Several luthiers have suggested we carry this great tool. We first heard about it from classical builder Aaron Green and then Frank Ford reminded us of it and insisted that we carry it. Here is an excerpt from Frank’s review on his website, www.frets.com:
“Still in production after all these years, the Wagner Safe-T-Planer remains unchanged and unchallenged. This is a truly safe drill press planing cutter. And it works far better than any other I’ve seen. Before I got my Wagner, I tried another kind, which had the nasty habit of sucking up the work piece and chucking it across the room.
This tool is simplicity itself. Just three cutters mounted on an aluminum disc.
Here’s the secret:
Each round cutter is mounted so that the cutting edge protrudes only around 0.005” below the central disc. That means the work piece can only rise that amount before encountering the smooth under surface of the tool, which stops any further rise. The overhang of the upper part of the disc prevents hands from getting into the cutters, even if you make a slip. I suppose the width of the cutter (around 1/4”) is its theoretical maximum cut, but I try to limit things to a little over 1/8” per pass. I’m sure there are some builders out there who use the Wagner Safe-T-Planer for thicknessing tops, backs and sides. Personally, I see it as the ideal tool for occasional smaller jobs. I use it for roughing out material for peghead overlays and things like that.”
Kit (SPSP) includes cutter, allen wrench, grinding wheel and detailed instructions.
