Benchtop Planers and Rough-Sawn Lumber

[Lawrence Wiesner]

I've been trying to decide between the Dewalt 735 & the Delta 22-580 for some time now and with the deal that Lowes has right now I think I'm finally decided on the Dewalt. BUT, most of the time when I get wood for a project its rough-sawn and for some reason I gravitate toward the super hard exotic woods like bubinga, jatoba, etc. So, before I go and spend the money, is this planer up to the task of dimensioning and finish planing these hard woods? I've read some bad reviews about the Dewalt knives wearing out rather quickly but then read about some aftermarket knives by Infinity that are supposed to work better. Anyone have any experience with this?

[Joseph N. Myers]

Lawrence,

Welcome to SMC!

I've had the Delta 22-580 for about 3 years now and for the 1st year were very disappointed with the blades (I also have a Delta 12" and Woodmaster 4in1 18" so I had something to compare against).

Last 2 years very happy with how long the blades are now lasting and I do a lot of oak, maple and locust. Last longer than the other 2 planers. Don't have any experience with the DeWalt so can't comment.

Regards, Joe

[Fred Voorhees]

I have the DeWalt and although I haven't run any Jatoba or other hard exotics, I will say that I have sent a good darned number of board feet of oak through mine. Now, I have had my DeWalt for a number of years and I'll tell you this....I'm still using the original knives that came with it. Yeah, I heard the same thing about the knives and I just ignored it 'cause I wasn't experiencing the same thing. To tell you the truth, I even took advantage of the fact and called DeWalt and complained about my knives being dulled rather quickly. Whoever I talked to balked at the thought of sending me free replacements, but lo and behold, about two weeks later, I got a free pair in the mail. They are still in the package because I don't yet see the need to replace the originals. Take that for what it's worth.

[Cary Falk]

I have the Delta 22-580. I don't have any complaints with it. I just changed(flipped) the blades after about 2 years mostly because of the nicks not sharpness. I don't have anything to compare it 2. I mostly run it on the weekends and I don't have any idea how many bdft I ran through it. I run mostly popular, oak, walnut and alder. I hope that helps.

[Paul Greathouse]

Looks like I have the oldest benchtop planer so far. I have the original Green Delta Lunchbox 22-540. I've probably had it for about 14 years now and it has planed a bunch of board feet.

My dad has had his own land clearing and dirt work business for 34 years or so. I get nice logs on a regular basis and have them milled by a portable bandsaw mill operator.

I just got through finish planing about 600 - 700 bdft of some of the prettiest quartersawn Red Oak I have ever seen for cabinets in my sons house. The kiln operator that we used also rough planed our 5/4 down to just under an inch and we finished them off with the little 22-540.

In the 14 years I've had it, I have had two sets of solid carbide blades and 4 sets of regular steel blades. The carbides last many times longer than the regular steel but they are expensive $200 a pair compared to about $28 - $30 a pair for the steel.

I am about to upgrade to a 15" Grizzly but I will keep the 22-540 for small stuff. Its too beat up and ugly to sell anyway. Besides, it still turns out a smooth finish as long as the blades are sharp.

If I were in your shoes I would probably choose the Dewalt, I don't know if the newer Delta's are as good as my older one.

[Matt Woessner]

I would recomend the DeWalt all the way. I have been very happy with mine.

[J. Z. Guest]

Lawrence, have you looked at this article?

Based on this, I'd buy the Delta. Easier blade changes, less snipe, (< 0.001"? NICD!) and lower price. The DeWalt appears to have the beefier construction, as it maintains its RPM better under load, but is also more power hungry.

The DeWalt has an integral fan and the 3 knife cutterhead, so it will probably leave a nicer finish, but I don't consider planed lumber finished anyway. The Delta is also a bit quieter.

So although I like the overall design of the DeWalt better, where it really counts, it seems like the Delta's better.

[Yun-Fong Loh]

I've had the Delta 22-580 for about 3 years now and for the 1st year were very disappointed with the blades...

Last 2 years very happy with how long the blades are now lasting and I do a lot of oak, maple and locust. Last longer than the other 2 planers. Don't have any experience with the DeWalt so can't comment.

Joe, did you get a new source for blades or do you think Delta is just making better blades now?

I have a 22-580 and have been happy with it as well. The Dewalt came out soon after I bought my 22-580 and the 3-knife cutterhead had me regretting my purchase initially but the 22-580 has served me well so it was more new tool envy.

[Vic Damone]

In hindsight I should of passed on the 735. By the time I purchased all the accessories I needed and an extra set of blades and with 15% off retail I was only a few hundred dollars away from a used stationary.

Sometimes it snips sometimes it doesn't. Some blade sets last some will leave a raised line on the first pass. Regardless of who makes the blades or what their made of, the design is simply too thin.

On the other hand there seems to be many people who are running trouble free. So much so it convinced me to get one. Oh well.

Vic

[James Hendrix]

I've had the Delta 22-580 for about 3 years now and for the 1st year were very disappointed with the blades (I also have a Delta 12" and Woodmaster 4in1 18" so I had something to compare against).

I am thinking of getting the Woodmaster 18". How was the performance compared to the Delta. I am looking at running about 500' a month and was wondering how well the Woodmaster will work.

[J. Z. Guest]

In hindsight I should of passed on the 735.

Ah Vic... Lots of us have these excellent hindsights. I bought the Ryobi one for only $200 because it was rated "Best Value" by Fine Woodworking. Later, I found out that it has the worst snipe of those tested. (see link in my previous post)

Maybe the snipe isn't a big problem to the folks at FWW, since they like their hand planes so much?

But my choice was between this one or nothing, due to budgetary concerns.

You went with what lots of folks think is the best, only to be burned by thin, proprietary knives. Cheer up, We'll make do.

[Eddie Darby]

I'm under the impression that Dewalt have fixed the blade problem.

Both will give you a nice surface, but the Dewalt is very noisy, and the Delta heavy, so the portable aspect is not that good.

The Delta does an lovely job, though there are some quirks with the depth stop on this machine, which just needs to be learned.

[Loren Hedahl]

Ah Vic... Lots of us have these excellent hindsights. I bought the Ryobi one for only $200 because it was rated "Best Value" by Fine Woodworking. Later, I found out that it has the worst snipe of those tested. (see link in my previous post)

Maybe the snipe isn't a big problem to the folks at FWW, since they like their hand planes so much?

But my choice was between this one or nothing, due to budgetary concerns.

You went with what lots of folks think is the best, only to be burned by thin, proprietary knives. Cheer up, We'll make do.

I bought a neighbor's old 10 inch Ryobi from a neighbor who had purchased a new DeWalt. Snipe reduction was the main issue with him.

Now that I've used it quite a bit, I can usually reduce the snipe to almost zero on the old Ryobi by lifting the back end of the board slightly as I begin to feed it in until the cutters start to work. Then as the board is about to exit, I again lift the end slightly as the cutters stop working.

Once you get the hang of it to know when, and how much to lift, there is rarely enough snipe to even mention.

Another trick is to have two short pieces of scrap from the same stuff you are planing. Stick a scrap piece in and follow it in with your good piece, then just as the back end of the good piece is going into the planer, immediately follow it with another piece of scrap. This way the sniping is done on the scrap pieces.

Good luck.

[Rusty Elam]

I have the Delta and cound not ask for it to perform better, the cuts are smooth as glass and the only time I get any snipe is if I run wide oak boards and try to get a little agressive with the cuts.

The only thing I do not like is the little spring loaded thing that is supposed to tell you where to start planing, when mine pops up if you run the board thru you will be cuttiong about 3/16". It was so deep on the first cut I tried it flipped the breaker and ruined a nice piece of Walnut

[glenn bradley]

You're so close to the cost of a floor unit I would look closely at that. If you get a planer that is almost at the end of its ability to work your most common material, well that kind of purchase just doesn't make sense. You wouldn't buy a half-ton pick up if you knew you were going to haul a half a ton every day, would you?

If you are working exotics, you know the cost of the material. I would want the most efficient use of that material if it were me. I run a DW734 (three knives, one speed) and run a lot (for me) of walnut, ash, maple and oak. The planer has worked out very well for me but, I've never run bubinga or other 'exotics' so I have no reference there.