This article is devoted to another electric planer from the HAMMER line. It's about the HAMMER RNK900 tool.
The article about this tool will be quite large due to the fact that this tool is in the toolbox of the author of the article and has undergone a rather long “run-in” with practical work in the construction of a bath.
The planer was purposefully chosen from the whole variety of planers presented in hardware stores and online stores. The goal was: to find a powerful planer, preferably inexpensive, with a minimum backlash, a sufficient width of the knives for the most “traveling” wood materials (boards and timber). Also desirable was the possibility of sampling a quarter and installing an electric planer in a stationary version.
Quite a lot of time has been spent comparing the characteristics of different planers via the Internet and reading reviews and descriptions of various models.
As a result, the choice fell on the HAMMER RNK900 planer, which was purchased through the online store. I do not remember the exact price, but approximately it was about 5000 rubles.
This planer has a high power - 900 W, which is very solid compared to most planers. Planing depth reaches 3 mm. Of course, hardwood at such a depth should not be planed, but pine boards and timber cut very confidently. However, the engine runs great. Even the knots that come across in the lumber do not greatly impede the movement of the planer.
The tool has a solid cast base with a special profile that makes it easy to plan chamfers, corners, quarter selection, etc.
By the way, for sampling a quarter, the kit includes special stops for adjusting the depth of sampling a quarter and a side stop, with which you can adjust the width of the selected quarter.
Planer engine speeds are the most common 16,000 rpm. Double-sided knives 82 mm wide are installed on the planer drum.
In the course of studying various types of planers, the choice was left precisely on models with knives 82 mm wide, not by chance. They are the most common and finding these knives in hardware stores is quite easy. By the way, it is for this model of planers that knives (set) cost a little more than 500 rubles.
The planer body has a special compartment for storing the key. By the way When checking the completeness, when I bought a planer, I thought that they simply forgot to put the key at the factory, only after a month of work I accidentally found it. The key is an ordinary hexagon, which costs a couple of tens of rubles in any hardware store.
The HAMMER RNK900 planer has a lock against accidental start, and the sidewall of the drum with knives is protected by a special plate with a spring so as not to accidentally get hurt.
Depth adjustment is carried out using the front handle. At the same time, it is possible to adjust the depth of cut in the process of work, so to speak, on the go. But I did not check on the go. The adjustment step is 0.1 mm, which is a fairly high accuracy. In principle, it is possible to set 2 times less - 0.05, but this is already redundant. Such precision in carpentry is, in principle, not needed.
The planer has a low backlash of the drum with knives, which is very important in carpentry work, where high accuracy of fitting parts is required.
Also on the planer there is a branch pipe for removing chips, to which you can connect a vacuum cleaner or hang a dust bag. I did not use them myself, since I carried out all the work in the courtyard of a private house.
The planer comes with a special frame for installing the planer in a stationary version on a workbench, as a result of which it turns into a planer. Large and long boards cannot be cut on it, but for small boards (up to 1.5 - 2 m long) it is very convenient.
Since purchasing the HAMMER RNK900 planer, I have already cut a couple of kilometers of boards with its help, with a total area of several hundred square meters. In this case, the planer works great. I have never sharpened my knives, even despite the fact that when cutting through old boards, I cut off small old nails a couple of times (I did not find any nicks on the knives).
Too damp wood (the boards lay in the open air and did not have time to dry after the rain) is problematic to plan. Raw shavings sometimes clog the outlet into the nozzle. This problem is eliminated with an ordinary nail or piece of wire. By the way, as practice has shown, the branch pipe is clogged only if the boards get wet in the rain and do not even have time to weather.
A quarter planer chooses confidently and very accurately. The side surface to the planing plane, by the way, also turns out to be very even, as if it was also planed.
Based on all of the above, I can confidently recommend this tool as a planer in the construction of a house, roof, bath or other work of a similar scope. Also, this tool is quite suitable for people involved in carpentry, although it may be better to choose something easier and not so powerful.
Technical characteristics of the HAMMER RNK900 planer:
Power supply: 220 V
Power: 900 W
Max.
speed: 16000 rpm Knife width: 82 mm
Max.
cutting thickness: 3 mm Planing depth adjustment: yes
Quarter selection: yes (up to 15 mm)
Ability to connect to a vacuum cleaner: yes
Stand for a stationary version: yes
Weight: 2.8 kg
Warranty: 12 months