito and was clearly made on a Wednesday. It fell into the "so cheap I might as well give it a shot" bucket and it works surprisingly well.

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## OBBob

> Honestly you'd be better off buying $99 worth of wood shavings... 
> If you only need it occasionally then get an old hand plane.

  
Ha ha ... I think hand planes are almost more expensive than electric now.  :Frown:

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## Marc

> Yep.
>  You know how it goes.....    
> Monday - no good as the workers are moaning about going back to work 
> Wednesday - Good day - Hump day, halfway mark, wooohoo let's get some work done 
> Friday - no good - Come OOOONNNNNN is it the weekend yet?  
> Tuesday and Tursday......could go either way

  Ha ha, not only Ozito. I have a Toyota 4wd and my particular year model all have two of the body support mounting missing. Instead of 7 each side they have 6. Once I decided to lift the body, I bought a kit from the US that included the missing body mounting that needed to be wielded against the chassis in line with the others.  The body had a perfectly good recess and hole for the rubber mounting and the bolt.

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## Marc

> Ha ha ... I think hand planes are almost more expensive than electric now.

  Sure thing. Once I needed to shape a spiral staircase handrail and bought a compass plane for that. No chance finding a new one so had to buy a vintage one that cost me good $200 US plus shipping. Worked like a charm and now having performed faultlessly once more in who knows how many years, it is back in it's original box waiting patiently for the next job that may never come ...  :Frown:

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## PlatypusGardens

> Yep ... my dodgy little inverter arc welder is Ozito and was clearly made on a Wednesday. It fell into the "so cheap I might as well give it a shot" bucket and it works surprisingly well.

  My Cigweld Arc welder I used to have was only $200 from Bunnings at the time (about 6-7 years ago probably) and at the time the Ozito was not much cheaper.  
I saw a little Ozito arc welder in Bunnings the other day, very small.
How much is it?
Didn't see a price on it as it was just sitting at the end of a row out of the box.
It was about the size of a car battery   :Unsure:

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## OBBob

> My Cigweld Arc welder I used to have was only $200 from Bunnings at the time (about 6-7 years ago probably) and at the time the Ozito was not much cheaper.  
> I saw a little Ozito arc welder in Bunnings the other day, very small.
> How much is it?
> Didn't see a price on it as it was just sitting at the end of a row out of the box.
> It was about the size of a car battery

  
The one I have doesn't seem to be on the Bunnings website anymore. It's just this baby one and was about $90. It's the inverter that makes it so small. It's the 80Amp one.   Ozito Welding, Benchtop Power Tools - Australia New Zealand

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## OBBob

Sorry ... change that (just checked), my version is 100A and was $120.

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## PlatypusGardens

> The one I have doesn't seem to be on the Bunnings website anymore. It's just this baby one and was about $90. It's the inverter that makes it so small. It's the 80Amp one.   Ozito Welding, Benchtop Power Tools - Australia New Zealand

  
Looks familiar

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## phild01

loving my new AEG 18V planer :Biggrin:

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## Spottiswoode

Before I knew better I leapt into ryobi one+. As such I've now got a planer too. Does the trick for me, but I haven't done anything super accurate with it, ie I set the depth to max and left it. Seems powerful enough to do a full cut, no cord, runs for long enough. I cut about 5mm off a 45mm beam about 2.5m long in quick time with it last weekend. 
Im happy for the money I paid.

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## METRIX

> loving my new AEG 18V planer

  With 6A batteries I might have to pick one up. I will say the 18V grinder is an awesome tool, cuts almost like a 240V version.

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## Snipper

Although ryobi is not what I'd call top quality, I also have a few one+tools due to the price and how often I use it.  From my research, they are the only one to make a cordless trimmer (router).  Probably wrong though.  Very convenient for door furniture, hinges etc.  I've been looking at the cordless drop saw for a while, trying to convince myself if it's quality enough and worth having for the odd small job only requiring a few cuts.  As I have mainly makita, I'd love one of theirs but at $800 is a bit steep.  Probably worth it though being a slide.  Ryobi were about $300. But no slide.   Love to hear if anybody has one.  Those ryobi cordless planers are only a 50 mm wide cut aren't they?

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## phild01

> With 6A batteries I might have to pick one up. I will say the 18V grinder is an awesome tool, cuts almost like a 240V version.

  PM sent.
Seems fine with my 4A batteries.  Have also tried the grinder and it works well.

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## Spottiswoode

> Although ryobi is not what I'd call top quality, I also have a few one+tools due to the price and how often I use it.  From my research, they are the only one to make a cordless trimmer (router).  Probably wrong though.  Very convenient for door furniture, hinges etc.  I've been looking at the cordless drop saw for a while, trying to convince myself if it's quality enough and worth having for the odd small job only requiring a few cuts.  As I have mainly makita, I'd love one of theirs but at $800 is a bit steep.  Probably worth it though being a slide.  Ryobi were about $300. But no slide.   Love to hear if anybody has one.  Those ryobi cordless planers are only a 50 mm wide cut aren't they?

  I bought a bunch of one+ blue stuff from a tradie who had upgraded, including the little drop saw. No idea if the newer green ones are better (probably are) but the blue one is only for light duty stuff. It's not very big and certainly not powerful. Having said that I've found it ok for small or one off jobs, it's still in the roof ATM from when I cut some sections (90x45)to fit between ceiling joists, it beats climbing up and down a ladder to cut them, or cutting them off square with a circ saw. It runs better on the bigger batteries. Since mine was part of a set and ended up costing around $150 for about 10 skins after I on-sold some spares, it does the job, but I'm not sure I'd be convinced to buy one new. Of course if the new green model is significantly better it does change the equation.

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## Snipper

> I bought a bunch of one+ blue stuff from a tradie who had upgraded, including the little drop saw. No idea if the newer green ones are better (probably are) but the blue one is only for light duty stuff. It's not very big and certainly not powerful. Having said that I've found it ok for small or one off jobs, it's still in the roof ATM from when I cut some sections (90x45)to fit between ceiling joists, it beats climbing up and down a ladder to cut them, or cutting them off square with a circ saw. It runs better on the bigger batteries. Since mine was part of a set and ended up costing around $150 for about 10 skins after I on-sold some spares, it does the job, but I'm not sure I'd be convinced to buy one new. Of course if the new green model is significantly better it does change the equation.

  ok.  thanks very much for your reply.  So it'll cut 90x45?  That's the biggest I'd need to cut with something like that.  Did you try the lithium ion batteries in it?  4 - 5 amph? Does it cut alright as in consistent square/plum cuts or veers of a bit?

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## Spottiswoode

I haven't really checked for consistent square, but seems to be OK. Yup 90x45 if you are a bit patient  :Smilie:  , then again the blade on mine could be worn out! I've got 4ah and 1.4ah batteries and it definitely goes better on the bigger one.  
What I found it good for was trimming off some fence palings on a fence I was adjusting, or the couple of sections in the ceiling. No need to power cords, position it close by etc, carry it out of the garage in one hand etc.

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## TonyB

I've got my sights on a Makita cordless mitre saw but am waiting for a brushless one to appear ... assuming that what they say about more power and longer battery life is true, this is one tool where this could really make a difference. I have been hugely impressed at the work I've been able to do with my circular saw.

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## METRIX

> My Cigweld Arc welder I used to have was only $200 from Bunnings at the time (about 6-7 years ago probably) and at the time the Ozito was not much cheaper.  
> I saw a little Ozito arc welder in Bunnings the other day, very small.
> How much is it?
> Didn't see a price on it as it was just sitting at the end of a row out of the box.
> It was about the size of a car battery

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