It Worked for Me: Wagner Safe-T Planer

by Jason Rogers

Originally published in American Lutherie #111, 2012



When it comes to versatility, economy, and usability, the Wagner Safe-T-Planer is one of the most valuable tools in my shop. (If you don’t have one, get on it: they recently stopped production!) There is one task that this simple tool regularly performs to prove its weight in gold: thicknessing. In my little 88 sq. ft. shop, I don’t have room for a drum sander nor the additional space for a collector with enough cojones to extract the dust. I keep the Wagner in its 4˝ box, and the drill press lives happily in the corner, but that still leaves the matter of dust collection.

After I used the Safe-T-Planer for the first time, I stood back and laughed out loud: this thing really makes a mess! As soon as the cutters hit the wood, chips fly three feet in every direction and cover about a quarter of my shop floor.