If you do any custom finish work, or trimming out in old houses, a jointer/planer can fast become your best friend. Carpenters in the field who don't have access to these shop machines end up paying a mill shop upwards of $30 an hour to surface hardwood stock or any unusually dimensioned material. Last year, Hitachi introduced the P 12RA, which combines a 12-inch planer and a 6-inch jointer. Like its big brother, the Hitachi F 1000A jointer/planer, this compact version is a side-byside machine with one motor driving a separate set of knives for each function. But unlike the 320-pound shop model, the P 12RA weighs only 83 pounds. The jointer bed detaches from the planer to make it easy to
