Replies

1. 
   SCFrankland | Apr 23, 2004 03:02pm | #1

   My dad has the Delta and it has worked very good over the last 5 years with no problems to date. The DeWalt is also a good machine and I haven't heard anything bad about it either. My uncle has the Makita and his only problem is that it isn't wide enough to take a 14" board. With that said I would go and buy the one with the best price as all machines are good. I know the dad had a few problems in the DC area as he uses a shopvac and it doesn't do a great job as there isn't enough CFM's.

   Scott C. Frankland

   Scott's WOODWORKING Website

   "He who has the most tools may not win the race of life but he will sure make his wife look like a good catch when she goes to move on."

2. 
   ASK | Apr 23, 2004 03:06pm | #2

   Skyking,

   There was a recent review of bench top planers in one of the wood mags. Can't remember which on. I'll check and see if I can find it. I think there was a recent discussion here on the forum about them. Search the archives. I have the Rigid 13" and have been very pleased with it and I think it has had some decent reviews.

   ASK

3. 
   yieldmap | Apr 23, 2004 06:23pm | #3

   I don't have any experience with the 735, but I bought a 733 last summer.  I've been very happy with it.

   The 733 leaves a glass-smooth cut, even for a 2-knife, one speed system.  I can only expect the 735 to be better yet, with 3 knives and 2 speeds.  The infeed and outfeed tables are a necessity to reduce snipe, so purchase them if they don't come standard.  If you look really close, you can see some very small marks from the blade, but that could be my blade alignment.  Again... really, really close (I'm a perfectionist).

   Dust collection on the 733 is really good.  My story is that I took the planer to my dad's to plane some old barn wood.  Not long into the job we had a shop full of chips.  Then, I purchased a small Delta dust collector and hooked it up.  I was amazed...couldn't even find a spec of sawdust.  The dust hood is in exactly the right place to remove all the chips and dust.  Again, I only expect the 735 to be as good or better.

   Power is good...but there's never enough power, now is there?  The motor can be bogged down if you take too big of a cut (experience).

   good luck

   yieldmap

4. 
   RRusso | Apr 23, 2004 08:22pm | #4

   Dave,

   Most will probably not agree w/me on this one, but here goes...

   Features: The new bt planers are nice and have a bunch of bells and whistles on them, but you really don't need that stuff. Turbo-charged, double-clutched, am fm stereo, dvd, blah blah, are all unnecessary. I don't need it to make me a drink and give me a back rub, too. At 500 bucks, I don't think these features and the extra 1/2 inch or so capacity are worth it.

   Dust collection: Planers make big piles of shavings. Fast. I've forgone the dc hook-up in favor of just letting the shavings fall into their pile, and then I scoop 'em up w/a shovel and over to the burn pile they go. Of course I wear a mask and have the overhead filter on, but I've found this method is a lot quicker than bothering with disconnecting the bag (or taking the top off the shop vac, which needs to be done about every five min., btw), emptying it, reconnecting it, etc.

   Power: Any of the models available will have plenty of power, provided you don't try to take too much off in one pass. I shoot for about 1/32 on each pass. And, if you've got more than, say, 3/16-1/4 inch of thickness to take off of a plank, you should consider resawing close to this figure with a band saw before heading over to the planer. Some may consider this a bit unorthodox, but I don't think it's very fun running a board through a million times to reach a desired thickness. Knives will go longer between sharpening/ replacement, too.

   Quality of cut/snipe: Any properly set up bt planer will produce a decent surface. It doesn't need to be glass-smooth. Obviously, large amounts of tear-out or chunks are unacceptable, but again, if it's properly set up and you're not trying to take off a large amount in one pass, this isn't going to be a problem. Small ridges or lines are fine, and can be easily and quickly rectified with a sharp card scraper. I view snipe as just "one of those things" one has to deal with, and account for it when I rough cut the stock. It's minimal, and very little stock is wasted because of it.

   I've got a Jet 12 1/2" that I bought about 3 yrs ago for 230 bucks (on sale). Carriage goes up and down like I need it to and it's got two locking levers which, supposedly, reduces snipe. I've tried both locking the levers and leaving them unlocked and can't honestly tell the difference.

   Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is not to get too excited about the manufacturers' "special features" they're so found of touting. Besides, if you want to spend that much money on a planer, get yourself a L-N #8. I bet it'll last a lot longer. ;)

5. 
   nicobie | Apr 25, 2004 09:00pm | #5

   If you buy the DW735 you don't have to hook up to a dust collector (a shop vac is not big enough for any planner) as it  comes with a built in blower. Just buy their dust bag accessory. I have a feeling that a pillow case might even work.

    

6. 
   kraiza | Apr 26, 2004 02:13pm | #6

   Go with thw Dewalt 735. It was rated the best and I have one. Great planer. And for dust with the built in blower and dust collection unit you will not have any dust or chips.

7. 
   XOrionFe | Apr 26, 2004 02:29pm | #7

   Don't leave out the Rigid.  It is an awesome planer!

   Scott

8. 
   Mach70 | Apr 26, 2004 07:36pm | #8

   All the recent tests I have read conclude that all  the reviewed planers do an excellent job.  Last year I went to a WW show with cash in hand to choose a new planer.  The Delta was poorly setup and the Makita wasn't competitively priced.  I brought home the Dewalt.  If weight is an issue the Makita is a real featherweight.  For the money I saved I can go to my chiropractor several times!  (ha ha)

9. 
   BarryO | Apr 28, 2004 09:49am | #9

   FWIW I have the Makita.  My favorite feature are the disposible, easy-to-install knives.  I'd hate to have a planar where those long knives needed to be tediously adjusted.

   The dust port cost extra, but worth it IMHO, assuming you have a dust collector and not just a shop vac.  Planers produce more chips than just about anything else.  The dust port takes a 3" hose; sorta an odd size, but Grizzly (and Amazon) carries it, as does a local shop near me.

10. 
    sailalex | Apr 28, 2004 04:17pm | #10

    I have had both the Delta and the Dewalt 735. I used the Delta without problems until after 11.5 months when the brushes continued to burn out . Took it back to Woodcraft and they offered to exchange it for a new delta or I could "upgrade" to the Dewalt. I upgraded and after about 2 months the drive sprocket on the roller disintegrated, went to the local service shop, no parts, called headquarters, no parts. ( The sprocket for the 733 is a lot beefier than the one for the new735.)Took the Dewalt 735 back to Woodcraft, they gave me a new one, and after about 3 months , no problems to date.

    As to the features, I like the Dewalt a lot more than the Delta, although of course it is about $50-75(?) more expensive. The dust collector actually blows shavings out the extractor hole and in my opinion one could take a 4" hose of about 4-5', hook one end to the exractor on the planer stick the other end in a garbage can and collect all the shavings. I also like the feature that allows you to set a lock on the popular dimensions ( 1/4, 1/2 ,3/4, etc.) and the machine will not let you plane under that dimension. Nice if you have a lot of same dimension planing to do on a lot of planks. Again, the 735 is new and all design problems may not have surfaced; I am hoping the sprocket problem is not one of them, although the service guy even commented about the difference.

    Hope this helps!

11. 
    aguita | Apr 29, 2004 06:55pm | #11

    I have the DW733 and a buddy of mine has the 735.  Both are great pieces of machinery.  I have had no trouble with the 733 and have it hooked up to my dust collector.  The 735 does produce a better finished product with the 3 blade, 2 speed, but is also more expensive.  The 735 is currently missing a tooth on one of the drive sprockets, sounds like the same problem as a previous post.

12. 
    billballeza | Apr 29, 2004 11:39pm | #12

    Dale, I have two words about the Delta 22-580.

    Buy it.