A planer and thicknesser comprising a frame having a passage way which extends through the frame from one aperture in a wall of the frame to another aperture in a wall of the frame; an upper table having a front and rear sections (14,16) mounted on the frame in such a manner in order to form a slot between the front and rear sections of the upper table; a cutting drum (24) rotatably mounted within the frame such that an upper lengthwise section of the periphery of the cutting drum projects upwardly through the slot and a lower lengthwise section of the periphery of the cutting drum projects downwardly into the passage way; a lower table, substantially parallel to the upper table, mounted either within the passageway or forms the base of the passageway, below the cutting drum; and a dust extractor (250,254,256); characterised in that the dust extractor is capable of being connected to the underside of the upper table when the upper table is being used ( Fig. 20 ) and being connected to top of the upper table when the lower table is being used ( Fig. 19 ).