Wow! Impressed with DW735

[Victor Robinson]

I picked up this planer during the recent HD clearance, and man, I'm really impressed with the finish quality.

I've run some beech through it to test it out and the planed surface is pure perfection...even better than 400grit sanding IMHO. And this is with the planer in "fast" cutting mode - haven't even tried the finer cut yet. Of course, there is noticeable snipe but I haven't yet added the infeed/outfeed tables.

This is my first thickness planer, so I'm not sure if this quality of finish is common, but I'm more than pleased. We'll see how it does once the knives have some wear on them.

How much mileage do you guys tend to get out of your DW planer knives before replacing (assuming little to no "torturous" use)?

[William M Johnson]

Wait till you try one with the Shelix head.

[Victor Robinson]

Wait till you try one with the Shelix head.

William...bad...this is the exact type of forum behavior that makes all of us collectively burn holes through our wallets. :D

[Kerry Lorts]

If I remember correctly the 735's blades can be turned around after one-side wears down. I have never used one so I don't know about the life of the one-side.

[Myk Rian]

If I remember correctly the 735's blades can be turned around after one-side wears down. I have never used one so I don't know about the life of the one-side.
Yes, they are 2 sided, and they last until you hit a knot.
+1 on the Byrd Shelix.

[Don Inghram]

I've had a 735 for several years and contrary to others experience I've had excellent blade life from mine. I use a lot of Jatoba and this is very hard wood. I'm only turned the knives over once and am still on my first set. I heard that these things really went through the knives but my experience is exactly the opposite. Great machine.

[Mike Henderson]

Just a suggestion on the blades on the 735. When you change them, write on the plastic (under the hood) with a felt tip pen and put whether you're on the first side or the second side. I also put the date. Otherwise, I never remember if the "other" side is sharp or if I should put new blades in.

My first set of blades dulled quickly but since then, I've had good life with the blades.

Mike

[Note for Victor: When the wood doesn't feed any more, it's usually dull blades.]

[Chuck Isaacson]

[Note for Victor: When the wood doesn't feed any more, it's usually dull blades.]

I second that. The duller that the blades get, the louder it gets as well. I was just suckin until I changes out the blades. As for the shelix head, I am just going to wait and get a floor model. 15" or 20". We will see when the time comes.

[Jeff Monson]

Just a suggestion on the blades on the 735. When you change them, write on the plastic (under the hood) with a felt tip pen and put whether you're on the first side or the second side. I also put the date. Otherwise, I never remember if the "other" side is sharp or if I should put new blades in.

My first set of blades dulled quickly but since then, I've had good life with the blades.

Mike

[Note for Victor: When the wood doesn't feed any more, it's usually dull blades.]

thats a great tip Mike, I'm sure I threw away a couple sets with a new edge cause I thought I would remember :confused:.

The shelix head does make a great machine even better, the shelix head really shines on knarly grained wood, like figured maple and curly cherry. It also cuts the noise level down considerably. I sold mine and regret it often.

[Neil Brooks]

I think Wood just gave the 735 #1 again.

It wasn't on sale when I was looking (face it: I needed one, that day), so I got the Ridgid.

I like it a LOT, but ... I'm sure the 735 is a fantastic machine.

Have you needed to do anything about extensions for infeed/outfeed tables? IIRC, Wood found a BIG difference in snipe when they DID use 'em.

[Victor Robinson]

Have you needed to do anything about extensions for infeed/outfeed tables? IIRC, Wood found a BIG difference in snipe when they DID use 'em.

The 735 has uber-short tables and is really only meant to be used with the "optional" extensions ($50 on Amazon). My impression is (haven't got them yet) once you add these the snipe is all but completely eliminated, and all the magazines do their testing WITH these "optional" extension tables. I think either Wood or FWW did the test both with and without the extensions. Without them the snipe was measured to be in the range of other mid-range benchtops like the Ridgid.

[Don Inghram]

BTW, haven't a bit of snipe since I put the infeed/outfeed tables on. Well worth the investment.

[Jeff Bratt]

Have you needed to do anything about extensions for infeed/outfeed tables? IIRC, Wood found a BIG difference in snipe when they DID use 'em.

Three things:
See my web page (http://home.roadrunner.com/%7Ejeffnann/WoodWorking/Shop/Shop.html#Planer_Stand_) for suggestions for a stand with in/out-feed tables for the 735. I have supplied my construction sketches to several Creekers who have taken advantage of the HD closeout pricing.

The blades on the 735 are indexed into slots that have a little side-to- side play in them. If the blades get a small nick in them,then one or more can be shifted sideways to eliminate the small ridges that can be left by otherwise sharp blades

There were reports of short blade life with some original equipment blades on the 735 in the past (1-2 years) - that problem seems to have been solved. However, Infinity also makes replacement blades (http://www.infinitytools.com/DeWalt-735-Replacement-Knives/products/1345/) for this planer, along with (more expensive) carbide tipped blades with reputed superior life.

[keith micinski]

I built my stand with infeed and outfeed tables and am still getting the tiniest amount of snipe with them. Let me know if you get the factory tables because I am interested to see if they totally take it away. I really don't think the snipe that I now have is much at all but you can definitely feel it if you run your hand over the end.

[Mike Henderson]

I built my stand with infeed and outfeed tables and am still getting the tiniest amount of snipe with them. Let me know if you get the factory tables because I am interested to see if they totally take it away. I really don't think the snipe that I now have is much at all but you can definitely feel it if you run your hand over the end.
I have the factory extension tables and get a small amount of snipe. It sands out pretty easily.

Mike

[Neil Brooks]

The new issue of Wood scored it (DW735) as:

0.035in of snipe without tables
0.0015in with

Nothing did any better than the latter result. None of the benchtops got a zero measurement.

[keith micinski]

SO, in essence with all of the bench tops you are always going to have a little snipe that you have to deal with no matter what your setup is. I would guess if I took some 220 sandpaper and ran it over mine 6 or 7 swipes it would be gone that is how little I have. I can live with that because I don't think it would affect anything even if I left alone.

[Paul Ryan]

I just sold my Ridgid to a gut that was not happy with his 735. His complaint was snipe and blade life. He sold it and bought my ridgid. He claimed his buddy had a ridgid so had exeperience with the orange machine. I was very happy with my ridgid other then the sound level. And it came with infeed and outfeed tables. But I like my powermatic 15 better.

[Logan William]

SO, in essence with all of the bench tops you are always going to have a little snipe that you have to deal with no matter what your setup is. I would guess if I took some 220 sandpaper and ran it over mine 6 or 7 swipes it would be gone that is how little I have. I can live with that because I don't think it would affect anything even if I left alone.

I would broaden that out and say that with all planers you're going to experience snipe, the difference is that the benchtop size are more likely to have snipe that makes that end of the part potentially unusable and when someone upgrades from a benchtop to a heavy duty 4 post or similar heavier grade planer its not that the snipe was completely eliminated, its just that it isn't detectable with their measuring device....in which case it should serve their purpose. One of the areas I support at work happens to contain multiple moulders and even on those machines costing $250k+ with custom hold down shoes and side clamps and full length outfeeds snipe still happens, we just happen to be running a much higher volume of product through it, with more accurate measuring devices, so I have a larger population of parts to sample from in order to show that I improved(hopefully!) the process and got the snipe down to a level that is acceptable.

[Bob Haskett]

Anyone know how it compares to the 734 (the one I am looking at)?

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Bob...as far as finish quality, it seems that all portable planers perform great. I base this on all the forum info over the years by happy owners of their portable planers.

My portable planer is over 20 years old. It was the first portable planer by Delta. At that time, the only other choices were a 10" Ryobi and a 12" Makita. Even then, these three models planed a smooth surface.

I contribute their smoothness to a higher speed cutterhead than their heavier stationary cousins, a necessary lighter cut due to their lesser power, and smooth polyurethane feed rollers in lieu of serated steel rollers.

The biggest advancement since their inception was a cutterhead lock to reduce snipe. However, I've found that if my infeed and outfeed tables are set upward slightly (1/4" over 3 feet), snipe is nearly eliminated.

-Jeff :)

[Brian Tymchak]

...the planed surface is pure perfection...even better than 400grit sanding IMHO. And this is with the planer in "fast" cutting mode - haven't even tried the finer cut yet.?

I tend to run everything in the finish speed. I know, slow, but it fits my nature.. ;) Even then, though if you put a freshly planed board up to a raking light, you will still see knife marks, the little scallops, so I recommend a finish sanding with the grain or they might show through in a finish. However, I laminated ash boards straight off the planer with excellent results.

It really is a good little planer. Glad I bought it. The outfeed tables do help quite a bit with snipe, as long as you adjust them properly. I set mine up so that the infeed is level with the bed and the out feed is just bit high at the outside edge. Depending on the weight and length of the wood you are putting through it, it might still snipe the backend a tiny bit. I was running long 3" thick ash boards and needed to stand on the outfeed side and provide some light upward pressure on the board as it came of the outfeed table.

Brian