History of the Skil 100 Planer

The Skil 100 planer has become one of the most iconic tools in surfboard shaping. Although it was originally developed as a portable woodworking planer, its ergonomics and precise depth adjustment eventually made it a favorite among professional surfboard shapers. The story of the Skil 100 begins with its inventor, Henry Spitzley.

The Skil 100 Planer was invented by Henry Spitzley in the late 1940s. The seventh of 14 children, Henry grew up on a farm near Portland, Michigan, in the early 1900s. Henry became a machinist by trade and was described by his family members as an exceptionally innovative “tinkerer,” but also a lifelong bachelor.

His idea for the planer was to create a portable power-driven tool with the speed and efficiency needed to keep up with the building construction boom. Portable electric planers of the time were so large that they often required two workers to operate. He also wanted to improve the depth-regulating mechanisms of the time, creating a depth control capable of extremely close-tolerance cuts.

In his patent, Spitzley explains: "the adjusting mechanism of the planer may slantingly be moved forwardly or backwardly, which moves the said mechanism downwardly and upwardly, respectively. I wish particularly to point out that the depth regulating device of my invention used in combination with the planer, can be readily adjusted to cut at substantially any desired depth and the said adjustment can be of extremely close tolerance."

Henry Spitzley, unsure how to market the invention, approached Schaberg Dietrich Hardware, a wholesale hardware company in Lansing, Michigan. “SD Hardware” then presented the invention to Skil Corp., which purchased the rights. Henry and SD Hardware each received $1 for every planer sold. Over the life of the patent, Henry eventually received approximately $125,000, equivalent to roughly $1.1 million when this article was originally published. Henry lived a frugal life and reportedly never spent any of the money before his death in 1974.

The Skil 100 wasn't Henry's only invention. A family member in the meatpacking business complained that several guns were being destroyed each day while killing cattle. Henry went on to design a cattle stunner to solve the problem. The Humane Society awarded him $1,000 for developing what was considered a more humane method of slaughter at the time. A similar type of cattle stunner may be familiar from the film No Country for Old Men, where one is used to destroy door locks and for other, more graphic purposes.

Henry’s remaining family finds it interesting that his tool invention is used widely by surfboard shapers to this day, as its intended use was so different in the eyes of the old-style bachelor. He was able to make an impact on many different subcultures through his innovations and problem-solving skills.

The Skil 100 and Surfboard Shaping

Although the Skil 100 was originally designed as a woodworking tool for jobs such as fitting wooden doors, it found an entirely different purpose in surfboard manufacturing. By the 1960s, the Skil 100 had become a popular tool among surfboard shapers, who found its power, balance, and adjustable cutting depth particularly well suited for shaping surfboard blanks.

One story passed down within the surfboard industry connects the Skil 100's early use in surfboard shaping to woodworkers from the Los Angeles harbor area. During World War II, boatyards around Terminal Island and San Pedro employed skilled woodworkers building wooden military craft, including crash rescue boats, submarine chasers, and air-sea rescue utility craft for the U.S. Navy and Army. In the years after the war, some of these craftsmen are said to have applied their boatbuilding skills to the growing surfboard industry, using power planers to shape early surfboards from large blocks of wood, becoming the first surfboard shapers to use the Skil 100.

As foam surfboard blanks became the industry standard and surfboard production expanded through the 1960s, the Skil 100 became closely associated with professional surfboard shaping. Its power, balance, and ability to quickly remove foam while giving the shaper precise control over cutting depth made it exceptionally well suited to the work.

Skil discontinued production of the Skil 100 in 1988, but the planer never disappeared from the surfboard industry. Decades later, surviving Skil 100s are still rebuilt, modified, and maintained, and can be found in surfboard shaping bays around the world.

Written and researched by Florian Saylor, founder of Shaper Supply.