dewalt dw734

[andy gregg]

why do dewalt dw734 planer knives dull so quickly?

[Matt Day]

I never had that problem and had one for about 6 years. What type of material are you sending through it?

[Lee Reep]

I've got the DW735 planer, and I am still using the factory-installed set (without flipping them over) after several years. I must not be using my planer as much as you use yours! The knives are different P/Ns between models but both use M2 steel, so I'm pretty sure they are very similar, other than length.

Are you primarily planing really tough stock, or taking deep cuts? I plane a wide variety of woods, but I do take pretty thin cuts. I'm so satisfied with the standard knives that I'm not sure I'd ever change to a carbide helical head.

[Jason Beam]

I never take more than 1/16 (usually more like 1/32 most of the time) and i get a couple years or more out of 'em. How fast is "so fast" for you?

[lowell holmes]

My DW734 knives are doing good. The planer is approaching a year and I haven't detected any dulling. I've run qs white oak, pine, straight rain fir, curly maple, and cherry through it.

I will probably buy knives from Infinity when the time comes. Check their catalog.

[andy gregg]

I never take more than 1/16 (usually more like 1/32 most of the time) and i get a couple years or more out of 'em. How fast is "so fast" for you?

about 300 ft of cherry. Machine is laboring so I had to flip the knives. At this rate I will have to buy stock in dewalt and order 5 or 6 sets. really disappointed in this machine....I read the reviews before I bought but thought the majority of users had no problems. Maybe I should have listened and chose another brand. Delta or Rigid. Hmmmm.

[Brad Adams]

I'm going to disagree with everyone, the knives on my DeWalt 734 seemed to really dull and get nicks in them after only a few boards. Hard maple dulls them fast. I switched mine to an Accu-Head. No more chip-out and the steel inserts are still sharp after running a lot of wood.

[Jason Beam]

so at the very least, maybe there was/is a quality control issue with the knives. My first set lasted about 6 years and many thousands of feet ran through it (again, at less than 1/16 DOC - the OP hasn't said how deep they run). The 2nd side is holding up great (save for the one nick i put in it not 3 days after flipping...) for the last 2 years or so. Hard maple, mahogany, cherry, beech, etc. I ran about 300lf of cherry through it (several passes) for the trim in my back room and it's still fine.

[andy gregg]

So I guess the way to go is not Dewalt? Guess I made a mistake, because I can't afford the cost to upgrade the cutterhead. Buyer beware.
Still wonder why these blades do not last as long as other planer manufacturers do?

[lowell holmes]

So I guess the way to go is not Dewalt? Guess I made a mistake, because I can't afford the cost to upgrade the cutterhead. Buyer beware.
Still wonder why these blades do not last as long as other planer manufacturers do?

I don't feel that way, my unit is performing.

I would send Dewalt an email complaining.

I am going to buy knives from Infinity when the time comes. Infinity's blades are thicker and they claim better steel.

[Bryan Cramer]

I have the same machine and the knives have held up okay. I can't say how long I let them go or how many feet has been run through it, but the machine will be three years old and I have flipped the original knives once. I don't like how easy it is to put deep nicks in the knives. I don't run any questionable lumber through it; no reclaimed stuff or knotty wood. I too am looking at Infinity replacement knives. I think it is a great machine otherwise and would highly recommend it.

[Jason Beam]

I don't think you can draw any conclusions based about the brand of machine on your experience. You can say that the knives you used dulled fast - that has little to do with the machine. You're throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Since you still haven't said the nature of your cutting, I can't guess why you had the experience you did but in the face of several others NOT having your issue, I think it's safe to say you can't assume dewalt was bad - you might have gotten a bad batch of blades - that's the most you can assume.

Try a new set of blades, see if they last longer ... Take shallower passes maybe ... your sample size is far too small to go drawing damning conclusions about the whole machine.

[Matt Day]

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Try a new set of blades, see if they last longer ... Take shallower passes maybe ... your sample size is far too small to go drawing damning conclusions about the whole machine.

I 100% agree. You have a good machine and most never had issues with the blades.

If you're convinced the knives are that bad, buy another machine and cross your fingers you don't get the same result.

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi Andy,maybe the blades you started with were not Sharpend properly.Here a pic of the jig I use to sharpen my 13 inch knives.The saw cut is in scrap ikea counter top @45.
I have the infinity carbide tipped knives in my machine so I just touch them up once a year.Its a good machine for a bench top planer.Dont give up on it yet.