What's up with my DW735?

[Victor Robinson]

My DW735 planer has been acting up lately. Basically, it seems like the infeed roller isn't catching the board properly. Regardless of whether I'm trying to take off less than 1/32" or closer to 1/16", I have to shove the board in through the knives until the outfeed roller grabs.

I haven't opened the machine up yet. Anybody have this problem and what should I look for?

[Tom Hintz]

The first thing I would do is to clean the tables and wax them, then see how it acts. Waxing planer tables has solved a bunch of problems thought to be in the roller assemblies. It takes way less time and is much easier so it is worth giving it a show before you start taking the thing apart.

[Russell Smallwood]

I had this problem with my little Grizzly lunch box planer. It was a pain because it would leave black marks on the wood where the the rubber infeed roller was slipping instead of gripping. I noticed that it (the infeed roller) had become pretty gunky so I cleaned it with some mineral spirits and the problem went away (for a while). I was milling cypress which I believe has a pretty high oil content, not sure if that was the issue. In any case, it was one of the main reasons I upgraded to a 15" stationary. The serrated infeed rollers seemed less likely to slip. Problem solved ;)

[Bill Huber]

I agree with both, clean and wax the bed of the planner and then clean the rollers.
I had this problem with my Ridgid and read on here that waxing the bed and cleaning the rollers would help so I did and it fixed the problem. I now keep the bed and infeed/outfeed tables waxed all the time and have had no more problems.

I have found that Johnson's paste wax to be one of my best friends in the shop, if it moves clean it and if it doesn't, wax it or something like that.

[Dan Bowman]

The rollers need to be cleaned periodically, sometimes frequently, depending on the wood. Use a rag or paper towel moistened with mineral spirits (I've also used Simple Green). The hard part is getting the entire circumference of each roller clean - you can't manually advance the rollers so you have to very quickly power up and then shut off the machine.

[Dick Brown]

In regard to Dan's reply, with the 735, you can just put the "Gear shift" feed speed out of gear and turn the rolls easy by hand. Had the same feed problem with mine, same cure as above.

[Prashun Patel]

Clean yr rollers. Also, describe the condition of your wood.

[Jon McElwain]

The rollers need to be cleaned periodically, ...I've also used Simple Green

+1 on the Simple Green

[Victor Robinson]

Thank you, gentlemen. I gave the bed a good waxing and cleaned off the rollers. I won't be able to see if this worked until I can fire up the planer this evening (it's too early in the AM to wake up the neighbors!), but hopefully it should do the trick.

Prashun - the wood I was planing when the problem last occurred was a ~3/4" board of walnut, hard maple, and lyptus. It was lumberyard S2S that had been flattened on the bottom by belt sander/scraper.

[Brian Tymchak]

I need to do this on my 735 as well. Something I've been wondering: How are you accessing the rollers to clean them? from below?

Thanks, Brian

[Victor Robinson]

I need to do this on my 735 as well. Something I've been wondering: How are you accessing the rollers to clean them? from below?

Thanks, Brian

Brian, that's what I just did. Raise the planer up to max height and you'll have plenty of space to get at the rollers (at least a half of their circumference). As Dan and Dick mentioned, you can turn on the planer briefly to spin the rollers and get at the unexposed side, or you can disengage the rollers by turning the speed switch between 1 and 2.

[Brian Tymchak]

Thanks Victor! I'll put that on my to-do list for over the holidays. ..and a blade change I think while I'm at it..