Carbide knives for DW735 planer

[Eddie Darby]

They're priced at $249, but if you order this week they're $199. This price seems to be more or less in line with Infinity's other carbide-tipped blades.

I always like these 'order now' sales. It just seems that now is not always a good time.

Too bad they weren't always priced at a more reasonable price than $249.

I'll just wait for the other companies that are more reasonably priced to join the game with their carbide blades.

When my printer runs out of ink, I always debate the cost of buying a new ink cartridge vs. upgrading to a new printer each time. Now it seems that I will have to do it for my planer.

[Michael McCoy]

I'm no machine expert but I've been running a Byrd cutter head on my jointer for the last six months (fairly heavy use) and curly walnut went through yesterday like the knives were new. I am more than willing to give these a shot so thanks for the heads up.

Shipping is free by the way for standard 5-7 day ground.

[Dave Falkenstein]

...Till the end of this week you can pick-up a set for $199.90, please report you're results back to the forum when you've given them a good run. Our first sets will ship in Sept.

As always, thanks for your support.

David Venditto
Infinity Tools

Here we are in the middle of July, being offered a "deal" on these knives for delivery in September. Putting on my devil's advocate hat, this sounds like test marketing. Why not just offer them in September when they are available to ship?

[Brad Townsend]

It's up to each individual to determine if it's worth it for them. For myself, it might be. Here's why:

Awhile back I really wanted to put a Byrd cutterhead in my 8" jointer, but couldn't afford the $400 price. However, I could afford carbide tipped knives. This was a bit of a risk, as there was little or no feedback on this, or other forums from people who had tried them. I put them in nearly two years ago at a cost of about $130, and they still cut like they did when I first put them in. I haven't had to do a thing with them since. That is worth something to me.

Based on this experience and my satisfaction with the 735 overall, other than the knife issue, I would be tempted to spend the $200, run the 735 until it dies, and THEN get the 15" with the induction motor and Byrd cutterhead.

[Peter Luch]

I do alot of work with teak for boats here and the HSS blades last about one board so I end up having all my teak planed at local cabinet shops which have planers with carbide blades.
The $249 will be a $$$ saver for me!

One of the shops has an old planer (Makita 15") with carbide blades and the owner uses it just for wood like teak and has said the blades have not needed to be changed for years and it still cuts perfect with no nicks and almost a sand free finish.

I will be getting a set of these blades when available and use them just for my teak cutting, they should last me at least 1-2 years before any sharpening is needed.
With paying $20 to $40 each visit to a cabinet shop they will pay for themselves in just a few boat jobs.

Aloha, Pete

[Bruce Benjamin]

As for eBay, I am smart enough to factor in shipping. The price I quoted was from an auction I found yesterday where I could get two sets of blades, including shipping, for just under $70.

Finally, I don't know that the Infinity rep didn't mean 10X longer than both sides of a steel blade. However, in any catalog I've ever read, carbide is said to last 10X longer than HSS. I think what I said is a reasonable assumption.

Hi Brian, I'll just address a few of your points: $70 for 2 sets of blades, shipped, is probably not a deal you can get very often. Though it's been a long time since I looked, I've never seen a deal like that for those blades. I'm not saying the deal didn't exist, I'm saying that you should compare a more common price. $249 is the common price for the new carbide blades.

Regarding the, "Infinity rep", he was more than just a rep, he is the owner and founder of Infinity tools. I've talked with David on the phone a few times. He always has answered the phone when I called Infinity, (though it's been a while since I called) and I believe he would be reasonable enough to mean that the carbide blades can last 10 times longer than both sides of the HSS blades since meaning anything other than that might be misleading. At least I hope that's what he meant. Think about it..."I wore out my DeWalt blades". To me that means it's time to throw them away. Otherwise you would say, "I wore out one side of my DeWalt blades". To me, "Both sides" is implied. He has always seemed like an honest and straightforward guy to me.

Bruce

[David Venditto]

Our carbide knives for the DW735 planer can be sharpened but you'll have to make sure to take them to a shop that knows what they are doing. Since the index pins are fixed you're not able to adjust the height of the knives after they've been sharpened so it is advisable to only take the minimum amount of material off. Assuming you have not damaged the knives, you should be able to get away with taking .010"-.012" off per sharpening. The diameter of the cut circle is changed with each sharpen so the infeed / outfeed rollers need to be within their tolerance so they put the correct pressure on the material being feed through. I would estimate you should be able to get 2-3 regular sharpenings but make sure to tell the shop you want the minimum amount of material taken off. Prices for sharpening vary but you can expect about $1-$1.25 per inch.

Our claim of 10x life for carbide tooling is pretty standard when comparing them to steel cutting tools. In the case of the standard 1/16" thick DW735 knives, we've heard reports of them not lasting as long as our regular single sided 1/8" thick HSS knives used in most other planers. In my opinion, only having half the material behind the cutting edge makes the standard knives wear faster than thicker ones made from the same material. So, for the record, I am comfortable saying that one of our carbide tipped knives should last about 10x longer than one of our DeWalt 735 HSS replacement knives (both sides included) since the original knives are only 1/16" thick and seem to wear faster than our standard 1/8" thick knives. If the original knives were double sided & 1/8" thick I would probably not be able to make the same statement.

Bottom line; the carbide knives will last much longer than the HSS knives and are suited to cutting even very hard and tricky material that would rapidly make the HSS knives dull. Are they worth the extra money? If you use your machine once a month for 15 minutes then probably not. If you use your planer often and/or use hardwoods for your projects then they most likely make a lot of sense.

Thank you,
David Venditto
Infinity Tools

[Peter Quinn]

So the last few posts reiterate what I was talking about when I said the cost of the tooling is irrelevant to the cost of the machine. On a dollar per board foot basis carbide will beat HSS every time. This is why you don't see many HSS router bits any more. Carbide is more cost effective for stock profiles or straight knives in most cases.

In the individual's decision to use carbide however price is very relevant and dependent on the end users needs and budget. If your planer gets light use and $200 is going to cripple your wood working budget, then why bother.

I plane teak, morado, liginum vitea, bubinga and a few other occasionally enough that I don't want to buy carbide tipped for my main planer but would love to use them in the 735. Keep um sharp and ready for those few boards that really require them. I have asked in every post about the 735 "Why doesn't some one make carbide for that tool?" I'll be getting a set as soon as finances allow, or the next job requiring them comes up, which ever comes sooner. I'd rather not buy carbide tipped for the 15" planer because I am saving for a better planer with a Byrd head and dropping $300 on knives won't help that cause. Such a tricky financial balance getting a small shop going.