What planer to buy
- Thread starter Max1013
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I have no idea how typical Matthew's (a.k.a. MrAudio815) experience was, but we do have a recent thread on the Steel City benchtop planer that may or may not be of interest. His experience was mixed and ultimately resulted in a return, but then this can also happen with any model.
I have not had a chance to see any of the SC helical planers in action, but their limited 28.6 cuts/inch concerns me a bit, compared to the selectable 96/179 cuts/inch with the DW735. Generally speaking, the greater the cuts/inch the smoother the resulting surface (this is true of both straight and helical knives).
Perhaps Ace could be kind enough to chime in once more with his experiences in this regard -- TIA, Ace.
I haven't had the chance to use my planer much yet but so far it seems to work well. I would say Mathew's planer was a return because mine had no sawdust in it at all. I took it all apart and cleaned the oils off of it, adjusted the tables and tried it out. I have run some oak through it and it leaves a very smooth finish. Sometimes it has snipe and sometimes it doesn't so I'm thinking if I get it adjusted correctly and get used to using it the snipe might go away. Once I finish getting my shop set up I will be using it regularly and will be able to give a better review of it then.
AJ - If you haven't already, I'd recommend you figure out your "musts", "nice to haves" and especially your budget.
For example, you said you needed the planer to be "portable" - does it need to be carry-able, or can it be rolled outside on a mobile-base ? Some of the "portable" 12-13" planers like the DW735 are ~100# (and the DW is ~$550 new).
I think its hard to go wrong with any of the current crop of Tier1 manuf. lunchbox planers, so I'd collect names and models of all the machines within/near your budget that have favorable reviews, figure out which ones meet the needs/wants and make a choice. Lots of input in this thread for example.
Several maxims are true:
It is better to have a planer than not.
There is no point having a planer if you cannot afford lumber.
Buy the best and you'll only cry once (when you pay the bill).
-Mark
For example, you said you needed the planer to be "portable" - does it need to be carry-able, or can it be rolled outside on a mobile-base ? Some of the "portable" 12-13" planers like the DW735 are ~100# (and the DW is ~$550 new).
I think its hard to go wrong with any of the current crop of Tier1 manuf. lunchbox planers, so I'd collect names and models of all the machines within/near your budget that have favorable reviews, figure out which ones meet the needs/wants and make a choice. Lots of input in this thread for example.
Several maxims are true:
It is better to have a planer than not.
There is no point having a planer if you cannot afford lumber.
Buy the best and you'll only cry once (when you pay the bill).
-Mark
+1
One thing i would say is the 735 is heavy, I have mine on a shopmade cabinet that rolls. It does a fantastic job. I do have issues with nicks in the blade, but I've had issues with nicks on every plane blade from a hand plane to a joiner. It happens. 735 leaves little to no snipe. I have the Wixley Digital Height as well. LOVE THAT! Talk about precision. I can get within .005 thicker than I need something for sanding and it is serious accurate. I bought mine used on craiglist. Think I payed about $300ish, and it was pretty much brand new. I would not pay retail for this thing because Dewalt is very proud of there machines. They are good, no doubt, but rather than pay retail, I would go with a 15" Grizz. I have infeed/outfeed extensions but I don't care much for them due to a slight sag in the middle from planing heavy long boards. As stated, blade changes are SUPER easy, no fancy jigs, no fancy tools. As Ethan has already stated, all normal maintenance is done with the included allen, plus the allen has magnets on the handle that makes putting blades in, turning them or pulling them out super easy. I am on my second set of blades and I have had this since about 08 or 09. I have long periods of inactivity due to my job but when I use it, I run the devil out of it. I love the two speed settings, on wider harder boards you can move it to 2 and it pushes through the board without bogging down. I've planed Bocote, oak, maple, walnut, cherry and bubinga not to mention all the softwoods. It hogs through them all as long as your not too aggressive with the cut. Plus the indicator to how much your gonna take off on the front helps you figure out how high to start on rough lumber and how much your taking off. I love it. It will be a long time before I replace it. It will either have to break or I will have to do this sawdust making professionally.
I have my DW735 mounted to a Delta #36-136 Universal Miter Saw/Planer Stand, which is very similar to the current offerings from DeWalt (nearly identical) and Porter Cable (similar, except supports are not rollers on this version).
The mobile stand can be wheeled around easily, or collapsed to stand vertically (or even near floor level if you wish) and has 3 different height positions (floor height, mid-height, full height). I did have to drill 4 mounting holes in the DW735's base to rigidly mount it to the mobile stand (easy enough to do), or I could have mounted the DW735 to some 3/4" plywood and then bolted down the plywood instead (which is what the manual actually suggests).
I do not use (nor did I purchase) the optional fold-out infeed/outfeed tables for my DW735, yet I still have minimal snipe -- as such I'm not convinced that they are especially essential for this planer. For longer boards, the mobile stand does have extendable roller supports built-in, though it will take a little trial and error to adjust their height even to that of the planer's bed (it helps to have a 4ft level available as a reference). Since I normally plane boards already cut to length (except in the case of very short pieces) I simply keep the rollers stowed in their "mobile" position (fully inward) and adjusted them even with the planer's bed for this position. On the rare cases I have to run especially long boards through I simply support them myself unless I'm running a large lot through.
Having the DW735 on a mobile base/stand of some sort does make it much more portable as it is a somewhat awkward 92lbs (IIRC) to carry.
The mobile stand can be wheeled around easily, or collapsed to stand vertically (or even near floor level if you wish) and has 3 different height positions (floor height, mid-height, full height). I did have to drill 4 mounting holes in the DW735's base to rigidly mount it to the mobile stand (easy enough to do), or I could have mounted the DW735 to some 3/4" plywood and then bolted down the plywood instead (which is what the manual actually suggests).
I do not use (nor did I purchase) the optional fold-out infeed/outfeed tables for my DW735, yet I still have minimal snipe -- as such I'm not convinced that they are especially essential for this planer. For longer boards, the mobile stand does have extendable roller supports built-in, though it will take a little trial and error to adjust their height even to that of the planer's bed (it helps to have a 4ft level available as a reference). Since I normally plane boards already cut to length (except in the case of very short pieces) I simply keep the rollers stowed in their "mobile" position (fully inward) and adjusted them even with the planer's bed for this position. On the rare cases I have to run especially long boards through I simply support them myself unless I'm running a large lot through.
Having the DW735 on a mobile base/stand of some sort does make it much more portable as it is a somewhat awkward 92lbs (IIRC) to carry.
I'd like to 2nd this comment. Yes the DW735 is a good planer, but I bought my delta off of CL for less than half that price and I can assure you that it is just as good (2 speeds, no snipe, infeed/outfeed tables, cutterhead lock, indexed blades, dust chute, etc). Even on CL the DW735 carries a premium price, which for me, is well outside my typical tool budget. I built my mobile stand out of 2 by's from the borg and casters from HF for ~$15. Just my $0.02.
Sam
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