Plasterboard planers: types and features of use

Recently, drywall has become the most popular building material used for interior decoration. This is a fairly simple material, however, certain tools are required for its reliable and high-quality installation.

Plasterboard planers are among those tools that are not always needed, but their absence at certain times can cause work to stop. Therefore, it is better to always keep these devices at hand and know exactly their types and features of use.

Plasterboard sheets (gypsum plasterboard) are a rather fragile material, their edge part often crumbles or chipped off. Therefore, despite the apparent power and strength, these products need to be treated with care. For the most even and high-quality joining during installation, drywall must be properly processed. It is for these purposes that a plane is used - one of the varieties of a rasp.

In addition, this device is necessary so that at the end of the laying work, the seams when finishing the surfaces can be properly putty without problems. A chamfer is removed with a plane along the edges of the drywall, as a result of which a depression is formed, which is filled with a putty composition, and in the future, the formation of cracks and bulges is excluded at the seams.

For the most effective and high-quality installation process, you need to know a number of requirements for a planer.

• The length of the working part of the tool. An important parameter that determines the speed of installation work. The length of the handle for different models can vary between 14 - 25 cm. A large working part is not always an indicator of the best results. The tool must, first of all, be easy to use and correspond to the dimensions that are most acceptable to the master.

• Tool blade width. It can be 1.5 - 4.2 cm. This parameter depends entirely on the thickness of the building material.
• Blade material. This part of the device can be made of different types of steel. Blades made of tool steel are considered to be of high quality. They are much more durable to use and are guaranteed to produce even edges.
• Body material. They can be plastic or metal. Products from various alloys will last much longer.

Currently, a large number of planers from various manufacturers are presented on the building materials market. For example, the FIT 15025 is an inexpensive but easy-to-use tool; STAYER PROFI 18855 - a plane with a working part made of high-quality steel; the KANTENHOBEL plane from Knauf is the most expensive and reliable tool; Leader is a domestic manufacturer offering high-quality and inexpensive tools.

When working with gypsum boards, two types of planes are used: roughing and edging.

Rough planer is a tool that is used to level the edge of a drywall sheet. Thanks to it, you can get a flawlessly even edge, which simplifies the installation of drywall sheets and the process of finishing the coating.

The roughing planer differs in appearance: its working surface is located on the lower part of the tool and resembles a kind of grater, which has many pointed holes, and not blades, like an edge model.

Rough plane structure:

• frame;
• base - grater;
• pens.

This type of tool is simple to use: holding the sheet, slowly remove all roughness and irregularities. It should be remembered that gypsum is not shrunk like wood, but is carefully grinded.

Edge planer It is used for leveling the edge of drywall, as well as for chamfering, the bevel angle of which is usually 45 degrees. In this way, a corner cut is made. The blades of this tool are presented in the shape of a trapezoid, they can be offset, which allows you to achieve the required working depth.

The structure of the edge planer:

• frame;
• screw fixing the blades;
• steel blades located on the side of the tool.

The edge planer with a quality steel blade can also be used on soft woods.

In addition to factory tools, you can make a plane with your own hands. In this case, you must have:

• metallic profile;
• small wooden beams;
• scissors for use on metal;
• screws and screwdriver.

1. The profile is measured. It should be 2 times the required length of the working part of the tool being manufactured.
2. The profile is cut in the middle with scissors, then bent, but not folded.
3. On one side, a screwdriver makes many through holes, attaching the profile to a wooden beam. The more they are made, the better the performance of the homemade roughing planer will be.
4. Then the profile is folded in half along the notches. On the sides, two parts of the profile are fixed with self-tapping screws, and sharp corners, if any, are bent. All irregularities are trimmed.
5. For convenience, the profile can be wound with insulating tape.

There are several rules for using an edge planer for processing drywall, which you need to familiarize yourself with:

• when processing, a sheet of drywall should stand with an edge to the master;
• along the edge are passed with a plane, the chamfer is removed;
• at the border of the joints of two sheets, a recess with a width of 5 - 11 mm appears;
• drywall sheets must be attached as tightly as possible to each other;

• a serpyanka is glued at the junction of the sheets, which acts as a sealant;
• a layer of plasterboard putty is applied to the serpyanka tape.
• after the putty has dried at the joints, the entire surface of the drywall is covered with plaster.

When moving the tool, apply light pressure to the rear handle. The front serves as a guide and an object for adjusting the thickness of the removed layer. The tool device allows you to change the blades as the cutting part wears out. There are no difficulties with the acquisition of new such blades, their cost is low. If you follow the scheme of working with an edging tool, the joints are strong and invisible.

With a roughing plane, the process of processing GCR is somewhat different:

• set the drywall sheet with the edge up;
• place the plane on the sheet cut;
• with the tool we go over the entire edge of the drywall.

To ensure high-quality processing of the edge of the sheet, the plane should be pressed lightly against the surface. Occasionally, for best results, it is necessary to walk the edge of the surface several times.

When choosing a planer, you should pay attention to the following characteristics:

• The blade in the edge planer should be made of high quality steel, preferably tool steel. It should change without difficulty, and such parts could be easily obtained.
• The optimum width of the grater in a roughing planer is no more than 3 cm, and the length is 25 cm.

• In an edging tool, the handle should be strong and comfortable, and the plane should be comfortable in your hand so as not to cause inconvenience in the process of work. To check this characteristic of the handle, take the plane in hand and simulate the movements of material processing.
• For long-term operation, products with a metal case are more suitable.The handle can be plastic, although very often, after purchase, plastic handles are independently replaced with wooden ones.
• An essential criterion for buying a given instrument is its price. The price range is wide depending on the manufacturer and the quality of the materials used. You should not choose a tool that is too cheap: the quality of steel in it leaves much to be desired. The level of edging with such a tool will be below average.

How to make a drywall planer with your own hands, see the video below.