Am I the only one that hates a DW735 Planer?

[David Prince]

I have the 735 and cannot really complain. Is it the greatest? No, but I didn't pay for the greatest. If you pay for a KIA you cannot expect it to perform like a BMW!

The thing does have some noise, but it seems that with a 4 inch flex hose attached to the DC it absorbs some of the excess noise.

[Salem Ganzhorn]

Rich,
I agree with your points. I should have been more clear. The finish is not very important as you pointed out. But the lunchbox does have some benefits: can take lighter cuts (1/64th leaves heavy roller marks on most larger machines), and I dare say they tend to produce less snipe.

Best wishes,
Salem

[fRED mCnEILL]

I had a 733 and, while it seemed to plane OK, it broke a gear (which I understand is par for the course for the 735 as well). I also had two other Dewalt pieces of equipment which also broke. A 12 volt drill that the chuck could not be removed and a sawzall that the armature was bent on. When I asked the repair guy how an armature would get bent he didn't know. So no more yellow tools for me. I bought a grizzly 20 in planer, a Costco special drill (got the drill and 2 batteries for less than a replacement dewalt battery ) and a Harbor Freight sawzall.(Just as good and 1/5th of the price). I am pleased with all 3 pieces of equipment, especially the planer.

[keith micinski]

Well when I started this thread I didn't realize how popular it would be. Unfortunately my knives were just turned over and my tables are all setup right. I guess I am just destined to get a 15" 3hp Spiral head planer. To play devils advocate a little bit I will say that other then the occasional snipe I can't complain about the cut quality at all. That having been said I run everything through the drum sander anymore anyway. I was at my sawmill today and I almost had a heart attack. He just bought a 20 inch oliver planer with a spiral head from a high school workshop and it was unbelievable. That sealed it for me. That thing is a monster.

[Richard McComas]

Rich,
I agree with your points. I should have been more clear. The finish is not very important as you pointed out. But the lunchbox does have some benefits: can take lighter cuts (1/64th leaves heavy roller marks on most larger machines), and I dare say they tend to produce less snipe.

Best wishes,
Salem

Your're right on with the advantage of the making light cut with out feed roller marks. I had kind forgoten about that. I have been blessed with a 735 and a stationary planer that doesen't snipe.

[ian maybury]

This it seems to me is probably a classic instance of the problem I've grouched about before - that the lack of hard test data published by either the makers or the mags (further confused by their pitching misleading numbers mixed with the usual 'professional quality'/'ours is best' bulls**t) makes it next to impossible to know what you are buying unless you can get access to an example somewhere to try out. Which is a tall order if you live in a remote area, or a small country - or don't have woodworking friends close by.

I've been burned this way at considerable cost in the past.

It's so easy when researching a purchase to drop into a reality bubble where low cost kit of very limited capability is trumpeted as being great by every source you happen to access - as well as the manufacturer's hype the mags will label something as 'excellent' without saying exactly what it's being compared to, or filling the data gap by publishing hard capacity and test information. Other owners keen to big up their purchases or with very different requirements or expectations to yours will meanwhile also talk the item up.

It's perfectly acceptable that there exists a continuum with cheap kit of minimal cost at one end, with the more capable stuff and specialist variants at the other - but it's not remotely acceptable when not only is the data not published to accurately locate a piece of kit on that continuum, it's also the case that much of what is published is almost certainly intentionally misleading.

The icing on the cake comes when you run into problems and other owners keen to trumpet their superior knowledge and buying smarts dismissively trot out comments in the 'but how could you have expected it to do that' sort of vein.

Take the example of a band saw - vertical capacity is not at all the same as resaw depth capability. It seems also that in some cases planer width capacity doesn't necessarily imply any reasonable depth of cut capability at that width.

Why is it that the purchaser having made a decent effort to research his/her purchase is almost inevitably left holding the baby? Why is it that we consider acceptable weasel words that can't quite in terms of the letter of the law/quantitatively be shown to be lies, but which in spirit most definitely are? Caveat emptor is a dodgy concept in law that paves the way for so many shysters...

Ian

[Curt Harms]

One thought re power. What is the amperage of the circuit it's plugged into? 15 or 20? How much else is running on the same circuit? I've been in a couple home shops that have one 15 amp. circuit in the basement that also powers other things. Oh, and the machine is running off a 16 or 18 gauge extension cord. Turn a machine on and the lights dim, hmmmm. That may not be the case here, just a thought.

[John King]

I have one with infeed and outfeed tables. A great shop tool that yields superb results! - John

[Dave MacArthur]

Caveat emptor is a dodgy concept in law that paves the way for so many shysters...

Ian

Eloquent post, Ian. Unfortunately, I still have to say that "Caveat Emptor" holds more power and wisdom

Honestly... If a person's expectations are off and not met, with all the info out there, well... Maybe sometimes it's your own faulty expectations--we all have them until we study and gain expertise in an area? There's a reason folks sell a lot of magazines with tool comparisons and reviews--it's HARD WORK gathering user data points, takes a lot of reading, and most folks just don't do it.
In this one case though, I think the tool has been rigorously reviewed and peer-tested.
If over 10 reviews by magazines of a DW735, ALL of which were sufficiently qualified by the authors that "this is a lunchbox planer etc." and not industrial isn't sufficient; and several thousand posts on forums discussing the device all written by non-axis-of-evil-regular-folks-not-trying-to-suborn-you isn't enough;
if the fact that 15 minutes of planer study will clearly show where this planer falls on the COST continuum ($225 min price...$450 for this....$900 for a Grizzly 15".... $1500 for 15" w/ spiral cutterhead.... $3800 for 20" Powermatic) isn't enough to adequately describe to you the likely performance point...

Well, I'm not sure if any amount of data would be enough to save you from yourself. I'm not sure if I can think of another tool so extensively reviewed and posted about, it's certainly up there in the top-20 hobbyist items along with G0513 17" band saw.

No insult intended, and your post is probably valid for a LOT of stuff sold, but I just can't see it for the DW735--way too many satisfied customers out there and descriptive threads. But NOW I'm wondering what nefarious marketeers you had in mind when you scribed that poetic indictment up above! I KNOW it wasn't your band saw, you did as good a job studying that decision as I've seen. Fess up, who's the sneaky weasels on your mind?

[Bernie May]

Sharp knives? Someone menioned this above and it reminded me of my purchase of my Ridgid planer from HD. I bought it at a heavy discount because they said it was a floor model. Fortunately I checked the knives before I tried it. Turns out someone bought it, abused it on something non-wood, and returned it. Floor model my foot!. If you have an extra set of knives or reversible knives, try new ones before throwing this machine away.
-bernie

[keith micinski]

I would like to point out that there are a lot of people in this thread that used the logic " Well everyone else seems to like it so it must be good." I may be dating myself a little but with this reference but Vanilla ice had the fastest selling record by a new artist for a very long time. Take from that what you will.

[Larry Frank]

I am surprised at some of the comments. I have the DW735 and it does quite well as it was intended and does very well with a good set of sharp knives. I also have a 15" Jet that is like most other 15" planers. It does a great job at removing material but not good with shallow cuts as it leaves marks. I typically will bring stock down close witht he 15" planer and take finishing cuts with the DW 735.

it is LOUD and the LOUDEST in my shop. It is the one tool that I always use hearing protection.

[Jon Grider]

No complaints on my 735. Noisy? Very! But used within it's limitations, it does the job very well for me.

[Dave MacArthur]

I have a 20" Powermatic planer with Byrd Shelix head. It's quite nice.

I still like my DW735 for finish cuts, and sometimes I use it for small boards when I don't want to pull the PM away from the wall. It's loud sure but for nice light planing I've not been disappointed. I do have sharp knives, saw them sold at HD one day for $20 a set and bought 3 or 4. I do have the metal infeed/outfeed tables with it.

And have you seen that new "Vanilla Ice Project" show where he's basically a landscaper on house flips? I have to say, I was impressed by ol' Vanilla! By the end of the show, I was like, "Dude finally found his true calling, that's some righteous landscaping!"

Also--thanks for this thread I needed something to read while kids were playing new games and the Christmas Roast was cooking and wife was taking a nap, and I knew the instant you posted this one that it would see me through the Xmas posting slump Now you've brought Vanilla Ice into it, Ian has thrown down with an epic post second only to Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations", and I think this could well take me safely through New Years!

[keith micinski]

Dammit Dave I was hoping no one would mention The Vanilla Ice project because it does take away from my point. I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic but to be honest with you it is my favorite home improvement show on tv right now. Him and his guys aren't as goofy as you might think and I think he actually does a good job "hosting" the show and making design decisions.