Well built, reliable, great performing machine

I love ours as well.. not that I have any experience with any other machine so I can’t compare.
But I figure if I can use it, it must be good :)

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I was able to easily take my blades out and sharpen them. Reinstalling is a snap.

-- http://newmissionworkshop.com

I have one of the older ones with the resharpenable blades,
which a prefer because I have a knife grinder. Mine has
a 2-knife cutterhead and knife-setting jigs that come with
it.

After several years of intermittent use (I had other planers
as well so I didn’t use this always) the feed mechanism broke.

I took the machine apart – which took a while – and discovered
a delicate sprocket had broken in half. The sprocket has
a lot of pressure put on it by this machine and it’s not
super-sturdy. The replacement part was under $10 and frankly
I’m surprised the first one lasted as long as it did.

Planer is back in service and produces nice results as long
as you respect it’s limitations. It’s a nice surface finisher
in general.

Dust collection isn’t all that great. Chips get stuck in the sides,
pile up and need to be cleaned out if you want to plane thin
stock. It’s tempting to cut holes in the plastic sides to
make cleanout easier.

Perhaps the newer ones have better dust collection.

-- Would you like to recession-proof your present business using the internet? - my revealing 9-page free report gives you the straight facts: http://copymatch.com/rec/cap.html

I recently purchased this same machine and agree, for the price it works great with little or no adjustment out of the box. I have been really pleased with the results!

-- -=Den

I just picked up this planer on clearance for $300. I am very impressed with its performance thus far. Amen on the multitude of chips. Shopvac worked well in reducing the waste volume. Very strong and smooth machine.

-- Chris, South Carolina

Ditto on this planer. I recently picked it up as a closeout item at Lowes for 4300. Running large fir and smaller oak pieces through it after jointing. No snipe and the finish is almost burnished smooth. Lots of chips though, dust collection or shop vac is a must. If not.. get a shovel you’ll need it.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

I bought this planer about 5 years ago and it has been a reliable workhorse in my shop. That is until this weekend, when all of a sudden it would crank down but not up. On the Dewalt web page someone else posted this problem and it was suggested that the planer is out of parallel. Next weekend, I’ll try getting to the sprockets to see if I can fix it. I’d be interested to know if anyone else has had this problem and had success fixing it.

-- Patrick, Iowa City

congrats on the new tool may it last a thousand years and mill a million board ft. wow I make myself tired just thinking about it.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

Great review. Thanks for writing it up.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

In case anyone is interested, I figured out the problem. There is crack on the metal carriage that runs between the support posts on the “crank side” of the machine. When I crank down, the crack is pushed tight and it moves smoothly. When I crank up, the crack is pulled apart and it binds on the opposite side. Needless to say, I’m frustrated and shopping for a new machine.

-- Patrick, Iowa City