Question about adjustment and use of DeWalt 735X Planer

[ROBERT SILVERSTEIN]

Hi All -- I just started using my new planer, and had a couple of questions for folks who have experience with it.

I've watched a bunch of videos on YouTube, and a number of folks say that snipe can be minimized by having the folding outfeed extension tables adjusted so that they are giving a very slight lift to the material as it goes in and comes out of the planer (i.e. sloped upward away from the body of the planer). This seems to be how they came adjusted from the factory as well.

My question is this: I noticed that because of this slope, the material removal gauge overestimates how much material is going to be removed, because when you push your piece under that gauge, it's on a slight slope due to the infeed slope, making it seem like the board is thicker than it is -- in fact, if I push down on the board a bit, I can see that the material removal estimate decreases. But this obviously means that this number cannot be relied upon (i.e. if I say I want to remove 1/32" and turn the depth adjustment to get the material removal gauge to this value, it will actually remove less than that amount, since the gauge is lying). How do people cope with this? One thing I thought of doing was to remove the front infeed extension table when performing this measurement, and then put it back on before starting planing -- that way I could get a material remove estimate with the board completely flat.

Apologies if this question is unclear.

Thanks!

[Andrew Hughes]

I had a 735 great machine I do miss it sometimes for small stuff.
Mine didn’t snipe very much at all as long as the piece I feed through where faced flat on my jointer first.
Toward the end of my ownership I bought infinity carbide knives for it. After sharpening the knives a couple times it sniped even less. I think backing off the knives is the trick
My current planer snipes a little and I just live with it or feed a salvage board in front and behind.
I keep the infeed and outfeed flat.
Good Luck

[Patrick Varley]

I never rely on the gauge anyway. It's sometimes helpful to eyeball the first pass, but that's about it. I usually just end up getting it close, then creeping down until I engage. It's also helpful to know that a full turn of the handwheel drops the knives 1/16".

The other option is to get a digital readout (like a Wixey: https://www.infinitytools.com/wixey-0-6-digital-planer-readout-for-portable-planers) Otherwise, you just take multiple passes, measuring after each, and creep up on the thickness.

[Keegan Shields]

I used the material thickness gauge to set the planer height on the first pass so you don’t overload the planer.

Each revolution of the hand wheel is 1/16”. Use a pair of SAE calipers to determine your material thickness after the first pass, then you’ll know how many 1/4 (1/64”) turns you’ll need to get to your target thickness.

It’s a great planer if you take light passes. I believe heavy passes make the frame flex, causing snipe.

[William Hodge]

I bought a Dewalt 735 to use as a finish planer. The wood is all faced, planed, edge jointed, and ripped to width when it gets to the 735. I take 1/64" off each face. There's no snipe. Facing the wood flat on a jointer will make the wood feed flat through the planer, and reduce snipe. Lowering the bed rolls on the rough milling planer helps, too.

It sounds tedious, but the finish is good enough on Sapele to reduce sanding time by a lot. I run cart loads of wood through at a time. It's quicker to plane than sand.

To set the depth, I just get it close with a ruler and a test piece, then set it with a dial caliper.

[Keegan Shields]

Yeah it leaves a great finish. Wish I had the room to keep mine when I upgraded.