harborfreight.com

if your meaning like a wood planer than i found the same website and pprobably same cheap products but then read reviews here its not pretty
http://www.google.com/products/reviews?fq=harbor+freight&cid=14ed4b13fefb2654&sort=1&cat=merchants

 

If you buy any Chicago tools from Harbor Freight be sure to get the extended waranty so that when it breaks you can get a new one. I've gone through a few of their sanders and polishers. A good starter planer is the Bosch. You can get it reconditioned for $120. My first planer was a reconditioned Bosch and I never had a problem with it. http://bosch.cpotools.com/planers/1594k-rt.html
If you think you will get addicted to shaping (most of us do) I would just save your money for the Clark modified Hitachi. A free moving depth adjustment is a MUST for learning how to properly shape a board and only the Skil and Clark Hitachi have that feature.

 

If you plan on using it for surfboard shaping.... The HF planer is very similar to the Hitachi and many of the same modifications with the angle of the handle and depth adjustment knob can be made. As far as quality- you get what you pay for. I have a HF router and air brush that work great and a HF disk sander that sucks. Its hit or miss. I recommend getting the extended warranty. I think its like $15 for 2 years no-questions-asked replacement.

I cruise craigslist all the time looking for good deals on tools. I picked up my Hitachi P20SB for $50 at a pawn shop who advertised on craigslist.

Some planers you might want to consider-

Skil 100- Introduced in the 1930s and discontinued in 1988 it remains the Cadilac of planers. But it will cost you a few hundred.... and that's if you can find one.

Hitachi p20- Its the planer that Clark sold with modifications to the handle, knob, depth adjustment, vacuum port, ect. You can can make many of these same adjustments yourself. I have heard that the p20 will be discontinued.

Bosh 1594- It has a front foot similar to the Skil but with a plastic housing. It seems to be gathering a following which will probably grow if the p20 is replaced by something less adaptable to shaping.

Makita, Roybi, Black and Decker, and Festool (and im sure many others) all make hand held power planers.

 

The Skil 100 was discontinued in 1988. No other stock planer works as well as the Skil 100 for shaping surfboards. They cost a little more than a few $100 especially if you want one in good shape. Ebay is the easiest place to look, but you can sometimes get lucky at flea markets or pawn shops especially in land locked areas where surfing isn't present. On ebay they range in price from around $450 for a pretty beat up one to $1200 for a pristine one. Plus it weighs a ton so shipping will be expensive. I lucked out and found a guy in North Jersey who didn't know what he had. Got mine in really good shape for $450. But it took a long time before I found it.


The Clark Modified Hitachi P20 (originally called the F20) is the only modified planer sold for shaping. It's decent planer on it's own, but I wouldn't bother with it in unmodified form. I also would not attempt to modify it yourself. It's not that easy. It is available from both Surf Source and Foam-EZ. In modified form you the handle is changed to 90 degrees, the depth adjustment turns freely, and the bearings are sealed to prevent foam dust from clogging (foam dust penetrates worse than saw dust). The handle angle and depth adjust modification are the MOST important to shaping.

The Bosch 1594K is (in the opinion of most) the best bang for the buck unmodified planer. I have seen ones that were modified by shapers and they kill the Hitachi in quality. But they are harder to modify. I've messed around with mine and more sturdy parts = harder to make changes compared to the more flimsy Hitachi. If you absolutely can't afford the Clark Hitachi, the Bosch is the way to go.

Here is some good reading on the History of the Skil and Hitachi
http://www.foamez.com/pdfs/CF03 Planer Manual.pdf

I use my Skil for skinning the blank, removing most of the volume and turning the rails, the bulk of the shaping work. With the smooth depth adjustment you can change your depth on the fly to sculpt along the curves of the board. However, the base on the Skil is too long to do tight radius shortboard noses so I switch to my Bosch to get in that tight area. The modified Hitachi can do both, but it will not cut as smooth as the Skil. Most pros own 2 Skil's. One with a full base and a second that they cut the base short for shortboards. I only have one and cutting the base can reduce the value so I use the Bosch. I'd like to either modify my Bosch or buy a modified Hitachi.

Good luck. If you want to learn to shape, a good friend of mine teaches a 1 on 1 class in Wall NJ. He teaches you to shape and glass, you shape and glass the board yourself with his tools, help and supervision, and you keep the board in the end. Unlike some other classes where you only watch someone shape and don't get a board in the end. The cost of the class is around the cost of a new board. Can't beat that. Here's his website: http://www.mahadysurfboards.com/

 

I've made about 20 boards so far using this stock (unmodified for shaping) Hitachi P-20sbk planer bought for about $100 at Lowes a few years back. It defeintely wont cut rocker adjustments as quickly or easily as the modified kind, but you can surely still make rocker adjustments with it. In fact it does everything i've needed it to do on both poly and EPS blanks (skin it, cut thickness out, rail bands, true a templates cyurves). I would avoid a cheap off-brand planer from Harbour Freight. You can get the warranty, but if it goes while your in the middle of shaping a board, your still screwed.

 

As being a Mechanic for almost 12 years i have to say stay away from Harbor Freight Tools. Yeah it looks like a good deal but you get what you pay for

 

Hey if anyone wants i have a clark foam planer for sale asking $250 and it is in great condition and comes with a new set of blades. I also have plenty of other supplies such as sand screen, logo paper, glass, fred tool, sandpaper, everything you need to shape a board.