Depth turret on dewalt dw735

[Dave Rosner]

Hi - I planed a piece of wood the other day and now need another piece exactly the same thickness. If I planned them both down at the same time I'd be fine but I didn't realize I'd need the second piece until after I ripped the first into small strips.

My dw735 has some kind of depth stop that I never knew what it did. Is there a way for me to set the depth of the planer like I do on my router? Then I can set it to its current height (my first board) and plan down to that thickness.

Thanks

[glenn bradley]

It just has steps at "common" thicknesses. I now run a floor machine but, my years with a DW 734 and a Digital Read Out set my habits. I wouldn't be without one on a planer. Some folks don't care for them but, they speed up my work so much (and allow returns to previous settings), I'm hooked.

[Mike Gresham]

Hi -
My dw735 has some kind of depth stop that I never knew what it did. Is there a way for me to set the depth of the planer like I do on my router? Then I can set it to its current height (my first board) and plan down to that thickness.

Thanks



The way I do that is to lower the head onto the board I want to copy until the depth gauge starts to move then back off until it stops moving. I've done that a number of times when I needed an extra board.

[Myk Rian]

To answer your Q, yes, you can adjust the depth stop. But its normal function is to easily get 1/4", 1/2", etc.

[Steve Demuth]

Hi - I planed a piece of wood the other day and now need another piece exactly the same thickness. If I planned them both down at the same time I'd be fine but I didn't realize I'd need the second piece until after I ripped the first into small strips.

My dw735 has some kind of depth stop that I never knew what it did. Is there a way for me to set the depth of the planer like I do on my router? Then I can set it to its current height (my first board) and plan down to that thickness.

Thanks

If you had set up the depth stops on the turret in advance and planed the first piece to one of them, then, yes, you could reproduce the thickness easily. But in your situation, they are of no real value. I've ignored mine for years. In your situation, I'd use a caliper to fIx the thickness from your original and then dial down incrementally to duplicate on your other pieces. The depth crank is 1/16" per full rotation, so you can pretty reliably dial in to a match within a few thousandths of an inch - 1/8 rotation, which is easily judged is only .008"' and you can do better. If you have a micrometer reading in fractional inches, you can probably get there in a couple of computed passes.

I know folks who use aftermarket digital gauges on their planers. I prefer analogue tools, but you might want check out the Wixey for the future if you don't. Their digital tools seem very reliable and well designed.

[Fred Falgiano]

Wixey on the DW735 is great. It only took about 10 minutes to install and set up. Repeatability is amazing. Highly recommended.

[Mike Henderson]

I just use a set of calipers. I measure the first board, then the second and decide how much to take off the second board. Every pass, I use my calipers to check my progress and sneak up on the proper thickness on the second board. It's really easy and takes longer to explain than to do.

Maybe one day I'll install a digital read out on my planer.

Mike