# Why are "Thicknessers" called "Planers" in the US ?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 28, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657 "2013-01-28T21:34:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/1 "2013-01-28T21:34:32Z")
Normally, I am totally on the side of our colonial brethren when it comes to matters of spelling, and nomenclature. I relish the simplicity of "honor " rather than than “honour” , and I much prefer "aluminum " to “aluminium”, to take but two examples out of many …
However …I really do not see why the woodworking machine which we call a “thicknesser” over here in the UK ever came to be designated a “planer” in the US.
Correct me if I am wrong, but would you not think that the function of a “planer” would be to create a plane surface?
That is why, over here, we call the machine which does this a “planer” … (over in the US you call it a “jointer”). Now, I have no great issue with this machine being called a jointer, but I really do fail to understand why the machine which is used next, to create a parallel face to the already planed surface, would be called a “planer” when, what it actually does is "thickness " the wood rather than planing it.
There may be some weird historical reason for this, if so I would love to hear it …
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### Author:  [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/2 "2013-01-28T21:41:21Z")
Because a “plane” is the tool that you would normally use for the task of thickness planing? The full name of the machine is a thickness planer.
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/3 "2013-01-28T22:04:18Z")
What does “thickness” have to do with it? How do you make wood thicker by planing it?
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/4 "2013-01-28T22:14:52Z")
I agree with this terminology. I guess you could say that I’m down with the thickness.
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### Author:  [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/5 "2013-01-28T22:19:24Z")
“Thicknesser” sounds awful to my American ears.
Chips, crisps and biscuits instead of fries, chips and cookies? Sure, why not, kind of appealing.
But thicknesser? No.
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/6 "2013-01-28T22:23:51Z")
“Thicknessers?” What a ridiculous word.
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### Author:  [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/7 "2013-01-28T22:26:13Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#):
>
> What does “thickness” have to do with it? How do you make wood thicker by planing it?
It’s not that you make it thicker, it’s that you make it to the thickness that you want. Thinner but with flatter surfaces than the original.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/8 "2013-01-28T22:26:49Z")
The terms joiner and jointer are both used for small planing machines. The term planer or thickness planer is used for thickness planers. Joiners and jointers also have a fence which allows a piece to be squared and not just planed for thickness. The term planer is used because it is doing a job once done with a hand plane.
Thicknesser is just jarring to the ears, but thickness planer is often used to avoid confusion about what type of machine is referred to. And the planer does create a plane. It exposes a new plane on the surface of the board that used to be inside the wood.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/9 "2013-01-28T22:37:04Z")
stupid to call it a thicknesser when clearly it a debiggener or thinnener.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/10 "2013-01-28T22:41:38Z")
BTW: A joiner is called that because it’s a machine used in the art of [joinery.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodworking_joints)
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/11 "2013-01-28T22:45:00Z")
“Thicknesser” sounds idiotic. This is from the people who can’t be bothered with all the syllables in “elevator.”
> [@johnpost](#):
>
> stupid to call it a thicknesser when clearly it a debiggener or thinnener.
The correct term is dewidthenizer.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/12 "2013-01-28T22:55:06Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> The correct term is dewidthenizer.
I think that’s what they call a tablesaw in the UK.
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### Author:  [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/13 "2013-01-28T22:55:50Z")
The procedure for squaring lumber is as follows:
1. Using the\*\* jointer\*\*, plane one face of the board flat.
2. Using the\*\* jointer\*\* again, place the flattened face against
the fence and joint one edge perpendicular to the face.
3. Using the thickness **planer** , plane the opposite face parallel.
4. Using the **table saw** , rip the board to width with the jointed edge against the fence.
Except for the rip cut these operations may take several passes on the machines.
Now lets take a moment to talk about shop safety. Be sure to read, understand and follow all the safety rules that come with your power tools. Knowing how to use your tools properly will greatly reduce your risk of personal injury. And rememvber this: There is no more important safety rule than to wear these (tap, tap) safety glasses. ~Norm Abram~
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/14 "2013-01-28T23:03:08Z")
Soon we will replace all these tools with **lazers**. They will be just like “lasers”, but the difference in spelling is to illustrate that woodworker will become comparatively lazy.
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### Author:  [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/15 "2013-01-28T23:20:13Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> “Thicknesser” sounds idiotic. This is from the people who can’t be bothered with all the syllables in “elevator.”
I hope you’re not implying it’s what we call it over here in the UK. I’m not sure where **Bones Daley** comes from, but over here we call it a ‘plane’.
And we’ve never been known to misunderestimisate the stupidity of people who use three syllables when one will do.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/16 "2013-01-28T23:40:34Z")
> [@mascaroni](#):
>
> I hope you’re not implying it’s what we call it over here in the UK. I’m not sure where **Bones Daley** comes from, but over here we call it a ‘plane’.
>
> And we’ve never been known to misunderestimisate the stupidity of people who use three syllables when one will do.
That’s good, because a plane is what we call it, too.
(Something about lorries and knights and shit.)
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### Author:  [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/17 "2013-01-29T00:37:13Z")
> [@mascaroni](#):
>
> I hope you’re not implying it’s what we call it over here in the UK. I’m not sure where **Bones Daley** comes from, but over here we call it a ‘plane’.
What we call a **plane** in the UK is what they call a plane in the US as well.
What we call a \*\*planer \*\*in the UK is different to what they call a planer in the US of A.
Every wood machinist in the UK will refer to the machine he uses to bring timber to a finished parallel dimension as a “thicknesser”.
A combination machine capable of surfacing as well as thicknessing is described as a planer/thicknesser.
The word “thicknesser” isn’t strikingly beautiful, I have to admit, but it _ **is** _ what the machine is called.
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### Author:  [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/18 "2013-01-29T00:50:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> The terms joiner and jointer are both used for small planing machines. The term planer or thickness planer is used for thickness planers. Joiners and jointers also have a fence which allows a piece to be squared and not just planed for thickness. The term planer is used because it is doing a job once done with a hand plane.
>
> Thicknesser is just jarring to the ears, but thickness planer is often used to avoid confusion about what type of machine is referred to. And the planer does create a plane. It exposes a new plane on the surface of the board that used to be inside the wood.
I worked in cabinet shops in the US for several years, and not once did I ever hear the machine referred to as a “joiner”, it was invariably called a “jointer.”
I would be really intrigued to see any cite for an instance of the machine having been being called a “joiner” at any time, either in the US or elswhere.
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### Author:  [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/19 "2013-01-29T00:59:07Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#):
>
> What we call a **plane** in the UK is what they call a plane in the US as well.
>
> What we call a \*\*planer \*\*in the UK is different to what they call a planer in the US of A.
>
> Every wood machinist in the UK will refer to the machine he uses to bring timber to a finished parallel dimension as a “thicknesser”.
>
> A combination machine capable of surfacing as well as thicknessing is described as a planer/thicknesser.
>
> The word “thicknesser” isn’t strikingly beautiful, I have to admit, but it _ **is** _ what the machine is called.
I’ve never heard the term before, but I’ll concede to your specialist knowledge.
That said, people might take you more seriously if your name didn’t sound so… erm.. Australasian… (Specifically the big bit).
(I’ve been chastised before for not being nice to Australians so I have to be a bit discreet)
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-thicknessers-called-planers-in-the-us/648657/20 "2013-01-29T01:05:51Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#):
>
> “Thicknesser” sounds awful to my American ears.
It sounds awful to my British ears too, and [online dictionaries](http://www.onelook.com/?w=Thicknesser) seem to know little about it. (Note that for regular words, Onelook Dictionary generally returns links to a couple of dozen or more definitions. Note also that the small handful of links it returns for “thicknesser” do not actually lead to definitions of that actual word.)
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thicknesser) does seem to confirm that the term is in use in Britain, but it is hardly a word in common use, although I suppose it may be familiar jargon for woodworking professionals.
It appears to be an elaborate industrial machine, not something the ordinary carpenter would have in his toolbox.
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