apthiry

Hello All,

Long time listener, first time caller. I am considering buying a Dewalt 735 planer but I have read mixed reviews. Does anyone out there have one and would you be willing to share your experiences with it?

Thanks,

Tony

firehawkmph

Mega dittos Tony,
I have a Dewalt 735 planer. I bought it about three years ago if my memory serves me. I like it. It works very well. The blades are easy to change. They are two sided disposable and take about ten minutes to change. They are mounted on pins in such a way that you don't have to worry about adjusting the height. You can slide them back and forth sideways about 3/16". This way if you get a nick, you can move one of the blades over eliminate the nick showing up in the wood. The raising wheel works smoothly with no slop. I would recommend getting the accessory infeed and outfeed tables to help support the wood going through. You have to use either a shop vac or a dust collector with it. It has a fan motor inside to help expel the chips, but without the addition of a vac, it would probably clog up. This is stated in the owner's manual. Like any planer, it is a bit noisy, so ear protection is highly recommended. Both speeds leave a very smooth cut, hard to tell any difference between the two.
Mike Hawkins

sweensdv

Ditto to everything firehawkmph said, as I also have been very pleased with mine. If there is a downside to this planer it would be the cost which of course has nothing to do with performance. Although, for a couple of hundred more you could move up to a more heavy duty free standing planer such as the Grizzly G0453.

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Dave

apthiry

Thanks for the input guys. I wish I could move up to a stand alone system but I have a finite amount of space to deal with. Do you have any experience with refurbished tools?

firehawkmph

I think the only thing I have bought refurbed was a brad tacker and 1/4" crown stapler, both from porter cable during a tool sale. Both looked exactly like new, in the original cases, etc. No problems. When you are talking more expensive power equipment, I would want to know the reason for the refurb. If it was something like a cosmetic blem, or someone bought it, took it out of the box, made one cut and decided they didn't want it, well that's no big deal. If it was something that was used, abused, and then returned beat to hell, then I don't think I would want it. There has been some recent threads on this site with some of the fellows buying refurbed tools. You should be able to find them.
Mike Hawkins

TomD

I have bought several refurbished tools and have had zero problems. All were in as new condition.

Tom

Verndog

I know this is an old post but I know people come back and look at these. I went back and forth myself because of the reviews. I found that most people were complaining about blade life. I finally decided on the 735 because of recommendations here. I haven't had the chance to use it yet but the reason I finally decided on this one is Home Depot had it on sale for $485.00 but the main reason was I found that Infinity cutting tools now makes carbide knives for this planer. They are expensive but a real solution to most all the complaints. Some have had feeding issues but I think those are mostly related to the adjustment of the table extensions. You definitely need to get those like Mike recommends or I've seen others make their own. I found mine for 48.00 at Tools Plus.
Vern

Nate1778

I'll say, $250 for a set of blades. Are they re-usable? Whew they may last 10 times longer but my local WC has a normal set for $45 per set, or $22.50 per side. So ten sides would cost $225 in the long run. Are there any other advantages to the carbon blades? Just seams like a big hunk of change for planer blades......I t would seam to me if you were going to drop that cash on some blade one might consider a Spiral head for it.........

http://www.holbren.com/product.php?p...cat=811&page=1

firehawkmph

I don't think the blade life if all that short. I have planed a lot of hard exotics, blood wood, purpleheart, etc. I also sent 150 board feet of rough sawn ash with no problems. I do check the wood before planing. If it's muddy or dirty, I hit it with a wire brush and then blow it off with an air nozzle. I used the same set of blades for the first couple of years. When the wood would hesitate while feeding, I then changed the blades. The only other time so far is when I sent a glued up and pocket screwed raised panel through and thought the screws were recessed below the surface enough. Turns out they weren't. I just try and catch the blades on sale and stock up on spares so I have a couple of sets hanging there in case I need them.
Mike Hawkins

Verndog

Nate,
According to my Infinity catalog the carbide blades can be resharpened. I certainly hope I don't have to purchase the carbide ones to be happy with my new planer. I have read reviews on this planer until I was totally confused. The way I looked at it when I found the planer on sale was if I wasn't satisfied I could purchase the carbide blades and would only have a little more in it than the competitors price of 650. When I read Mikes comments about being satisfied with his I figured it was worth a shot. Thanks for posting the info about the spiral head I wasn't aware they made one for the 735. With all the reviews I read about blade problems I wonder if DeWalt might have had a bad batch, because others were completely satisfied. Apparently DeWalt even sent some new blades for free. Keeping my fingers crossed! Thanks for the input guys!
Mike,
Hope I have good luck with mine like you. The reviews were just all over the place. It didn't sound like they were doing anything unusual light passes clean wood etc. Only read one review on the carbide blades probably because no one wants to pay that price. I don't know what it would cost to sharpen the carbide ones?
Vern

Nate1778

Yeah don't read too much into our blade discussion, I as well have a 735 and find the blade life very acceptable. I did just have an issue with some hard Maple and tear out but I think it had more to do with the wood than the equipment, because it was hard on everything I own. I love my 735, I would just buy stock blades though, that is what I was getting at.

Julian the woodnut

Nate, thanks for the link for the shelix cutterhead. I had been wondering if they would offer one for the 735.

Now if I just had the cash for one, I'd jump on it. I have gone through so many sets of blades, that I could have bought one of the shelix heads over a year ago. I'd like to get one for my 6" planer also, but I think the cash would be better spent on upgrading to a 8" planer.

losttool

I never know I needed a dust collector until I got a 735. The shop vac cannot keep up with the dust so I carry it outside. If you go with the refurbished hold on to the warranty.