Thought regarding DW735 planer

[Tim Douglass]

I've been looking at planers for some time. Recently my object of lust has been the DW 735 - less for the 2 speed function than for all the other nice stuff about it. As usual I have been looking to see if I can find a great deal that I can persuade my wife to let me buy. In the process I have discovered something - *no one* has it on any kind of discount. It is $499 everywhere I have looked, either retail at a local store or online. I guess it is so much in demand that list price is the selling price. I did find a factory reconditioned one for $399, so I may try to jump that way. All I need to do now is convince her that it is OK for me to sell the guitar she bought me for my last birthday and turn it into a planer. Wish me luck.

Tim Douglass

[Robatoy]

tunes she not that fond of? I mean alll day? Loud?

An aquintance of mine showed off his 735... quite a machine indeed.

[A.M. Wood]

Noticed the same thing about that planer. Nobody is offering any specials. Even used on Ebay, and there are not going for a huge discount over new.

I did however think this was worth sharing.

One person was offering these on Ebay indicating they purchased them on some kind of closeout sale. I placed a bid and a day or so later received an e-mail from someone indicating the seller was scamming people. Within a day the items (this seller listed a few) were removed by Ebay. Guess the message is be careful. It seems some of the Ebay scammers are using this particular item as bait.

[igor]

That being said, there were some sales at xmas and I snagged one for quite a bit less at Amazon. Just a few days later the price went back up to $499. Had the price not dropped, having read many reviews here and elsewhere, I may have gotten the 734 DW planer and probably been happy with it. BTW, Toolking has them reconditioned for $305, incl shipping. Toolking also has a refurb 735 at $400, and I think it has full warranty. HTH. -- Igor

[Leon]

IMHO the 2 speed thing is a gimmick on these smaller planers and I am beginning to really dislike all the disposable blades. I think would do for the older model with the 2 resharpenable knives.

[DL]

everything in the store days. Now that is not as good from a price standpoint as the refurbished model, but you will be getting a brand new one. I have a card from my Woodcraft for 10% off everything in the store on February 24.

I personally don't mind the fact that a machine has been refurbished. When refurbished you are guaranteed that a person has looked at your specific machine and signed off on it being ok. Brand new one's come off assembly lines and only get checked randomly. From my understanding, most returns are from people that only want to use a machine one time or decided they didn't need it, but since the box was opened, it cannot be sold as new.

BTW, I upgraded to the 735 from a Delta 22-540 and it is work the entire $499. This planer with it's dual speed and the 3 blades makes a huge difference in the quality of cut. The dust collection works great as well. I always had a problem with my Delta even with an aftermarket dust collection option. I was able to put highly figured wood through with no noticeable tearout. On my Delta, it would have ruined the wood.

David

[DL]

Leon,

The typical 2 speed, 2 blade planers I would agree, but with the DW735, the number of cuts and speeds are significantly different, not to mention the 3 knives. The results I have seen from other "inexpensive" planers don't come close to the DW735.

David

[Walt Conner]

I have had a DW734 for a couple of years and have been very happy with it. I wished I had waited for the DW735 until I started hearing others say the 2 speed was of little benefit. Being able to resharpen blades was one consideration when I bought the DW734 also.

Walt Conner

[Nick Bozovich]

So, here's an off the wall thought -

When I was looking for a planer last year, the Dewalt 735 also was the object of my lust - however, I had been looking at the 15" Bridgewood and Yorkcraft 15" also. I convinced myself that I didn't have enough shop space or real need for a machine that size. I started looking at the DeWalt 735, but being the cheap person that I am, I just couldn't get past that $499 price either.

I happened to stumble into HD one day and found a Ridgid 13" on sale for like $199 - regularly $379, so on impulse, I bought it. I was on of the "old" Ridgid's (manufactured by Emerson??? It was when they were switching over to the Ryobi line - I can't remember). Anyway, it has done everything I've needed it to do. It makes great cuts, and does a great job. I'd done some research, and found that it was a "Top Value" on one of the WOOD Mag survey's a couple of years ago.

NO question the DeWalt is the "Cadillac", and I'd love to have one, but for the difference in price??? You may have a lot more WW experience than I do (probably!), and maybe you're use is heavier than mine, but I'd ask myself if I really need the top of the line - Would the Delta work? I also saw the Ridgid model in HD the other day too, both for less than the DeWalt.

Just my $.02 -

Nick B.

[DL]

do not see that they are saying this is refurbed. Possibly given the name, they are wholesale only.

David

[William D McQuain]

IMHO it's no gimmick at all. I bought one last summer ($475 at -gag- Lowes). I immediately ran 80 bf of 4/4 cypress through it that I wanted to build a potting bench with. Since then I've run some pretty raw oak and walnut through it, using both speeds... it put an almost glass-like finish on the walnut.

It's pretty much left me drooling when I've used it. Thanks be to an understanding wife and living 2.5 hrs from Steve Wall Lumber. My only complaint is the volume levels... I usually run it on my carport and if my neighbors had bomb shelters they'd all be diving into them when it revs up.

[max]

the problem with buying it locally is the sales tax kills the discount. Right now on Amazon, there is a $25 off sale if you spend $199. Couple that with a $30 discount if you open a credit card and no shipping and that over

105 off. max

[Leon]

Well I agree it looks nice and does a nice job but after you have some hours on the knives or one gets the inevitable nick all that smoothness goes down the drain as you are going to have to scrape and or sand.

[Leon]

So are you saying that you do not ever have to sand the wood after planing? None of your knives has a nick in it yet??? If you are sanding you are probably wasting time with the slower speed.

[DL]

The free shipping and the sales tax issues are good points depending on the state tax rate. Given a person has a need for a credit card and it has a decent rate, I guess the $30 would be worth it, but to just open an account to then pay interest on the purchase or to pay it off immediately and just close the account doesn't seem worth $30 to me.

Check out my other post at the bottom of this thread, a place in Seattle has the DW735 for $379. I have no affiliation with them, just searching today for replacement blades and saw the price. Looks like a mis-qoute to me, but if someone could get them to honor it, that would be a great deal. Not sure what they charge for shipping.

I also recommend the rolling stand made for this. It has the lever style pedal mechanism that allow the unit to roll easily. I mounted the pedal under the unit so it doesnt get in my way. That another $100 as I remember, but worth the investment if you like your tools mobile.

David

[Wes Stewart]

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:00:46 -0500, DL wrote: [snip]

Several years ago I was buying a circular saw at the local DeWalt outlet. I don't remember the prices, but there were two options. A full-price "new" one in a yellow box and a considerably lower priced "refurb" in a plain white box.

The sales guy told me that the saws were identical, carried the same warranty and were in fact both "new." The refurbishment occurred at the factory when for some reason or another the item failed a production line inspection and was sent off-line for rework.

[arw01]

The second finishing speed is truely amazingly smooth. You CAN sand directly with 220 after planing and be done.

I've not knicked my knives, yet, but if I recall they can be turned, and it is likely can can slide one knife a bit one way or another to smooth out the ridge. There is no rule that says you have to turn all the knives at once.

The blower out blows the sucking of my shop vac.

Alan

[DL]

arw01 wrote: (snip)

Funny you mention this. I was using DW735 tonight with my small Delta dust collector connected to it. During one session of planing white oak, when I turned off the planer, the bag on the dust collector deflated which I thought was odd. Turns out I had forgotten to turn the DC on, but the blower on the DW735 was so strong, it went through the 4" hose and impeller, blowing the bag on the DC up as though it was on. I was impressed.

David

[rnjphoto]

I've been using a DW735 w/disposable blades for the past six months. I'm still on the original blades. So far I've planned about 25 rough sawn planks of Mesquite that measure six feet by 13 inches wide and one inch thick from a lumber yard in Arizona. Granted I don't take very much off per pass, just enough to get it smooth on each side and I've not had any problems with chipout which can be a problem on Mesquite.

rnjphoto

[Mark Howell]

Or you could just feed the board in again without changing the thickness setting. What are the chances of the nick hitting the same exact spot on the board?