I've heard so many good thinkgs about the DeWalt 733 and the Makita 2012NB, though they seem to be discontinued and newer versions are available.
I've been looking at the DeWalt 734 and 735.... I really like the look of the 735. The Dust collection on it is far superior then many others I've seen.
Is the Dust Collection and the 2 Speeds that Critical?
Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Scott
You know, being a relatively new owner of a two speed 15" planer....I wondered about the faster speed. I said to myself, I said "Self, umm ifn you just leave it on slow feed the bitey bits will bite more often, and make a nice smoover surface." Self had no comment, so I took that as agreement...
Was self a smart guy?
NOT CHARLES! (I know he smart - he published :-))
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Ran my planer one time and then bought a dust collector. Ed
Dust collection is critical if you don't want dust. If you have good ventilation and don't mind using a broom and dust pan, let the dust fall to the floor.
2 speeds are almost a necessity on a "FAST" LARGE planer. IMHO it is simply a sales gimmick that you are paying extra for when it is offered on a portable planer.Here is what the 2 speed is all about on the large planers. The large planers will plane wood rather quickly and roughly on high speed. This enables the board thickness to be brought down to almost finish thickness quickly. At this speed visible scallops on the wood surface are easy to see. The slower speed is to produce a smoother surface that is ready to be hand planed, scraped, or sanded.
In an attempt to appear like a larger planer some manufacturers have merged this concept of 2 speeds to the smaller portable planers. The 2 speed portables "fast" speed plane at a slow speed comparable to the slow speed on the large stationary planers to start with, and with the 2nd "slow" speed they plane E V E N S L O W E R producing for a limited time, a smoother surface. This S L O W E R speed is described as the "finish" speed. Here is the problem with that "finish" speed. It is S L O W and really does not eliminate the need to hand plane, scrape, or sand the surface before applying a finish. Some argue that the surface is ready for the finish to be applied after this S L O W pass through the planer. They might be happy with this finish for the first 5 to 10 boards that come through the planer with the new fresh set of knives but because it is only natural for planer knives to develop nicks, this Smooth surface is relatively short lived. Before long, grooves will start showing up on the boards and the process of hand planing, scraping, or sanding before going to the step of applying a finish will be back in the routine.
I bought the Delta 2-speed a little over a year ago and I will say that using the faster speed does give a nice, smooth finish. The slower speed also gives a nice finish.
As far as dust collection yes, yes and yes. I did have a little problem when I hooked the planner up to my dust collector - namely the collector hose clogged-up at the collector inlet. I have a Grizzley DC and the inlet has a web made into it to keep out big stuff and protect the impellor blades. The shavings from the planner ended up not passing through web and clogging the hose. I bought a cyclone lid for a metal trash can, installed the cyclone between the planner and DC which fixed the problem. Just something to think about.
Michael
I just bought the 735 myself.
Yes to Dust Collection. Don't even consider running the planer without it.
On two speeds you'll hear a lot of "nope's". The slow speed came in handy for me last week, however. Had some Jatoba that I wanted to try to thin to 1/8" - for giggles (and trim work). Took very, very thin cuts (1/64"). Fast speed made a mess out'a it. Slower speed actually made a big difference. Your mileage, of course, may vary...
Yep, slow feed speed usually results in a better surface.
However, if planning a LOT of boardfeet of lumber the faster feed rate MAY produce a finish that is acceptable AND save you hours of time
John
John Crea notes:
Two speeds is handy, not critical. Dust collection is not just critical, it is CRITICAL!
Charlie Self "It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man." H. L. Mencken
Thank you all for your input.
My Main reasofn for asking about the 2 speeds is I know I want the Dust collection and the DeWalt 735 has much better dust collection then the 734. Though the 735 is $100 more. Its hard to justify the $100 just for the Dust even if it comes with the 2 speeds?
Does anyone have a 734 hooled to a Dust collection System. It says it comes with a dust hood, though it looks more like it keeps it from flying off the top...
Thanks, Scott
I have the 733.
The dust hood works just fine with my dust collector. It catches 99.9%. Before I got my cyclone up and working I used my shop vac on the dust port (the 733 came with both the dust hood and a 4"-2.5" adapter... Although it filled quickly, it did a quite serviceable job (97% collection?)
I believe that the 735 has and integrated impeller that will "work" without external suction. I doubt that it is as good as a "real" dust collector but I imagine that it would be way better than nothing as an interim solution.
Is dust collection in the true sense essential? Yes if you include integrated impellers and shop vacs. I had a delta sipemaster a few years back that had no collection at all. It was a monstrous mess. If you have not used a planer before you will be astounded at the volume of chips generated.
Let me try to quantify that for you. I am currently planing 55 square feet of white oak from 5/4 rough to 1" finish thickness. (14 stair treads plus a small landing). I have filled the 55 gallon drum (from empty) and I'm about
70% done.-Steve
So I went and bought the 735....
Whoa Nellie! Talk about an impeller that will "work" without external suction. Without the shopvac on, it was blowing the lid right off!
We planed 3.5"x16' MDF at about just better then 16th of an inch, there were
12 of them. We filled 2.3 buckets of the 35 Gallon ShopVac! Pretty much no other particles anywhere. Well thats not true, after it filled up the hose in the shopvac cause we didn't notice it filled up, we had some chips kick back. (-;I do not have much experience with other planers, but in my opinion, the extra $100 for that type of dust collection is way worth it! The thing without the vaccum hose on it was shooting stuff 25+ feet? amazing!
Thank you all for your help!
Scott I have the 733.
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