Excellent planer, but get the extended tables

Thanks for the review.

I agree with you about the extension tables. They are worth the money.

As for chip collection, I made one of these. I don’t have a dust collector and my shop vac is too small for the amount of chips this planer produces.

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

I have an older Ryobi model, and fine tuning the performance of that depended heavily on proper setting of the in/out tables. This model is definitely sweet, better than mine, but the snipe is not surprising. If you’re not so concerned about portability, you can set up your planer with long and rigid in/out tables – much longer and more rigid than the ones they will sell you. you can set them to be exactly coplanar with the planer bed, and your snipe will disappear. I’m even thinking of doing that with mine – removing the factory tables and building my own. check the archives here – lots of people have done similar things.

I have heard great thins about this planner, ther only knock on it was the longevity of the knifes, I know there are a lot of companies that make replacement knifes for them, but has anyone had this problem?

-- Dave, Fargo ND "Bad spellers of the world, UNTIE!!"

I have one of these also and the knives have been very durable – they’ve well outlasted the jointer knives on the same wood. However, I see this machine as a “lightweight” portable and finishing planer and I take very light cuts and more of them. If I have to match pieces to previously dimensioned stock I measure the boards with a caliper for the last pass and set the cut with my dial indicator – the planer will give me a match within a mill or two.

I also have the accessory infeed and outfeed tables and they are very convenient. The best help you can give yourself to eliminate snipe, though, is to just hold up the boards yourself until they are well into the maching (fully controlled by the fore and aft rollers) and then hold up the board on the outfeed side through the completion of the cut. If you do this reasonable well you probbaly won’t even need the additional tables.

Tim

For replacement knives for the Dewalt check this out http://www.infinitytools.com/DeWalt-DW734-DW735-Planer-Knives/products/1649/ they make both a HSS and Carbide tipped set of knives for it. I havent tried a set yet but they will be going on once the originals give up the ghost.

Chris.

-- -Director of slipshod craftsmanship and attention deficit woodworking

I have no doubt that this is a very good planer. I have had the 733 for about 10 years and it has performed flawlessly. I’ve looked at the 735 and I can see noticeable improvements over the 733.

However, if the 733 ever failed me, I think I would get the 734. As good as the 735 is, for me, it is hard to justify the extra cost.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

I have this planer too and it has served me well for just over a year now. Good luck!

I love my 735. I agree that the outfeed tables should come with the planer. That is my one big complaint with DeWalt tools. Seems like most of thier tools I buy have some accessory like the outfeed tables or a dust collection adapter that you have to buy seperately. These things are ALWAYS special order items!

-- Tony - Anchorage, Alaska

I brush my wood with a wire brush to get off silica and debris that might damage the thin blades. So far so good.

Chip blower coupled with the DC is awesome.

I ordered the extension tables and matching cart from Grizzly to make it easily portable in the shop. I found that if I adjust the outer ends of the extension tables up a little bit it will take the snipe out, so that all you have to do is start it in the feeder and catch it on the outfeed end or make sure it gets on the roller stand correctly.

I too only take minimal passes, usually a little less than 1/32.

I have one with the extension tables. It’s great!
I take light passes and have not noticed any snipes.
the integrated chip blower coupled with a dust collector take care of every chip.

Love it.

I have one with the extension tables, and have had no instaces of snipe. What a great tool! For the chip generation, I’ve connected this and all my tools to my DC, with a thein baffled 30 gallon garbage can, with extraordinary results.

I made mine very tight to the side of the can, and sealed the MDF top after I grooved it. The result is i get NO dust or particles in the DC bag, but have filled the can twice now. An additional benefit is there is little dust escaping into the air. You can find details on the baffle design here: http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

Hope this is of help.

-- -Gerry, Hereford, AZ ” A really good woodworker knows how the hide his / her mistakes.”

I’ve had my 735 for four years and have had very good luck with it. If there was anything I dislike it’s like everything else DeWalt has, the repair parts are expensive. A set of blades is 54 bucks! A bit pricey for three little strips of metal. In spite of using a wire brush AND a metal detector I managed to wipe out a knife.

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

I have the single speed model and love it. Going to have to order the replacement blade Chrisforheor mentions.

-- Ken, "Everyday above ground is a good day!"

I HAVE THE DEWALT 735 AND IT A GREAT PLANER BUT HEAVY.

-- ohio