The Ridgid comes with a DC hood that will connect to either a 2.5" or 4" hose -- does the DeWalt come with a DC hood?
Cool! That changes the math a little. Some of the information that I came across on the web talked about the need to buy that seperately. Ridgid tweaks the extra stuff that comes in their boxes, every once in a while. I assume that they used to NOT include the DC hood, and now do.
And yes, the Dewalt DW735 DOES come with a DC hood. Actually, even cooler then that - the chip ejection port on the DW735 is fan assisted, which means it actually has something in there actively ejecting the chips. That's a feature which, as far as I am aware and as far as the 13" benchtop models are concerned, is unique on the DW735.
Reviews had really good things to say about that feature, as well.
Does the DeWalt's estimated $645 total price include a mobile base?
Yep. See my next post for more details.
The presumed less time sanding is something I have to question. Granted I haven't had mine long and have only planed some pine during setup and mahogany after that, nonetheless I cannot imagine any desire to get the wood surface smoother out of the planer unless the goal was to forego sanding completely.
That is a useful piece of information. Some of the info I found read talked about "a little bit of sanding or scraping" that was required when using the Ridgid planer. Of course, perhaps those folks were talking more off at a time or something.
It's just me, but my budget seems to be a LOT like yours and I'd be thinking TP1300 AND the drill press with money left over for wood instead of the DeWalt 735.
Your probably right, concerning budget. I have a nice bonus coming in late this week / early next week. With that I am going to get the tools and a pile of wood for building a dining table and chair set for my wife.
I'll have to think about it some more. the $240 - $250 or so is also enough, possibly, to get a beginner level router - somewhere along the 1.75 - 2.?? HP motor.
I'll have to think about it some more now - darn you!