Lunchbox planers

[Izzy Camire]

Hi Folks,
I know the question on lunchbox planers has been asked before. I did a search and found information. If nobody minds I'd like to ask again.
I'd have narrowed things down to 3 machines: Dewalt 735, Delta 22-580, and the Rigid 4330.
I have found there are complaints about the knives on the DW735 so I am somwhat leary of that machine.
The Delta seems like a good machine. There seem to be a few complaints about the rollers but overall it seems like a good machine.
The Rigid also seems like a good machine although I am not sure about dealing with HD and the availability of knives.
Any information anybody wants to add about these or other machines would be welcome.
Thanks

[Tanner Sammons]

I have the 22-580 and like it. I haven't had any issues with it and knives are a breeze to change. My only complaint would be the dust chute, unless you have a decent dust collector the fitting will clog up quickly. Not an issue if you have a dust collector bigger than a shop-vac. )

[Travis Gauger]

I have direct experience with the Dewalt and the Ridgid for you. I just upgraded from the Dewalt 735 planer. Excellent machine but what you've read about the blades are absolutely true. I was averaging about 300 linear ft of planing per set. For my shop, this was blade replacement every week or so. Couldn't afford to keep that up. I was also taking pretty aggresive cuts of about a 16th of an inch per pass for this style of machine. I sold this one to a friend of mine who loves it and will probably only replace blades once a year or so for his level of use. The Dewalt is an awesome planer that is very high quality and has all the bells and whistles. It is not very portable for a portable planer though. You also definitely need the infeed and outfeed table extension too which adds to the cost. All said and done, i would have been better off buying the shop fox 15" in the first place instead buying the dewalt and then upgrading later.

I have a neighbor that has the ridgid and has no problem finding knives for it. He told me those comments about not being able to find knives was from when it was first launched in stores. Don't know if there is any truth to that or not, just what he told me. He swears by his ridgid planer though. I haven't spent much time with it but I hear him running it all the time and he gets real nice results out of it. He also brings the ridgid blades over to my shop and sharpens them, which couldn't be done on the dewalt.

I hope this helps. Just as a note, If your looking at a DW735 with all the accessories, you may want to look at a real planer. Your really only a hundred dollars or so from stepping up to a non-universal motor unit.

[Scott Vigder]

I've had the DeWalt for three years and about 2200 bf. I replaced the knives around 1500 bf. As a hobbyist, I didn't mind the extra sanding in the last few hundred bf before I finally replaced the knives. I do not expect tolerances in the one-one thousandth range, but I try to be picky down to a sixty-fourth. Here is the latest project just completed for the wife:a combination of hard maple, white oak and walnut and it all planed great!

Finished Table.jpg

[Joseph N. Myers]

Izzy,

I have 3 planers, a 12" Delta, the 12" 22-580 and an 18" Woodmaster. All are good but end up using the 22-580 the most. Did have issues with the blades when I first got it (3 years ago) but the blades lately are very good. Same blades for 3 months, at least 600 bf ft, oak, walnut, cherry, etc. Have flipped and shifted them and figure another 100 bd ft in them. (Note: shifting - start with both blades to left, if you get a nick as in a screw, shift one of blades to right and nick goes away).

I have the 22-580 and like it. I haven't had any issues with it and knives are a breeze to change. My only complaint would be the dust chute, unless you have a decent dust collector the fitting will clog up quickly. Not an issue if you have a dust collector bigger than a shop-vac. )

Tanner,

Got a hint from one of the SMC members. Take the chute and squeeze it in so that the middle gets wider. Works great. Use to have to clean out chute every 10 minutes, now every two hours? And that only happens when have long, wide wood chips. BTW, I have a big 2hp Penn State so the "bigger than a shop-vac" was not any help in my situation.

Regards, Joe

[Bill Huber]

I have the Ridgid and have had no problems with it, I like it and it does a very good job, I do not make really large cuts in hard wood but the out put is very smooth.
There is not a head lock on the planer but the way it is designed it does not need one. Snip is still a little problem and can be controlled with adjusting the in/out feed tables.
The DC on it is not very good unless you have a big DC unit, on the old 1300 I used a shop vac and it work out very well. On the 4330 when using the shop vac it does not work near as good.

All in all for the price of a 3 blade planer I think it is a very good little unit.

[Tim Thomas]

I've got the Ridgid 1300 and I like it so far. I haven't run a whole lot of wood through it, but what I have done has come out quite nicely. I also looked at the Dewalt and I think it is a good machine, but since it didn't come with a stand or infeed/outfeed tables I couldn't justify the price difference. I would echo what has been said earlier in that if you are willing to spend the price on the Dewalt you could get almost get a 15 incher with cast iron tables from Shop Fox or Grizzly. If you really need the machine to be portable, I would still go with the Ridgid 1300 because it has the built in tables, carrying handles and a form factor that would make it easier to lug around. (It's still pretty heavy for just one person to "carry" and I wouldn't want to do that for long)

One other thing is that my Ridgid came with an extra set of knives. They are actually in a plastic case that is attached to the bottom of one of the feed tables. There is also onboard tool storage for everything you need to change the blades. Lastly, all of the blades are double sided, so right out of the box I really have 4 sets of blades. My local Home Depot stores always seem to have plenty of these blades in stock, for about $30 per pair.

[Lee Koepke]

I was looking at the DW 734. I heard OK things about that one. The 735 with all the fixins definately aproached the barrier to bigger machines. The 734 was more easier to justify

[glenn bradley]

I've gotthe DW734 and love it; three knives but only one speed. Dc is good. The DW735 DC is excellent, knives may be an issue although I, like you, have heard both versions of that experience. The real rub on the DW735 is the price. They used to be expensive, but worth it. Now they are sooo expensive that it is just a short hop to a floor model.

[Izzy Camire]

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

The issue of the price on the Dewalt 735 is correct. Right now however it is on sale at $455 and that makes it look better.

[J. Z. Guest]

I would get the one that has the reports of no snipe, and if possible, one that uses knives that can be sourced from other than the OEM. (such as through holbren.com) Snipe can be very hard, if not impossible to fix on these small planers. Finish quality is secondary, as you will want to do some light sanding prior to finishing anyway.

If you get one that snipes, and you find you can't fix the problem, you're going to end up wasting 6" of wood for each board planed, or have to take other stopgap measures.

Disposable knives are bad, IMO, because then the OEM has you by the balls, and if they decide to make that model obsolete, you have to buy a new planer.

If I had it to do again and had the money, I would go with the higher end Delta of their small models, the one that is $400-600.

[Pat Germain]

I also have a Delta 22-580 and I'm happy with it. I experienced some snipe when I first got it, but I really didn't know how to set it up. Since then, I make sure the cutting head is always locked down snug, which helps a lot.

I also adjusted the infeed and outfeed tables to be slightly higher than level. They are adjusted just high enough to allow a nickel placed in the center to fit under a straight edge sitting all the way across the tables. I read about that procedure somewhere here on SMC and decided to try it. I thought it might create less-than-flat results. However, it actually resulted in zero snipe and dead flat results. (Thanks, SMC.)

I don't know how many board feet I've run, but I've been using the planer off and on for about a year and just recently flipped the blades.

FYI, I connect my planer to a Delta 50-760 DC with a very long flex hose and I've never had a problem with it clogging.

[Chris Bruno]

I can only speak to the DW735. I was fortunate enough to get mine for a song ($275), but I'm quite pleased with it so far. Surface finish is perfect and the dust collection seems to be quite good also.

-Chris

[Russ Ambrose]

don't have experience with the others, but have the Ridgid and love it. also, don't overlook the fact that the Ridgid comes with a lifetime warranty.

[Pat Germain]

...also, don't overlook the fact that the Ridgid comes with a lifetime warranty.

Seriously? I mean, if the motor burns out after running a few thousand feet of hard maple, HD will fix or replace it as long as the original owner has it? If so, that's pretty impressive.