DW735 Planer

[greenacres2]

I've had mine for 15 years and have been very happy with it. I recently upgraded to a spiral cutter head and would highly recommend it before you buy your first set of replacement knives.

I highly recommend the Wixley or some other digital height gauge.

I did use mine enough that I wore through parts of the chip impeller housing and chips started entering the interior. I forgot how much the replacement parts were, but they were not bad at all. With the amount of use, I consider it just normal wear.

Even though the bottom is galvanized, waxing it helps boards feed through.

I haven't done that yet, but wore a hole in the Dust Right elbow fitting.  Black Gorilla Tape has held up nicely, though i should put the 3rd double-wrap of that on the elbow--got to be about time to wear through.  Been 7 or 8 years since i put the Byrd head on and have only changed 2 cutters (both on boards i never should have sent through to start with).  While i can't document it, in that period of time i'd have spent more on knives than i did on the Byrd head.  Easy!!
earl

[Ray Newman]

Ray,

I've pretty much have given up on trying to find things that are 100% USA made. Parts, at the least, are imported.

Jim

HalfThumb: I agree. Reason I asked is that I know about 6 or 7 guys who are firmly convinced that the DeWalt 735 planer is made in the US. It is almost a religious dogma in their minds. They look askance at me if i say that it is probably made or assembled in China or Taiwan.

[lincmercguy]

"Been 7 or 8 years since i put the Byrd head on and have only changed 2 cutters"

Have you rotated cutters or actually changed them? I have yet to rotate any, I would have definitely flipped the straight knives by now.

[greenacres2]

@lincmercguy…I haven’t rotated cutters yet, but it’s getting to be time I think. The two I changed were broken by loose knots that I had no business sending through.

[kurt18947]

HalfThumb: I agree. Reason I asked is that I know about 6 or 7 guys who are firmly convinced that the DeWalt 735 planer is made in the US. It is almost a religious dogma in their minds. They look askance at me if i say that it is probably made or assembled in China or Taiwan.

Before they look too askance, suggest they check Amazon's listing
Product information
Technical Details
Part Number DW735X
Country of Origin China
Style 2-Speed 13" w/Planer stand
Item Package Quantity 1

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW735X-Two...B01F66V0XS
about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way down the page.

Edit: Another listing for the DW735X shows Country of Origin as Taiwan.

[bmich]

China everything comes from China. Except for thin wall aluminum gutter parts, which are apparently made in the USA.

[MarkWells]

Is there a dust chut available for this model.

If you have a powerful dust collector (ClearVue, PM1900, etc.) and have 6" duct work, you can buy a hood on Etsy for a DW735 that allows you to connect a 6" hose.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/975373429/d...1860863509

I don't have this planer or the hood, but I was in a guy's shop that had one and he said it worked very well at clearing chips.  It might make the planer louder because it requires removing the top cover.  Not clear.

My hope is that one day 6" ports become the standard rather than 4".

Mark

[Halfathumb]

FWIW I got a Wen planer. Being that money is tight and I don't use the planer a lot. Actually I would prefer a 15 or 20 planer that might be in my future.

Thanks for all of your help.

Jim

[kurt18947]

FWIW I got a Wen planer. Being that money is tight and I don't use the planer a lot. Actually I would prefer a 15 or 20 planer that might be in my future.

Thanks for all of your help.

Jim

congratulations, that should work fine for you. One thing about the 15" or 20" planers is they should be quieter, especially with a helix cutterhead. Machines powered by universal motors are seldom (never?) quiet. Cast iron machines are also more $$$ and nowhere near as easy to move unless your shop is on grade.