Makita 4-3/8" curved planer modification

[kadoka]

Ever ad you see for this planer states that with a small modification the planer can be used to get the "hand hewn" look but I cannot find what this small modification is. Anyone know?

[giddonah]

(you're in luck, I was bored and curious)

I just called a distributor with that comment in the description and they have no idea what it means. I then called Makita and talked to a guy who's been there for 25 years. He's heard of this and says it's an aftermarket blade set that he's heard of in woodworking magazines but he's never seen them. By the sound of it, the distributor (tools-plus.com) never heard of it either but it sounds cool to put it in the description. From here, I'd try different distributors (who might actually know what they're selling) or even the companies that manufacture replacement blades themselves.

[kadoka]

The local lumber mill that supplies rough sawn lumber said he grinds down the outside edges of the blades on his planer to leave a rounded hump in the middle. That gives him the hand hewn look to wood.

I wonder how that description got started if no one knows anything about the modification. Advertising at is bests. :lol: