WTB Planer - Woodworking Talk

Richard · 11-29-2007, 05:19 PM

Anyone have a extra one sitting around because you bought a bigger one and can't decide if you should keep it or not. LMK cause I need one and can't afford any more new toys.

( me getting hit by wife) Nothing fancy 12.5" or 13" but should work.

Richard

bsharding1982 · 02-26-2008, 10:18 PM

I am looking for a buyer for mine.

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/tls/581642702.html

I am in Indy, you can come pick it up if you really want. The shipping may be a deal breaker, but feel free if you want to make me an offer.

Richard · 02-26-2008, 10:26 PM

Thanks for the offer. Driving to Indy from MA would also break the deal:).

dbhost · 03-08-2008, 12:05 AM

Unless you can find a good used planer locally, get over to Home Depot for the Ryobi AP1301. $199.00. My wife bought me one for valentines day, and I have already had good success with it.

firefighteremt153 · 03-08-2008, 07:35 AM

Get the dewal 735. I just got it. It's awesome and you'll love it.

**TexasTimbers** · 03-08-2008, 08:58 AM

Just because you love yours fireman don't mean everyone will. More than a few, myself included, were disappointed with it. I sold mine on craigslist only hours after I posted it fortunately.

I am glad you do like yours though - I can see how they can be just what the doctor ordered for many situations. Have they ever gotten the blade issues resolved yet?

firefighteremt153 · 03-08-2008, 11:40 AM

When you say the blade issue, are you talking about being able to find them? If so then I'm guessing they did fix that issue b/c I see them everywhere in my area (GA). I do realize that the dewalt 735 planer isn't for everyone, but if you are a hobbiest and looking to buy a bench top planer than I will highly recommend it b/c of the results it has givin me. I am by no means an expert on planers or anything, I'm simply going by my own hands on observations and I know that there is always someone that doesn't like a certain tool that someone else loves and that will never change but hey to each is their own. Out of curiousity, after selling the dewalt, what planer did you wind up with in the end?

**TexasTimbers** · 03-08-2008, 12:58 PM

Fire,

Part of the problem with the planer was my problem and that was expecting too much from it. But even after that it had issues. I bought the very first one that our Lowe's sold, and according to the guy who worked there who turned out to be a tool nut and a DeWalt devotee as well, they were among the first sold in the country. So turns out I bought one of the units that had the initial problems.

One of the gears for the feed rollers broke on the very first project - and not at the end of the project either of course right in the middle. I called DeWalt and the guy at least admitted that they were seeing this problem - same gear -widespread. They were sending out spare gears (would not overnight them unless you paid the upcharge - I can see both sides of that though) with instructions on how to replace them (very easy for us DIY types actually) and then they would send another gear as soon as the new ones from a different supplier were available. Seems the maker of the gear in question had used bad alloy or something I can't remember all the details now.

Then, a few weeks later I noticed my blades were already dull but in hindsight I had not used the planer enough for them to be dull. they are disposable, and two-sided, so I truned them around and got soome new results but, they too dulled too quickly. So I ordered a new set (I forget where from) and at that time they the only ones availabel through any distributor came from DeWalt of course because the planer was too new to have aftermarket blades or anything else avaialble yet. So when I tried the new blades out they were just as bad. No longevity worth a hoot. And the dang things were outrageously expensive over a third of what carbide would cost but still just HSS.
So then when I asked DeWalt when were they going to make Carbide blades available they said "Probably never". Hmm. This is getting worse.

I don't know if they ever got any of that worked out, but I just had a bad experience with it. I told the guy who ended up buying it the whole experince not hiding anything and he still wanted it, assuring me that DeWalt would eventually correct the problem. He had faith. If all that ever did get worked out it would probably be a great planer for a hobbyist level. I know I absolutley loved the thing for a short time but the honeymoon ended quickly.

In answer to what I replaced it with I found a great deal on a 25" Woodmaster with - I forget right now - around 18 - 20 sets of profiles, most still new in the box, all the available attachments i.e sander kit, gang rip saws (3), and I ordered the spiral cutterhead from Woodmaster and so for around $2K I have a super nice setup. There are things I do not like about this one too, like the feed table is what goes up and down instead of the cutterhead, but there is a half-day modification available to remedy this inconvenience which I have printed off, stuck in an envelope, and taped on the inside of the machine for when I get time to do it.

I also wish it had a faster feed rate now that the spiral cutterhead is installed it could be upped by 30% or more for light to medium passes, but I think that's not much of a modification problem either.

Of course, I now want an old Oliver 30+" planer so if you hear of any good deals . . . . .

firefighteremt153 · 03-08-2008, 01:19 PM

Texas, I did a sh*tload of research before buying this planer and I don't recall ever hearing of any reviews talking about the gears being bad. I do remember reading something about it being hard to find new knives but HD here carries them in stock all the time so that wasn't an issue for me. Well that stinks you had such bad luck with the dewalt but it sounds like everything worked out for the better for you anyhow. I haven't used my planer enough yet to figure out if the knives are worth a darn or if they let that problem you had with them continue. I am really hoping they fixed the problem though just b/c I think so highly of this planer and so I don't have to buy stock in dewalt planer knives. I'll keep my ears open for an old oliver planer, I usually hear about the good deals after they are sold though..

**TexasTimbers** · 03-08-2008, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firefighteremt153

Texas, I did a sh*tload of research before buying this planer and I don't recall ever hearing of any reviews talking about the gears being bad.

If you go through old archives on the larger woodworking forums you will see threads where it was HOTLY argued because the guys who were having gear breaks, some more than one, were really bummed and the guys who had no problems were defending the planer like they invented it. the ld Ford and chevy thing you know.

I think deWalt addressed the geqar issue quickly or obviously they would have had a bonafide disaster on their hands.

I hope I left the impression though that this planer is a really nice one provided the issues I had with it are fixed and a guy does not ask too much of it like maybe I was. I would imagine all the wrinkles have been fixed or else we'd be hearing bad reviews on it and the thing gets great reviews by editors and users alike from what I can tell, I just have not kept up with it.

It's a heavy little dude to have such a small footpront I know that much. And that is good!