# DeWalt DW733 planer, cheap bearing fix. Double the life of your bearings.



## PASs (Dec 1, 2009)

I got a DW733 planer at an estate sale a few year ago.
I've run a few hundred linear feet of hardwood through it since I got it.
Last year the feed rollers started skipping, bad for planing boards.
Did some research that indicated a worn chain, so I replace the roller to roller chain.
That helped for a while, but then it started to slip again.
I pulled everything apart again, and noticed that both chains had a lot of slack.









I started wiggling things around and the outfeed roller had a lot of play in the bearing.
I popped the sprockets and chains off and pulled the bearing out.
The bearing is a square babbet with no obvious lubrication system. It only turns about 60 rpm so speed isn't the issue, but when I pulled it out it looked like it was running dry. And the shaft had worn about 0.1 inches of the bearing away.









Next day I called the DeWalt Service Center and they put the bearing (and a backup) on order, but it was the holidays and it would take a week to get them in.
I went out to the shop to figure out how to plane the lumber I needed and got to looking at the bearing again.
I noticed that the wear was at a 45 degree angle that was in the direction of the gear box sprocket.
I (cleverly) also noticed the the rest of the bearing was in great shape, it had almost no wear because the shaft had pulled way from it as soon as it started to wear. I also noticed that the bearing itself was pretty much square shaped. 
I had nothing to loose, so I rotated the worn bearing 180 degrees, put some grease on it and put everything back together. It was obvious as soon as I put the chains and sprockets on that the slack was greatly reduced.
I fired up the planer and ran a few boards through it. Sure enough, no slipping. So I put the covers back on and went to work.

I picked up the spare bearings today, but will wait to put them in until I have another problem. And I have lubricating the bearings on my PMS plan now. (Like I have a PMS plan.) ((That's Preventive Maintenance System, not the other thing.))


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## RibsBrisket4me (Jul 17, 2011)

Great job figuring that out and thanks for sharing.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Thanks for shortening the learning curve on my 733!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Wow! Those are surely egg shaped. Thnx for the post Pete. I have a friend that has a 735, I can give him a "heads-up"


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Could you install a brass bushing in there?


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## PASs (Dec 1, 2009)

Bert, Probably could, but it's a babbitt-type material, the staple of non-rotating bearings for a long long time.
And the replacements were only a couple bucks each.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Even a needle bearing should work and work for a long time and reduce friction


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## Bobsboxes (Feb 8, 2011)

Glad to hear you got your PMS under control. Good short term fix.


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## PASs (Dec 1, 2009)

I think the limiting factor in replacement would be the size of the current bearing. 
I don't think there is enough room to replace it with a needle bearing.
And since I don't have a machine shop I'd also be concerned with alignment and how that would affect feeding wood through it. (Although with all the wear in that one bearing it was surely not holding pieces down equally on both sides.)


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## Youpunksgetoffmylawn (Apr 14, 2020)

I have experienced the same exact problem (and process of discovery) with a Harbor Freight planner given to me.. However they no longer have parts. My bushing cracked. Is there any chance you have a part number or idea where I can get a similar bushing?. Jim


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

> I had nothing to loose, so I rotated the worn bearing 180 degrees, put some grease on it and put everything back together. It was obvious as soon as I put the chains and sprockets on that the slack was greatly reduced. I fired up the planer and ran a few boards through it. Sure enough, no slipping. So I put the covers back on and went to work.
> 
> I picked up the spare bearings today, but will wait to put them in until I have another problem. And I have lubricating the bearings on my PMS plan now. (Like I have a PMS plan.) ((That s Preventive Maintenance System, not the other thing.))
> - PASs


Flipping them is a fairly common practice, as is keeping them greased up. The better quality ones have a groove machined in the middle of them so it maintains the grease a bit longer - like these Makita ones:










Also, most of the planers out there today use the same type feed roller arrangement - so this advice doesn't just apply to the DeWalt!

Cheers,
Brad


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## homestd (Sep 10, 2018)

Bought my 733 in '95. I wouldn't want anything else. It's been completely taken down and cleaned more than once and has never failed me yet and I run OLD lumber.


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## Bill_Steele (Aug 29, 2013)

I just recently replaced the all bearing blocks in my DW733 as well as the belt. I didn't add any grease to mine-wondering if should take it apart again and add grease? For some reason I assumed they were self lubricating-maybe graphite or something. I was surprised how affordable the parts are for this planer and that they are still available. I went through DeWalt's ServiceNet.

I just realized the original post was back in 2014.


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