Dewalt 735. Upgrade or Replace?

[David Kenagy]

Everybody's results differ, but here were mine:
Replaced the cutter with a Byrd helical head. Cut quality was great. But it heated up in long sessions and the reset button wouldn't work until it cooled down. (BTW, I made thickness changes of 1/4 turn per pass. I think that's 1/64") Also, circuit breakers flipped so often that I figured my old house needed some panel attention (not for this reason, alone). Replaced the panel and gave the DeWalt its own breaker and circuit. Back in business and spent an afternoon planing oak for a project. Motor burned out. Replaced it, but by now I've bought that DW735 twice.

My conclusion: it's an excellent planer. But it wasn't engineered for a helical head, which added to the resistance that the motor faces. It gave me hints at the unit overload switch and the circuit breaker. I didn't listen, so the motor burned up. It (probably) also wasn't intended for taking 40 Bd Ft of oak and planing to 3/4" at one time. I simply outgrew my excellent planer. If your space or your budget won't allow a floor planer, then the DW 735 is a good choice, especially if you don't need frequent planing with lots of Bd Ft per session. If you do, just anticipate replacing the motors from time to time.

[Myles Moran]

It (probably) also wasn't intended for taking 40 Bd Ft of oak and planing to 3/4" at one time.

I have run about 50 square feet of 5/4 hickory through my dw735 in one session to get it down to 1". It could be that I was working on a dedicated 20 amp circuit right by the panel, but I didn't have any issues with the motor overload tripping or the breaker tripping. The passes were mostly 1/2 turn, or 1/32.

[Mike Congiusti]

I have run about 50 square feet of 5/4 hickory through my dw735 in one session to get it down to 1". It could be that I was working on a dedicated 20 amp circuit right by the panel, but I didn't have any issues with the motor overload tripping or the breaker tripping. The passes were mostly 1/2 turn, or 1/32.

Do you have the Byrd head in it?

[Randy Heinemann]

I personally never had significant problems with the Dewalt 735 as originally equipped with Dewalt knives. I was willing to take samller amounts off in each pass and found that this practice made the knives last longer with less chips. I also found a honing jig (Deulen Tools) which allowed me to get at least one additional life per set of knives with no noticeable difference in cut quality. I recently decided, after more than 10 years, to upgrade to a new helical head planer. After some research I went with the Olive 12 1/2" bench planer with a Byrd head. It's about $1,000. While I haven't used it much since upgrading I found that it produces an excellent cut during my testing and limited use. I was also able to sell my Dewalt planer for $350 which made the net cost of the Oliver planer $650.

I have always felt that tools like the Dewalt 735 are manufactured as designed and should not be changed. My research also showed me that I probably would have trouble doing the upgrade myself, that having another company do the upgrade would be excessively expensive. While I'm sure there are many who have done the upgrade to the Byrd head and don't have problems, there are also those who have upgraded and do have problems like breakers tripping, the machines overload tripping, and various other miscellaneous issues. As for sound, I'm sure helical heads reduce the sound generated by the machine, but no one should ever use a planer without hearing protection. Hearing is to useful and non-replaceable to risk losing it. So the reduced sound really shouldn't be significant in your decision.

I'm not sure what the problem is with your planer. Each woodworker must do what he/she thinks is best for the work they do. I would, though, consider selling the 735 if you're not satisfied and buying the Oliver. It is the only benchtop planer available with a true Byrd helical head and, therefore, the cut is likely to be superior to the other benchtops with carbide insert heads. I think you'd be satisfied with the Oliver. It's a great alternative.

[James Jayko]

I did the Byrd head in the DeWalt. I'm sure something else could be 'better' (mostly, quieter and wider), but if you already have the DeWalt and the size works for you, the Byrd is a great upgrade. Your $500 planer is already a sunk cost...you own it.

[Myles Moran]

Do you have the Byrd head in it?

No, this was with stock blades.

[Warren Lake]

says you have an epoxy floor, what does that mean, are you putting your wood on the floor? Sand and grit from your shoes doesnt care what kind of floor you have if you get in your wood you will chip your knives.

[Keegan Shields]

Everybody's results differ, but here were mine:
Replaced the cutter with a Byrd helical head. Cut quality was great. But it heated up in long sessions and the reset button wouldn't work until it cooled down. (BTW, I made thickness changes of 1/4 turn per pass. I think that's 1/64") Also, circuit breakers flipped so often that I figured my old house needed some panel attention (not for this reason, alone). Replaced the panel and gave the DeWalt its own breaker and circuit. Back in business and spent an afternoon planing oak for a project. Motor burned out. Replaced it, but by now I've bought that DW735 twice.

My conclusion: it's an excellent planer. But it wasn't engineered for a helical head, which added to the resistance that the motor faces. It gave me hints at the unit overload switch and the circuit breaker. I didn't listen, so the motor burned up. It (probably) also wasn't intended for taking 40 Bd Ft of oak and planing to 3/4" at one time. I simply outgrew my excellent planer. If your space or your budget won't allow a floor planer, then the DW 735 is a good choice, especially if you don't need frequent planing with lots of Bd Ft per session. If you do, just anticipate replacing the motors from time to time.

Sounds like you were taking too heavy of a cut.

I planed 12” white oak blanks for stair treads for 2 hours in 100f Texas weather and never had an overheating issue using a 1/4 turn.

One of the reasons I moved from a 735 with Byrd head to a larger floor-standing planer was to hog off more material per pass and spend less time standing at the planer. But I can still overload my 4hp J/P if I use it incorrectly.

[Mike Congiusti]

says you have an epoxy floor, what does that mean, are you putting your wood on the floor? Sand and grit from your shoes doesnt care what kind of floor you have if you get in your wood you will chip your knives.

All my wood is stored horizontally on wood racks mounted to my wall. I had no problems for 2 years until now. Hope the Byrd head works with no issues. I have no room for a floor unit.

[Mark Wedel]

The other advantage I find with the helical cutters is that the wood shavings are more confetti like in shape, where as with straight knives, the cuttings can be long strips that more easily clog the dust collection system.

This isn't specific to the dewalt 735, but it does make using a planer and jointer with helical cutters preferable for me in that regard.

[Andrew Hughes]

Putting a carbide insert head in bench top planer like the 735 is a lot like putting a negative rake Radial arm saw blade on a contractor table saw with a weak induction motor. Not a good idea. See pic and know the hidden truth.
Its not really a upgrade.
Insert don’t cut or scoop like a knife head they scrape out little flakes of wood. Insert have a 30 degree facebevel if they were not rounded and tilted I wager the power factor would be almost doubled.
Many don’t know how hard the motor is working. That face bevel creates a neutral rake. Knives have a forward rake.
It’s more obvious with a jointer because it’s hand fed.
My planer has a 3hp motor I can hear the motor if I try to take anything more then 1/6 cut.
The planer has a limiter @ 1/8
Good Luck

[Dan Barber]

But with a properly designed heliacal head the inserts are contacting the wood at a skewed angle. So the angle of attack of the insert is not just the 30 degrees of the insert. The insert contact's the wood at a compound angle, so it scoopes, not scrapes. If the design was not such, there would not be as many satisfied users as there are. The Dewalt 735 is not a high HP machine and it handles it just fine, you can't take large cuts with that machine no matter the cutter head that is installed. It's noisy as hell, but it gets the job done just fine and IMHO and others it's better with a helical head than the OEM blades. And as an aside, I just put a negative rake blade in my Milwaukee M18 Miter saw and it handles it wonderfully.

[Andrew Hughes]

The inserts are carbide because hss wouldn’t last very long. I remember reading about the heat and possibly a chemical reaction that happens with some woods and steel. That’s why the proper hook angle Coupled with good high speed steel make for a better surface.
Even with bandsaw blades we know the tooth geometry size of the gullet tooth set is important.
Everyone has the right to tool up any way they like. Some guys will run table saw blades for years after they could use a sharpening. Carbide will crush smash and tear apart wood fibers in all machines if the power is there.
Try it in a hand plane and you will be shocked and disappointed how awful it really is .
Good Luck

[Keegan Shields]

Putting a carbide insert head in bench top planer like the 735 is a lot like putting a negative rake Radial arm saw blade on a contractor table saw with a weak induction motor. Not a good idea. See pic and know the hidden truth.
Its not really a upgrade.
Insert don’t cut or scoop like a knife head they scrape out little flakes of wood. Insert have a 30 degree facebevel if they were not rounded and tilted I wager the power factor would be almost doubled.
Many don’t know how hard the motor is working. That face bevel creates a neutral rake. Knives have a forward rake.
It’s more obvious with a jointer because it’s hand fed.
My planer has a 3hp motor I can hear the motor if I try to take anything more then 1/6 cut.
The planer has a limiter @ 1/8
Good Luck

BS. There are thousands of satisfied customers using the 735 Byrd head in question. There are tens of thousands of helical heads in use on the US jointer/planer market. I’ve owned both and they both worked very well. Many others on this forum have had the same experience.

One guy burned out two motors and had overheating problems. From personal experience, I know it’s easy to take too thick of a pass on a DW735. With either type of head. If your machine is overheating, you are likely doing it wrong.

[Andrew Hughes]

I’m not saying they don’t work.
I have a one in my planer the most boring machine i use.
The point I’m making its not a upgrade Like everyone is reporting. Carbide knives are better. I had a jointer with a insert head. I also had a 735 with carbide knives.
Don’t get all butt hurt Keegan. I’m not saying you wasn’t your money.
Good Luck