Ok, I am ready to buy a planer and I have narrowed it down to these two. The bottom line is that the Dewalt is around $175 more than the Delta. They both seem pretty good. The Dewalt has 3 knives instead of the two Delta uses. Anybody? I don't mind spending the extra money if I will see the difference. max
My opinion is that no bench top planer is going to give you a final finish on your boards, especially after the knives get a little worn - sometimes just a month of use gets you to the state where that new out-of-the-box finish is no longer there. So look at it as a fine tool to get your boards quickly to a final thickness with a surface that won't take much sanding or hand planing to get you ready to apply finish.
I have no doubt that the Dewalt produces a better finish on day one. But I wonder if you can tell the difference after 5-6 months of use. I have the Delta because I got it on sale at Lowe's for $229. I was planning to get a helical blade cast iron planer later, but considering the Dewalt as my planer choice for a couple of years. When the Delta came on sale, it was a no brainer. I could use it a year and throw it away. I was truly astounded at how well the Delta works. No muss, no fuss, just does its job. Think of that $175 price difference as a set of nice chisels or a Tom Knight smoother plane or a new cordless drill or a biscuit joiner.
Maybe you can find one of those planers tucked away in a Lowe's dusty shelf somewhere for $229. If you live near Houston, Texas I can recommend a couple of stores to check.
Bob
I have the 735 but would have bought the Delta had the price difference been as great then as it is now.
The Delta is arguably better than the DeWalt 734.
All the reviews on the 735, when it cam out, put it 'in a class by itself'. The most noticeable thing -- *no* snipe, for all practical purposes. The _automatic_ head lock got part of the credit for that. Reviewers also liked a number of other 'little' features better on the 735.
_Craftsman_, of all people, also had a new model out, that rated very well in the reviews. The big winner with it was the built-in 'chip ejector' (as Sears calls it) -- don't need a dust-collector hooked up to it. No big deal if you already have a dust-collector, =big= deal if you don't. :)
The 735 is quite a bit heavier than the Delta, and significantly noisier. this is _not_ to say that the Delta is quiet -- it isn't, not by _any_ stretch of the imagination.
And, obviously, a replacement knife set for the 735 is going to cost more than for the Delta.
You _won't_ go wrong with either one. If I had a place to use one -- the drawbacks of having one's "shop" in a bedroom of a condo, about 45 sq. ft of usable space -- I, *personally*, would go for the 735; among other reasons because I like the arrangement of the thickness adjustment controls/indicators better.
I believe that the Delta will be cheaper to operate in the long run because it uses less blades. Like Bob has indicated, after a few runs the blades will develop nicks or dull to the point that you will have to scrape, sand or use a smoother to come up with a surface ready for a finish. I would absolutely not put too much in to the 2 speed feature of either machine. Both speeds are slow enough to produce an acceptable surface ready for the next step of surface preparation. This is simply a feature that copies that big planers but instead of having a fast and finish speed, they use a finish speed and slower.
Given that, if you do not have a dust collector I understand that the DeWalt has a fan that blows the debris out. I have heard that a hose running straight from the planer to a trash can works well. Other than that, save you money and get the cheapest.
I have had the Delta for about 2 years now and am happy with it. Presently on the second side of the second set of blades and the 2nd drive belt. In the process of replacing all the baseboards and window molding in the house with white oak so I have run a lot of oak and walnut through this thing in the last year. Hardest problem at first was finding replacement knives. The local BORG and Canadian Tire which both sell the planer did not carry the replacements. Now keep a spare set on hand at all times.
The Dewalt on it's slowest speed gives you twice as many cuts per inch as the Delta so it will be a smoother finish so you have to decide how much an extra couple swipes with sandpaper is worth to you.
Which ever you decide after you have gone through the first set of knives save them for the boards you get with finish on them. Other than hitting a chunk of metal embedded in the board I can't think of anything that takes the edge of the knives faster than the finish on a board.
Take your pick and enjoy you will likely be happy either way.
Rick
I've been trying to decide between the DW734 and the DW735. Note that the
735 does not come with the front and back tables -- which at Amazon are an extra $45. (The Delta seems to come with tables.) Did you consider the DW734? If yes and you decided against it, any particular reasons?I _thought_ that the big performance difference between the two Dewalts, besides the fact that the 734 does come with the tables and they do adjust differently, is the chip ejector dealie. I _thought_ that the lock-down/anti-snipe features of these two were the same. I have a DC so the ejector dealie would not be a big deal for me, so I was thinking the
734 as the final choice (again, it comes with the tables). And, my impression from DAGS of past threads was that both Dewalts do a better job avoiding snipe than all the comparable units by others. The other replies you've gotten make me think I am still missing something. For my personal calculation, paying an extra $150 or so is worth the savings in aggravation and wood costs IF there is a substantial difference in snipe-avoidance (at a given level of operator skill and effort). In any event, If the tables are important to you then you should add $45 to the DW735 real cost.BTW, at Amazon through the end of the year, after rebates, etc., the net cost of the 734 is $305 versus $475 for the 735. The Delta is only $295 after rebates, but then you have to get the dust hood for $25. Mix and match at your leisure. For me, more research, but I'm still leaning towards the DW734. -- Igor.
I don't really know these machines, but my brother just bought a (new, not refurbed)DeWalt 734 3 blade planer for $289 at Sears a couple weeks ago. I see it advertised as a refurb regularly in the Harbor Freight catalog for $299. The 735 looks to be a lot more planer than the 734, but based on pictures the 734 appears to be at least as good if not better than the Delta 22-580.
Dave Hall
Note that a small muffin fan will fit into the end of the Ridgid Planer's dust chute - if you round off the edges. This will certainly help "blow" the chips out.
I'll have to check out the Craftsman... your post and another in the thread lead me to think that Dewalt makes the Sears one, but I haven't seen it yet..
For my personal
I still use one of the originals, The Ryobi AP10. Snipe is a way of life but I have learned to keep it to a minimum. That said, most of the lumber that I buy has ends that are not square, typically has a split 2 to 3 inches from the ends and are typically 4-6" longer than even foot measurements. With that in mind, I end up cutting off the snipe when squaring or eliminating the splits anyway.
I have used the 734 and now own, and have used extensively, the 735. The 735 is much better than the 734 - very heavy duty. The finish that the 735 produces is excellent, particularly on the slow speed. The chip blower feature works extremely well. With a little practice one can eliminate snipe. The Woodcraft rent-a-shop in Rockville MD, a Delta and Dewalt dealer, uses the 735 as the benchtop planer for the shop. It gets a lot of use and keeps on chugging. My strategy is buy right, buy once, so I went with the 735.
Jmax wrote:
I chose the Delta 22-580 and I had looked at the Dewalt 735. What I really wanted was too expensive so the Delta was the best compromise. So far i'm very satisfied with my choice.
Based on looking at them recently at a Woodcraft store it appears to me that the 734's head travels on two smallish threaded rods (maybe
1/2" or so), one on each side of the cutterhead assembly. The 735 travels on 4 large rods (maybe 1.5" or so diameter), one in each corner. The entire top of the 735 travels up & down, while only the cutterhead assembly on the 734 travels up & down. Just on appearance the 735 looks MUCH more substantial and stable to me.Dave Hall
I was getting a little bit of snipe when I first got my Delta. I barely knew what I was doing but made a couple of tweaks and eliminated the snipe altogether. I originally built a long platform out of melamine to run the stock over. I had read this got rid of snipe. After making the adjustment, it worked so well, I quite using the extra board.
Bob
You have a strategy????!!!??? What kind of self-respecting woodworker are you?
Bob
There's a couple of blade sets sitting on the shelf at my local Lowe's. I guess I better shuffle over there and buy one or both. They are certainly cheap ($29/set).
Bob
Dave... i thought that the HF deal on Dealt was too good to be true, and it is... it's a 733R, not a 734...
734 seems to be $389 everywhere, haven't seen a 734R yet..
I think the slower speed and number of cuts per inch are more valuable than just eliminating a couple of swipes of sandpaper. If you plan on doing any work with figured woods (even plain maple has some figure) you will appreciate the value of the slow feed speed. It could mean the difference between a couple of swipes of sandpaper vs taking the piece to a shop with a wide belt sander to sand down the whole surface to remove the tear-outs which hopefully leaves you enough thickness for your finished piece.
TWS
A strategy is usually something you realize you should have had after you made the first mistake. After that it is easier to apply the 'strategy'...
Like J I have a strategy on all the tools I buy. These strategic decisions are made while replacing the cheap ones I bought when I started out.
TWS
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