Seeking Enlightenment (DW735) and General References

[Vic Winkler]

Hi

I am new here, but have a 54 year long relationship with everything from splinters to fine cabinets. Along the way I kept my eyes and fingers, while occasionally incurring minor accidents (three notable cabinet saw kickback experiences: spear to abdomen w/o injury, garage door window converted into a million slivers of glass, and a pinkie that received a 2 inch of plywood at hyperspeed w/minor months long fingernail discoloration).

Getting to the point, I just added a Dewalt DW735 to my two car garage shop (everything on mobile bases: Grizzly cabinet saw, Grizzly jointer, Ryobi drill press, DeWalt Miter saw, and messes of other corded power tools). I have to say, while I can figure out lots of stuff with few clues, the DeWalt DW735 manual is one of the poorest and low-information content manuals I have ever come across. Adding insult to content depravation, the DeWalt website fails to achieve either performance in serving pages nor do these pages add any information (save an exploded parts diagram). This is at best a missed opportunity.

In performing a broader non-dewalt Internet search against "DW735 instruction or guide or usage etc" results in several weird and only 2 marginal information content videos, along with several blogs or forums that address specific situations or issues.

There is nothing I have found that would give me a deeper and better understanding of the DW735 or planing in general. I am able to learn experientially, but that's how I learned about saw kickback...

What motivated my interest in this search was the odd behavior of the DW735 when I attempted to plane a board that was thinner than 7/8"... Yes, that's right. It turned out that there is a marginally identified height stop that is not documented beyond being identified in the skimpy aforementioned manual. I ended up removing it after wasting considerable time searching and playing... I don't need to know everything before I risk life and limb, but I do like to refine my techniques and I think it is best to fully understand the purpose and function of machines whose blades reach 10,000 rpm.

Can anyone suggest anything useful here?

[William Nimmo]

We are allowed to read the manuals? I did not know that. I thought we had to unpack the machine and quickly use it. That is what I have done. The 735 is pretty straight forward. Wax the bed and replace the blades more than you think you should. They don't last long. When the wood won't feed or it is showing signs of burning. It is time. the blades have two sides so rotate them once before you throw them out.

[glenn bradley]

DeWalt's approach to manuals has always been a bit of a mystery. What a mess. Some general info on planing with a powered thickness planer (I am in no way officially qualified to provide this so at the very least, it should prompt others to contribute):

- Adjust/maintain your planer to avoid slipping drive rollers and the evil 'snipe' gremlins.
- Joint the face flat before you run your board through the planer. Jointers make things flat, planers make flat surfaces parallel.
-- the exception to the above would involve a planer sled but, I digress ;-)
- Plane with the grain. Just like on your jointer, cut downhill. On the DW735, this would be the same face and direction of the board as you would joint it; jointer has cutter below, planer has cutter above, eh?
- Take smaller bites as you reach final thickness.
- Draw lines across the surface to be planed to get a visual on your progress.
- Fully support your stock at the infeed and outfeed locations. Don't count on your planer to hold the board up via the rollers on the way on or out; that road leads to snipe.

I'm sure there is more . . . .

[Larry Frank]

I have the DW735 and completely agree with you about the manual. I learned the most from looking at the exploded diagram and checking the machine to see where the parts actually were located. I did find a thread on this forum that discussed the setting of the infeed and outfeed tables. (These tables are an extra and cost too much.) I found that setting these properly reduced or eliminated snipe. As you suggested, most of what I figured out was experimental.

[Fred Belknap]

I have one and have run a lot of lumber through it. Only ounce did it bite me. I was running a small thin piece of cherry and the grain was crazy. It exploded and bloodied my thump from something. Pieces jammed the blower. It was around 1/4". I have run poplar and walnut at 1/4" without problems. I still like it.:)

[Jeff Bratt]

The DeWalt 735 is a great small planer. Here's a link (http://home.roadrunner.com/%7Ejeffnann/WoodWorking/Shop/Shop.html#Planer_Stand_) to my planer stand with long, micro-adjustable infeed and outfeed tables. Also shows some idea about collecting the shavings.

Adding to previous comments:
That height stop you had trouble with can just be dialed down to 1/8" and it won't get in your way at all. The feed rollers on this planer are 6" apart - never run stock through the planer that is not at least 8-10 inches long.

Snipe can be an issue - ways of reducing snipe include: Raising up the free end of the board while it is entering or exiting the planer. Adjusting the infeed and outfeed tables to do that automatically is also good. Attaching temporary strips to the sides of workpiece can also eliminate snipe.
http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=124793&d=1249659298
High speed gives a pretty surface good finish - low speed is only needed (if at all) for the final pass on each side. If you get a nick in the blades, they can be loosened and one of them shifted sideways a small amount to get rid of the little ridges left on the board. That ridge is also easily removed by using a card scraper. Some of the original blades wore out quickly, that problem has been pretty much resolved. Infinity (http://www.infinitytools.com/DeWalt-735-Replacement-Knives/products/1345/) also makes replacement blades.

Wax the table. Take small bites out of the board. Spritzing the surface with water can help with tearout on difficult grain. Wear ear muffs - that sucker is LOUD.

[Tim Marks]

...the odd behavior of the DW735 when I attempted to plane a board that was thinner than 7/8"... Yes, that's right. It turned out that there is a marginally identified height ...

You are talking about the 4" diameter knob with large numbers identifying the depth stop position on the right side of the machine? I can't really understand why this would be the basis for your complaint, since it is hard to miss when you look at the machine, and it's operation is fairly straight forward.

http://quietboating.com/tmp/DW735_3.jpg

This is one of the selling points of this machine:


....an extra-large turret depth stop for finding frequently used thicknesses....

While the manual is not the greatest, I believe that it does provide sufficiently detailed instructions on use of the depth stop:



Turret Stop. Your planer is equipped with a turret stop (Q) for repetitive planing at pre-set depths. Stops are set at 1/8", 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", 1", and 1-1/4".

TO SET THE MINIMUM DEPTH TO WHICH THE CARRIAGE CAN TRAVEL WITH THE TURRET STOP
1. Be sure the carriage is set above 1-1/4" before trying to set the turret stop.
2. Turn the dial on the front left of the planer until the desired thickness setting aligns with the red indicator then lower the carriage.
3. Plane the workpiece at desired increments until the correct final thickness is achieved.


I guess I am trying to point out to someone shopping for planers that this really shouldn't be a reason to skip this from your consideration.

But it is shocking to me that this thing retails for $650 now (with an MSRP of $1200!). Who would have guessed that an investment in tools in 2004 ($350) would have turned out to be a better choice then the stock market or real estate? Stationary planers haven't really climbed in price that much... $650 + $178 (stand) + $43 (tables) = $871. I think that I would be buying the Grizzly G0453 for $950 instead.

It seems that most users (including me) quickly find that the "optional" $43 infeed/outfeed tables aren't really optional, since it is hard to prevent snipe without them. The exception to this rule might be those individuals who fabricate a custom bench to mount the DW735 with integrated infeed/outfeed support.

While the DW735 has an integrated chip blower, I think that decent dust collection is mandatory when using this thing. And earphones.

[Danny Burns]

I have one and have run a lot of lumber through it. Only ounce did it bite me. I was running a small thin piece of cherry and the grain was crazy. It exploded and bloodied my thump from something. Pieces jammed the blower. It was around 1/4". I have run poplar and walnut at 1/4" without problems. I still like it.:)
When running thin stock through try a backer board with two way carpet tape.

[Myk Rian]

The tables are nice to have. Put a couple pennies on the platen, lay a straight edge across them, and adjust the tables so the outer edges just touch the straight edge.

I built a flip top stand for mine. Stores under the work bench.

[Danny Burns]

Snipe can be an issue - ways of reducing snipe include: Raising up the free end of the board while it is entering or exiting the planer. Adjusting the infeed and outfeed tables to do that automatically is also good. Attaching temporary strips to the sides of workpiece can also eliminate snipe.

Running one piece of wood right after another will mean that you will only get snipe on the first piece through, and the last piece out. The first and last piece can be scrap pieces.
This method ensures that both rollers are in contact with the wood, so there is no tilting of the wood from having only one roller contacting it.



Wax the table. Take small bites out of the board. Spritzing the surface with water can help with tear-out on difficult grain. Wear ear muffs - that sucker is LOUD.

If you experience tear-out on figured wood, and the stock is not too wide, then try running it through on an angle, so the knives cut the grain more across the grain. Oh and wear safety glasses, and don't stand in the line of fire.

[Darius Ferlas]

I found this review (http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/dw735rvu.html) useful as it describes genral features and hints as to what they features "do" for you.

As for the planing in general look for "thickness planer" at youtube. While not all demos are so great there is plenty of useful information and tips. I think it is not critical to see demonstration of use with the exact make and model you have.