DeWalt Planer Questions

[John Plenge]

Hi everyone,

I’m a novice woodworker in the process of setting up a workshop and am considering purchasing a Dewalt DW734 12 ½’ planer. I’ve read reviews online which state that the blades don’t last long. I’ve seen some replacement blades at Infinitytools.com which are supposed to last longer than the DeWalt blades. Has anyone tried them and, if so, are they worth buying? Also, some of the negative reviews I’ve read stated that the planer broke down quickly and needed frequent repairs. Is it possible this was caused by owners abusing the planer by trying to take too deep a cut on each pass or something similar?

I appreciate any help you can give me.

Thanks.


John

[glenn bradley]

I think you are either thinking of the DW735 knives which have a frequently reported short life. Or your talking the DW734 which I have run for a few years and am on the second side of the second set of knives. I would say I get about 10 months to a year of hobby use per side.

I build desks, tables, dressers, bookcases, wall cabinets, etc. I use oaks, walnut, ash, mahogany, shedua, padouk, cherry and maple. I only make 2 - 3 large pieces per year but do a lot of small things in between. I would say I am an 'enthusiastic' hobbyist as far as use goes. These are lunchbox planers and should be treated as such. You will read of folks taking 1/8" cuts for hours at a time and yes, that is an abuse of this type of machine. I have also read of a person who complained about his 3HP 15" spiral headed machine not having enough power so you have to factor those folks in when reading about knife and machine life ;-)

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

All good input from Glenn. There were a lot of complaints about the DW735 knives early on, but most of what I've read indicates that they sorted that out. I have one and got pretty good life out of the first side of the original blades - so no complaints. I suggest you read up on how to adjust the infeed/outfeed tables to help minimize snipe, as well as keep the bed waxed.

[John Plenge]

Glenn/John,

Thanks for the information. It sounds like my suspicions were correct. The people posting the negative reviews were probably expecting more than the planer could deliver and, if I treat it right and work within its limits, it should last a good while.

Thanks again.

John

[Lee Koepke]

John, if you need more positive reinforcement .... I can do that.

I have had the 734 for a couple of years now, and I have mostly done smaller projects like cutting boards, so it gets alot of little cuts. I probably take off too little each time, but I dont do woodworking to 'hurry' so its just fine.

I flipped my blades once and am due for a new set. they still cut ok, but I have a small nick in one that leaves a tiny imperfection that I ultimately have to sand out.

Snipe's not too bad, it seems that it comes in bunches, but I attribute that to operator error.

All in all ... its quite serviceable for the price.

[Bill White]

I have the 733, and it has been a workhorse. Doesn't have the throw away blades (I'm glad), and once I learned about the "lift-on-the-front---lift-on-the-back" method of snipe elimination all has been well.
Bill

[Dan Karachio]

I have had a 734 for about a year and recently flipped the knives (boy was it easy). I developed some knicks that left annoying tracks/lines in the work, but I am pretty certain this was from using it on less than stellar wood and with too deep of a cut. In short, I abused it a little and learned my lesson.

[David Helm]

I've had the 733 for 12 years. It came with two sets of blades. I've had them both sharpened professionally only once. The planer still works well and does everything I ask of it.

[Matt Day]

I've had a 734 for about 6 years and it's been a workhorse too. I think I changed the blades once, and am due for another one now. It's a great machine.

[John Plenge]

Thanks folks!! I'm convinced. It's hard to imagine DeWalt making a bad tool, but I just wanted to make sure before dropping a few hundred bucks on one. Now, if I can just find a good sale...