Dewalt Jointers & Planers
They are all very famous among DIYers because of the 10,000RPM blade speed that leaves a near-perfect finish. With their three blades, these planers make 96 to 179 cuts per inch, way faster and more efficient than standard market planers. I picked this planer up from my local Lowes, well not really local, it was the closest Lowes. They offer other planers, but at the time this seemed like the best one for my use. Speed two is supposed to be for taking more material off quicker, but with not as nice of a finish.
It always takes more than a little trial and error to jam everything back into place. Screwing the dust collection hood back on is annoying, as it’s hard to access the screw holes. Thankfully you don’t need to change knives very often. We didn’t try to max out width, but I can tell you from my own experience with the 735x that it does very well even on wider boards. With planers I always try to take small bites regardless of the wood species, and see how the planer reacts. At least for me I’m never in such a rush that an extra pass or two isn’t a deal killer for me.
The planer comes with a tool to change the knives; it neatly stows on the motor housing so it won’t quickly get lost. It provides a maximum capacity of 13-inches in width and 6-inches in depth. The three-blades on the cutting head can provide either 96 CPI or 17p CPI, dewalt Hand tools 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. POWERTEC’s benchtop thickness planer is worth a look if you want mid-range capability from a planer.
You two can go far with an old Stanley #4 smooth plane. (My “new” one was purchased by my grandfather in the 1930s. My older one was made in 1909.) Ernie Conover and Chris Swartz are my two favorite plane gurus. But, I’m away from home for at least a few more days, so I can’t do much just now. You mention having an old Delta planer, but also mention having talked to the Woodcraft person.
We were able to hook our shop dust collection up to the planer (a 4-inch connection is recommended) and it’s been working great. Upon first setting up the planer, we questioned whether we would need to use the finishing speed very often. However, we found ourselves using it quite a bit more than we initially anticipated.
You will get an extra set of knives, as well as infeed and outfeed tables with this thickness planer. Good planer, maybe a little too expensive for the amount of snipe I get. If you plan on using a planer daily, a bench planer obviously isn’t the planer for you. DeWalt 753 and 735X are simply the same benchtop planer coming in two different packages. 735X is a wider package coming with a spare set of disposable blades and a set of infeed and outfeed benches that makes your work way easier.