Why get DW735 planer?

[Andrew Hughes]

I had the 735 and a pm 15hh . The Dewalt will sit nicely on the top of the pm. I bought carbide tipped knifes from infinity tools for the Dewalt and I can say with reservations it left a better surface then the pm.
Insert heads take much more power to scrap out wood due to the bevel down insert. And they do leave a odd surface.
A bevel up knife take much less power leaves a excellent flat board and you can take a bigger cut. Plus the knives are indexed why anyone would want to dismiss that is beyond me.
Is this some kinds YouTube sickness teaching blindly for viewers.

[David Utterback]

I recently upgraded to the OEM diameter Byrd head in my 735. It does not seem to bog down noticeably although I rarely adjust the thickness by more than half a turn. I work mostly with cherry but have run a lot of walnut and some QSWO. It seems to have less tear out but does leave a visually noticeable corrugated surface. The reduced noise level is important to me.

The straight knives are reversible and can also be adjusted side to side to help correct small nicks in the blades. Others have noted that blade quality is not the same as formerly available. I operated mine with straight knives for at least 10 years so machine durability seems to be good.

BTW, the classified section has one listed for $200 but no pictures. It is located in Delaware. Good luck

[Randy Heinemann]

I've owned my 735 for about 10 years. While it's true that, for several years, while working, I didn't use it a lot, I've used it much more over the past 5 years. The biggest complaints people have about it are that the factory knives don't last long enough and you can't take larger bites with it. Both are, to some degree, true. However, because I'm not a production woodworker, it really hasn't mattered that much over the years I've owned it.

I generally take about 1/32" cut on each pass starting out with rough lumber for one of several hardwood lumber places I have access to. Mostly the starting thickness is from 13/16" to 15/16" (on some occasions a full inch). So, it does take a number of passes to get it to 3/4". If I need thinner stock, I try to resaw the board close enough that several passes will get me to the desired thickness.

I have not upgraded to the spiral cutter head made for the 735. It is a great upgrade but, given my planer's 10-year age, it doesn't seem like the most economical move at this point. I am now using the Deuhlen jig for rehoming the knives, but don't have enough experience with it to say it really extends the life of factors knives. However, If I can even get a second use of both edges, I would be saving half the cost of new knives, making the cost of replacement knives reasonable.

I would agree with others that, if you are running a large amount of hardwood through the planer because you are a prolific hobbyist or make furntiure for a living, you should consider a heavier duty planer. For the woodworker who builds projects in his/her spare time, though, the 735 is a great planer. Upgrading to the helical heads on a new planer would likely be worth it. I have a helical head jointer and the results are great. I still doubt you could easily take much more than a 1/32" off on each pass and it would still take you much longer to plane the needed wood. (However, the overall cost of the 735 plus helical head is probably about half of a 15" planer with a helical head so money wise you are probably still ahead.)

[Drew Sanderson]

This thread is fantastic. I am really enjoying everyone's contribution.

[Charles Lent]

Does the Dewalt 735 need a powered cyclone to work properly? My older Delta 2-speed doesn’t extract the chips fast enough without being hooked to a cyclone to eliminate denting of the wood. I have moved to a much smaller indoor shop and would love to not need to figure out how to mount my cyclone and run power for it.

The internal blower in the 735 does a good job of removing the chips from the planer, as long as there is no back pressure in the exhaust line. I use the hose and fabric barrel cover that was available as an option from DeWalt and when installed on a 60 gallon plastic barrel The 735 stays clean and the chips go into the barrel, as long as the draw string keeps the cover on the barrel. When it blows off and I don't realize it soon enough I have to clean the escaping chips out of my neighbor's swimming pool. I can fill that 60 gallon barrel in a little over an hour of planning. I would never try using a smaller barrel or 5 gallon bucket. It would likely fill in just 1 or two passes of a long board. You would need to be dumping it constantly. Planers make a lot of curly chips that don't stack well in the collection container. Around here, it's easy to find a plastic or steel barrel for just a few dollars. You may need to cut one end out of it, but then just keep it upside down behind your shop until planning time. DeWalt no longer sells this hose/barrel cover option for the 735 planer, but Black & Decker has what looks to be an identical hose / barrel cover except for the color that you might look into. https://www.lowes.com/pd/BLACK-DECKE...ystem/50251977 Since DeWalt and Black & Decker are really the same company, it's quite likely that this will fit the 735, but I haven't tried it. If you do, I and probably others would be very interested in your test results. Since both the planer and the hose / barrel cover can both be found in Lowes, it should be easy to try the hose on the display model 735 to see how well it fits.

Charley

[Jeff Leimberger]

Drew,

while you can certainly store the 735 on top of or below a counter to open floor space, it is heavy for a portable planer. Let's just say while mine is "portable", I do think twice about moving it. Of course, when I was 40 it was more portable and the floor models aren't portable at any age!

[Steve Reich]

I've had this planer (bought on Craigslist) for about 4 years and have found it very reliable and have successfully planed all kinds of stock and species through it of varying lengths and widths. I guess I would call it heavy-duty hobbyist. I get very little (if any at all) snipe.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the interior parts are made of relatively cheap plastic that degrades over time. They can also crack. Last week I discovered that it was becoming increasingly difficult to raise the depth setting; I could barely turn the wheel that sets the depth of cut. I opened it up to find it loaded with wood chips and dust, so much that it had become embedded in the chain and sprocket. Now I knew why I could barely turn the wheel crank. After vacuuming it out and running all kinds of tests for several hours, I discovered that the fan housing set (a piece of plastic that fits together) over the small impeller had become worn along its seam, creating a sizable gap for dust to escape. Once I discovered this as the problem, I repaired it with a small piece of weather stripping and now it runs just fine. I discovered that others have experienced the same problem with that piece or with the dust shroud. So just beware that this is not an uncommon problem to encounter.

[Martin Siebert]

I have had a 735 for about 4 years now. I have the stand and wings and a Wixey DRO. I did not opt for the Byrd Shelix head. I would add this: the 735 is suitable for all but constant day in day out use. For the home wood worker that builds things and needs a good planer that will set thickness and leave a very smooth finish it is the best, especially for the money. They are tough. I used mine just about daily and when I got my sawmill a year ago I had to go with a bigger heavier duty machine.
I did not opt for the Shelix because the 735 does not require a dial indicator and a few hours to set the blades. I also felt that the straight blades on the 735 do a very nice job of planing a board with very minimal sanding. You can get some tear out though, especially with figured wood.
Apparently there were different grades of HSS used in the manufacture of the blades. I was told. or I read somewhere, that the "better" blades had a little diamond engraved on the face of the better blades. You can see the diamond while the blades are in the package. It is really nice that the blades are available at many hardware/building supply stores.
There is nothing quiet about the 735...you must wear hearing protection to run it. I think the chip blower makes more noise than the actual machine if there is no wood being planed. I never had trouble with mine expelling chips. The only issue I ever had was when I ran it in the cold the feed rollers got hard and didn't want to feed. Buy with confidence, as far as planing a board I guarantee you cannot tell the difference between an average board planed on my 735 and one done on my 20" Powermatic with a helical head.

[Andrew More]

Going to buck the trend a bit and suggest the DW734 over the 735. The 735 is slightly nicer, but when you look at what you're getting, I'm not convinced it's worth the extra money. Currently Home Depot lists the 734 at $450, and the 735 at $600, which is a bit misleading, because you're going to want the folding tables for another $50. So there is effectively a $200 difference between the two.

So what do you get for your $200?

* 1/2" extra width
* a blower to extract chips
* two speeds, with the "slow" speed matching the DW734's feed rate.

If you've got a dust collector, or you just sweep up after it, the blower is not useful. The faster speed is not going to be useful unless you're feeding a lot of stock all the time. For hobbyest work, the "slow" speed is plenty fast enough.

Both planers deliver excellent surface finishes, and make similar cuts. The DW734 will handle slight shorter stock, since it's rollers are closer together.

So for me, the DW735 is definitely the better planer, but I don't think it's worth the extra $200. YMMV

[Charles Lent]

I want to go from rough to finish on domestics. I need versatility. I have a two car garage I like to use as a garage so the thought of storing the planer without needing its own floor square footage is ideal.

Drew,

If you buy a DeWalt Miter Saw / Planer Stand for the 735, you can stand the whole thing, with the planer attached, up on end like a hand truck and it only takes a couple of sq ft of shop floor space. When you want to use it, wheel it into position like you would a hand truck, lay the handle down on the floor, and then lift the top portion with the planer on it up to working height. Gas cylinders in the stand do most of the lifting. The stand will lock in two different height positions. I have the 735 in and out feed tables, and use them, but the stand has rollers that can be extended and raised to help support longer work and they work together well.

When you have finished using the planer, the in and out feed rollers can be moved back into their storage positions and the in and out feed tables of the 735 can be folded, then you lift the stand slightly and press a lever to unlock the stand. Then you lower the stand and 735 back down into it's folded position. All that's left is to lift the handle end of the stand with the 735 still attached and wheel it back into it's storage position in your shop. The stand and 735 make a great combination, but the attachment of the 735 to the stand requires that you make an adapter because the stand has T slot rails that were designed more for attaching a miter saw and the foot print of the 735 is larger. My adapter is a piece of 3/4 cabinet birch ply with mounting holes to match the base of the 735 and mounting holes to match the rail position of the stand. Add a few bolts and the planer is mounted to the stand. I roll my 735 on my stand through a narrow doorway, so I always remove the hand wheel from the side of the 735 for transit. It attaches with one Allen head cap screw and the T wrench supplied with the 735 fits it, so this step is easy. I use one of the Velcro cable tie straps to attach the removed hand wheel to the upper part of the stand to keep everything together and replace the cap screw in the end of the hand wheel shaft so it doesn't get lost.

Here is a link to the stand that I'm using. They are available from many sources for about the same price. It isn't a cheap solution, but it is well worth the money.

https://www.maxtool.com/dewalt-32-1-...kaAu4qEALw_wcB

Charley

[Phillip Mitchell]

I use the 2 different speeds on my 735 all the time and would now find it really lacking if I only had the slow speed. I use the slow speed on the last pass or 2 and usually the faster speed for everything else. Just my opinion.

[Michelle Rich]

If you are going to purchase a tabletop planer, check out Cutech..carbide cutters and costs in the realm of the 735..sometimes less on sale and free ship..the 735 is an absolute screamer, the cutech is a bit quieter

[Dan Friedrichs]

Going to buck the trend a bit and suggest the DW734 over the 735.

Both are nice machines, but IMHO, the 735 is the better value-per-dollar. I never used the folding tables on my 735, and never felt that they would be useful in any way.

More importantly, the 734 requires that you flip down a lever to manually lock the head after every height adjustment. That gets tedious in a hurry. The 735 has no such requirement - just turn the height adjustment and go.

[Andrew More]

I never used the folding tables on my 735, and never felt that they would be useful in any way.

Those tables help avoid snipe. It's on page 7 of the DW735 manual as well. It's also important for support if you're planing longer pieces. If you're just doing small projects, or don't care about snipe then the outfeed tables probably aren't a necessity.

[Steve Reich]

When I bought mine used, it came with the folding tables. Once I properly set them, I've had no snipe to speak of (and they help with long boards).