Shelix head for DeWalt 735

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie,

Yes, but again:

1. The table tilt is designed to be very simply adjustable.
2. The small head puts the cutting plane 1/32" or so "deeper" relative to the feed rollers than the factory 3-knife head. The board bounce or deflection that causes snipe has to be more severe to get snipe with the small head than with the factory head.

Steve, where my thoughts went was with the feed rollers. Does that extra 1/32" they are depressed into the head have any effect on snipe? What kind of travel for the feed rollers did Dewalt engineer into the unit?

The only reason I even thought of that was I have read some people who went with the smaller Shelix cutter talked about snipe being present where it wasn't before the upgrade. I haven't run across anyone installing the OEM Shelix cutter making that claim, though they may be out there.

As for the tables, I have not seen any way they can be adjusted, but I stopped looking after I read they were engineered that way to prevent snipe.

[Randy Heinemann]

I've used the 735 for years and, with the extension tables angled slightly upward to the outer edges, I get no snipe (at least none that makes any difference). I researched installing the Shelix head or having the head installed. For me, it's difficult to justify the cost when the planer, as purchased, does such a great job on almost all the woods I work with. In all the years I've had the planer I have only had 2 instances where the surface had to be finished up with a drum sander. If you do a lot of work with figured woods, like birds eye maple, I could see a need. I also understand the argument about the Dewalt blades not getting great wear and that would be extremely important for me if I were a woodworker making my living at it. Then, however, I would likely have chosen a heavier duty planer than the 735 anyway with a spiral cutter head. Don't get me wrong, I have a spiral 8" jointer with carbide inserts, which I truly love, but I've always been a firm believer that tools work best when use as they are equipped from the factory as they are designed and tested.

[Steve Demuth]

As for the tables, I have not seen any way they can be adjusted, but I stopped looking after I read they were engineered that way to prevent snipe.

Julie,

The extension feed tables are attached to the extension support arms with slotted screws, which allow you to align them on the planer-side edge to be planar with the fixed feed table, and to elevate the outboard edges as required for snipe management. There is, as with the depth gauge, a possibility that you'll want more adjustment than the slots allow, and I actually made some little blocks that could be used at the attachment point of the extension tables to rotate the table slightly upward as a whole for use when planing when thin stock, but they haven't really been necessary - I took them out and haven't seen any consequences.

I agree that people report snipe after the upgrade. But here's the thing - you've disassembled and probably manhandled the whole device to install that head. Expecting it's adjustment to be "factory spec" after that is a pretty big ask. I adjusted mine a bit after the upgrade, and have not really had significant snipe issues since.

[Dan Schocke]

So what's keeping you from going with the larger size, Mike? Just having to remove and reseat the cutters?

The smaller size head is ~$75 cheaper right now (at least from what I've seen) -- probably to clear out stock. I ordered one last week since I'm currently doing quite a bit of work with curly and birds eye maple.

I've gotten by without the shelix on prior projects, but it was time to make the switch given the cost of the figured lumber. I realized that I've been buying figured maple and cherry for years (basically buying a few boards whenever I ran across decent stock) and squirreling it away because it's somewhat difficult/rare for me to find locally. I have way more money tied up in that lumber than the $375 I spent on the shelix. I probably would have talked myself into the large size shelix if I had known about it before placing my order.

--Dan

[David Utterback]

You may have just answered my question, Dan. I was wondering if the shelix head from Holbren was the small one. It is priced at $375 but is currently backordered for 8 weeks. Sounds like a good deal nonetheless and I have one more set of replacement knives I can use in the meantime.

Thanks
David

[Greg Parrish]

I ordered the larger one last week and it should be here tomorrow. Got mine via Amazon.

Looking forward to it after just installing one in my powermatic 54a jointer.

[Mike Henderson]

I ordered the larger one last week and it should be here tomorrow. Got mine via Amazon.

Looking forward to it after just installing one in my powermatic 54a jointer.

After you get it installed, let us know how it works. I'm interested in hearing from someone who installed the larger cutterhead.

Mike

[Greg Parrish]

After you get it installed, let us know how it works. I'm interested in hearing from someone who installed the larger cutterhead.

Mike

will do Mike. Might take me a few weeks but I will circle back.

[Julie Moriarty]

FWIW, I ran some boards from my new 735 today. I have not adjusted the outfeed wing table so I relied on the stock tables and roller stands. I did a test run with a short piece of 2x6 construction lumber and it was silky smooth. It looked like birdseye pine, if there is such a thing. But then came the real test.

I had a piece of hard maple that was 15/16" thick. I resawed it in half and ran the pieces through the 735. The pieces were around 4" wide and over 5' in length. Before I added the outfeed roller stands, there was snipe at the end of the boards. After I added the roller feeds, I saw no snipe. But I did see chipout. The boards are fairly straight-grained hard maple. No figure at all.

I work with a lot of figured woods. If these results are typical, the Shelix may be in my future.

[Randy Heinemann]

I think there will always be the possibility of some tearout on figured woods with straight steel knives. I can usually minimize this by taking a couple of light passes at the end, but sometimes it just can't be eliminated. Birdseye maple seems to be especially troublesome for me. I doubt that tearout can be completely eliminated without going to a helical cutter head. Just my opinion . . .

[Mike Henderson]

FWIW, I ran some boards from my new 735 today. I have not adjusted the outfeed wing table so I relied on the stock tables and roller stands. I did a test run with a short piece of 2x6 construction lumber and it was silky smooth. It looked like birdseye pine, if there is such a thing. But then came the real test.

I had a piece of hard maple that was 15/16" thick. I resawed it in half and ran the pieces through the 735. The pieces were around 4" wide and over 5' in length. Before I added the outfeed roller stands, there was snipe at the end of the boards. After I added the roller feeds, I saw no snipe. But I did see chipout. The boards are fairly straight-grained hard maple. No figure at all.

I work with a lot of figured woods. If these results are typical, the Shelix may be in my future.

When I encounter a board that chips out easily, I finish the thicknessing with my drum sander. However, I'd be interested to learn how much improvement the shelix head provides.

Note to Julie - you can often find a used 16/32 drum sander for about the price of a shelix head - maybe a bit more. But, of course, that takes up more room in the shop which might be a problem.

Mike

[Julie Moriarty]

When I encounter a board that chips out easily, I finish the thicknessing with my drum sander. However, I'd be interested to learn how much improvement the shelix head provides.

Note to Julie - you can often find a used 16/32 drum sander for about the price of a shelix head - maybe a bit more. But, of course, that takes up more room in the shop which might be a problem.

Mike

I have a 16/32 drum sander, Mike. It's been the go to when I need to flatten figured boards but it is painfully slow.

With my old Delta planer I could creep up on the final thickness in minuscule increments, but again, very time consuming. When I bought the 735 knowing I can change out the head with a spiral cutter eased the buying decision. I can count on one hand the number of projects that went to finishing without sanding. There's something the finish on about a properly planed board.

Before committing to the 735 I looked at the floor models in the same price range as the 735 with the Shelix adder. I couldn't find any with a spiral cutter. But the killer was floor space. Right now, there's already barely enough room to change my mind.

[Dan Schocke]

I'm probably not really adding new information here, but I received the shelix head for my 735 from Holbren late last week. I assume it's the original (smaller) size since i was able to install without removing all of the carbide inserts. It took me about an hour and a half to do the install -- not difficult at all. Removing and reinstalling the inserts would add a considerable amount of time, but you're only doing the install once anyway.

Consider me a convert. The planer is still loud because of the universal motor and blower, but the cut is significantly quieter. Whereas it used to be very loud on startup and then MUCH LOUDER when feeding in a board, now it's loud on startup and doesn't get noticeably louder when cutting. That alone makes it worth the added cost for me.

The cut quality was very good, no tear out at all on the hard maple I used for testing. Not completely unusual for this planer with new, sharp blades, but hopefully will last longer with the carbide inserts. Snipe wasn't any worse than what I've experienced before with this planer -- I've always had 2-3 thousandths on the leading edge no matter how I try to adjust the infeed table. One pass of a hand plane will clean it up if i need to use the whole board. Trailing edge had no noticeable snipe.

Overall I'm impressed. I can't remember the last time I installed an aftermarket accessory and just thought "WOW", and now I'm thinking about getting a byrd head for my jointer too.

--Dan

[Julie Moriarty]

I was running some boards on my new 735 today and already I noticed lines in the finished board. I've been really careful about the wood I have fed into the planer but apparently something nicked the knives. I have read DeWalt's knives don't keep an edge well but this is a bit much. The carbide versions run over $200 which makes the Shelix seem like the better option.

[Chris Parks]

This is a heads up for some who it may affect. I was asked to help fit a helical head to a combination machine a while ago and after we fitted it the head was below the out feed table when set up as a jointer, not a big deal but this machine did not appear to have any height adjustment on the OF table. The gotcha is that a conventional straight head has its outer cutting diameter defined by the blade protrusion above the drum and if that is not allowed for the helical head if specified by drum size can be too small because the cutters are fixed.