With Craftsman’s new 13 professional thickness planer, dust collection is literally in the bag. Unlike other planers, this model features an exclusive built-in impeller that blows planing debris into a fabric half bag that attaches to a 30-gallon trash bag or garbage can. No need for a separate dust collector. Its 2 1/2 HP universal motor spins a pair of double-edged steel blades at 16,000 cuts per minute, and the four-post design with cutterhead lock keeps snipe to a minimum.
Another first for benchtop planers is the power elevation control that raises and lowers the cutterhead from its 6 maximum cutting height down to 1 without hand cranking. A conventional crank and spring-loaded material removal gauge allow for fine-tuning each pass. There’s also a handy depth stop control that parks the cutterhead at five preset thicknesses up to 1 1/4″. An index pin system makes blade changes easy and precise without a blade-setting gauge. Other features include extra long infeed and outfeed roller tables that fold up and on-board power cord storage.
