DW 735 Planer Puzzlement (Updated)

[Glennbear]

A while back after much research and waiting for the right price I bought a Dewalt DW 735 planer. I have been very pleased with it's design and performance and have recommended it to others.:icon_thum A majority of my projects so far have utilized recycled heart pine which after decades of finishes and usage has grit imbedded now and then despite my best efforts to clean the boards before planing. Since minor knife chips were inevitable I have not reversed the knives until now since the flaws after planing have been easily removed with a ROS. Today I reversed the knives since my current project list will be completed with "new" as opposed to recycled wood. My first board through the planer after the knife reversal was 4/4 walnut and I still have one line appearing lengthwise in the board .:wmad: I checked the knives and the new edges appear to be intact, the planer bed is unscarred and I cleaned the infeed and outfeed rollers with DNA. I plan on removing the knives again to examine them under magnification but before I do I am looking for ideas :help: as to a possible cause.:icon_scra The fewer times I have to remove the 24 screws :eusa_doh: holding the blades in place the happier I will be. :gar-La; Thank you in advance for sharing your collective wisdom and experience. :wsmile:

 

[Joe Scharle]

Re: DW 735 Planer Puzzlement

Glenn, the manual calls for mineral spirits for cleaning the rollers. I worked on the same problem one AM only to find I had a piece of metal (tiny) embedded in the outfeed roller. By the time I found it, I had pretty much field stripped the unit.
Next time I'll use a hand mirror!

 

[Glennbear]

Re: DW 735 Planer Puzzlement

Glenn, the manual calls for mineral spirits for cleaning the rollers. I worked on the same problem one AM only to find I had a piece of metal (tiny) embedded in the outfeed roller. By the time I found it, I had pretty much field stripped the unit.
Next time I'll use a hand mirror!

The direction you are pointing me in makes perfect sense. :icon_thum When the divots were taken out of the used edge the resultant metal debris had to go somewhere and since I did not blow out the inside of the machine when I had the cover off :eusa_doh: and jostled things around a piece may have gotten picked up by the roller. I usually read manuals religiously but I did not in this case :embaresse and figuring that some rubber compounds do not like petro products I cleaned with DNA. Tomorrow I will jog the machine around to eyeball the rollers carefully. Thanks!!!

 

[Tarhead]

Re: DW 735 Planer Puzzlement

Glen,
If you do find a chip in the blades loosen 2 blades and shift each one a little in opposite directions in their slot to cancel out the chip. Retighten and shazam it's fixed.

 

[Glennbear]

Re: DW 735 Planer Puzzlement Update

Cranking up my patience I ventured out to the shop today to wrestle with my recalcitrant planer:BangHead:. Thanks for your ideas Joe and Mark. :notworthy: Results as follows:

1) Checked both rollers thoroughly and no foreign objects or damage seen. :no:
2) Removed all three blades and examined each under lighted magnification and new edges appeared intact. :icon_scra
3) Reinstalled knives offsetting them in index slots in the hopes that blade defects not visible would be counteracted but still had a line in my stock. :realmad:
4) Installed a set of brand new Infinity blades I had in stock and the problem disappeared.:gar-Bi
5) Although I am still clueless as to the cause I have acheived my goal of producing smoothly planed stock. :eusa_danc

6) I will be reinstalling the funky blades when I go back to recycling wood to save the pricey Infinity blades for my projects which use pristine wood. :wsmile:

 

[Cato]

Glenn, Glad you got your planer running good again. I followed with interest as I have the same model planer and love it.

I am still on my first side of my OEM blades and probably ought to get a back up set as you did.

P.S. Traveling on 58 to Southill I noticed Baskerville Rd. the other day, and thought about you probably churning out some wood dust in your shop.

 

[CaptnA]

Glenn I also have been following this. I also have the 735 and so far I am quite satisfied with it.
I've been "uber careful" so far and haven't had to do anything to my blades but I know its only one missed piece of gunk away from a reality...
How about a review of the infinity blades? I'm not looking forward to swapping blades but...

 

[Glennbear]

Glenn I also have been following this. I also have the 735 and so far I am quite satisfied with it.
I've been "uber careful" so far and haven't had to do anything to my blades but I know its only one missed piece of gunk away from a reality...
How about a review of the infinity blades? I'm not looking forward to swapping blades but...

It will take some time to tell how they perform but the surfaces produced so far are great. I should note that the slots cut for the index pins were a little tight but a couple swipes with a small diamond file opened things up nicely. BTW HF sells a pretty cool file set which I have found very handy. :wsmile:
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-pc-diamond-needle-file-sets-6989.html

 

[CaptnA]

Thanks Glenn, I'll stop by HF soon and look for that file set. I have needle files but that is a good price for a diamond set.
Hope your new blades last a long time!