Best planer and jointer for a garage shop

To mill rough lumber to flat, square, even stock, you do both jobs. The jointer flattens one face and squares one edge. The planer makes the other face parallel and brings the board to thickness. A planer alone cannot flatten a cupped board, because it copies the shape of the face it rides on. A jointer alone cannot give you even thickness. If you buy lumber that is already surfaced, you can skip both and use a table saw. If you want to buy rough lumber, which costs less and gives you a better choice, you need both.

Many garage woodworkers start with a planer and use a sled or a table saw jig to flatten the first face, then add a jointer later. That works for short boards. A 6 in benchtop jointer is the other starting point: the table is short, and the 6 in width limits you to narrow stock, but it is the cheapest way to get a true edge.

This page was researched from manufacturer listings, published specifications and owner reviews, not a milling test. Specs for the Grizzly G0945 come from the Grizzly briefs; for the G0814 and G1021Z the briefs give the name only, and we say so where it matters.

The planer is a benchtop machine, so it needs a surface and a stock lane. A board enters one side and leaves the other, so the machine needs space equal to the board length on each side. An 8 ft board needs about 8 ft in front and 8 ft behind, less some overlap. In a 12 x 20 ft one-car bay with a car, you cannot do that. You can in a two-car bay, or you can pull the car out.

The workable answer is to keep the planer on a mobile stand or a bench with locking casters and roll it to the middle of the bay on milling day, when the car is out. Then it goes back against the wall. A mobile base like the WEN 500 lb base or the VEVOR 1500 lb adjustable base works under a stand for a stationary planer. The benchtop planer fit sheet and the layout calculator run the numbers for your bay.

Plan for snipe and for chips. A planer throws a lot of chips, and a 13 in model can fill a bag in a few minutes. Outside the garage door in good weather is a sensible place to run it; if not, a collector with a hose is required.

The benchtop machines are 120V and heavy users of power. The WEN planer lists 15 A, and a 15 A planer needs its own 20 A circuit, with the dust collector on another. The WEN jointer lists 10 A and the Grizzly G0945 lists 10 A at 120V. These machines do not run at the same time in a one-person shop, so one circuit can serve both in sequence, but not with a collector on it. Use the workshop amps calculator to add the loads for your own run.

For the 15 in Grizzly planer, assume a bigger load. NEC Table 430.248 gives a 3 HP single-phase motor 34 A at 115V and 17 A at 230V. The breaker and the wire come from 125 percent of that, using NEC Table 310.16 at the 60 C column: 17 A x 1.25 is about 21 A, so a 25 A breaker with 10 AWG on a typical garage run is the likely answer. Check the listing for the actual voltage and amps, and have a licensed electrician confirm. The 240V circuit for a 3 HP motor page works the same example through.

Planers pull a spike at start, so a circuit shared with lights will flicker. Keep the lights on a separate circuit. The 240V in a garage guide explains what a new circuit involves.

A lot. A planer is the dustiest machine in a woodshop by volume, and a jointer is not far behind. The numbers this site uses are about 400 CFM at the hood for a planer and about 350 CFM for a jointer. A 4 in duct carries 349 CFM at 4,000 fpm, a 5 in duct 545 CFM and a 6 in duct 785 CFM. So a planer wants a 5 or 6 in duct, not a 4 in hose, and a collector that delivers 400 CFM or more at the machine, after losses.

The DeWalt DW735X and the Grizzly benchtop jointer have dust ports; a collector with a 4 in hose and an adapter is the usual connection. A shop vacuum will clog on a planer in seconds. A cyclone like the Grizzly G0860 (868 CFM at 1.8 in SP, 6 in intake, 20 gal drum) or a wall unit like the POWERTEC 1 HP is the working answer. The dust collector roundup goes through the options, and the dust collector calculator sizes the system.

Add a respirator such as the GVS Elipse P100 and hearing protection; planers are loud. If you have a car in the bay, cover it or move it out before milling. Fine dust gets into every crack, and chips on a hood are hard to clean.

A straight-knife cutterhead has two or three long blades that dull and nick, and you replace or rotate them. A spiral cutterhead has many small carbide inserts in rows, and you rotate an insert when it dulls. The spiral head cuts with a shear angle, which tends to leave a smoother surface on figured wood and makes less noise in practice, according to maker listings and owner reviews. The WEN planer and the WEN and Cutech jointers in this roundup list spiral cutterheads in their titles.

Spiral heads cost more to build but less to maintain. A nicked straight knife leaves a ridge on every board until you fix it; a nicked insert leaves a smaller mark that you can rotate away. For a garage shop where you do the maintenance yourself, a spiral head is a convenience. The DW735X uses a different approach with its own knife system; read the listing and owner reviews for the details.

Whichever you pick, set the machine up carefully. Jointer tables must be coplanar with the knives or inserts, and planers need clean rollers and level infeed and outfeed support. A good setup matters more than the name on the machine.

The rule is to keep the machines against the wall and the stock lane clear when you work. In a two-car bay (20 x 20 to 24 x 24 ft), place the planer on a bench or stand along the side wall with the infeed pointing toward the door, and run the board straight through. In a one-car bay, store the machines on shelves or a rolling stand, and use the door opening as part of the stock lane by pulling the car out for milling day.

Think about the order of work. Joint the face, joint the edge, plane to thickness, rip on the table saw. That sequence needs the jointer, the planer and the saw all in reach, and a rolling stand for each makes it possible in a small bay. Check the 22 x 22 woodshop layout to see how they sit. Store boards on a wall rack, off the floor, and bring only what you will mill.

If your goal is the first woodshop in a garage, the table saw page comes first, and a planer and jointer are the second wave. Many people get by with a table saw, a bandsaw and a planer, then add a jointer when they get tired of fighting bowed boards.