[GISer3546]

I have decided it is time to add a bench top thickness planer to my shop. How much I can spend is depending on how much I have to spend to get a nice one. It would mostly be used for furniture building. I had been looking at straight blade models only because sharpening sounds easier but if its worth looking at the others I'l consider it. What should I be looking for and what separates to good from the bad?

 

[sawdustfactory]

I had a Dewalt 733 for years. Great planer. Put 10,000s of board feet through it before it finally gave up ( about 10 years of use). Replaced it with the 734. Blades can't be sharpened because they are indexed on the cutter head but they are 2 sided and their are 3 vs 2. Very happy with this one. Very little to no snipe and a much better finish with the 3 blades. Very noisy, but show me a planer that isn't.

 

[Wizard1500]

I agree with the Dewalt 734.....I have one, and am very pleased with it....snipe has not been a problem, and it gives a really nice surface.....

 

[GISer3546]

Ive heard a good deal about the 733, if thats the same as the dw733. Would it be a bad idea to buy one of those second hand?.. by that I mean are there many problems with them that would be hard to check for?

 

[dodgeboy77]

I have a 733 that I bought used about three years ago and it's worked great for me. The most I've done is clean the sawdust out of the elevation mechanism as it was getting hard to turn the handle. I bought an extra set of blades for it, then had the originals re-sharpened so they are ready to install when needed.

Bill