Hand tools versus power planer for old oak floor, the winner surprised me

I spent last weekend refacing a 1920s oak floor in my living room, about 220 square feet. I tried my electric planer first and it kept tearing out chunks around the knots, real frustrating. Switched to a vintage #7 jointer plane I got at a garage sale in Portland for $15, sharpened the iron for 20 minutes, and it just glided through. The finish was smoother, no chatter marks, and I only had to sand with 120 grit instead of starting at 40. Has anyone else found an old hand tool beats a power tool on tricky grain, or was I just using the planer wrong?

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miller.eva23d ago

That old #7 at a garage sale for $15 sounds like a total steal. Same thing happened to me on a curly maple tabletop, the power planer tore it up bad but my #5 with a freshly sharpened blade just sliced through like butter. For tricky grain, hand planes give you way more control over the cut depth, so the blade never digs in too deep at a knot.