Although in the hands of a master craftsman the large hand plane used to thin material until it was the right thickness it was also very time consuming and arduous. Technology has improved upon this and the hand plane has been replaced by a motorized version, which requires less time and effort and is equally effective. Motorized surface planer has rollers that move a piece past two or three evenly matched sharp knives spinning at very high speed to shave off a very thin layer of wood.

The table that guides the piece through the planer comes in sizes of 10 and 14 inches, which is the maximum width that can be worked on with a motorized planer. The planer has a hand-crank for adjusting the cutting depth and the blade height is set so that every time the piece passes through the planer, a very small but even layer is cut.

Surface planes have an in-feed and an out-feed table, each with a roller above it. When a woodworker inserts the piece in on the in-feed side, the roller on top grabs it to guide it past the knives at an even speed. The roller atop the out-feed table aids in the forward motion till the time the board has completed its path through the plane.

The slow motion of the piece through the planer coupled with the high speed of the knives results in the best possible finish. Since motorized planes create a lot of sawdust, it is a good idea to connect the collection port with wood shop's dust collection system.