I bought a gently used DeWalt DW735 planer for $350 a few months ago. I love it and recommend the same. I have no experience with any other power planers for comparison.
After reading all the reviews, the DW735 was the planer I wanted. I held out until I found the right one at the right price for me.
Benchtop planers don't take up much space, but they are heavy. The DW735 weighs 90 pounds. A strong person can lift one of them, but you can also hurt your back with it if you are not careful. Mine is bolted to to the top of a rolling cart.
DW735 blades are two sided. If one side is nicked or worn, you can flip the blades over and use the other side. If you buy a used planer, you may want to budget for a spare set of blades, because you never know if the blades in the machine have been flipped (used the alternate side already). If you buy a DW735, you may want to budget for the accessory infeed/outfeed tables, too. The previous owner of my DW735 must have had custom infeed and outfeed tables for it, but they were long lost, so I bought the accessory tables, which have proven useful to support the boards before feeding them into the planer.
After reading all the reviews, the DW735 was the planer I wanted. I held out until I found the right one at the right price for me.
Benchtop planers don't take up much space, but they are heavy. The DW735 weighs 90 pounds. A strong person can lift one of them, but you can also hurt your back with it if you are not careful. Mine is bolted to to the top of a rolling cart.
DW735 blades are two sided. If one side is nicked or worn, you can flip the blades over and use the other side. If you buy a used planer, you may want to budget for a spare set of blades, because you never know if the blades in the machine have been flipped (used the alternate side already). If you buy a DW735, you may want to budget for the accessory infeed/outfeed tables, too. The previous owner of my DW735 must have had custom infeed and outfeed tables for it, but they were long lost, so I bought the accessory tables, which have proven useful to support the boards before feeding them into the planer.
