Jim, I recently brought the Titan planer Thickneser from Screwfix. I only wanted one for squaring timber to prepare timber for doing segmented work on the lathe.
I know it has some indifferent reports but for what I wanted I have found the Thicknesser to be an ideal bit of kit.
I am led to believe it is Russian built and it looks really robust at a tad under £150 with a 2 year warranty I personally find it a great addition to the shed.
It certainly beats the crap out of hand planing and in my case it makes a ten times better job than hand planing.
Vic