Dewalt DW735 w/ helical head...severe snipe

[Clayton Dool]

Purchased DW735 ($22 after giftcards from office...couldn't resist) and did a few tests before I replaced cutterhead with helical one. I am seeing severe sniping on inbound, primarily on right side. Looking at the inbound roller, it is 1/16" lower on right side. I see no way to adjust this or any other way to resolve the snipe.

I do have the bed extensions, but setting them up for level vs elevated had no impact.


Any thoughts?

[glenn bradley]

There is no adjustment for feed rollers on the DW735. They are spring loaded. If your helical head is a smaller diameter than your knifed head you can increase the tension by adding washers between the springs and the blocks. It sounds like your material is feeding OK so this may be moot. If you control your stock manually does the snipe reduce? That is, slightly elevate the outer end of the board on infeed, keep it pressed tight to the table while feeding in, switch to keeping it tight to the table at the outfeed and slightly raise the end as the final few inches are cut. IF this improves or eliminates your snipe you probably have a feed roller issue in that they are not adequately controlling the stock through the cut. First and most important question is did you change the diameter of your cutter head due to the swap? Let's start there.

[Clayton Dool]

Lifting ends (infeed or outfeed) had no impact. Just that bad snipe on right side of machine on the infeed. I did reach out to the helix supplier (fantastic reply/support), but like you mentioned Glenn, no adjustments. I then reached out to Dewalt and their local repair center they referred me to. Repair rep thinks (based on phone conversation) that it may be the infeed roller since it is not aligned to the unit. Provided two options, bring in for repair (2-6 weeks depending if parts are on hand) or replace from where I purchased since within the 90 day period. A LOT of work to remove the Helical head to return/replace, then reinstall. But if I ignore the repair window length, they can ensure everything is correct and said I can leave helical head in place. Gahhhhh....nothing is ever easy.

[John Lanciani]

So was it sniping before you changed the head?

[glenn bradley]

If they are okay replacing the planer I would do that. Overall less work and greater confidence than the folks at the repair shop being able to correct the problem.

[Clayton Dool]

So was it sniping before you changed the head?

That is my mistake... I didn't really test the machine to know. Bought it, ran 1 board through to verify it worked, then immediately started switching it out for helical head. I splurged and upgraded Jointer to helical too (loving it). But between that, cold shop so delay working out there, life getting in the way, and general procrastination, it has been almost 3 months before I actually got around to a project in which to use the new planer. And now thus am seeing the snipe on the infeed on right side.

To exchange with store, will have to remove the helical head...and then reinstall in new machine. First round took me few hours. 2nd/3rd round, maybe faster? All I can say is "Icky Icky Icky"

Next step, Call the store to see their acceptance of exchange first before making a decision.

[Michael Burnside]

Bum luck mate, sorry about that. I presume you can’t add a thin washer on just one side? Hopefully you can exchange it!

[Andrew Hughes]

The dewalt 735 is the one planer that’s shouldn’t have insert head.
The reason why the blades are indexed on the head. The blades are easy to sharpen. Infinity offers a carbide tipped blade that will leave a superior surface then a insert head.
Insert head cannot take a very deep cut or scrap. My pm15 hh only allows for a 3/32 barely I can’t imagine the 735 doing better. Insert heads are Time thief’s.
Good Luck

[Mel Fulks]

Andrew , that was good advice ! Out of current style….but much needed !

[Andrew Hughes]

Andrew , that was good advice ! Out of current style….but much needed !
Thanks Mel.
In a day or two check the projects page. I plan on posting three small teak benches I made using weatherd wood from a Adirondack chair. I’m looking for feed back
Good Luck

[John Lanciani]

The unfortunate bind that you're in is not knowing which of three variables is causing the issue. It could be the planer, the new head, or the installation. If it were mine I'd just accept that its going to take a Saturday to work through it all and identify the issue before I made my problem someone else's.

[Keegan Shields]

The insert head equipped DW735 I owned performed wonderfully with minimal snipe. I did noticed that too heavy of a cut will cause snipe, and because my Shelix insert head was a smaller diameter than the original cutter head, the stock “depth of cut” gauge was off. The depth of cut needs to be very light because the lack of HP and the light frame.

I also owned a PM15 (early 90’s mode) with Shelix head and routinely took 1/8” passes with no issue. No snipe most of the time unless I was taking a very heavy pass.

My current planer is a 16” Hammer J/P with and insert head. Performance is the same, great results, 1/8” passes are no issue.

[Bert McMahan]

I too had a DW735 with helical head and loved it. I sold it to a friend when I got a larger one and he loves it as well.

[Randy Heinemann]

My suggestion is to remove the cutterhead, return the 735, write off the cost of the helical head, and use the planer as designed and sold. I'm actually surprised that DeWalt would even service the machine under warranty after the helical head installation. Seems to me that, if Dewalt felt the machine could handle the helical head as designed they would have offered that head as an option at purchase years ago.

I doubt most will feel my comment is the right course of action but I've used my 735 without changing the head for 10+ years (maybe even 15) without issue. The result has always been excellent. Sure I need to replace knives, but I have found a honing jig that does, in fact, give me at least double life on each side of the knives, so I've kept replacement costs down. There are also less expensive knives available that people have great success with, but I've never tried them. I pay attention to setting the infeed/outfeed tables higher on the outer edges, take smaller cuts, and change the blades when needed. It works for me. I don't do production work and, if you do, I'd say a table top planer isn't really the right machine regardless of cutterhead.

I have always believed that tools, especially more stationary tools like planers and jointers, are designed and built to certain specs based on how they are equipped (motors, cutterheads, dust collection, etc.) When you start messing with that by installing other after-market accessories or part reqplacements, there is a big risk that you are creating a scenario that the machine isn't designed to handle.

I realize that that there are numerous successful replacements of the 735 knife oriented cutterhead with a helical head. However, I have also heard quite a few problems that have occurred after installation of the helical head.

[Greg Parrish]

For me the reason I love the shelix and luxcut heads is noise. In our attached garage, the straight blade planers are just too loud. Swapping in a segmented head cuts noise enough to be tolerable to other people living in the house.

The side benefit is easy repair of chipped or damaged blade by simply rotating it. I’m back driving a DW735 again, but if I ever upgrade to another floor model, it will have the segmented cutter just like my prior Hammer A3-31 did. I will say that owning both a shelix and a luxcut, I prefer the luxcut simply because it indexes the cutters where the shelix doesn’t so its easier to get them positioned properly.

[Clayton Dool]

The journey continues...

After many battles with Lowes, being told they don't do return/exchanges on machines after 30 days, but Dewalt customer service telling me that Lowes does (and even says so on the box), I got ahold of a manager at Lowes and he immediately agreed and said he would work on on training up front. So I put everything back, boxed up and went in to do exchange.


Now with the NEW unit... Tested and everything looked good. Minimal snipe. Rollers were all parallel. Perfect. Switched back to helical head. Did many tests, and Perfect. Again, minimal snipe (yet to re-add wings, so maybe some tuning there will help), but happy. However... at the 10 min mark, just as I was shutting down I heard a bang! The belt on the right side split. 2/3 of belt still on there, but rest came off and shows some bad cracking. Waiting for Dewalt customer service, asking they send me a new belt. The fun never ends.


Back to the "why helical" discussion? I have been running some woods with switching grains and some figured woods and tired of battling tear-out. Yes, there are things that can be done to minimize this (wetting wood and such), but helical is the best option. I decided to upgrade my 8" jointer to helical. But when I went to the jointer (old Delta), there was no option. Since office gave me gift cards, that allowed me to get the Dewalt for $21...so figured would do so and upgrade it to helical too. The results on the jointer are like a dream. The results on the planer (one returned with bad snipe) were very good too...I ran 35 board feet of hard maple through, taking precautions on snipe, and snipe aside was very happy with results with minimal tearout (only one board, around knot showed a hint of tearout). Yes, I can tell some difference in sound with helicals, but given ear protection, not a concern. For me, it was a decision purely around tearout and battling nicks in blade on old planer.

[Keegan Shields]

Same here Clayton. The helical head was a huge improvement over the stock blades. Try 1/2 turn passes to minimize snipe also.

For those that think no one should ever change a machine from factory specs… that’s a personal decision I suppose. I don’t believe that the performance envelop on these planers is very tight.

Keep in mind there are thousands of successful installs that no one posts about. Believing that installing a helical head is bad because a few people had issues seems like a case of survivorship bias, or is it sampling bias?

If Shelix heads were causing widespread problems, they wouldn’t still be on the market after 10+ years.

[Greg Parrish]

Try 1/2 turn passes to minimize snipe also.

This ^

Thats the secret on the DW735 from what I’ve found. 1/4 to 1/2 handle turn max depth change helps limit snipe.

[Rege Sullivan]

I don't think you are the first to have a problem with the belt after installing a Shelix or a even a new stock head. I don't recall exactly the issue but I think it is caused by a misinstalled bushing or thrust bearing... something like that.

[Andrew Hughes]

It’s a clear sign of a bad Omen.
Turn back your on the wrong path.
Good Luck

[Michael Burnside]

You don’t need to justify a helical head. Your tool, your decision. Many have gone down the same road with favorable results.

Glad you mostly got it sorted out.

[john Intosa]

There are two Byrd shelix heads for the dewalt 735. The original version of the Byrd cutterhead was made 1/16” undersized to allow the head to slide into the planer without removing the inserts. The trade off is snipe and poor in feed and out feed performance. Byrd now offers a cutterhead with the same cutterhead diameter as the stock head, but you have to remove the inserts to get the head in the machine. Better off getting the larger diameter head. The distance from in feed to out feed rollers on the 735 is longer than the 733/734. This design makes for longer snipe for the 735.

Byrd is a great company.