Customer Reviews

DEWALT DW680K 7 Amp 3-1/4-Inch Planer

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have owned this planer for a couple of years now and must say it has been a life saver. It has tons of power, nothing slows this beast down. The front knob is very convenient for adjusting the depth from 1/32 to 3/32. Remember the knob on the front is for balance not steering.

I have used this to widen rough-ins for doors and windows. I recently had a framer build a soffit too low. I used this planer to raise the base of the soffit 1/2". This would have been an impossible job without this tool. I have also use this on doors that drag on carpet. One or two swipes and your door is swinging freely. There are a million applications for this thing. Of course a very popular use for this tool is to fix studs before hanging drywall. What an easy way to eliminate high points on a stud or a joyce so the your entire wall is plumb.

I've found this tool to be very precise. I can shave 1/32 or really dig deep if I need. The balance is good and the center of gravity is low. It planes glassy smooth with no chatter marks.

Another nice feature is a small plastic clip that drops down from the back of the planer. That way when the planer is spooling down you can lay down the tool and the spinning blade won't catch on the surface and take off across the room.

There are some tools that are nice to have and some that are a must have. How many times have you needed to remove some wood, but you don't want to chisel it off and ruin the entire piece? With the precised depth adjustment you can make a beautiful plane cut and save your project. This is a must have tool. This tool has saved the day a number of times. I would highly recommend this.

Simply great, I have no complaints whatsoever. I have perfected this really goofy method of tapering boards now. You can rotate the depth adjustment while you're planing and get pretty good tapered boards. It works pretty good. Ever need a piece that's 3" wide at one end and 2 3/4" wide at the other? You guys that work on old houses know what I mean. I'm sure this is in the manuals list if things not to do....like don't use the planer in the bathtub. I only wish that they would increase the price $20 and include the dust bag. (Part# DW6656) Power planers spray shavings like confetti so you'll want the bag if you plane doors inside the house. I don't think anyone else even offers a dust bag. I loved the huge case. Dust bag fits inside the case.

This tool is powerful and does a good job. However, there are several things that I consider design flaws.

First, the depth adjustment is also the front knob/handle. It may just be me, but after a little bit of use I tend to knock the depth off a bit because of the way I'm holding the tool. It should have a way of locking in the depth.

Second, the power cord comes straight out of the back. It always seems to get caught on the end of the board. If it came out the side or at an angle this would happen less often.

This is one of the most useful power tools I have ever bought. I have used it to perfectly trim doors and moldings, strip paint off of old redwood fence posts to make them look new, adjust cabinet shelves for a perfect fit, etc. etc.

I used to dread planing with a hand planer. It never was easy and results were less than perfect. This machine changes all of that. It is so fast and easy. Results are professional.

If you're into serious woodworking, you gotta get one of these Bad Boys! So far I've used it for smoothing out rough boards, joining, trimming down doors, and even stripped off paint from an old deck. It truly is a wonderful tool to use. Also, in the instruction manual it mentions that you should fasten a piece of scrap wood to the end of your workpiece before planing. They're not kidding! This baby will rip out a major chunk of wood from the end of your workpiece if you don't! So long as you attach a piece of scrap wood, it should work perfect.

I sold my Porter Cable planer and bought this one as I didn't like the way the depth adjustment worked. The DeWalt has a much easier dial to use. It has somewhat of a positive click to the settings, and I have never altered the depth of cut inadvertenly while making a pass with it. My only gripe (with all these planers) is that they have the chips exiting the machine just below the motor's air intake. With heavy cuts chips get sucked into the air intake and have to be cleared on to prevent overheating. It would take a bit of enginering to get air flowing in the same direction for both the ejection of chips and the air for cooling, but it would be a nice addition. This tool gets a lot of use for tweaking cabinet to fit walls and floors during installation and other fine adjustments for products made. The hand(block)plane has been in semi retirement since I purchased this tool

I purchased this to plane flat surfaces, with the expectation that it would do just that. The good is that it is very powerful and will create a clean cut on most any wood.

The bad is that it cannot plane consistently. I fhould that:

- the front and back shoes are not parallel, which leads to a constant tapered cut - every cut has one side deeper than the other side, no matter where I put pressure.

- The planner cuts EVEN WHEN SET TO ZERO - I suspect this is because the cutter extends below the back (and front) shoe so that the planer cuts wood even if the setting is 0 -- the back shoe to be aligned with the cutter and the front shoe to be aligned with the cutter when at the 0 setting.

- There is not way to adjust the front and back shoes to be parallel or level with each other

Given the other reviews it appears maybe I have received a defective tool - I will be calling Dewalt about this.

I tend to research this equipment very much. This one I didn't, just picked one up due to the good price. After two years I'm glad I made the purchase. It has not let me down. No problems at all. Had the Makita version prior to this but had to give it back to the owner and buy my own. Take the case if you can get it, you don't want to store it anywhere else. Blade change is easy. Compared to the Maketa, I would say this is a little easier to adjust and hold on to durring use. I like good tools, this is one of them. Light. Feels well built. A solid 4+ in my book.

This planer did a terrific job and it's first challenge was on Hickory. However, I found my self chasing the cord all the time. The cord is like a wet noodle and in fact within the first hour I cut the cord and had to splice and eventually replace the cord.
The machine worked terific but the constant keeping up with the cord made it uncomfortable to work with.
Yes, I would buy it again but I would hope that DeWalt can change the cord configuration and flexability to let the user concentrate on the work instead of where the cord is tracking

I'm a supervisor of a furniture factory, and we are in a plain process of renewing tools, we are buying almost all branded DeWalt and it's been great!!, and the planner wasn't the exception, tought it was a small machine, it works perfectly and very clean shaped. very recommended!! the only critic I make is that this product was sent without any long trip shipping consideration, just in its plain original box...