Help/Suggestions for DeWalt DW 735 planer

[David D Smith]

I recently bought my first planer, a DeWalt DW735. I got a really good deal, having been told up front by the seller, it was/is stuck in the lowest position and he had no idea why. I had been doing planer research a couple of weeks before finding this one, so I knew the pricing of a new, and this one looked really good, not being terribly dirty externally, with no scratches, gouges or evidence of abuse (famous last words). I continued scouring the Web, watching YouTube videos and joined Sawmill Creek, along with a couple of other wood working forums. Finally, I got a little spare time and decided to open it up for a look. So much for no evidence of abuse. It was filthy inside. So, my first question is, What should I use to clean the dust, dirt (yes, dirt), pitch and sawdust off with? I was hesitant as I didn't want to chance melting the plastic housing or any components, but have tried kerosene and odorless mineral spirits so far. Neither of which work all that great. After some initial cleaning, serious time with an air hose and further investigation, I found a great deal of slack in the height adjustment chain. After looking at the parts list, drawings and reading comments from others here on Sawmill Creek (big thanks to fellow forum member, Kamil Czuba), it turned out there was no tensioner or mounting hardware present. And no, not out of adjustment....NOT FRICKIN PRESENT. Because ereplacementparts.com is here in town and had the tensioner in stock, that was an inexpensive and easy part to replace, but isn't going to be installed before a thorough cleaning. Another item of interest was the front/right, upright post the head travels up and down on, was loose. As in, spinning freely due to the mounting bolt in the base ready to fall out. While I do have a mechanical background, I certainly do not claim to know much about power tool repair. That said, I can follow directions, am willing to learn and am glad I found Sawmillcreek. Pictures of my "work in progress" are attached and thank you in advance for any tips, links, etc....Dave

[Craig Richmond]

I am glad you posted this, because like you, if it looks good on the out side well it HAS to be good on the inside, Right? Most of my tools have been bought used and so far I have been lucky. Sounds like by the time you are done you WILL know a lot about power tool repair, at least on the DeWalt but, that is a good thing!

[Jim Finn]

I have this planer and like it. One problem I have had is a knot coming loose while planing cedar and the loose knot brakes the chip ejector fan. I replaced the impeller and the housing. (I have done this more than twice.) Because of this breakage the inside of the planer filled up with sawdust which I just blew out with compressed air and a vac. If the inside of yours is that dirty you may have a broken discharge fan and/or housing.

[Tom Ewell]

Trend tool and bit cleaner is pretty good stuff IMO.
Surprised me how fast it works, seems to much be less 'toxic' than other stuff I've used, it also cleans up rust to some degree and supposedly lubes a little.

Don't know about melting plastic, haven't tried in on any, maybe I'll go out to the shop and hit it on some and come back at you.

Edit for more info- I saw no affect on the yellow case of the 735, the clear readout window on the Wixey and the gloss of a Fat Max tape measure was not dulled. It does leave a slight film of residue which I presume is the lubricating feature of the Trend juice, polished the Wixey readout a little more and the residue diminished to the point of looking the best that it has in years.

I use Bostik topcoat on my tablesaw, used the Trend to clean up some rust spots, it turned the topcoat into goo but even that was easy enough to clean up for a rewax.

Simple green is another many recommend, I've used it for blade and bit cleaning but compared to the Trend stuff it's a weak sister.

[Mark Bolton]

Expecting the inside of a planer to be clean and well kept is a bit of a stretch in my opinion especially if the tool had problems. The seller probably knew due to the stuck head he was going to dump it for cheap so why in the world would you take down the machine and clean it?

We had one of these for field use for a while and it was a great machine but I can honestly say other than blowing out the top of the machine when we swapped knives it never even crossed my mind to "clean" the innards until I put it up for sale and wanted to shine it up. Its a planer, not a ferrari.

Hard to say on the locked head but one would wonder if the loose post rotated and simply racked the head on the remaining posts and perhaps someone began to tear it down and never re-installed the chain tensioner.

Its a great planer for the money and the chip extraction is phenomenal. I agree with the chunks damaging the fan and the chip breaker as we had that happen as well but all in all its a great planer. With that amount of work I'd hope you got it for next to nothing They go pretty cheap in running order.

[Bill Geibe]

<<With that amount of work I'd hope you got it for next to nothing They go pretty cheap in running order.>>

Not around my area they don't! All the DeWalt's; the 733, 734 and 735 go for higher prices than any other brand of lunchbox planer. I often see used 735's in the $400 range.

Bill

[Myk Rian]

A fellow in our local group has had some trouble with his. The inside gets filled.
The fan on his doesn't seem to be mounted close to the motor, causing dust to blow out.
On mine, there is less than 1/4" between the blower housing and motor.

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[Chris Fite]

I use ammonia and an old toothbrush to clean pitch from my tools. If you can stand the smell.