Planer Won't Maintain Thickness

[Julie Moriarty]

I'm running boards through a Dewalt 735, taking 1/4 turn per pass. Everything is fine until the handle on the wheel reaches about 270 degrees. At that point the planer head slowly starts creeping lower, making the depth of cut greater. It seems the vibration, combined with the weight of the handle, is the culprit. I watched it happen.

Is there any way to tighten this thing so the head will stop self-lowering? Or do I have to lock it in place by some other means?

[Greg Parrish]

Not sure as I’ve not had that problem yet but I see a heavier planer in your future after watching all the issues you’ve faced on the dewalt. Maybe it’s time to upgrade to a floor stander. Good excuse anyway

[William Young]

Your 735, according to the manual, has an automatic lock on the carriage. Maybe it isn't working for some reason. Not sure how it works. If your 735 is new enough, maybe your warranty coveres it.

I've used a model 734 for many years. It has a manual brake that is very effective. However, the vertical adjustment crank has some slop in it. I can turn it perhaps 1/4 turn between starting to move the carriage up vs move it down. I have learned that, if I want my adjustments to be the most accurate I will end my adjustment turn in the upward direction. That way the crank shaft threads are in pressure against the carriage and will tend to hold better and my adjustments will be more consistent. You might try that and see if it makes a difference. Otherwise, you may need to make some kind of holding device for your crank handle.

Does your crank (carriage) continue it's movement downward or does it only move within the "slop" in the mechanism?

[Dan Friedrichs]

Julie, do you mean that you turn the handle, then after you've stopped moving the handle, the planer continues to move up/down? That's odd.

Take the cover off (as though you're changing the blades) and inspect the height adjust mechanism. It's very simple - just a chain wrapped around sprockets riding on each of the 4 corner posts. There is no "height lock" - it's "automatic" in the sense that the mechanism doesn't require it. So just check the chain tensioner, check that all 4 corners move when you turn the handle, clean/lube the chain and sprockets, etc.


Actually, re-reading your post, do you mean that the handle, itself, is turning (and causing the height adjust mechanism to work properly in response to the handle turning)? That's also odd There is a screw through the middle of the handle that can be removed - perhaps it can be tightened. But I don't think there is any other means to lock the handle. Again, the mechanism for this is very simple - I believe it's a bevel gear and a sprocket driving the chain. Perhaps some thick grease in it would help?

[glenn bradley]

For other reasons, dad removed the handle. the wheel by itself is what he uses for adjusting the height. Maybe this would help but, the design of that mechanism is to resist the action you are reporting. I did used to jam a rubber door stop on the height wheel for a contractor saw I had.

[Matt Day]

I have the same issue on my 15” 4 poster, even with the columns locked down with the knobs. Handle is pretty heavy so I use the handle to macro adjust then remove it.
The locking mechanism on My old dw734 would slip on the columns, if that’s any help.

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie, do you mean that you turn the handle, then after you've stopped moving the handle, the planer continues to move up/down? That's odd.

Take the cover off (as though you're changing the blades) and inspect the height adjust mechanism. It's very simple - just a chain wrapped around sprockets riding on each of the 4 corner posts. There is no "height lock" - it's "automatic" in the sense that the mechanism doesn't require it. So just check the chain tensioner, check that all 4 corners move when you turn the handle, clean/lube the chain and sprockets, etc.


Actually, re-reading your post, do you mean that the handle, itself, is turning (and causing the height adjust mechanism to work properly in response to the handle turning)? That's also odd There is a screw through the middle of the handle that can be removed - perhaps it can be tightened. But I don't think there is any other means to lock the handle. Again, the mechanism for this is very simple - I believe it's a bevel gear and a sprocket driving the chain. Perhaps some thick grease in it would help?

Yes, the wheel rotates and the head drops as a board is being fed through. I saw nothing in the manual that addresses that problem. In order to keep going, I jammed a wedge between the housing and wheel to keep it in place. That seems to work but it is a pain removing the wedge every time I need to lower the head and jamming it back in again. I never had any of these problems with the old Delta lunchbox planer.

I'm running pecky Bolivian walnut through the planer. Boards are 8" wide. Maybe the wood is too hard for this planer. I've reduced the passes to 1/100".

As the board is being planed, you can see the wheel vibrate. When the handle of the wheel is at the bottom, I don't see the wheel moving. But when the handle is 90 degrees, the rotation is pretty obvious.

A serious planer is not in the cards (lack of room and money) so I have to make this work. I've learned two things from this: (1) have the supplier do the heavy planing and (2) they don't make them like they used to.

[Andrew Hughes]

When ever one of my machines starts cutting weird it’s a sign of a dull cutter.
The 735 are not know for their great knifes.
I sold my 735 with a set of infinity’s carbide tipped knives it was a awesome set up. I could pass very strips of gaboon ebony thru with no problems.
I think that I was lucky with that one because it didn’t snipe. My Pm 15 hh snipes on both ends.

[John TenEyck]

I would bet the knives are dull, too. OTOH, the height adjustment on my Craftsman TS creeps down, too, if the handle on the wheel is not at bottom dead center, until it is. To solve that problem I put a spring clamp on the bottom of the wheel.

John

[Doug Dawson]

My Pm 15 hh snipes on both ends.

Lower the table rollers so that they're no longer contacting the wood (i.e. level them at or below the table surface.) That should reduce the snipe. You don't need them unless you're planing rough lumber, but you've already jointed the surface that is in contact with the table, so you're not.

[Matt Day]

Snipe is completely different than what is going on here. Snipe is usually due to bed rollers too high, lack of board support, or infeed or outfeed roller pressure.

[Andrew Hughes]

Doug I’ve put them put down I’ve put them up.
Adjusted every single thing one can be adjusted on my planer.
Ive come to the conclusion that the bed has a dip between the rollers and have found the whole carriage assembly flexes when wood goes thru.
Someday I’m going to replace it with a proper machine. Until then I always feed with a salvage board to take up some of the snipe.
Thanks for your advice

[Randy Viellenave]

I made a kwik fix a while back.
planer_stop.jpg
A toggle clamp would be better, but this gets the job done. I will at some point change to the toggle clamp.
toggle_clamp.jpg

[Rod Sheridan]

Any planer where the head is lowered to reduce thickness, should be lowered down below the setpoint, and then raised to the correct setpoint.

This takes all the backlash out of the planer elevation mechanism.

On a planer where the bed is raised, this isn't required because you're always taking the backlash out of the elevation mechanism. Unless of course you rise it too high, then you have to go below the setpoint and raise it to the correct setpoint............Rod.

[Randy Viellenave]

I read that someplace else and tried it, but my 735 still tends to drop a little when the knives get just a little dull or I try to take too much. I use the stop to keep it in the right range, then set the final from below to avoid the tolerance drop which holding the wheel doesn't help any. That drop is only about 0.005".