Dewalt’s Benchtop Planer

Because the cutter head sits on four threaded posts – which reduces movement of the cutter head – there is very little snipe with this model. With the three-blade cutter head spinning at 10,000 RPM, the cut comes out very smooth even at the faster dimensioning speed. At the lower finishing speed, the material has a finish that is almost smooth enough to skip sanding.

People who are interested on DeWalt Planers, Here we do 7 best dewalt planers reviews. Among them, 3 are thickness benchtop planers and other 4 are hand planers. A couple of years ago I bought a new planer and limited my choices to “portable” ones just because of space issues. I did consider the cost of blades since most of them are disposable these days. Of course it’s hard to know how long they are going to last other than online reviews, but then you don’t know if the reviewer really knows what he’s doing or talking about.

It provides users with more capacity without having to upgrade to cabinet-sized models. Your credit card will not be charged until we ship your product and you may cancel at any time. The helical cutterhead is an upgrade kit that dewalt Hand tools must be installed by the customer/buyer. These knives have two ground edges and measure 13″ x 7/8″ x 5/64″ . Three knives are included in the set. It is the last plane used and designed to make very fine shavings (around .001”).

For this test, we set all of the planers to a uniform depth of 3/32”. Each piece of wood was started at the first roller of the planer and we left our hands off the sample until it stopped past the outfeed roller. Next blue chalk powder was rubbed onto the last 6” of the board in order to make the snipe condition stand out visually. Bench-top thickness planers have a dial used to move the cutting heads up and down to set the depth of cut. On each model the dial indicates how far the heads move up and down per revolution of the dial.

The three-blades on the cutting head can provide either 96 CPI or 17p CPI, depending upon the speed you set it at. This product uses a 15 amp motor to provide power and it includes extra blades as well as an infeed and outfeed table. A thickness scale and a separate material removal gauge make it easy to set the 734 for the right depth of cut. When I slide a workpiece to the cutter-head carriage, I use the material removal gauge to set the carriage height for the desired cut. There is also an adjustment wheel marked in 1/64″ increments to move the carriage. The carriage itself has a lock bar that positively locks to the four columns and controls snipe, a deeper cut at the beginning and end of a board, a common planer problem.

It should be adequate for home woodshops or construction sites. That will cut through all but the hardest woods with minimal bogging. I am not aware of any wood species that a 15-amp motor would struggle with. Most of us start woodworking with pre-dimensioned dewalt accessories lumber from the local hardware or big box stores. That limits your selection to mostly construction lumbers made from cedar, pine, fir, and redwood. Creating usable wood from rough sawn timber opens up many wood species that are not available pre-dimensioned.

For as much Purple heart we sent through that planer, it seemed like the knives lasted a long time. Some of the cuts we even took off more than recommended for that machine and it did a great job. I would definitely recommend this planer to anyone serious about their wood. I purchased the planer kit that included the extension tables and an extra set of knives. I have only had an opportunity to run a couple of pieces of 1x6x4′ #2 pine through it. They came out smooth as glass and absolutely no snipe.

Due to gravity, the long end of the board can cause enough leverage to lift the section inside the planer into the cutterhead just slightly, removing more material than you intended. A benchtop planer is very use-specific, meaning it only serves one purpose—and as a one-trick pony, it’s not the most common tool present in the average workshop. 19-3/4″ cast aluminum base is 2X more rigid than a standard 10″ base and folding tables. This is a really good machine, but the only problem with it is that it is exceedingly loud, even with ppe. I ended up buying a little bit less capable, and slightly more expensive, machine only because it was much quieter.

An alternative to using power wood planers is using hand planes. The skill required to properly dimension wood with a hand plane takes time to master. For that reason, a good thickness planer will save you valuable shop time while improving the quality of your work. With the benchtop planer turned off, lower the cutterhead onto the board to get a starting point. Remove the board, turn on the machine, and run the board through the planer. Continue to lower the cutterhead for each pass until you’ve shaved the board down to the desired height.

dewalt planer

The edges of the Planar Digital are sharp and I scraped my arm several times. In addition, the electrical cord gets in the way no matter what I tried. I do not keep my power on to my tools, which means that every time I wanted to use the planar, I had to recalibrate the Planar Digital.