This is FindBuyTool’s FB132H — a 13″ benchtop-style thickness planer with a factory-installed helical cutterhead, two feed speeds, a four-post design, and a price tag around $1,000.
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FindBuyTool already sells a cheaper single-speed helical planer, the FB131H, which I reviewed last year. The FB132H steps things up with a more robust design and additional features, but the question for this review is simple: is it a good planer, and is it worth its roughly $1,000 price tag? That’s what I set out to find out.
FindBuyTool sent me this planer to test, but they had no input on this review and didn’t get to see it before it was published. All opinions are my own.
FindBuyTool FB132H Specs
| Specification | FB132H |
| Maximum Width | 13 Inches |
| Motor | 15A, 2.5HP |
| Speeds | 2 |
| Feed Rates | 12 & 21 FPM |
| Cutterhead | 4-Row Helical |
| Inserts | 40 Carbide, 4-Sided |
| Maximum Depth of Cut | 1/8 Inch |
| Weight | 109 Pounds |
| Warranty | 12 Months |
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FB132H Features and Design
Four-Post Design
The FB132H rides on four posts rather than the two-post design commonly found on more traditional benchtop planers. The four-post design gives the machine a more solid, commercial-style feel and helps keep the cutterhead carriage stable as it moves up and down. It also eliminates the need for a separate carriage lock lever, which I always forget to engage before making a pass.
Two Feed Speeds
The FB132H gives you 21 FPM for dimensioning and roughing, and a slower 12 FPM rate for finishing passes. In theory, the slower speed should produce a smoother finish since the cutterhead is taking more passes per inch of material. In practice, during my testing I honestly couldn’t tell much of a difference in finish quality between the two speeds — both left a smooth, clean surface. That doesn’t make the second speed useless — it’s still nice to have the option — but I wouldn’t buy this planer expecting dramatically different results between the two feed rate speeds.
Helical Cutterhead
The FB132H uses a 4-row helical cutterhead with 40 four-sided carbide inserts. Worth noting: that’s fewer inserts than the aftermarket FindBuyTool helical head that I bought and installed in my DeWalt 735X, which has 56 inserts across the same four rows. I’m not sure what practical difference that makes, but it’s an interesting detail if you’re comparing cutterheads directly.
For anyone unclear on the difference between helical and spiral cutterheads — they’re not the same thing. On a spiral head, the knives sit at a 90° angle, just like straight knives. Helical cutters are angled, which produces a shearing cut instead of a straight chopping cut. That shearing action is what gets you the smoother finish, reduced tearout, quieter operation, and longer blade life that helical heads are known for. It also costs more to manufacture and draws a bit more power, which is part of why helical planers have historically carried a premium price tag.
Infeed and Outfeed Rollers
Instead of fold-down trays, the FB132H uses extendable rollers to support stock on the way in and out. I genuinely like this setup — the rollers extend out farther than traditional fold-down trays, and they tuck away into a more compact footprint when you’re done, which matters if you’re working in a smaller shop.
Foldable Handwheel and Side-Mounted Dust Port
The adjustment handwheel folds away when not in use, and FindBuyTool says this saves roughly three inches of workspace — that tracks with my experience using it. Combined with the side-mounted dust port (rather than a rear-mounted one), the whole machine sits closer to the wall and takes up less footprint in a small shop, which is exactly the kind of detail that matters if you’re working out of a garage or single-car shop like a lot of hobbyist woodworkers. And in addition to space savings, the side mounted dust port also means that your dust collection hose (or your dust bag) won’t be in the way of your workpiece as it feeds through the machine.
Other Notable Features
A few more things worth a quick mention:
- LED lighting illuminates the depth gauge and infeed table — handy in a dim shop or garage.
- Removable safety pin on the power switch prevents the machine from starting when it’s pulled.
- Preset knob gives you six positions for your most-used thicknesses, with a small locking knob to keep you from bumping it out of place.
- Depth-of-cut gauge shows how much material you’re about to remove before you commit to a pass.
- Anti-kickback protection grabs the board to prevent it from shooting back at you during feed issues — more on this below.
How I Tested the FindBuyTool FB132H
Rather than just repeating FindBuyTool’s spec sheet, I ran the FB132H through the same real-world tests I use on every planer that comes through my shop, and compared the results directly against my DeWalt 735X with an aftermarket helical head installed. I tested cut quality, snipe, dust collection, noise, performance at both feed speeds, and how the machine handled a heavier-than-normal pass. You can see all of these tests in my full video review below.
FB132H Performance
Cut Quality
The cut quality was excellent at both feed speeds — smooth, clean surfaces with no tearout. Honestly, I couldn’t distinguish the FB132H’s finish from what I get out of my helical-head DeWalt. That’s a strong result for a planer at this price point going up against a setup that costs more once you factor in the cost of an aftermarket cutterhead.
Snipe
Both planers left a small amount of snipe in my initial testing. My DeWalt did slightly better here, though the difference was minor. However, I later tested both planers again with a larger board, and neither planer left any snipe.
Power
To stress-test the motor, I ran a heavier 1/16″ pass at the faster feed rate — deliberately more aggressive than I’d normally recommend, specifically to see if I could get it to bog down or trip a breaker. It didn’t.
For what it’s worth, my DeWalt used to trip the breaker even on light passes when it still had straight knives installed. Once I upgraded the electrical in my shop, I stopped having that issue, including after installing the helical head. So at least in my case, the breaker issue was related to my shop’s electrical capacity rather than the helical cutterhead.
Noise
This is where the FB132H stood out. My DeWalt with its helical head measured around 100 dB, while the FB132H came in closer to 95 dB. Five decibels is a bigger difference than it sounds like — it represents more than three times the acoustic energy, and it’s a difference your ears will clearly notice. Either way, both machines are loud enough that hearing protection is non-negotiable.
Dust Collection
Dust collection was essentially a tie between the two machines in my testing. I do prefer the FB132H’s side-mounted blower over a rear-mounted setup, mainly because it’s less intrusive when actually using the planer.
What I Like About the FB132H
- Excellent, tearout-free finish from the factory-installed helical head
- Two feed speeds for roughing vs. finishing
- Solid four-post design with no carriage lock lever to forget
- Compact, extendable infeed/outfeed rollers
- Side-mounted dust port is easier to work around in a small shop
- Fold-away handwheel saves real workspace
- Noticeably quieter than my helical-head DeWalt
- Strong value for the feature set at around $1,000
What I Don’t Like
- At 109 lbs., it’s not light — moving it around a shop solo takes some care
- The anti-kickback feature can grab your board if you’re just checking the depth gauge, not actually feeding it through — I found this out the hard way
- FindBuyTool doesn’t have the brand recognition that DeWalt does
One other thing worth mentioning: during testing, one of the screws stripped out while I was removing the top of the planer. I reached out to FindBuyTool to ask if that kind of thing would be covered under warranty, and they confirmed it would be. Not a knock against the machine, but useful context if you’re wondering how they handle support.
Is the FindBuyTool FB132H Worth It?
At around $1,000, I think this is a genuinely compelling value. The key isn’t just that it’s cheaper than building an equivalent setup yourself — it’s that in my testing, I couldn’t find a meaningful performance advantage for my more expensive DeWalt 735X with its aftermarket helical head. Cut quality was comparable, snipe was comparable, and the FB132H was actually quieter. At this point, the main reason to choose the DeWalt setup over the FB132H is brand recognition — and that’s worth something, but it’s up to you to determine how much.
FindBuyTool currently lists the FB132H at around $1,000, often with some kind of coupon to knock a few dollars off, with no tax and free shipping when you buy from their site (current at the time of writing — pricing and promotions can change).
👉 Check Current Price at FindBuyTool
FAQs
Is the FindBuyTool FB132H a true helical head planer? Yes. It uses a genuine helical cutterhead with angled carbide inserts arranged across four rows, not a spiral or straight-knife design.
What’s the difference between the FB131H and FB132H? The FB132H is the more premium of FindBuyTool’s two 13-inch helical head planers, with several upgrades over the FB131H. See my full FB131H vs. FB132H comparison to decide which one is right for you.
Does the FindBuyTool FB132H have two speeds? Yes — 21 FPM for roughing and dimensioning, and 12 FPM for finishing passes.
How much snipe does the FB132H have? In my testing, it left a small amount of snipe, comparable to what I saw from my DeWalt 735X with a helical head installed. Although I later tested both planers with a larger board, and neither left any snipe.
Is the FindBuyTool FB132H better than a DeWalt DW735X with a helical head installed? In my testing, their overall performance was very similar, while the FB132H costs less. I go much deeper on the differences in my full FB132H vs. DeWalt 735X helical head comparison.
I really like what FindBuyTool is doing here — they continue to do a better job than anyone else at making helical head performance attainable for the average hobbyist woodworker. Let me know what you think in the comments.