Just bought a DW735

[Patrick Nailon]

Yes, I've been wanting one of these babies for a long, long time. Been doing research, looked at a lot of different planers for the non-professional, and have had my heart set on this one. Finally decided to use the "6 month no interest on purchases over $299" at HD, where the DW735 (as you all probably know) just got hiked up a hunnert dollars to $649 from $549. Same at Lowes. But just yesterday I found online at Lowes that it had dropped to $499 (probably Black Friday price), so I set out to HD with a copy of said ad and another copy of HD's "10% off competitor's price - only to discover that HD had marked it down to $469!

So - I bought. Took home. Set up was practically nothing - screw the crank on one side. Attach the chip blower attachment of your choice. Using was just a thought-free - put wood underneath, crank handle down until little red indicator indicates how much you want to remove; pull out wood and turn on and put wood back in. OR - set indicator on left side to desired thickness. Turn crank until it stops. Insert wood.

I've already planed every piece of my current project - a sofa bookcase from an old WoodSmith mag. Had to plane 4 pieces to 1/2" thickness, everything else to 3/4" - all from about 13/16" stock.

I've been waiting for this, for a long, long time. Good times, and better projects are a comin'.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Congrats! One suggestion...put a good coat of paste wax on the bed, makes things go though a little more easily.

[Peter Quinn]

Congrats Patrick. I've had one for several years, nice machine. Really is the best performer in the portable weight class. I mounted mine to an old powermatic band saw base I got at auction for $20, put it on a mobile base, really adds stability to the whole thing. I've been wanting to try the knives from Infinity but haven't yet. Enjoy that tool.

[Ted Shrader]

Patrick -

Congratulations on your new planer. You'll find the planer is one of those tools that opens up whole new horizons for your projects.

Ted

[Patrick Nailon]

Congrats! One suggestion...put a good coat of paste wax on the bed, makes things go though a little more easily.

Thanks for the reminder. I have put good ol' Johnson's Wax (anyone old 'nuff to remember the "Fibber McGee & Molly" show?) on all my equipment tables. Bandsaw, table saw, I've even put it on blades to keep them moving smoothly thru a cut. I'll crank this bad boy up and wax the bed (unplugged, of course!).
:)

[Anthony Anderson]

Congrats on your new planer Patrick. Enjoy it, and post pics of the bookcase you are building. The planer will definitely allow you to build many different projects. Again, Congrats! Regards, Bill

[Kevin Jaynes]

Patrick,

Congrats on your choice. I used to own this planer, bought one of the very first ones according to DeWalt (I later found out). There were some serious issues with it at first but they have been worked out long ago. The customer service I recieved from them was top notch. They over-nighted me a gear which broke while planing my very first board! :eek:

The replacemnt knives were also horrible for a while but now I understand that has also been ironed out. There were no carbide blades available for it either - don't know if they are now or not.

We bought the planer for medium duty use for smaller stock when the big planers were too much, but soon realized it would not work for us. Not knocking it though I think it is fine for a home shop.

The dust collection is okay for dry stock. If you ever feed wet wood through it though, go slow as it will clog. Also suggest installing some UHMW or similar slick surface if you are going to use it a lot. Waxing the SS bed is fine if you'll only give it light use but you'll tire of re-waxing if you use it a lot, and the UHMW bed will make your life much easier.

[Gary Click]

The wax makes a huge difference in the operation of the planer. Remember when you are applying the wax however, there is a knife above your hand and luck may have it stopped pointing down.

The Byrd Carbide Head also makes the planer more pleasurable to use.

[Andy Casiello]

Congrats on the 735. I got one in September and have used it a ton recently. I've been recovering from back surgery, so hadn't had much time with it, but lately I've been using it almost daily. Great tool, has worked flawlessly so far and does an amazing job.

[Jason Hanko]

I ordered mine on Friday, can't wait for it to get here! Question for all you who own the unit - did you purchase the extension tables as well?
Do you think they're necessary, or just a nice extra?

[Tom Esh]

I ordered mine on Friday, can't wait for it to get here! Question for all you who own the unit - did you purchase the extension tables as well?
Do you think they're necessary, or just a nice extra?

They're adjustable, work well and fold up conveniently - worth it IMO. Unless you only plane short stock, you'll definitely want additional infeed / outfeed support of some sort - even if you build your own.

[Radek Kowalski]

The infeed and outfeed tables are a must. No way to get around without using them.

[Alan DuBoff]

These bench top planers work well, but make sure you use hearing protection with this machine, it's unsafe to run without it, IMO.

Aside from the ability to go through the small blades quickly (they are only 1/16" thick") it will leave a decent finish with new blades.

Although, I must admit I have a Parks 12" planer from the 50s, which is waiting for a starter/switch. Not sure it will retire the DW735, but will most likely steal some of it's thunder. The DW735 is great as it is small, compact, and easily stored. Albeit it is a heavy little sucker...:o

[Jason Hanko]

They're adjustable, work well and fold up conveniently - worth it IMO.

Ive heard the outfeed table does not fold up... is that true or have they fixed that? Not a dealbreaker for me by any means, just curious.

[Alan DuBoff]

Ive heard the outfeed table does not fold up... is that true or have they fixed that? Not a dealbreaker for me by any means, just curious.
The outfeed table removes completely for storage. They do not come with the outfeed/infeed tables by default, you have to buy them, one bad point against the unit, but they work well if you have them.

Also, the dust collection adapter is a must also, unless you have good dust collection (which I don't).

[Mike Henderson]

Ive heard the outfeed table does not fold up... is that true or have they fixed that? Not a dealbreaker for me by any means, just curious.
Well, it does fold up but it won't stay up by itself. What I do is fold the outfeed table up, then wrap the cord around the holders and the cord holds the outfeed table in place.

Easier than taking it off and on.

Mike

[If you aren't going to unplug the unit, use a bungee cord to hold it up - just run the bungee from the infeed table over the top to the outfeed table.]

[Tom Esh]

Ive heard the outfeed table does not fold up... is that true or have they fixed that? Not a dealbreaker for me by any means, just curious.

Like Mike said. The outfeed side doesn't fold quite far enough to stay up. I just run a bungee over the top, one end hooked to each table lip.

[Mike Heidrick]

Looks like a great planer. Congrats!

[Alan DuBoff]

Like Mike said. The outfeed side doesn't fold quite far enough to stay up. I just run a bungee over the top, one end hooked to each table lip.


Looks like a great planer. Congrats!
Somewhere between those comments there's some irony...:rolleyes:

[Jason Hanko]

Somewhere between those comments there's some irony...:rolleyes:
Well technically no...
Since the tables technically don't even come with the planer (you have to purchase them separately) they're technically a completely different product than the planer. Therefore any criticism of the non-folding-won't-stay-up table is technically unrelated to the actual planer. So technically Mike's "great planer" comment holds true and is not ironically-linked to said outfeed table criticism.
Technically speaking, that is. :rolleyes:

[Alan DuBoff]

Well technically no...
Since the tables technically don't even come with the planer (you have to purchase them separately) they're technically a completely different product than the planer. Therefore any criticism of the non-folding-won't-stay-up table is technically unrelated to the actual planer. So technically Mike's "great planer" comment holds true and is not ironically-linked to said outfeed table criticism.
Technically speaking, that is. :rolleyes:Right, but the reality is that Tom has his table bungee'd over the top, one end hooked to each table when being stored.

But I get what you mean...:D