# Slipping rollers on DeWalt 13" planer



## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Recently, after a long period of not being used (nearly a year?) I had occasion to use my planer and I encountered difficulties. The rollers seemed to not be grabbing the wood properly, and the board would stop partway through the planer, several times. I had to push it to keep it going. When the board came out, I would find black lines on it (across the grain) that appeared to coincide with the number and frequency of grab-failures. These lines appeared to be rubber marks from the planer rollers - they would sand out.

I cranked the planer all the way up and found some small wood shavings and dust adhered to the rollers, so I carefully got a clean cloth in there and rubbed them clean. The next few passes were fine…then it happened again. This time I lived with it as I was partway through a delicate procedure and didn't want to crank the machine all the way up again, and then have trouble finding the spot I was at previously.

What can I do to stop this from happening? Does it happen often to others? It's not a particularly old planer - I got it in 2011 I think - and I have used it fairly heavily in the past without any problems. Is it because my shop has been a little on the cold side lately? (40-50 degrees f, I turn on some electric heat when I go in but I don't take it much past 60) I have waxed the bed in the past but I don't think I've done it recently.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

Dull blades is the most common culprit. After a new set of blades, try waxing the tables and planer bed with silicone-free wax. It helps a great deal.
Getting new blades on is the main thing. The rollers are good, but they will have trouble pushing lumber into dull blades. In my own experience, I don't have to clean the rollers very often. 
Good luck!


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

+1 for waxing the planer bed. Works for me every time. I use Johnson's paste furniture wax.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Ah, hm. Yeah, it's still the same set of blades. Guess it's time for me to learn how to change them. I think I read that the DW blades are not sharpenable but are double sided and can be flipped over (once, obviously) for a new set - is that right?


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

Yes, that is correct. It is an easy 10 minute job with the included allen wrench.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Yes, you can flip them. I would also get a tube of anti-seize. Put a little on the threads of each screw when you put them back in. It will help prevent the blade screws from seizing in the head.


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

Depends on which model you're referring too : )


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## MarkDavisson (Apr 26, 2009)

Elizabeth, don't discount the impact cold rollers will have. I bet if your shop was kept at 70 degrees your experience would be different.


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

+1 on waxing the bed. Lots of experience with this loud puppy. If you don't keep that bed slick, the rollers will slip. I have also had this happen with pitchy woods, as the oils and such build up while opening new pores. The friction from dull blades can contribute, but more likely the bed, especially after that long storage. BTW you will technically be spinning, not flipping the blades.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Thanks all, lots of ideas to try here. I'll try the wax and the heat first, since the blades still give a very smooth finish so maybe they're not that dull yet.


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

Another thing came to mind. on one of my older 735's the thickness of cut indicator got off. I rely on that so much I didn't realize I was taking 1/8 when I thought i was taking 1/32 I got a lot of slippage on that one. Just to cover all the bases.


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

My vote for dull blades. My dewalt 734 was still cutting smoothly but started to not pull the wood through. And you noticed that when it does that it leaves burn marks in the place it stops. I removed the blades and spun turned them to the good side (a tedious with all the screws but easy job) After that the wood went through like the day I bought it. 10 to 1 it's the blades.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

Hm, that's interesting Joey - what did you do about it, anything?


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

No, I never diagnosed how the gauge got off or how long it had been that way. That was number one of three 735's I have run. It had close to 1,000,000 board feet on it, and was quite old. Had been maintained and had only routine repairs. Shortly after I discovered the problem I broke the shaft on the in feed roller (maybe from the stress of taking waaaaay too big of cuts for I don't know how long) My time being worth what it is, I decided it was too close to a wash on opportunity cost, so I had the service center do a max repair on it ($280 here in texas) basically it is a rebuilt machine now so I may not know what happened (or which of my workers is responsible) The whole gauge system is all steel parts and such, so I imagine one of the apprentices wedges a board in there and bent it. The other two are still in service and working great. So I don't have any info on tuning it or a repairing the gauge, but I will mention that I am a fan of this machine, and would be happy to answer any other questions you have on it. BTW you also have the option of sliding each blade left or right. i start mine all to the left, with the little triangle shaped arrow the factory puts on the blade pointing left, so I know if I have slid or spun the blade. If you get a small nick just slide one blade over, You can do this three times before you have to "spin" the blades, and can do it three more times before you have to buy new blades.


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## Elizabeth (Oct 17, 2009)

That's a useful tip, Joey, thanks. I do have a nick in the blades so I may try that in the interim!


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## sixstring (Apr 4, 2012)

I've got the same problem right now with a less than 1 yr old 735. I've put through about 500 feet of reclaimed douglas fir and there was a noticeable amount of pitch from many of the boards. I've also run 50feet of hardwood which had an oak veneer and some crazy thick poly or something on top. Instead of stripping or sanding, I just went for it with the planer thinking my blades were going dull anyway so I may as well take it all the way.

Now I'm at point where I have to push through just about everything and it seems noisier. Time to change the blades… waxing the bed sounds like a good idea too. Have you seen all the screws on each blade? Intimidating but they actually come off pretty easily. Just dont lose the screws!!!

Good luck to both of us.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

wax/buff …............wax/buff…............... wax/buff


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## loneisle (Jan 4, 2013)

I have the 735 and was experiencing the same problem with the wood not feeding itself through the planer. Yesterday, I watched this video "Tune Up Your Benchtop Thicknesser" which demonstrates the maintenance required to tune up a Dewalt 735. The major steps included cleaning the machine, changing the blades and waxing the tables. It took me approximately 1 hour to complete and when I ran a couple of test pieces it worked as new.

link to video :


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

All of the above, and don't forget to clean the rollers as well. A good dose of DNA on a clean rag will do wonders for de-glazing the rollers. I've even resorted to takin' some fine steel wool to 'em when they get "gunky".
Bill


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## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

I had a 912 folley & bellsaw with rubber rollers in and out. I planed the finish off of some African walnut, or so I was told. It finished off my knives within 25 BF. they were almost there it just finished them off. after that it wouldn't feed barely and had bad tear out on poplar. I had them touched up and sprayed down the bed. it was like new. since then I have upgraded to a 5HP 3phz 20" planer with serrated in and smooth steel out. this thing is a monster. it will take the board right out of your hand. also I have taken as much as 3/16" in one pass on an oak 2×10, and it hardly grunted. I just wanted to see how far it would go before it grunted.

I would switch out the knives and clean up the bed. It is not a bad idea to have a spare set of knives waiting around. it will always be the worst time when they crap out.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

I clean my feed rollers with mineral spirits,keep the bed waxed and that seems to keep things moving smoothly. As an aside, I find that my planer gets a LOT louder when the blades are dull. I have my "disposable" blades resharpened and they cut better and stay sharper than new ones. The same place that sharpens my sawblades does these as well. Costs $25 a set of 3 for sharpening.


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## bbasiaga (Dec 8, 2012)

My 735 is only about 4 months old, and has less than 50bf of lumber through it, and it does the same thing. I doubt dull blades it the cause. My garage is cold, and I find that if I point my space heater right at the unit for about 20min before I start using it, it feeds just fine. I also find that it feeds thicker boards more reliably when cold than thinner boards.

The black marks that are left I don't believe are from the blades, but instead are scuff marks from the rollers. At least, I started to develop this theory when one of the black marks wiped off very easily by hand. I assume it would have taken sanding to get burn marks from the blades out.

-Brian


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

Hi Elizabeth,
I had the same planer and it ran well for about a year and then I started having the same problems that you described. I tried what everyone above suggested ie. change the blades (which is super easy on the 735) and wax the beds however I also found it helpful to give the rollers a really thorough cleaning; trying using denatured alcohol and give them a good scrubbing; that should clear things up for you!


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

> *sixstring*, "Have you seen all the screws on each blade."


I use the little tray that is right there when the cover is removed. Nice thinkin' on that one dewalt.


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## dwreinke (Dec 16, 2015)

Was researching this site an hour ago with the same complaint…rollers slipping. My Dewalt 733 is almost new so I figured everything should be good to go. Nope! As suggested, I cleaned the rollers even tho they didn't look dirty to me and waxed the table. WOW! I got my toy back.


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## verdesardog (Apr 2, 2011)

I use lacquer thinner to clean the rollers on my dewalt 735, also it has a helical cutter head. (I love it!) Pine pitch and recycled wood is what gets my rollers slippery…..


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## alittleoff (Nov 27, 2014)

I made the mistake of running some pine through mine. Took me about 2 hours to clean the rollers. It worked fine after that. I'll think about it hard before I run pine through it again.
Gerald


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Wax the bed first, that's the most common issue. Clean the rollers next. Then try flipping the blades. Then sharpen the blades ( yes they can be honed two or three times before becoming too narrow), before buying new blades.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

I have a Delta planer with a similar issue after some long idle time.
I just clean the rollers with some Simple Green on a rag. 
I found out that, in my case at least, it was just really dust attracted to the rollers!

I put some Simple Green on a rag, wipe the part of the roller(s) that is/are accessible, turn on the planer to get the rollers to rotate, turn off the planer, and repeat until done.

Waxing the bed is also a good idea!

*DO NOT RUN THE PLANER WHILE CLEANING THE ROLLERS!*


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## bbasiaga (Dec 8, 2012)

> I made the mistake of running some pine through mine. Took me about 2 hours to clean the rollers. It worked fine after that. I ll think about it hard before I run pine through it again.
> Gerald
> 
> - alittleoff


You know…the first project I did on this was pine. And the slipping started…..never put it together. Cold + pine = problems.

Brian



> Dull blades is the most common culprit. After a new set of blades, try waxing the tables and planer bed with silicone-free wax. It helps a great deal.
> Getting new blades on is the main thing. The rollers are good, but they will have trouble pushing lumber into dull blades. In my own experience, I don t have to clean the rollers very often.
> Good luck!
> 
> - pintodeluxe


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