Why get DW735 planer?

[Steve Reich]

Josh: Where does Dewalt make this recommendation? The manual explains that the machine comes with two dust ejection ports, one for connecting to a four-inch dust collector hose. So, where do they say that suction can cause damage?

[Robert Cherry]

Josh: Where does Dewalt make this recommendation? The manual explains that the machine comes with two dust ejection ports, one for connecting to a four-inch dust collector hose. So, where do they say that suction can cause damage?

Steve, I don’t recall that the manual says it, but that is exactly what DeWalt tech support told me as well- they do not recommend DC with this machine because you can over speed the internal blower, or if you are using a DC with less CFM capability than the internal blower you can get chips backed up in the planer. They recommend the B&D bag and trash can set-up. I’ve read that many folks use their 735 hooked up to their DC without problems, but for me the trash can works well and I feel better following the guidance from tech support.

[Doug Dawson]

Steve, I don’t recall that the manual says it, but that is exactly what DeWalt tech support told me as well- they do not recommend DC with this machine because you can over speed the internal blower, or if you are using a DC with less CFM capability than the internal blower you can get chips backed up in the planer.

If that's true then maybe you should surgically remove the internal blower, and it might quiet the machine down a bit.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Steve, I don’t recall that the manual says it, but that is exactly what DeWalt tech support told me as well- they do not recommend DC with this machine because you can over speed the internal blower, or if you are using a DC with less CFM capability than the internal blower you can get chips backed up in the planer. They recommend the B&D bag and trash can set-up. I’ve read that many folks use their 735 hooked up to their DC without problems, but for me the trash can works well and I feel better following the guidance from tech support.

I'm dubious. The fan is on the same motor shaft as the cutterhead and feedrollers. So hook your monster sucker DC up with the planer off - does the motor spin? Of course not. Nothing to worry about.

[Grant Wilkinson]

I removed the impeller on mine long ago, on the advice of a local Dewalt tech. The other advantage was that the scream level went way down. Bonus! The tech told me that a dust collector and the impeller could fight each other and I could get chips backing up as a result. I must admit that I did not see any issues like that before I removed the impeller. I removed it primarily to quiet this beast down.

[Doug Dawson]

I'm dubious. The fan is on the same motor shaft as the cutterhead and feedrollers. So hook your monster sucker DC up with the planer off - does the motor spin? Of course not. Nothing to worry about.

Methinks you'd need more than a 5hp ClearVue to run a planer off the blower fan at any speed beyond mouse tickling. :^)

[William A Johnston]

I had a DW735 for many years before upgrading to a 20" G1033X. I thought about changing out the head to a Byrd but it seemed to be as much as the planer would cost new.

Although I must say if you are cramped up and have little space why not. The DW735 is super loud but it's definitely a work horse and served me well and I had no issues with it. I did end up adding the extension tables and the roller stand a couple years before I made the switch.

I don't think anyone can go wrong with the DW735.

Bill

[Steve Reich]

Thanks for the feedback on your communiques with Dewalt. I may experiment around and remove the impeller and see its impact on performance. I do get chips that back out the front of the machine when I plane, so maybe I'm experiencing the impeller and DC fighting each other? I game for anything that quiets this thing down too.

[Grant Wilkinson]

@Steve: That was the only issue that I had from time to time, Steve. I would get chips out the front of the machine, particularly if I was planing something quite thick so that the head and rollers were inches from the bed. I don't get that now at all. Since I see no downside and since it's a lot quieter, I figure that it's a win. (It's still loud, though.)

[Pete Staehling]

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

HMMM. That makes me wonder if the 734 might actually be a better fit for me. It will be connected to DC and I work with short pieces of stock most almost exclusively, since my work pieces are short and I generally break stock down to length before milling.

Since most of my work is luthier work I have gotten by without a planer thus far. Most of my stock is jointed and resawn into thicknesses to thin for the planer (under 1/8") and run through the thickness sander. I do other work where a planer would be nice but not enough that I have sprung for one yet. I had been considering a 735, but this makes me wonder about a 734 given that for me the ability to run shorter stock through is a big plus.

[michael langman]

I bought a 734 planer used for 250.00 and it had not been used much, but the posts got rusty and I had to spend some time cleaning them up.
I was able to plane the tops of my workbench after glue up. 3 1/4" thick x 11" wide x 7 feet long. sections, and the planer did it without a hiccup.I did use good outer support on both sides. I hand planed the first side flat and then planed the second sides. Then planed the other side. It has been a very good planer for my hobby use and feel it is a better valus then the 735 price wise.

[Andrew More]

FWIW, ToolBoxBuzz also found the DW734 to be the most accurate of the lunchbox style planers, even better than the DW735.

https://www.toolboxbuzz.com/head-to-...-head-to-head/

They gave the final win to the DW735, but compared things like power draw, which the DW735 had the most because it was also running a fan. As such I disagree with their final standings.

[Julie Moriarty]

I owned the DW735X for about 10 months before getting rid of it. I had owned a Delta 22-540 for about 20 years that I was pretty happy with until repairs were costing more than replacement.

The 735 put out some really smooth results. It was almost a glass finish. But once I challenged it with wide boards, they brought the 735 to its knees. Sipo was the first challenge. I could only take about 1/50" passes. Next came pecky Bolivian walnut and I was down to 1/100" passes.

Then head on the 735 started dropping while planing. I had to jam the wheel to prevent that from happening. And then the overload started tripping. I sent it back to Dewalt for repairs. They lost it and sent me a new one. I took advantage of a new-in-the-box unit and sold it.

When running the 735, I had ear pillows in and covered that with noise cancelling headphones to drown out the noise. A dB meter measured 125dB under load. That thing is a screamer! I had a whole thread here about my experiences. I ended up selling the 735 and bought a Hammer A3-31.

[Charles Lent]

"The 735 put out some really smooth results. It was almost a glass finish. But once I challenged it with wide boards, they brought the 735 to its knees. Sipo was the first challenge. I could only take about 1/50" passes. Next came pecky Bolivian walnut and I was down to 1/100" passes."

Did you try replacing the dull blades when this happened, or just continue to push the planer to do the work with the dull blades? When I notice that my 735 can't do the job the first thing that I try is replacing the blades. Some exotic woods will dull blades very quickly.

Charley

[Larry Frank]

I think you could buy a bunch of the 735s for the price of a A3-31.

I have had my 735 for almost 10 years with no problems. Loud...yes but with good hearing protection not a problem. I use mine only for light work and a 15" 3 hp for heavy work.