Dewalt 735 Knife Change

I’ve got the Ridgid 13in model, but am rapidly finding out I TOO need to flip my knives. My planing is slower and I have developed at least one chip related ridge. I guess this is a “better” problem to have than other more serious issues that could have happened. ;-)

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

It is amazing isn’t it how much better tools work after you’ve pulled a little maintenance on them.

Yeah, the maintenance really makes a difference :-) I just want to keep working on something rather than doing machine work. But its necessary. Now it looks like my dust collector is full. Shucks, now I have to empty that…LOL Mike…I guess I was expecting to see lousy planing with dull knives, but it wasnt too bad…the big thing I noticed was the slow wood movement and then eventually the roller burns. The wood goes through there like butter now.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

Like you I was very surprised at how easy the blade swap was the first time I did it. Some times somebody gets something right

-- If the old masters had power tools, they would have used them. So get off your damn High Horse.

Has anyone else made the observation that the planer gets MUCH louder as the blades become dull? Mine will hurt your ears when its dull and is quite tolerable when sharp. I also notice that the shavings get finer as the blades dull. I never think it’s time to flip/change blades until I’ve done it and notice the dramatic improvement. Be nice if a light came on and told you when to flip/change blades! How do the rest of you decide it’s time?

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

Wayne,

I’m the happy proud owner of the same machine. I’ve only put through about 100 board feet so far and noticed 1 very important thing with mine.. actually two now that I think about it… the first is the temperature outside; I see you live in Minnesota so I’m sure you’re fully acclimated with temperature swings but may have a heated shop which I don’t yet but I found that mine didn’t plane well at all in the colder temps. The second thing I noticed was it would sort of pause or skip too. I was going to flip my knives until I read that usually it’s not the knives its dirty rollers. I took some mineral spirits on a rag, raised the planer up so I could get my hand in, and wiped down the front and back roller… then flipped the switch for a second and turned it back off and wiped them again. I do this every 2nd or 3rd time I use it and it’s working much much smoother, no snipe, or tear out. I also heard that you should put the boards in at a 1PM to 7PM angle if at all possible. Anyway you may have already heard these tricks but if not I hope it helps you with not having to prematurely change blades too often.

-- The Best Intentions Bring Undoubtabliy Something Less But Nontheless Something..."

I guess I havent noticed the planer noise as the blades dull. I usually wear ear muffs since its so loud anyway. I noticed if the blades are getting dull that it tends to pull the board in then the board shifts or turns as it goes through. Now that the knives are sharp again the board runs straight through. I havent tried turning the board and sending it through at an angle. If I am planing lots of boards say 6 inches wide, I put one through on the left side and the next on the right etc to hopefully extend the wear. I have never cleaned the rollers. It always seems to work fine when the blades are sharp so I havent messed around with them. And yes JR, my shop is heated. I usually have the temp at about 60 degrees when I am working in there or drying glue or finish. Otherwise I keep it between 50 and 55.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

I think I was most suprised by how much more quiet it is with a new edge. I think I waited too long, based on how good it was after the flip.

To SnowyRiver. I guess you are not in Texas. Here we keep our shops between 100 and 110.

-- Thor and Odin are the greatest of Gods.

Just like with circular saws, sometimes you don’t notice that the blade is dull until you put a new one in. I love my Dewalt Planer. It is such a useful machine.

-- If I could just get this whole "Time/Money" problem figured out...