Would You Buy a Makita Cordless Thickness Planer?

It seems that Makita has been working on making a cordless thickness planer, and this seems like a prime candidate for their new XGT cordless power tool system.

Thanks to Nate (Doresoom via YouTube) and Rob (Belts and Boxes via YouTube), we have a good idea about what it can do and what might look like. Nate took the time to find and fully review Makita’s tech patents, and Rob from Belts and Boxes put together a fantastic rendering from the patent artwork.

Makita does make a corded planer (2012NB via Amazon), and according to Amazon it was released more than 17 years ago.

I have never associated Makita with fine woodworking tools, and although they have some older corded SKUs, they don’t seem to be as popular as other brands in this area. Still, this could be interesting for anyone who might have wished for a cordless portable planer.

Despite some corded planers being described as portable, a great majority of benchtop planers are not very portable.

In that regard, I looked over the patent (US20210016463A1 via Google), and there is no mention of top or side carrying handles.

It looks like there could be a handle recesses in the top plate, but there is no reference of this in the patent language that I can find. Usually any and all features and functions are specifically described in a patent.

Nate went over Makita’s patent application in his latest video, embedded below. In it, he notes that Makita specifically describes their cordless planer technology as being powered by an 18V X2 battery setup that delivers 36V. Perhaps this was done to keep XGT close to the brand’s chest even though the lineup was already announced prior to the patent’s application filing date?

As Nate describes in his video, Makita’s cordless planer patent specifically mentions straight cutter knives, which are typically very power-hungry. Even powered by two batteries, I wonder what this would mean for cutting performance, application speed, and battery runtime.

Modern premium benchtop thickness planers often feature helical and spiral-style carbide inserts over straight knives, and it’s unclear why Makita would engineer what will surely be a very expensive cordless planer with 2 straight cutting blades instead.

As you might have seen, after a long delay, Makita launched an initial wave of XGT cordless tools in the USA.

IF Makita comes out with a cordless planer, it’s unclear if it would be exclusive to their 18V platform, 40V Max XGT platform, or if there would be “good” and “better” options for both lines as we’ve seen for some other recent tools launched to both platforms. Makita has refused to answer questions about how their 18V and 40V Max XGT “18V form factor” systems will share the market.

Maybe their 18V system will feature a straight knife planer, and the XGT system a spiral-style cutterhead planer?

I say IF because this planer is only found in Makita patent materials and so no actual product exists yet. However, tool brands typically don’t file for patents without having a clear product roadmap. Even if such a product will exist, there’s no guarantee it will even launch in the USA.

Are any of you connecting corded thickness planers to battery power systems or generators? Would you upgrade to a cordless solution if it were available?

Would you buy a battery-powered thickness planer from any brand?

Be sure to check out the videos below, and subscribe to both channels if you haven’t already.