Byrd Shelix on DW735

[Jeff Monson]

Jeff,

So are you saying you liked DW735 with spiral to the Hammer A3-31? What was "better" - smoother finished surface?

This thread along with the Combo vs Separate thread has hit home with me. I was thinking of the DW735 (good price on the package that includes table and blades right now) with a 12" jointer to follow, or the Hammer, Jet or Grizzly combo's and the final option of the 15" Grizzly 453Z planer and 12" jointer. So many choices!

I would assume the Grizzly pair with spiral heads would be the pick of the litter if space and cost are no object, followed by the combos - is a spiral option Grizzly combo a better choice than the straight knife Hammer? And the 3rd would be the Dewalt 735 planer and Grizzly jointer.

I dont miss owning a lunchbox planer at all. I do miss the spiral head, its quiter and without argument less tearout on figured wood. Straight knives are fine for 95% of the planing I do, I prefer to use my drum sander if I need to thickness figured wood (I know, I know, a drum sander is not a planer). My Hammer A3-31 is a great machine, accuracy is spot on plus I can take off as much material as I want without loosing power or finish quality. If I had a huge shop with a wallet to match, I'd own seperate machines, with matching capacities.

[Victor Robinson]

Some really useful thoughts here, thanks everyone.

I think it makes sense for me to go ahead with the Byrd on my 735. I'm lucky not to have paid full price on the DW735. If I had, there's no way in heck I'd be putting close to $1k into a lunchbox.

If I can just quiet down the DW735, it will do me fine until the itch for the big boy planer gets too bad. Jeff, was removing the blower easy enough, and would it be easy to put it back in? My DC is my shopvac + separator, so I have a feeling it won't be able to pull the heavy chips. The question will be whether the mess is detrimental to the cut/machine or if it's just an issue of extra cleanup, which I will tolerate for the sake of noise reduction.

[keith micinski]

If your only using a shop vac I would say leave the blower on because I could see you running into an issue with chip build up on the piece with only a shop vac.

[Victor Robinson]

If your only using a shop vac I would say leave the blower on because I could see you running into an issue with chip build up on the piece with only a shop vac.

You're going to make me cry, Keith. But you're probably right...

Soundproofing "box" it is...

[keith micinski]

Well the good thing is you can remove it and your not out anything because you can just put it back in. My guess is they built it with that freight train on there for a reason though. That thing would pressurize my dust collector with it turned off.

[Jeff Monson]

My guess is they built it with that freight train on there for a reason though.

Thanks for the laugh Keith!

Victor I'm afraid he is correct, you need good DC with a planer to avoid chip buildup in the cutter head and the feed rollers. The DW735 has enough issues with chips and roller slippage without adding more to the mix. I originally ran mine with a 700cfm Delta DC about 5 feet away from the planer (without the fan) and it worked great. Its very easy to remove...but I think in your situation it will need to be there. Just my .02