Buying a "portable" planer

I have a Dewalt and love it. I have not had to change knives yet. Finewoodworking reviewed planers and Dewalt and, believe it or not, Craftsman got the highest reviews. Both are three knife planers. Check out the annual Tools and Shops issue (FWW edition number 195). Ryobi AP1301 got best value at $280.

I too have a Dewalt and no complaints whatsoever. It was a bit of an investment but I doubt I’ll be needing a new planer any time soon unless I want to upgrade to a bigger one.

-- Paul D, Atlanta GA

I have a Delta 22-580 for 3 years now and have run several hundred feet of maple and cherry through it. It still runs just as well as it did out of the box. Three knives will give you a smoother finish as opposed to a 2 knife system.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

DW 735

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I have the 13” Dewalt. I don’t know what the complaints are, but this planer is WELL worth its (heavy) weight in gold. It’s an amazing machine and you will never look back and never regret it. It is smooth enough for the finer jobs and strong enough to be a beast.

-- Dust collectors suck.

Thanks for the input. I do like the look of the Dewalt, the negative comments I’m refering to are here I would be very interested in what the satisfied owners think about them.

Dan

Dewalt DW735 here as well. It is a great machine. That being said I plan on eventually upgrading to a 15 or 20 inch planer with spiral carbide cutters.

-- Owen Johnson - aka IowaWoodcrafter

Thanks Owen, do you have any opinion of the negative comments in the post right above yours?

Dan

I have the Delta 22-580 and think that it is an excellent machine.

Check out the review section on this site. There are 5 different planers reviewed.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

The Dewalt 735 is a very nice machine. But the Dewalt 734, or the Delta 22-580 do just about as nice a job and will save you a few bucks.

Dan, I looked at the list of complaints on the 735. I have had none of those experiences. They seem to be from when the planer first came out. I routinely run 250-300 BF through my 735 at a setting and get good results. I would guess I’ve run over 2500 BF of Red Oak, Walnut, Sapele, Poplar, Alder and Pine with nothing but the usual problems. You do have to keep sharp knives in it which is not cheap. I never take more than 1/2 turn on the down feed(less than 1/32). I would bet the guys with troubles tried to feed it too heavy. You also have to keep the feed rollers clean with de-natured alcohol and waxing the platen helps as well.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I don’t have a planer, but I’m going by the rule that seems to have presented itself her: If the manufacturer’s name starts with a “D”, then it probably is the choice for a planer.

-- Happy Ripping!!!

Dan,

I’m also in the market for a portable planer. I am leaning toward the Dewalt 734. I really wanted a three knife set up and the Dewalt looks like the best choice. I, like you, have been reading all of the reviews about the Dewalt and Delta machines and I was even considering the Ridgid 13” at one point. I’ve used the DW 735 and it produced VG results, but at a higher price than its little brother the 734. I have a friend who owns a 734 and so I asked if I could use the machine for a day or so, which he agreed. I ran about 20 bdft of hard maple through the machine and I was very satisfied with the results. I used calipers before and after the cuts to determine effectiveness and the results were very postive. I have not used the Delta or the Ridgid, so I can not comment on those machines. I think some of the negative reviews you’ve seen regarding the DW can be chalked up to personal preference, or, as other have indicated, misuse of the machine (depth of cut). Hope this helped.

-- Todd C, Central Illinois

Yeah, I have the DeWalt 734 and am very satisfied. I haven’t had a problem with it, and the surface for all the wood I’ve put through it (hard maple, purple heart, mahogany, spalted beech) has been smooth and accurate. I thought about the 735, but in the end price and sound volume were the deciding factors (my shop is in my basement).

-- 10 fingers, 2 eyes, and healthy lungs. for now. :P

Thanks for the replies. On Dewalt, I was looking mostly at the 735, maybe I’ll check out the 734 as well. Looks quite similar to the Makita, but 3 blades.
Dan

Once you have gone dewalt, you will never regret it. If you want a bigger machine, then the choices grow

-- making sawdust....

I’ve had my DW735 for a year and a half now. I’ve never had to replace any sprockets. I wonder if these people know that they need to wax the bed every now and then? When the machine seems to bog down or the wood slips on the rollers it’s time to apply something like furniture wax to the bed. I’d hate to think what ignoring this will do the sprockets on the feed rollers. The thickness sprockets have never given me any problems either.

The blades do get nicks in them when planing knots or glue. This is a fact of any type of blade. Whenever you read the description of the spiral carbide cutter heads they talk about having 4 edges so you can change them when you get a nick. I purchased after market blades from Infinity and have nicks in them as well. I wouldn’t call them fractures, just nicks. You can adjust the blades sideways to reduce the effects of the nicks.

I’ve put through hundreds of board feet. I’d buy this machine again, until I can afford an industrial grade unit with spiral cutter heads.

-- Owen Johnson - aka IowaWoodcrafter

I have the Ridgid 13” planer. It is the previous model. It is a very good machine. From what I read when researching to buy mine was most prefer the Dewalt 735. With that or the Ridgid, I don’t think you could go wrong. Also don’t forget to check the used market. You might find a bigger one in your price range.
Good luck in your search.

I have the Delta 13” two speed planer. I get great results and seldom have snipe. I dont’t know about the other planers you are considering, but the Delta really needs to have a dust collection system. pkennedy

-- P Kennedy Crossville, TN

My advice is to broaden your search to consider planers powered with an induction motor, that have 3 blades, an adequate dust collection port, and as many feed rate choices as possible. Knives that you can sharpen yourself is another plus.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I have a Dewalt planer and it works fine. It is my 2nd planer in the last 20 years. I also have the Ryobi 10 inch portable planer. It still works ok too.

i read the negitive reviews on Amazon and my first thoughts are the dates of the reviews … 2004 and 2005, probably when the unit first came out. From the gist of the reviews, Dewalt made design changes to overcome the issues. Dewalt is a good choice.

-- I made a cool back scratcher !!

After the fire, I replaced a lot of my tools with different tools (had a DeWalt 12” SCMS, replaced it with the Ridgid 12” SCMS). But I replaced the DeWalt 735 planer with another 735. It’s not a perfect machine, but it’s pretty darn good.

I read the negative reviews on Amazon. I think the sprocket issues must have been resolved, those complaints seem to be from 2004-05. The feed rollers get dusty and don’t feed well – gotta’ keep ‘em clean. Waxing the bed helps too. The blades are too expensive and wear faster than I would like, but the time I save by not sharpening and not having to index the blades makes up for the cost (in my mind). I don’t like the plastic paddle switch sticking out the front – I broke the paddle off the first planer with a long board I was loading. Other than those items, it’s a great little machine.

-- What exactly is "The Move" and who are you calling a "Quirky Jerk"? -- http://www.north40custom.com

Add me to the Delta 22-580 group. I’ve had great results so far.

I was swayed by the (then) recent negative reviews of the Dewalt 735 when I chose the Delta (early 2006), but I agree that they’ve likely fixed the problem.

-- There is nothing in the world more dangerous, than a woodworker who knows how to read a micrometer...