Good Morning Folks,
I said I would post an update regarding my acquisition of a DW735 planer from LOWE'S. My local LOWE'S was unaware of the $100 tool rebate advertised in their flyer. Ad stated "see store for details". Tool Dept. totally in the dark about the ad. Tool Dept. referred me to Customer Service. Customer service did not know either, made several calls to mgmt. and got several differing answers. Lowe's would not sell me the "display" DW735. Wanting to "lock-in" the rebate deal before it ad expired, I paid the $449 for the DW735 with the understanding that Lowe's had at least one more on order with delivery 7-10 days. 12 days later and no new stock has arrived BUT that display unit has been sold and NOT to me. Once again I discuss the situation with Customer Service. They have no way to determine when the units they have on order will arrive. They do check inventory of all LOWE'S in Arizona and find several in Tucson (about 90 miles) and 2 in Peoria (55 miles) Peoria being a northwest suburb and I live in Apache Junction which is extreme eastern suburb. Lowe's in Peoria will hold one for me. Great day for a drive through the city! Lowe's Mesa refunds my payment via a gift card and we are off to Peoria.
(omitting the part regarding tire failure on the 101) Yeah, it was one of those days.
Lowe's Peoria had the DW735 and had my name on one. At check out price comes up as $479 Talked it over with checker and head cashier. Shown my receipt and refund paperwork, they adjust price to $449 and I'm happy. (keep ALL your paperwork!) Stuff the DW735 in the trunk and tie lid down. It is big and heavy!
Drive back through the whole city. "Hey, they are widening I-10...again"
At home, we unpack the planer and begin the assembly. Removing the screw and washer from the height adjust shaft, I slide the adj. crank onto the shaft and reinstall the screw/washer. There, it is assembled!
Fire it up and run a very rough piece of mahogany through at 1/16" depth of cut and in "dimensioning" mode (96 cpi). This board had some deep snipes and a bad burn so I felt would be a good subject. As I have no dust collector (yet), the chip port spews a steady stream of chips all over the driveway, me, my wife, both cars and much of the lawn. (With just a little breeze, I could be mulching yards 2 doors away) WOW, this is _GREAT_!!! (Wife, brushing chips out of her hair, off her shoulders and arms even says, "Oh great!") Noise is not as loud as I expected from what I'd read in some of the reviews in various woodworking mags. It is, after all, a big powertool and big powertools do make some noise. It is not as loud as that old ShopVac I have. More on the order of my ShopSmith. MK-V. The mahogany came out nice and smooth. Most of the snipe was removed and all the burn. Cranking cutter down 1/32" more (1/2 turn of crank!), switch to "finishing" mode (179 cpi) and run it through again. All remaining snipe is gone and the surface is absolutely glass smooth. Even my wife, still trying to get the chips out of her hair, is amazed. "Boy, that really _is_ great!" she admits, rubbing her hand over the almost slick mahogany. When your wife is impressed, you know you bought the right tool. First major job for the new planer is additional cabinetry to match her dining room hutch.
Ran some red oak through it turned out perfect also. The DW735 is _just_ what I'd hoped it would be. Well built, it is big, solid & heavy with tight controls. It fits my needs and I can't ask more than that. A wonderful addition to my shop. (and BOY, is it ever yellow)
Regarding LOWE'S part in this purchase: I have no real problem with the help in Tool Dept. It is not their fault mgmt did not inform them of the rebate offer. In every instance, the folks in Tools looked at my ad, said they were unaware of the offer and referred me to Customer Service. When Lowe's opened, there _were_ informed, knowledgeable people staffing the Tool area. Now you must ask the cashier nearest to the tool dept. to page someone if you have a question. If someone is free in electrical or plumbing or paint or wherever, they will come over and _try_ to help you. Folks, please don't blame the help. It is not their decision to down-size the staff to the point where one person is covering more than one area. And it is not the helps fault that the rebate info is not posted in the tool area. Management controls these things. The gals I dealt with at Customer Service said, "I'm sorry, I don't know but if you could wait just a minute, I will find out for you." AND they did. What more can I expect of them? No one can have ALL the answers, All the time. But they did a little digging and found the answers for me. We all enjoy the prices at these places and part of the pricing is determined by the cost of the labor in the stores. Management is in a constant battle trying to figure how much help to have to properly serve us customers and still make a profit. Sometimes they cut a little too deep. I'd like to see someone staffing the tool dept. full time. I think that would result in more sales and less shrinkage (theft). As for the automated checkouts (much discussion on another thread) I'll wait in a line to deal with a live clerk before I use those semi-un-staffed checkouts. I rather not help put more checkers out of work. But I can see the automated lanes are the wave of the future.
Now I'll send the rebate in and see how long that takes. (making copies of EVERYTHING before I mail it)
Well, I've rambled WAY more that need be so out to the shop and I'll see how deep I can pile chips on the driveway with the DW735.
DexAZ