It’s time to replace the three knives of my DeWalt 13″ planer. The replacement knives (DW7352) at the local tools store cost a whopping $90. What would you do? Carbide? HSS? I don’t know if it’s worth it to add a Shelix head to such a small planer. What say you?
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Replies
I'd lean toward HSS, but what
I'd lean toward HSS, but what do I know. ;-)
I got a set at my local Lowes? for about $55.00 about 3 months ago.
Amazon sale:
http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW7352-Replaceable-Knives-Planer/dp/B0000CCXUB
Not sure about the Dewalt thickness planer but my standard edge/face planer gives smoother surfaces with HSS but the carbide lasts longer.
Ouch! That being said, Chris, you might want to try the Infinity Tools replacement blades Many people went to them after experiencing durability problems with the stock DeWalt's. I don't know for sure what the overall judgement was (and can't search here to find out -- perhaps Google?).
I hear your wheels a turning Chris.
Were you satisfied with the mileage you got on these blades?
If yes then you might be very happy with going to carbide for a few dollars more - maybe double the HSS cost? There are aftermarket carbide blades that are of high quality so don't be afraid to shop.
You have the Shelix experience in your jointer and this upgrade to your planer should deliver exceptional performance but at the upgrade cost of in excess of 5 sets of HSS blades.
Having the Shelix performance in a small package (almost portable) is a big plus.
If you are intending on planing lots of wood, the Shelix is the way to go. Now one big caution is the DW735 is a much lighter duty machine that say your jointer. Will the base unit match the life of the cutter?
I put carbide on my 8" jointer but haven't run enough wood over it to know if that was a good decision. I would go with a Shelix planer before the jointer.
Don
Don,
It's funny - I got a lot
Don,
It's funny - I got a lot of mileage from the first edge. Then I flipped the blades and they lasted only a small fraction of the time. It's not like I was planing hard-wearing woods or anything after the flip. I feel that the first edges lasted longer than I'd expected, but the second edges were dull before I knew it. I will look into some carbides. I feel that I was gouged buying the DeWalt knives from the tool store and could probably get some carbides for a fair price.
I do like the Shelix, but I don't really want to invest in one for such a light-duty planer as the DW735 (not that it's particularly light-duty, but it's not exactly industrial).
Chris,
It is all about mileage and $/foot. It is to bad there isn't a totalizer on the machine to measure cut linerar feet.
Thicknessing 24 linear ft of 6"W teak destroyed the knives on my Rigid TP13002.
I suggest you do a little snooping about and see who can supply replacements through other than the regular channel for Dewalt.
Dimar Canada make a HSS replacement
http://dimar-canada.com/products.php?m=56&idp=16
and
Infinity make both HSS and carbide
http://www.infinitytools.com/DeWalt-735-Replacement-Knives/products/1345/
Amana and CMT are also in the game.
A set of 3 carbide knives are in the US$250.00 range so not a light investment either.
There has been some noise about the lousy life of the Dewalt supplied blade, and really, why should we expect the factory blade to be of any quality? I am not aware of any manufacturer who puts a top end cutter of any type on any tool. There are probably some but not many.
If you can find a distributor who deals directly with a blade manufacturer, you may have a bit more leverage if the blade does not perform, and you might be able to get a quality HSS blade that has a couple of sharpenings in it.
As far as putting a Shelix on a DW735, that was your question, which I do not think is an unreasonable solution - depending on how much planing you are going to do. From what I have read, the Shelix may do a better job with less stress on the planer mechanics. You have already invested in a premium planer. The only thing that is going to kill it is shock or overheating the motor. The Shelix would go a long way to help minimize the impact of either on the machine life. The are lots of good reviews on this conversion.
I do not think Byrd would undertake making their product available for this application lightly and have designed the DW735 Shelix accordingly.
Don
I don't think I would invest
I don't think I would invest the money of a shelix head in that machine Chris. I love my griz with their version of the shelix head. Get a nick, switch the cutter edge. I need to switch all of my blades on my jointer. Lots of QS white oak takes it toll.
Happy Holidaze to you!
Morgan
Your tool store is charging top dollar for the knives, a Google search turned up many sources of the DeWalt made knives for your machine at around $50.00 a set. The HSS blades made by Infinity, at around $90.00 a set, reportedly stay sharp much longer than the DeWalt stock blades which have had a reputation for dulling especially fast.
Carbide edged straight knives which will go in the stock cutting head aren't available for bench top planers with disposable blades. To switch to carbide you would have to change the head to a Shelix type, which will cost around $500.00, which would be a poor investment for a lightweight machine.
Infinity now has both HSS blades and carbide tipped blades for the stock head in the DW735.
The hss blades are now 3/16" thick and cost $80.00, the carbide tipped blades are $250.00
Chris,
I looked up the DW735 blades at Woodcraft. Here is the reference page. You will see they sell for $55. I just called Woodcraft Customer service. I believe they said that Free Shipping ends today (Dec 26) for this month, but there will be free shipping again in January from Jan 18 - 31 for orders over $75.
You know that you cant trust me because I have a part time job at Woodcraft and the $8/hr they pay me causes me to SELL, SELL, SELL. Ha ha ha ha ha. I searched around and couldn't find anyone cheaper than Woodcraft (for this item).
Have fun.
Mel
I was able to find them for around ~$40 a set. I upgraded to a Byrd head. Huge difference in performance.
Chris,
My local Lowes had them yesterday for $50. I don't know where you found them for $90, but I wouldn't go there anymore.
Steve
Amazon has them cheaper than most most of the time. $53 buck and no shipping. I am going to try the Infinity HSS next time and see how getting them sharpened works out. That should run about 50 bucks.
$90 is just a rip off.
They are not cheap, but I factor it into the cost of the lumber I run through it. By the time I ruin both edges, it only adds a few cents per board foot to the cost of the lumber that I buy rough cut. I can usually get 2 or 3 pieces of furniture per side before flipping them. That's only about 10-15 bucks per piece at the most.
It's all relative. Dan
Hello.
A FOXBC brand replacement planer blades, offer HSS blades Knives for DW735, only $26.99/sets now.
https://www.foxbc.com/products/13-inch-replacement-knives-for-dewalt-dw735-dw735x-planers-replace-dw7352-set-of-3
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