For many years we used a Makita 1923 planer quite happily, always mindful that the alternative was a laborious hand plane. But recently our beloved tool started to make a noise so horrible you thought your ears were going to bleed, and furthermore a carpenter friend of ours brought in his newer Makita KP0810 planer. It was about 10 years younger, and 10 times better to use. It was the death knell for the old planer and we have upgraded to the newer model.

The KP0810 is a far superior planer in most ways, the only exception being that it is a much bigger unit all round so it takes a little more space to use. But given the first thing you notice as you pick up the Makita is the much improved balance and extremely comfortable handle this is a minor grumble. The adjustment on the dial is another huge improvement. The depth of the blade can be adjusted in increments of one tenth of a millimetre, up to a maximum of 4mm. This has two massive benefits. Firstly, you can set the depth and use the tool and then let your colleague use it knowing that you can re-adjust the tool to your previous requirements. Secondly, you can adjust the depth of the blade with confidence in the degree to which you are adjusting the blade, i.e. by increments of 1/10^th millimetre.

The tool comes with an adjustable rebating guide and more useful, an adjustable guide fence. Yet another feature our old plane was missing. When a narrow workpiece is clamped it is often handy for the fence to be adjustable so it can be moved out of the way. The Makita KP0810 has dual side chip ejection, so with a quick changeover the waste can be directed away from your face and onto the floor. Perfect when planning doors on trestles. For even greater comfort the lock off switch can be accessed from both sides so there is no hindrance to those freaky southpaws. This is a feature that Makita are adding to many of their tools, and they really seem to have developed a comfortable grip. Our old plane had a chunky hard plastic handle with the lock-off switch in the form of a very pronounced push button. I have relatively small hands and found the grip very uncomfortable to use for more than a couple of minutes, and pressing the lock-off switch was genuinely tricky. This unintentionally made the tool safer, but much harder to use. The KP0810 planer has smoothed all these troubles away.

Clearly I am enthusiastic for this tool but I have saved the best for last. Planers are on the whole precision tools, used for joinery and so it needs to be well cared for. The essence of the planer is the cutting blade and this is actually very vulnerable. It will continue to spin after the button has been released and remains proud of the base. Any carpentry teacher will tell you that hand planes should never be laid down on their base for fear of chipping the iron. With an electric plane the thinness of the blades and their continued rotation after the button has been released means this rule is even more important. But accidents do happen and the blades remain very vulnerable. On the KP0810 Makita have slipped in an excellent little feature to overcome this, which got us all very excited when we first saw it. At the rear of the planer base a little stand elevates the back of the plane a few millimetres in the air so when laid base down the blades are spinning freely above the surface. When the plane is in use and pushed across the work piece the stand retreats into a recess, but as soon as the tool is lifted a spring pushes the stand out to protect the blades. Simple, but very effective.

The blade protector clearly visible at the rear of the planer base

The Makita KP0810 is a great plane. It has a very comfortable handle, excellent cutting depth (4mm in one pass) and some useful extra features that make it a joy to use. Makita seem to be the masters of producing good tools without any gimmicks. There are no extra features to inflate the price or complicate the job, and everything it does, it does well. I would recommend this tool to anyone, whether they are looking to upgrade an older model or buy their first electric plane.