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Thread: Planer Dilemma

  1. #1

    Planer Dilemma

    Hi All,

    I’ve been following Sawmill Creek for quite a long while (you all are awesome) and have finally created an account in order to graduate past observer status.

    The main reason is because I recently ordered my first planer; a DW735x. Part of why I ordered it is because it seems I’ve finally settled down in one place for a while... it was on the list of tools for what will be a fairly active hobby shop in a tuck under garage. A few Dewalt Dealers had a brief sale for $499 USD and it just felt like the right time.

    I bought the planer shipped and sold by Amazon. I was wary about buying a power tool from Amazon but since it was directly through them it felt a little safer...

    The planer showed up and the packaging was in good shape but once I assembled it and got it up on the stand I noticed that the feed side of the stainless steel table had some significant cosmetic scratches... When I looked closer at eye level you could see a pretty obvious board shaped path in the oil coating from the factory on the planer base table and while the machine was overall really clean... there were also a handful of small shavings sticking to the oil on the base.

    It seems I was shipped a used planer (albeit apparently lightly). I called Amazon customer service and quickly explained the situation and they actually did not seem super surprised... They offered to either exchange it or offered a 20% discount and I could keep it but the sale would be final.

    I have never owned or worked in a shop with a planer before (my professional background for the last 8 years is in scenic carpentry on items of a massive scale to be viewed by audiences from 25+ feet away and I am just now working on learning fine woodworking skills as a hobby.) My question is... what would you do? I have not used it yet because I wanted to establish with Amazon that it arrived used before using it myself... The scratches are prominent and impossible to miss but seem to be just cosmetic and I think I could get over them. I also checked for flatness with a reliable strait edge and I would not say that it is exactly flawless but it is pretty darn close. Doesn’t look like the blades are nicked at all visually but I guess actually running some stock would tell that story better. Is there anything else I should consider checking with a planer? How much could someone have possibly abused it? Would you consider the price fair for a used DW735x that was supposed to be new?

    Thanks in advance for the advice, I have gone back and forth on this quite a few times in the last 24 hours.
    Last edited by Kyle Himsworth; 07-05-2020 at 11:30 AM.

  2. #2
    I bought my planer from a guy I used to go to church with for $100. He thought it had something wrong with it but it was only the VERY dull blades. Once they were sharpened, it worked great. It is old and only planes wood up to 10 inches wide. But it works fine.

    I often buy reconditioned tools which are typically 10-20% cheaper than new. The warranty is often shorter too. For enough savings, I buy them. I have always been happy with them.

    I said these things to give you some logic for why I will say I think you should run a board or two through and if all is well, keep it. I think 20% if fair for cosmetic scratches. It's unfortunate it was mis-represented - that they didn't tell you it had been returned - but it seems they are offering a fair resolution. At least I think it's fair. If it shows signs of nicks in the knives, you may be able to move them to resolve that but it starts to get marginal to me.

    For what it's worth I also think that is a nice planer you will be happy with. All the reviews and user feedback I've seen are good.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Arlington, TX
    Posts
    452
    First, turn it on, and listen to it run. Those units are known to be loud, but should not sound rough, or have too much vibration (be ready to turn it off immediately).

    I think that model has a fan to assist extracting the chips. Make sure it is running.

    Then, since it is already used, I would run a scrap of clean wood (at least a couple of feet long) through it, and look at the planed surface. Pay attention to the grain direction, and feed with the grain, not against the grain.

    If all works well, then I'd say the discount is probably worth it.

    -- Andy - Arlington TX

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Cambridge Vermont
    Posts
    2,271
    I've seen a number of people complain that they got something used from Amazon lately. I'm thinking it's people buying something, using it once, and then returning it. Maybe in the past Amazon would clean it before selling it again (maybe because of the virus they don't now?) or maybe they would return it to the company to be refurbished, I don't know. Now it looks like they just offer a discount. The last item I came across this was a set of hair clippers. In the reviews lots of different brands had people taking pictures of clippers with hair on them right out of the box.

    When it comes to tools it seams to me either you will accept used or you wanted new and not being new will be a disappointment. Usually with tools if it performs as expected over time you fall "in love" with it and it doesn't matter. Since someone else already did I would run a board through it and see if there's any problems. Since the oil wasn't cleaned off I would guess that someone probably wasn't sure if they could live with the noise level and determined that they couldn't. I don't have one so I can't tell you how much adjusting they need when new so I would be less concerned about stuff like snipe, just that it ran as expected and there's no unusual marks on the board. I would expect the warranty to still be good but if you have a problem you would have to deal with DeWalt, not Amazon. DeWalt will most likely want you to take it to a factory authorized repair center. I'm lucky because there's a company that is certified close by so I don't need to ship something.

    In the overall life of that planer 1 or 2 boards is nothing. I probably would pocket the $80. That's a couple of sets of blades.

  5. #5
    If it runs good I would probably keep it and use the money for extra blades or buy / make a stand. I like buying tools direct from the manufacturer or authorized dealer. Or my local HD Lowe’s or woodworking store. Amazon can be great for smaller items or accessories. But I’m not going to buy planers, band saws jointers or any machinery over ~$500 on amazon.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    SoCal
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    22,480
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    Back when dad bought his DW735 they all came with saw dust in them. They actually test each one was what we were told so kudos on the 20% off; I would be all over that. 15 years later, all we have ever done on dad's is change the knives. t has been a champ. Sounds like you don't have a jointer yet so take a few hours on a Saturday and whip yourself up a Keith Rust planer sled or the more refined ShopNotes version if you have a mind to. Face jointing your material is the first step to making straight and true project parts. I am still using a Keith Rust version I built back in 2009. It lives in the lumber rack and although I have a larger jointer now, it still gets called into duty for wider stock.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,811
    Does Amazon have free prime shipping on the big machines?
    Bil lD

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    Does Amazon have free prime shipping on the big machines?
    Bil lD
    They do for a lot of items that are shipped and sold directly by Amazon! Honestly, though... We got rid of our Prime account a few years ago to discourage easy purchasing in order to save for a house (and then tools for said house) so I'm not 100% sure. Shipping was still free but it took a while! It looks like any other dealers who also sell on Amazon typically bake their normal shipping fees into the price and also ship "for free"

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Lebanon, TN
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    1,719
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Dufour View Post
    Does Amazon have free prime shipping on the big machines?
    Bil lD
    Yes, and they normally have good return service.

    I ordered a ShopFox W1812 Moulder ($1600) from Amazon. I got the 'It's out for Delivery' text message and a call from the local freight company. It never showed up. After a couple of days, Amazon sent me another and gave me a $100 credit for the inconvenience.

    That showed up around 10pm, on a Friday night, in the pouring rain. The delivery guy showed me where the packing box was damaged and asked me if I wanted to refuse delivery. He waited while we slid the outer (damaged) box off. It looked like the polystyrene had done it's job.

    As I was working on another project. The W1812 sat for about 4 weeks before I assembled it. I then found the cutter head had been knocked in about 1/8" and would not turn. I'm fairly mechanically inclined, but could not figure out how to fix this.

    I called Amazon, even though it was several weeks later. They said no problem, even though I didn't have the original packing material. They picked it up, frieght, next day and refunded me totally.

    Amazon has a warehouse near me. They also had a huge warehouse sale of returned items. They open this up for about 8 weeks and they sell returned items, starting at 40% off and going up to 70% off as the weeks progress.

    I noticed in their inventory of 37,000 items, there were 2 ShopFox W1812 moulders and several SawStop Saws. I wondered if the W1812's were the units that we destined for me. I went to the warehouse a couple of weeks after it opened and all the Sawstop stuff was gone.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dwight View Post

    I often buy reconditioned tools which are typically 10-20% cheaper than new. The warranty is often shorter too. For enough savings, I buy them. I have always been happy with them.

    I said these things to give you some logic for why I will say I think you should run a board or two through and if all is well, keep it. I think 20% if fair for cosmetic scratches. It's unfortunate it was mis-represented - that they didn't tell you it had been returned - but it seems they are offering a fair resolution. At least I think it's fair. If it shows signs of nicks in the knives, you may be able to move them to resolve that but it starts to get marginal to me.

    For what it's worth I also think that is a nice planer you will be happy with. All the reviews and user feedback I've seen are good.
    Thanks for the advice. I do think that I could get over the scratches and nicks eventually... If it had been represented as used it would be no problem at all, of course. I honestly wonder how long it will take me to make some scratches of my own... although I tend to baby tools and electronics generally.

  11. #11
    Thanks, that's good perspective because I personally don't know what "normal" operation of the 735 is supposed to look, sound, or feel like... since this is my first one. That's part of what had me apprehensive about keeping it. (Then 3 years later I'm telling someone not to buy it when in reality mine never worked the way it was supposed to). I'm definitely planning on running some test pieces.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Alex Zeller View Post
    I've seen a number of people complain that they got something used from Amazon lately. I'm thinking it's people buying something, using it once, and then returning it. Maybe in the past Amazon would clean it before selling it again (maybe because of the virus they don't now?) or maybe they would return it to the company to be refurbished, I don't know. Now it looks like they just offer a discount. The last item I came across this was a set of hair clippers. In the reviews lots of different brands had people taking pictures of clippers with hair on them right out of the box.
    Funny that you say that because I've only personally seen from Amazon one item sold as new that was obviously used (a higher end soldering iron that was covered in solder out of the box.) However, mid COVID lockdown I purchased a hair trimmer from Best Buy and went to pick it up in the store.... fortunately the damaged packaging was not opaque and as soon as it was handed to me I immediately saw little black hairs all over the cutting head. I'm not squeamish or grossed out easily but I feel like re-selling a used hair trimmer as new is a bit crazy. My best guess is that may have happened with a lot of grooming products during COVID lockdowns since people couldn't get haircuts they decided to do a "free rental."... which is kinda gross.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by glenn bradley View Post
    Back when dad bought his DW735 they all came with saw dust in them. They actually test each one was what we were told so kudos on the 20% off; I would be all over that. 15 years later, all we have ever done on dad's is change the knives. t has been a champ. Sounds like you don't have a jointer yet so take a few hours on a Saturday and whip yourself up a Keith Rust planer sled or the more refined ShopNotes version if you have a mind to. Face jointing your material is the first step to making straight and true project parts. I am still using a Keith Rust version I built back in 2009. It lives in the lumber rack and although I have a larger jointer now, it still gets called into duty for wider stock.
    Thanks for the heads up on the planer sled! (And for the vote of confidence in the 735.. makes me feel better) Honestly I thought about if maybe it had been tested in the factory and so I asked the Amazon rep and they said they would have no way to know (understandable) I thought about contacting Dewalt Customer service but they basically keep bank hours. If this was a factor test... they really nicked up the stainless steel table pretty badly which makes me lean towards that probably not being the case, but hard to say for sure!

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Arlington, TX
    Posts
    452
    Not a power tool, but I purchased a USA-made Yost #880 8" reversible bench vise from Amazon. This was just when Yost was moving much of their manufacturing offshore, including that model (now #880-D2, made in China).

    It arrived in packaging that was definitely not factory-original. But since it is virtually indestructible, it was unharmed, and I accepted it. It is a wonderfully versatile, heavy-duty bench vise (not woodworking, but I made slip-on wooden jaw faces for it, and have used it as such occasionally).

    I wondered if it had been purchased and returned, or what. There was no evidence it had actually been used.

    -- Andy - Arlington TX

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