Accessories

Good planer, but the dust catcher doesn't fit in the case???
Why would you include a dust catcher which does not fit into the case??? Other than that, the planer works fine for quick jobs fixing stuck doors.

Good points and bad points
I recently picked this planer up for a small job that involved squaring some pine. It did a good job but the weaknesses of the tool were fairly obvious after only a little use.

Background: I compared this planer to the comparable Ryobi. The Ryobi had a few features the B&D didn't, mainly a "kickstand" to protect the blade when not being used and a dust port that can be switched from left to right. The Ryobi also had a loose front plate, which didn't seem like a good idea to me. So I chose the B&D.

First the good: It did a very good job on the pine I was planing (which involved 4 pieces glued together that needed to be flat on 2 edges). It was very easy to use and the depth adjustment has very positive indents so you know how much you are removing. In general, I was very impressed with the results I got out of the tool.

The bad: I use hand planes a lot, so I naturally wanted to use the front handle on this power planer. Unfortunately, that is also the depth adjustment, and on my second cut I managed to turn it halfway through, making it deeper. I also wanted to use the fence to square the face I was planing. I was successful in this, but the fence is incredibly flimsy (mostly plastic). It may last fine, but I guess I would prefer all metal or at least thicker plastic. Also, I noticed the motor sounded like it was struggling a bit when I went to the deeper cuts. Maybe this is normal, but it seemed like there could be trouble if you try to do the same thing in hardwood. Finally, I can see why other brands include the kickstand (basically a blade guard, so you're not setting the tool on it's blades all the time). I didn't much like the fact that I would be resting the planer on it's blades every time I set it down (you also have to make sure the blades aren't still spinning, although in my own use this was not an issue).

So, basically, this is a tool that works well, but could maybe use a bit of refining. I returned mine, and I'm not sure what I'll replace it with. FWIW, in this price range, I think there's always going to be a bit of compromise, and I think the B&D's weaknesses are easier to live with than the loose front plate on the Ryobi.

Great for the money
i bought this planer to trim down some exterior doors and it worked great. I've used it on several other projects since then and it has been excellent.

Value Substitute for Dewalt 680
I used my friends Dewalt 680 planer for a couple of jobs and liked its small size/weight and features. I didn't like its $150 price. So I went looking for and alternative and found this Black and Decker at Sears for $69.99 w/case and extra blades. It looks and performs like the Dewalt but at half the price and w/case, extra blades and wrench(uses dewalt blades), edge guide, dust bag, and vacumn attachment accessories.

The only differences I noticed is the rear shoe is a steel plate instead of cast. The front plate (adjustable for plane depth like Dewalt's) is cast aluminum like dewalt. Also, Dewalt has a
guard lever on its rear shoe that drops down to protect blade when setting planer down on its shoe after use. I actually found
this lever to be a pain when using the Dewalt because it would not always drop down when done with a plane, and it was in the way when you wanted to begin a plane run in the middle of a piece.

I was very impressed with this find and satisfied with this planer and its accessories so far.

great value - nice package!!!
after looking at the cost/benefits of the various planers out there, i realized that i really didn't need anything too fancy so i got this to get me through a trim job i'm in the middle of. all i can say is wow. for about $70 you get a very smooth running plane that comes equipped with a dust bag that actually works, a vacuum attachment, two extra reversable blades and a case. it comes with a rip fence but it seems pretty hokey and i wouldn't put too much faith in it. the adjustment knob has very nice detents in it that makes setting the depth a breeze. dont be scared away by the cheap price, this is a very good deal.