Dewalt 735 snipes like a $200 planer?

[Jeff Cord]

This is what the latest Wood Mag says (I'm paraphrasing this, but it also says this is if you don't use the optional table extensions. With these extensions snipe is minimal).
Do you owners of this planer agree with this comment?
I'm in between deciding on this planer and the Delta and this comment in the magazine floored me; I thought the Dewalt would be the best at minimizing snipe.
thanks,
Jeff

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I was never able to get rid of the snipe on my DeWalt (old) using the extension tables. I took them off and ran a piece of melamine through it instead, supported by trimmed 2x4s underneath. Cheaper, too.

You lose some height doing this, and the preset depth-stop turret thingies won't be accurate...bug I never used the full height or the stops.

I've also had the pleasure of using some very expensive industrial planers...and ALL of them sniped to some extent. That may be why I don't get worked up over it, because for all my life I've just always figured some extra length to allow for milling (snipe!).


KC

[Norman Hitt]

This is what the latest Wood Mag says (I'm paraphrasing this, but it also says this is if you don't use the optional table extensions. With these extensions snipe is minimal).
Do you owners of this planer agree with this comment?
I'm in between deciding on this planer and the Delta and this comment in the magazine floored me; I thought the Dewalt would be the best at minimizing snipe.
thanks,
Jeff

Jeff, NONE of the planers of this type can be snipe free or even at minimum UNLESS they use extensions, (and maybe a good outfeed table would be even better), because of the short distance across the planer bed. Due to that short distance from under the cutter/outfeed roller to the edge of the bed, you just have to have something further out to hold the wood up so it doesn't drop down when it comes off of the infeed roller, because when it does, the board's trailing end kicks up slightly into the cutter, thereby cutting the snipe. If you look at the Worst snipers in the Wood article, besides any other inherent problems they might have had, IIRC, neither of them had a provision to even add extensions.

PS: I intended to mention that you will also get snipe on the starting end of the boards if they are not supported until the board gets through the infeed roller, the cutter, and then UNDER the outfeed roller. This can be accomplished however by slightly holding up the trailing end of the board as you start it into the planer.

[Alan DuBoff]

Jeff,

Yes, in another thread I mentioned just that, and it was also in another article a year or two ago that was in one of the magazines.

This is a pretty well known fact, but I'm not sure which model Kirk is using as he says (old) and I'm not sure if that is a 734, 733, or if it's the 735 which you're referring to and what I own.

The extention tables should be included with the 735, IMO, and making the customer purchase those seperatedly doesn't make sense for the customer. If they're needed (which they really are in my experience), they should be included.

[Mike Null]

I've had occasion to use the Dewalt and felt it was the best of the small planers. But snipe is common to all portables.

I do not use extensions but feed a sacrificial piece ahead and behind the work and that pretty well eliminates it.

[Dennis Peacock]

I have burned up one lunchbox planer, used another just enough for it to stop feeding the wood through. For some folks, they work just fine, and others like me have a tendency to work one enough to make it throw a rod. I've bought, upgraded, replaced, upgraded and such enough that I could have easily paid for my current planer to begin with and saved all the lost money and frustration. I'm very satisfied with the Powermatic planer I have now. May you be satisfied with whatever you decide to purchase and may it serve you well.

[Doug Shepard]

...
The extention tables should be included with the 735, IMO, and making the customer purchase those seperatedly doesn't make sense for the customer. If they're needed (which they really are in my experience), they should be included.

I'll second that. I've got the older 733 and cant imagine trying to use that or any other benchtop planer without the extensions. They ought to be standard equipment on all planers.

[Brent Harral]

I own the 735 and yes, I agree you need the ext. tables to keep snipe to a minimum. FWIW, I've owned the delta 580 and the two knife older version of the dewalt 734 and they are both fine planers. I could give a hoot about noise (they are all loud), cut depth indicators and thickness stops. That said, I think the 735 is worth the extra $80. The ext. tables needed for the dewalt is almost a wash with the dust hood you'll need (?) for the delta. I like the fact the dewalt 735 has no head lock and the 179 cpi speed is incredible for a final pass! The dewalt also "feels better" to use and the overall quality is a notch up than the delta, imho. Lastly, the dewalt (or any lunchbox) could never replace my 15" which does the bulk of my planing. I use the dewalt for the final pass or two and for small jobs. Hope this helps.

[Byron Trantham]

I own the 735 and extension wings and have experienced far too much snipe. Having read the article in the latest Wood magazine, I adjusted the in-feed and out-feed tables 1/16" higher on the outer edges as suggested and Wa La, no snipe! I have run different species of wood at varying thicknesses and now have a perfect (as a planer can be) planer.:D Frankly, I found their article a BIG help. BTW, I sharpened my throw away blades with the Tormek system and I can't believe the results. After sharpening them I tested the edge by feel against new ones and the Tormek edge is sharper! As to how long the edge will hold up remains to be seen.

[Lars A Stole]

I owned a Delta 580 for 2 years with very heavy use (2 sets of motor brushes and I don't know how many blades). Snipe on the Delta was quite common. I sold it and bought a Dewalt 735 and I'm very happy for it. Besides having absolutely awesome dust collection, the snipe is far less after careful adjustment, and when it happens it can easily be sanded out -- no need to cut off the ends.

My interpretation of the Wood Mag artcile is that they tested the Dewalt unit as is -- i.e., without infeed-outfeed tables. (Didn't read the article carefully, since I have my planer already though.) The Delta comes with them standard. I'm sure the Dewalt generates a lot of snipe without the tables or if the adjustments are off.

My only complaint with the Dewalt is that I recently broke the drive belt. I'm calling Dewalt tomorrow (still under warranty) to see if they'll set me up with a new belt free of charge.

Hope this helps in your decision.

[Tony Falotico]

I have the 735 with extension tables, when running long boards I use roller stands on both infeed and outfeed side and it works well. I surface finish prior to final sizing, so any snipe I may get is cut off.

I think its more technique rather than brand of machine when dealing with the smaller lunchbox planers. As Dennis said, the lunchbox planers are not meant for heavy duty production shop use, but it works fine for a weekend woodchipper like me. There is a level of finesse needed when working larger projects through smaller machines.

[glenn bradley]

My DW 734 (close cousin) came with ext tables. I don't get why the 735 doesn't unless its to put it at an attractive price point. Now that the price has gone up instead of down as I'd hoped, maybe they'll have specials like "free ext tables"(?). To the question: my 734 is snipe free on short pieces with the tables adjusted correctly. For longer pieces I always use roller stands as opposed to trying to control the piece all by myself. I only get snipe when I fail to do these things. Don't waste your time, get the tables. Great little planer.

[Scott Vigder]

My experience using different planers is that snipe is usually related to operator error caused by pulling up/pushing down on the board as it exits the planer. I experienced snipe with my DeWalt 735. After attaching the extension tables and changing my technique to guiding the board out rather than holding it virtually eliminated my snipe. Same planer, same knives, different technique. By the way, I had a similar problem on my new Grizzly G4090 8" jointer until I relaized I was placing my push block all the way at the rear of the board, effectively pushing it down into the knives instead of across the cutting surface. Moving the rear push block about 10" from the rear of the board eliminated that problem. Operater error again!

[Tom Hintz]

I use the DeWalt 735 frequently and with the extension tables angled up just slightly, I get no snipe at all. When the wood gets too long, i add work supports before and after to take the weight.

[glenn bradley]

I've seen the slightly elevated ext table method referred to as the ten cent solution. You level the outer edge of the ext table with the planer bed but place a dime on the planer bed before adjusting. Did that make sense? End result is that the end of the ext table is a dime's thickness higher than the bed. Works for me. I should have mentioned that little detail in my previous post. "Old-timer's" disease.

[Bruce Benjamin]

I've had occasion to use the Delta and felt it was the best of the small planers. But snipe is common to all portables.


Snipe is not common to all portables as is evidenced by the people on this thread with the 735 and no snipe. I also have had the 735 for a few years now and generally experience zero snipe. Not quite never, maybe 5% or so of the time and I can't quite figure out why since my technique at least seems to be the same. But even when I do get snipe it's so slight that it's very hard to notice.

I'm glad I didn't have to pay extra for the DW extension tables. I built my own rolling stand and included longer folding infeed/outfeed tables. The longer-than-average included table of the 735 works perfectly for my rolling cart. But if I hadn't built the folding tables it's not hard to find the tables on sale somewhere for around $50.

Bruce

[John Leslie]

I recently acquired a 735 and so far not encountered any snipe to speak of. Most of the pieces I have been feeding through so far are on the shorter side though and thus are pretty well supported during the operation. I have not yet added extension tables.

[Jake Helmboldt]

I've got the 22-580 and I only get snipe if I am careless in feeding stock through it. 99% of the time I get zero snipe. Proper set-up and feeding with support, both in and out, will help reduce snipe to almost nothing.

JH

[Frank Fusco]

Maybe I'm luck, but with my Grizzly G0505 planer I haven't had that problem. It does have small in/outfeed supports. But, working alone, what I do is feed and support by hand until a near balance is reached then walk around to the outfeed side and support as it come out. BTW, it does a fine job on wood but is lousy with lunchboxes, ruint a couple trying. :(

[Jack Dickey]

I have the Delta , moaned over the extra money for the DeWalt , as DeWalt is my default brand of choice .. I have mixed results with the Delta , most times no snipe , sometimes some snipe .. I too think it is a feed error on the operators part.. The vast majority of the material I run thru is red oak that is green , slabs or butts , whichever you prefer to call them , most are 1.25"-1.5" thick , trimmed to width , to just fit the planer , and usually at least eight feet long .. I built a heavy table with 3/4" plywood and 4 by legs , that helps a lot too I think .. Something hard like melamine helps a lot to cut down on the snipe ...
A friend has a 20" Shop Fox , and it is the cats meow , but I can buy a lot of stuff for $1600 ..

[David Giles]

Two things helped reduce snipe on my DW735. The extension tables made a big improvement. The other was to stop taking little bites of wood. I used to "sneak up" on the final thickness thinking that smaller bites would eliminate snipe. Not so, making the final cut 1/32" - 1/16" seems to reduce most snipe.

[Alan DuBoff]

Snipe is not common to all portables as is evidenced by the people on this thread with the 735 and no snipe.Sure, and are those some of the same folks that have never in their life gotten burn from their table saw while ripping?

It's all relative, how much wood are you pushing throuhg it, how long are the boards, how difficult the wood is (hardwoods vs. softwoods vs. figured, etc...), wether supports are used, how the tables are setup, etc...

I have a hard time believing that anyone who owns a 735 hasn't gone through most of these bases to get them working properly, I know that I have.

I also have had the 735 for a few years now and generally experience zero snipe.Sure, and generally implies not 100% of the time.

I won't say I never get snipe, I sometimes do, but it's often on one end, either front or back when fed through, so it has to do with improper support of the material most often. This could also be due to the fact that the board was fed through the wrong way, in relation to the grain. I don't spend a lot of time analyzing the grain when I work typically, I try to make the best educated decision and go with it and not dwell over it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't...:rolleyes:

Wood is not perfect, andif I run 100-200 bf of wood though the planer (which I have on several occasions), I never have all the boards perfect to start, some are slightly bowed, some are thicker on one end than the other, etc...in a perfect world the wood will run through perfectly and just come out like a baby's rear end. But in the real world this doesn't always happened. I hope to one day work in the perfect shop, but until then I continue to operate in the real world, where my shop exists...:rolleyes: Not trying to be a wise guy here, and would like to point out that it's easy for someone like me who is a hobbyist to feed a board in the wrong way because they hadn't looked at the way the grain is running (yes, there is a proper way to feed the boards).

Some wood, like hickory or purple heart are much harder and it seems to me that the harder the wood, the easier it is to get some snipe, even if one spot.

If 1 board out of 10 needs to be cleaned up with a hand plane, it's not a big deal for me. As I have said, the 735 works pretty good in general and is on of the best in class. There isn't a perfect solution in the same class though. It is after all a $500 list woodworking machines, not a $5000 precision machine.

For those that get better results than I can, more power to use, I continue to try to bring my skills to your level.

I wish DeWalt would hear the message loud and clear about the tables being included with the planer. As DougS also points out in response to my statement (and many others as well), they really are needed.

[Bob Marino]

Two things helped reduce snipe on my DW735. The extension tables made a big improvement. The other was to stop taking little bites of wood. I used to "sneak up" on the final thickness thinking that smaller bites would eliminate snipe. Not so, making the final cut 1/32" - 1/16" seems to reduce most snipe.

Dave,

Why would that be so?

Bob

[Bruce Benjamin]

Sure, and are those some of the same folks that have never in their life gotten burn from their table saw while ripping?

So you're saying that the people who claim to never have snipe are not being truthful? I've read these same reports many, many times on numerous threads about the DW 735. I doubt that every single person posting this is either a liar or unable to recognize snipe. I'm not sure how this situation applies to a TS and burning except if you think that everyone who makes either claim is a liar or just ignorant.
The TS has far more variables involved when ripping than does the DW 735 when planing.


It's all relative, how much wood are you pushing throuhg it, how long are the boards, how difficult the wood is (hardwoods vs. softwoods vs. figured, etc...), wether supports are used, how the tables are setup, etc...

I have a hard time believing that anyone who owns a 735 hasn't gone through most of these bases to get them working properly, I know that I have.
Sure, and generally implies not 100% of the time.

Yup, and that's why in the very next sentence I said about 5% of the time I get very minor snipe. The OP said, "But snipe is common to all portables." I completely believe that some people never get any snipe and for myself, considering how rare it is and how very minor it is, I'd say snipe is definitely not common with all portable planers. To me common must mean something different than your definition in this context. Ok.



I won't say I never get snipe, I sometimes do, but it's often on one end, either front or back when fed through, so it has to do with improper support of the material most often. This could also be due to the fact that the board was fed through the wrong way, in relation to the grain. I don't spend a lot of time analyzing the grain when I work typically, I try to make the best educated decision and go with it and not dwell over it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't...:rolleyes:

I don't see how grain direction has anything to do with whether there's snipe or not. In my experience, the only thing that grain direction has to do with is whether there's a little tear-out or not. But feeding the wrong way isn't going to cause snipe.


Not trying to be a wise guy here, and would like to point out that it's easy for someone like me who is a hobbyist to feed a board in the wrong way because they hadn't looked at the way the grain is running (yes, there is a proper way to feed the boards).

It's easy for anyone to do this but again, this won't cause snipe. It may cause some tear-out. Depending on the type and figure of the wood I'm feeding through my planer, I don't always pay any attention to the grain direction. My DW 735 with sharp blades does a great job of leaving a very smooth surface most of the time.

I wish DeWalt would hear the message loud and clear about the tables being included with the planer. As DougS also points out in response to my statement (and many others as well), they really are needed.

The base table is already longer than other lunchbox planers. If they include the extension tables they'll have to charge even more for an already expensive planer. Some people, like me, don't want the extensions since I built my own onto the rolling cart. Maybe not most people but there are two reason for them to not include the tables. I'm sure it's not because nobody at Dewalt ever thought of including them.

Bruce

[Kelly Anderson]

I used my 735 for 2 years before I got the extension tables and never had a problem with snipe at all, period.:) I love it.:):)

[David Rose]

Frank,

Your problem is probably not resawing the lunch boxes first. And it helps to run them through one after the other. Watch the grain on those things too! I always try to send Mickey through first. I can't tell that it helps, but at least I am being consistent. Oh! And watch the hinges on both bandsaw blades and planer blades. The added thickness slows mine down.

My Delta 580 snipes a bit even with the tables lifted a bit on each end. Sometimes I can eliminate it or reduce it by lifting the trailing edge on infeed and lifting the leading edge on outfeed. But not always.

My rollers have started slipping at times. I can't remember what to clean them with. Is it denatured alcohol? No, it wasn't the lunch boxes. :eek: :D Cherry was my last planing.

David


Maybe I'm luck, but with my Grizzly G0505 planer I haven't had that problem. It does have small in/outfeed supports. But, working alone, what I do is feed and support by hand until a near balance is reached then walk around to the outfeed side and support as it come out. BTW, it does a fine job on wood but is lousy with lunchboxes, ruint a couple trying. :(

[Brad Townsend]

BTW, I sharpened my throw away blades with the Tormek system and I can't believe the results. After sharpening them I tested the edge by feel against new ones and the Tormek edge is sharper! As to how long the edge will hold up remains to be seen. When I read their advice that resharpening the blades wasn't worth the effort, I wanted to holler "WRONG..WRONG..WRONG!" I'm on the 2nd resharpening of two sets of blades and it's worked great. And I don't have a nice Tormek. I'm using an ugly green Woodcraft horizontal wetstone grinder that I bought with the optional jointer/planer knife jig for around $100 on sale. Considering knives for the 735 cost $50-55, the grinder paid for itself real quick.

[Frank Fusco]

Frank,

Your problem is probably not resawing the lunch boxes first. And it helps to run them through one after the other. Watch the grain on those things too! I always try to send Mickey through first. I can't tell that it helps, but at least I am being consistent. Oh! And watch the hinges on both bandsaw blades and planer blades. The added thickness slows mine down.

My Delta 580 snipes a bit even with the tables lifted a bit on each end. Sometimes I can eliminate it or reduce it by lifting the trailing edge on infeed and lifting the leading edge on outfeed. But not always.

My rollers have started slipping at times. I can't remember what to clean them with. Is it denatured alcohol? No, it wasn't the lunch boxes. :eek: :D Cherry was my last planing.

David

It really ruint my favorite Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox. :rolleyes:
(Ken's gonna spank us for going OT)

[David Giles]

Bob, can't tell you. It doesn't make any sense, but seems to work. Maybe it's a matter of fewer passes so there is more chance of snipe on any one pass. Maybe with very light cuts, any small deviation in the wood-to-table position shows up as snipe. And maybe the cause and effect is really just in my head and doesn't exist. But at this point, I don't see any value in taking lots of incremental cuts when one normal cut will do the same thing.

[Don Baer]

I have used a chiwaneise $200 planer and now own a 735. There is no comparison, do I get snip maybe a little but it's easily cleaned up. is the 735 woth the extra bucks, in my opinion you bet. when I get th enew shop I'll set up a perminate table with a proper infeed and out feed and hopfully get rid of what little snipe I presently have.