Dewalt 735 13" planer

[Ron Koshoshek]

I have an Inca 10" joiner planer with a Tersa cutting head (3 disposable blades) but Inca is no longer made and the blades are quite expensive per reversible set at $90. And I have to run the dust collection system to collect the shavings I make my own lumber for use so I work the joiner/planer overtime. I thought I would limit the Inca to joining and the deWalt 735 for planing to dimension.

I would be interested in comments by anyone who uses the DeWalt 735 13" planer with the chip collector? Are the extension table a must? How noisy and how effective is the chip collector that goes with it? Can this chip collector be used with other tools like bandsaws and table saws that are normally attached to a large dust collection system?

Thanks

[Art Greenberg]

I have the DW735. I like it alot. The blade indexing system is nice. Good thing, the blades seem to nick pretty easily. With blades in good condition, the finish is excellent. I've had little to no snipe, without the infeed and outfeed tables. But it is necessary to support the stock. For short pieces, I've just done that by hand, and used roller stands for longer stock.

This isn't a _truly_ portable planer. I weighs near 100 pounds! I've been moving it from stowage to my bench and back. I'll build or buy a rolling stand for it before long.

The planer has an internal blower that does a very good job of ejecting the chips. The chip collector offered by DeWalt is a passive device, dependent upon the planer's blower to provide the airflow. It would not be suitable for use with other machines. I connect my 735 to my central dust collection system.

[jd]

the chip collector works well connected to a central DC system ( I have an oneida 3HP) - nothing escapes. HOWEVER: the blades absolutely suck. they're about %40 a pop to replace, and no matter what you do, they chip and nick faster than you'll beleive. even soft stuff (like clear pine) will nick the blades.

I would definitely not consider buying one - theblade situation is that bad. I'm actually thining about replacing mine 9afer only about 4 months of use I'm on my 4th or 5th set of blades in a one man shop, with moderate use. I've heard other folks have had similar problems, and the local tool shop actually admits that its a design flaw. No help from Dewalt....

My old delta 12" planer (when it died I replaced it with the dewalt) used to run blades for 6-8 months without a problem, so I'm pretty sure its not my technique that is killing the blades.....

--YMMV

--JD

[Keith]

I have a 735 and like it. The chip collector is more of a chip extractor and with out a hose of some type it will send chips across the room with ease. I don't think it can be changed to support any other device either. The blade are very easy to change but do seem to dull fast but this is my first planer. You can't take large cuts out of a wide board so many passes are needed sometimes. The finish leaving the planer is very good. I don't use the higher CPI much and find the faster CPI works very good for my needs. The input and output tables are needed if you don't use Dewalts then you will need something or you will get snipe. I lift the board slightly going in the raise the board slightly again on the exit. I don't have any snipe use this method. I have the Dewalts stand and like it for moving the planner around the shop for longer boards. For my needs it works fine for now. I may move up to a planner with more HP then the 735 but for now I can do everything I want now.

"R>I have an Inca 10" joiner planer with a Tersa cutting head (3 disposable

[Leon]

I think you would, at best, be making a lateral move, If you work you planer overtime I suspect that you will wear the planer out much sooner than later, and that is not even taking into consideration the disposable knives. My recommendation is to step up to a stationary planer with rechargeable knives. BTY, MiniMax-USA.com sells Tersa Knives for as little as $15 each in 12" lengths. Might be worth a try to cut 2" off.

[BD]

I've had mine now for about 3 months. I've run soft maple, pine, cedar, and red oak through it with no discernable wear or nicks to the knives. I know three other guys who claim to have run hundreds of board feet through before fliping the knives. As for chip ejection - look out. It pushes harder than your average shop vac pulls. That is why they have the chip collector bag but the best bet is a 600 cfm or >

dust collector. I have noticed a lot of people who have problems with it eg. chiped knives, binding, broken belts, are not using the machine properly. I had the machine bind on me once when I didn't see a 1/8" crown on a piece of 8/4 maple. No one could expect any machine of this size to take a 3/16" cut. When the machine bound I imediatly switched it off (the belt will give to save the machine - a good thing) to save the belt. Reset the depth and with a few extra passes it had done a beautiful job.

[Leon]

I had been using a 16 year old Ryobi portable planer until recently. It has worked just fine for many years but after running only 6 of 45 nine foot long 6 to 11" wide rough cut Oak boards through I realized that I needed a bigger planer. As the OP indicated, he is running the planer overtime. I strongly suspect that the portables are going to be slow and tedious for rough cut lumber in large quantities.

[B a r r y]

Reusable, easily replaced knives are the exact reason I'm running my DW733 into the ground.

I so wish the newer "portables" stayed with them. While I have no delusions of my 733 being a "production" machine, It's served me well for years, and I don't have the space for a stationary planer.

For $15 or so a resharpening, I can have a better edge than new, and keep a back-beveled set handy for difficult jobs. Some of my blades are on the 4th go-around.

Maybe by the time my 733 bites it, a new version without disposables will be available.

Barry

[Leon]

By comparison to their bigger brothers, cheaper planers and cheaper ink jet printers are very much the same from a manufacturers point of view. Sell affordable planers/ink jet printers at low profit then sell lots and lots of expensive high profit blades/ink cartridges that cost next to nothing to manufacture. I doubt the portables will go back to a blade that lasts.

On the flip side of that coin, $15 to resharpen, $30 to buy new double edged sided blades. Or that was about the ratio the last time I checked. Either way I resharpen with my Tormek.

Because of the disposable blades that now come in portable planers I was ready when I went stationary.