Well, I got around to replacing the dead bench planer last night. Wandered
down to the local tool shop and wanted to look at the dewalt 734 and 735
side by side. From what I could tell, the only real difference is that the
735 has a blower for the dust port, and 2 speeds. I already have a honking
big dust collector, so the fan doesn't amke much difference to me. the 2
speeds might, but I know myself well enough toknow that I'd hardly ever use
anything but "fast" - everything ends up needing sanding anyway....
So I got there, and all they had was the 734. It costs a hundred bucks
less than the 735, and I could carry it home, so thats what I got (love when
the decisions are that easy). Got it home, and it was pretty much ready to
go out of the box. The screws to attach the dust hood were missing. Other
than that, all the assembly it needed was to attatch the height handle.
Dewalt customer support was closed, but a phone call at 8 this morning says
that they will mail them to me....
Once it was plugged in, it was time to test it out. The DC hood managed to
(more or less) hang on for most of the test. I started out by running some
rough pine through. Not too surprising, but the results were good. The
cutterhead lock is a little awkward, so I only used it for the finishing
passes. Without it, there was entry and exit snipe, but not too bad. With
the cutterhead lock engaged, I got no snipe. The first thing I noticed is
that its a lot quieter than my old Delta 12" planer. Don't know if its the 3
cutterheads (as opposed to the 2 on the old Delta), but even with sharp
blades, the delta always sounded like it was beating the wood to death. The
Dewalts is still loud, but nowhere near as bad....
Not too surprising to find that the pine came out good. I found that the
turret stop was a bit off on the 3/4" setting, but the 1/2" and 1/4" were
dead on, as was the thickness gauge. I found that the turret stop had a bit
of play in it, and I don't think it will provide really good repeatability,
but should come within a 64th or so, so is probably good enough. Its also a
major PITA to have to crank the height up to over 1 3/4 (or maybe it was 2")
to set or change the turret stop, so I don't think I'll be using it much.
Probably has some marketing value, but I'll probably just stick with my
calipers.......
The depth of cut gauge pretty much falls into the same boat as the turret
stop. Good marketing gimick, but not too usefull for me. I'l probably end up
taking it off because it makes a spot in the feed side where its fairly hard
to push stock in (as the stock goess in, it has to push up the depth gauge).
If it was off to one side, it wouldn't be too big a deal, but its almost
dead center, so it gets in the way a lot.
Next I threw a hunk of white oak at it. Pretty much the same results. Good
finish, no real snipe, and still fairly quiet.
The depth control is pretty good - 1/4 or 1/2 turn is what I used, and it
did a good job of getting through the saw marks and leaving a good finish (2
or three passes).
The dust colector port (hooked up to a 3HP Oneida system) sucked out every
last bit of dust, chips and shavings. I couldn't find anything that escaped.
About the only thing I would really change on it would be to add some sort
of feet or leveling capability. It wobbled a bit on the table (I don't know
if the table is warped or if there is a defect in the base of the unit).
Because it will be permanently mounted to my planer station, I'll fix it
with shims.....
Overall, I'm satisfied so far. I have a couple of runs of oak and cherry
coming up, so we'll see how it handles a real job.....
--JD
On Thu, 1 Jul 2004 13:37:46 -0400, "j.duprie" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>not really. The "station" is a space that I left between the base cabinets
>alongo ne side ofthe shop. Three are cleats screwed to the sides of the
>cabinets, and a huhnk of old countertop sits on the cleats. The planer is
>screwed to the counter top. Its set up so that teh in/outfeed tables are
>flush with the resot of the counter, so the stock is suported both going in
>and coming out of hteplaner (12' on either side)
>
>--JD
>
>"slipslidinaway" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:32:32 -0400, "j.duprie" <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Well, I got around to replacing the dead bench planer last night.
>Wandered
>> >down to the local tool shop and wanted to look at the dewalt 734 and 735
>> >side by side. From what I could tell, the only real difference is that
>the
>> >735 has a blower for the dust port, and 2 speeds. I already have a
>honking
>>
>>
>> (snip)
>>
>>
>> >Because it will be permanently mounted to my planer station, I'll fix it
>> >with shims.....
>> >
>> >Overall, I'm satisfied so far. I have a couple of runs of oak and cherry
>> >coming up, so we'll see how it handles a real job.....
>> >
>> >--JD
>> >
>> I've just gotten the same planer. Do you have pics or plans for the
>> station?
>> Slip
Thanks
I purchased the 734 before Christmas last year when Woodcraft had them for
$299. I've ran several hundred feet of red oak and some white oak beside
some borg pine and have been very satisfied with it. Don't have a dust
collector yet so have it sitting on a bottom cabinet roll around tool box.
Open the shop door and let er fly.
--
Mike S.
[email protected]
http://members.tripod.com/n0yii/woodworking.htm
"j.duprie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well, I got around to replacing the dead bench planer last night. Wandered
> down to the local tool shop and wanted to look at the dewalt 734 and 735
> side by side. From what I could tell, the only real difference is that the
> 735 has a blower for the dust port, and 2 speeds. I already have a honking
> big dust collector, so the fan doesn't amke much difference to me. the 2
> speeds might, but I know myself well enough toknow that I'd hardly ever
> use
> anything but "fast" - everything ends up needing sanding anyway....
> So I got there, and all they had was the 734. It costs a hundred bucks
> less than the 735, and I could carry it home, so thats what I got (love
> when
> the decisions are that easy). Got it home, and it was pretty much ready to
> go out of the box. The screws to attach the dust hood were missing. Other
> than that, all the assembly it needed was to attatch the height handle.
> Dewalt customer support was closed, but a phone call at 8 this morning
> says
> that they will mail them to me....
>
> Once it was plugged in, it was time to test it out. The DC hood managed to
> (more or less) hang on for most of the test. I started out by running some
> rough pine through. Not too surprising, but the results were good. The
> cutterhead lock is a little awkward, so I only used it for the finishing
> passes. Without it, there was entry and exit snipe, but not too bad. With
> the cutterhead lock engaged, I got no snipe. The first thing I noticed is
> that its a lot quieter than my old Delta 12" planer. Don't know if its the
> 3
> cutterheads (as opposed to the 2 on the old Delta), but even with sharp
> blades, the delta always sounded like it was beating the wood to death.
> The
> Dewalts is still loud, but nowhere near as bad....
>
> Not too surprising to find that the pine came out good. I found that the
> turret stop was a bit off on the 3/4" setting, but the 1/2" and 1/4" were
> dead on, as was the thickness gauge. I found that the turret stop had a
> bit
> of play in it, and I don't think it will provide really good
> repeatability,
> but should come within a 64th or so, so is probably good enough. Its also
> a
> major PITA to have to crank the height up to over 1 3/4 (or maybe it was
> 2")
> to set or change the turret stop, so I don't think I'll be using it much.
> Probably has some marketing value, but I'll probably just stick with my
> calipers.......
>
> The depth of cut gauge pretty much falls into the same boat as the turret
> stop. Good marketing gimick, but not too usefull for me. I'l probably end
> up
> taking it off because it makes a spot in the feed side where its fairly
> hard
> to push stock in (as the stock goess in, it has to push up the depth
> gauge).
> If it was off to one side, it wouldn't be too big a deal, but its almost
> dead center, so it gets in the way a lot.
>
> Next I threw a hunk of white oak at it. Pretty much the same results. Good
> finish, no real snipe, and still fairly quiet.
>
> The depth control is pretty good - 1/4 or 1/2 turn is what I used, and it
> did a good job of getting through the saw marks and leaving a good finish
> (2
> or three passes).
>
> The dust colector port (hooked up to a 3HP Oneida system) sucked out every
> last bit of dust, chips and shavings. I couldn't find anything that
> escaped.
>
> About the only thing I would really change on it would be to add some sort
> of feet or leveling capability. It wobbled a bit on the table (I don't
> know
> if the table is warped or if there is a defect in the base of the unit).
> Because it will be permanently mounted to my planer station, I'll fix it
> with shims.....
>
> Overall, I'm satisfied so far. I have a couple of runs of oak and cherry
> coming up, so we'll see how it handles a real job.....
>
> --JD
>
>
On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:32:32 -0400, "j.duprie" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Well, I got around to replacing the dead bench planer last night. Wandered
>down to the local tool shop and wanted to look at the dewalt 734 and 735
>side by side. From what I could tell, the only real difference is that the
>735 has a blower for the dust port, and 2 speeds. I already have a honking
(snip)
>Because it will be permanently mounted to my planer station, I'll fix it
>with shims.....
>
>Overall, I'm satisfied so far. I have a couple of runs of oak and cherry
>coming up, so we'll see how it handles a real job.....
>
>--JD
>
I've just gotten the same planer. Do you have pics or plans for the
station?
Slip
not really. The "station" is a space that I left between the base cabinets
alongo ne side ofthe shop. Three are cleats screwed to the sides of the
cabinets, and a huhnk of old countertop sits on the cleats. The planer is
screwed to the counter top. Its set up so that teh in/outfeed tables are
flush with the resot of the counter, so the stock is suported both going in
and coming out of hteplaner (12' on either side)
--JD
"slipslidinaway" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:32:32 -0400, "j.duprie" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Well, I got around to replacing the dead bench planer last night.
Wandered
> >down to the local tool shop and wanted to look at the dewalt 734 and 735
> >side by side. From what I could tell, the only real difference is that
the
> >735 has a blower for the dust port, and 2 speeds. I already have a
honking
>
>
> (snip)
>
>
> >Because it will be permanently mounted to my planer station, I'll fix it
> >with shims.....
> >
> >Overall, I'm satisfied so far. I have a couple of runs of oak and cherry
> >coming up, so we'll see how it handles a real job.....
> >
> >--JD
> >
> I've just gotten the same planer. Do you have pics or plans for the
> station?
> Slip