Bench top Planer Recommendation?

[David Walser]

I find I'm in need of a bench top planer to complete some remodeling work for my wife. Seems like some of the highly rated planers are no longer on the market (does Sears no longer have a 13" Craftsman Pro?). Do any of you have recommendations of which planers represent a good value?

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

David - I can only speak about what I know, and that's my Dewalt 735. I got a good deal on it.....if I hadn't been able to (get a deal), I would have most likely gone for the Dewalt 734.

[Rob Fisher]

I agree with the 735, because I got a good deal on it as well. If you can get the $137 or even the $274 deal, it will be the best benchtop planer for the price.

I believe the Ridgid planer also got good reviews in Finehomebuilding. But I have not tried it.

Rob

[Kyle Iwamoto]

OK, I have to ask. With the threads on HD clearing out the 735, I've been watching our local HD. No sale yet. My question is, If I HAD to pay retail price 550 bucks, is the planer worth the money? No brainer for 250 bucks... 550, I dunno.... SO many negative reviews...

TIA

[Fred Voorhees]

I would say that if one can wait to see if they can get a 735 at a much reduced price, I would sit tight and keep an eye on the situation. However, I have had the 735 for a good number of years now and just love it. I have run my share of wood through it and I have only changed the blades once, and to be honest, I think that was not technically a change because they were still the same blades, just flipped over to the other (sharp) side. So it still has it's original blades on it. So, if you choose to go with the 735 at it's normal pricing, you would still be getting a pretty good deal. Of course, this would all depend upon the amount of work that you will be needing it to do. You can get less expensive planers that will do the job for you.

[glenn bradley]

I have the 734, dad has the 735. We are both happy.

[Myk Rian]

OK, I have to ask. With the threads on HD clearing out the 735, I've been watching our local HD. No sale yet. My question is, If I HAD to pay retail price 550 bucks, is the planer worth the money? No brainer for 250 bucks... 550, I dunno.... SO many negative reviews...

TIA
I paid $500 for my 735 over a year ago, and added the Byrd shelix earlier this month. For the $900 I have in it, I'm very happy. I could have bought a larger planer, but don't have the room and would still have HSS knives.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Some, or actually a lot of the negative reviews were the blades are cheap and dull extremely fast. And that they last 2 maybe 3 boards. Are they full of it? If I do get the planer, the Shelix would be a probable investment, but for me, it would have to be furher down the line and the stock blades will have to do for a period of time. Both of you seem to have no problem with blades. I always try to take those negative responses with a grain of salt, but there were so many that complained about the blades.

Thanks for your replies....

[Rick Fisher]

You should think about the Steel City with the Shelix head already..

IMO, the head is more important than the machine turning it..

[Dan Mitchell]

I have no complaints about my 734. Still on the 1st edge on the blades after a fair amount of wood, no problems. I wish I could say the same for the blades in my PM 8" jointer!

[Scott Hildenbrand]

You should think about the Steel City with the Shelix head already..

IMO, the head is more important than the machine turning it..

Mmmmm... $599 + $25 shipping?
http://www.dynamitetoolco.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=STL-40200H&gdftrk=gdfV2469_a_7c555_a_7c1883_a_7cSTL_d_40200H

Anyone know anything of that retailer?

[Zach England]

I have the ridgid and the overall function is good. My main complaint is slight snipe on short boards. Maybe this is inevitable with any planer--I don't have the experience to know.

My other complaint is the noise--it is very loud.

I had dust collection problems, but I removed the 2.5 dust port and cemented a 4 inch blast gate directly to the machine. This corrected it, but took some jerry rigging to get it to fit together.

My other complaint is that the overall build quality does not feel like my jet and delta tools. There are lots of plastic parts, the knobs feel cheap--stuff like that.

All that having been said, would one of the Dewalts or the steel city be a worthwhile upgrade over the machine I have? Space absolutely prohibits a stationary planer, so that upgrade route is not an option. I guess I am looking for an excuse to spend money on a new tool.

[Myk Rian]

Some, or actually a lot of the negative reviews were the blades are cheap and dull extremely fast. And that they last 2 maybe 3 boards. Are they full of it?
That's one reason I got the Shelix head for my 735. I couldn't run 2 boards without a blade getting nicked, and leaving a line down the stock. The head also made it MUCH quieter.

[Doug Shepard]

I've been running a DW733 for roughly 15 years. If I didn't have a Hammer J/P planer coming and had to replace it, I'd probably go with a DW734 mainly for the size. The 735 is rather largish and I'm tight for space.

[Prashun Patel]

I bought a used 735 about 2 years ago.
Haven't changed the blades yet.
Haven't experienced '2-boards-and-blades-are-dull' syndrome.

I love it.

[Art Mulder]

I have the DW735.

Check the dates on those reviews, Kyle. The DW735 had complaints about blade quality when it was first released, but I thought that those were addressed.

Yes I've had nicks in my blades. There is just a bit of side to side adjustment available in the blade mounts. So you can try opening up the planer and moving one blade left and one blade right in the mounts, and see if that will help improve the cut if you do have a nick.

I think the 735 is great for dust removal. I find it very good on snipe -- and I *don't* have the extra infeed/outfeed tables. I wonder how good it'd be if I did get those. I really like the two-speed option.

I have no idea what a Shelix head would cost, but now I find myself wondering...

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Thanks for all your replies!
The Shelix is around 450 or so. Can't remember. I just tried to get a price, but the site was not cooperating. Holbren.com

The Steel sity seems like a good deal, but the cutters are HSS not carbide. Anyone have one?

[Tom Esh]

...The DW735 had complaints about blade quality when it was first released, but I thought that those were addressed.
...
Yep, plus there are at least 3 alternatives now: the Shelix head, and Infinity offers replacement knives in both high grade hss as well as carbide.

[Myk Rian]

I have no idea what a Shelix head would cost, but now I find myself wondering...
www.holbren.com $402 shipped w/bearings using the discount code SMC10

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Anyone know about the Steel City planer, if you can get carbide knives for it? If so, where and at what cost?

Seems like the Steel City would be the best bang for the buck, provided you can find upgraded carbide knives once the factory ones have been chipped and turned on all four ends, so that you could replace them as needed with better.

[Brian Lindenlaub]

Don't rule out the Makita 2012NB. I bought one about 2 years ago and I am very happy with it.

[John Callahan]

..........+1 on the Makita. More quiet and portable than most, it's a great little planer.

[Darrell Bottoms]

I'll admit that I'm just a novice trying to learn and when shopping for a planer had decided against the dewalt because of all the negative stuff I heard about the knives. Then I came across an incredible deal and made the decision to buy.

I took it home, and like many who had complained, the knives dulled rather quickly. What I really didn't like was the whole "throw-away" part....can't even sharpen. The kid's needing food more than my needing the planer ended with me just trying to work around not having a planer.

A couple of weeks ago I decided that if I was going to just throw the knives away anyway, I would see what I could do about sharpening them myself. I got out my three sharpening stones and went to work. I worked the blade lengthwise across the rough stone to try and keep them straight. I moved on the the mid stone pushing the cutting edge in a diagonal across the stone, then went to the fine Arkansas stone working straight into the edge. I then flipped the knives over and worked them flat on the stone. I finished up with steel wool and leather to buff them.

I put the blades back on thinking that I would learn why ppl didn't try to sharpen them, but to my surprise, they cut better than they did when new. What surprised me was that the normal noise that a planer makes when it is working wood was barealy noticeable....other than the very loud noise of the planer running....was nice to NOT hear it screaming at me. I especially like the glass smooth finish it now leaves.

I now LOVE my DW734 planer!

If anyone has any dull "throw-away" knives for the DW734....send them my way!:D