Refurbishing a DW735

[dan sherman]

Perhaps Refurbishing is the wrong word.


Since my father got a new planer he gave me his old one. I finally got around to looking it over yesterday, and besides needing a good cleaning, it needs some work done to the bed. The right side of the bed has a dozen or so scratches in it (look like they where made by a nail).

Does anyone see any issues with going over the scratches with some 400 grit and then a few coats of wax?

[Mike Henderson]

Sounds like a plan to me.

Mike

[Howard Acheson]

Flatness counts, ultimate smoothness doesn't. Just be sure that the scratches do not cause scratches in your wood.

If it's an older tool and has seen some mileage, be sure to clean the feed rollers. One problem with older planers is the feed rollers not moving the board properly.

[Peter Quinn]

I bought an old Delta DC-380 iron planer cheap that had deep nail scratches in the bed. I ground the ridges off with emery cloth glued to a thick flat piece of plate glass using grits from 200 to 1000. I buffed out the table with wax and it works great. Doesn't affect performance as far as I can tell.

[dan sherman]

Flatness counts, ultimate smoothness doesn't. Just be sure that the scratches do not cause scratches in your wood.

If it's an older tool and has seen some mileage, be sure to clean the feed rollers. One problem with older planers is the feed rollers not moving the board properly.

I know what you mean about flatness.. I have some metal working background, and it considered a sin to go after ways with anything even remotely abrasive (though some times thats the only option).

It's not scratching the wood, but it is rough enough, that it pulls fibers of a rag if you rub over it. I'll try some light sanding, and see if i can knock off the sharp edges.

cleaning the rollers is on the list, as they are pretty nasty.