Another planer question

[JuanKnighter]

I have a Delta 12 1/2 " benchtop planer. It is OK but I would like to go up a step or two in performance. Any recomenndations from someone who has ACTUALLY gone this route.

BTW someone in a previous post about the DW735 mentioned that the softwoods were not coming out as smooth as hardwoods. The reason for this is if you dont have a good powerful DC system sucking the chips out, the chips get recirculated inside the housing and get slammed back into the surface of the wood. If you look at the wood in the right light, sometimes you can even see the little skid marks. Also softwoods like pine are inherently difficult to plane due to the sometimes large growth patterns. I have been working with reclaimed pine and poor quality pine for a few years, mostly as an experiment. The nightmares never end. LOL

[Doug Miller]

I went from that machine to a DW735, and have never for one instant regretted it. There is no comparison at all in the finish quality.

That was me, and, no, that's not the reason. First of all, the DW735 has fan-forced chip ejection, which does a superb job of getting the chips out of the way. Secondly, mine is connected to an Oneida cyclone dust collector, and chip removal was never an issue even with my Delta which does *not* have fan-forced chip ejection. Finally, the diminished finished quality that I've seen on softer wood - and the problems described by the two reviewers at Amazon - is not in any way related to lack of chip ejection. Rather, the knives have a greater tendency to leave tiny ridges, parallel to the length of the board, on softer wood than they do on harder wood. I've seen what happens to the finish when chips aren't cleared. And that's not the problem I see, nor is it the problem described by the reviews on Amazon.

[Thomas Bunetta]

Baby steps...giant steps??? I started with a benchtop planer... it wasn't long before I got a Powermatic

15". I haven't regretted it a moment. Tom