Wood Magazine planer test RANT

[Chris Oakley]

I've been waiting since last month to get my Wood magazine, because they stated that they would have a test of benchtop planers. I bought a dewalt and wanted to see what they said (I know, most people read reviews to see what to buy, buy what can I say, I'm inpatient). So, I open up and no Dewalt! What gives? From my lurking around the forums and tool sites it seems that the dewalt is one of the more popular lunchbox planers. They had two craftsmans.

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

I have the Yellow One I planed all the cypress for a 12 X 16 deck and an 8 X 12 porch with it. Used it for numerous other projects and I'm pleased.

[Bob Lasley]

Chris,

Don't worry about what Wood says or doesn't say. Most anyone who has the Dewalt will tell you that it is a good machine. I've had one for several years and it is a workhorse. You did good.

Bob

[Bob Boake]

Is there any chance that Sears is a major advertiser in that mag?

[Jim Morrow]

What's up with that, there are way to many Dewalts out there to be left off the list. Doesn't matter, it is one of the better 13" planners out there. You did good.
Take care,
Jim

[Bob Oswin]

I understand that sometimes manufacturers don't get their sample machines to the publisher in time for evaluation.
Some don't bother to send a demo in at all.
This doesn't change the assesment of each examined machine but will skew the result of a "survey" so to speak.

A note to this effect would be a nice addition from the publisher.

FWIW: I have the yellow one and it does the job.
I have no experience with the other offerings.

Bob

[Ken Salisbury]

Dr Bob has the right answer ---------- The magazine can only evaluate the machines it is provided.

[Jonathan Flachman]

I got the dewalt yellow planer from LOML for valentine's day last year. To be honest I haven't had a chance to do too much WW'ing since then, but one thing I have noticed is that the head isn't parallel to the bed, so I need to fix that. What I currently get is a different thickness on one edge vs. the other.

If anyone has a similar problem, I can tell you how to fix it.

[Bob Oswin]

Originally posted by Jonathan Flachman
I got the dewalt yellow planer from LOML for valentine's day last year. To be honest I haven't had a chance to do too much WW'ing since then, but one thing I have noticed is that the head isn't parallel to the bed, so I need to fix that. What I currently get is a different thickness on one edge vs. the other.

If anyone has a similar problem, I can tell you how to fix it.

Hi John:

If it's not the blades set improperly, take it in to a Dewalt center.
My first one had tight posts making the adjustment wheel bind.
I stripped it down as per instructions from a fellow at the depot and could not adjust anything.
They just gave me a new one on the spot.

P.s. You did set the infeed and outfeed table with a level? Right?

Bob[B]

[Lynn Kasdorf]

I have the DeWalt and like it, but it seems that I've noticed the thickness from one side to the other tends to have a certain amount of variance- not extreme- probably < 1/32". I always figured it was just the knives not set perfectly.

I need to do a controlled test.

If there is a bias (one side consstantly cutting lower than the other), is there an easy way to adjust this?

Thanks.

Lynn Kasdorf

[George@Colonel's Workshop]

Hello Lynn and other DeWalt Owners,

I also have the DW733 and like it very much. When I noticed a slight variance in planed thickness, I reset the blades and the problem was cured. It really wasn't much of a problem, as the variation was extremely slight, even over the full 12 1/2 inch width of the machine. I had some major repair work to do on it over Christmas, and kudos are due to the excellent repairs done at the authorized service center, at very reasonable prices. I never ascribed too much gospel to any of the tool reviews. We all can chance upon lemons, and unfortunately--we all have.

[Bart Goldberg]

I recently cancelled my subscription to Wood. In my opinion, it is not up to par with the other mags I get.

[Phil Phelps]

I want to know how they've held up in a real shop. I'll go to forums and ask first. I've found them to be a reliable source. And that's my two cents.

[Mike Scheidler]

Originally posted by Chris Oakley
From my lurking around the forums and tool sites it seems that the dewalt is one of the more popular lunchbox planers. They had two craftsmans.
Unless Dewalt has come out with a newer model, their planer (model 733) has been around for several years... I would think that Wood would have already done a review of it at some point, and wouldn't want to repeat themselves.