Planing

Planing is the subtractive operation dedicated to flattening and dimensioning wood: a set of rotating knives mounted on a cutter head removes thin shavings from the surface, producing perfectly flat faces, right angles and thicknesses calibrated to a tenth of a millimetre. The two main machines in this category are complementary: the jointer references one face or edge of the workpiece to a zero plane, while the thickness planer brings the opposite side parallel to the reference face at the exact desired thickness. In a woodworking workshop these two machines are often the mandatory starting point, because without them any precision joinery work becomes far more laborious. In the maker context, planing is relevant mainly for preparing stock intended for CNC milling, marquetry or the construction of solid-wood structures.