Customer Reviews

DEWALT DW734 15 Amp 12-1/2-Inch Benchtop Planer

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I was one of the first to get the DW734 from Amazon. Other than the 3-knife head (with 2-sided disposable blades instead of resharpenable) and some styling details, the 734 planer appears to be identical to the previous model, the 733. I haven't been able to get any detailed info on changes between the two models from any source I researched.

It was set up right on the money out of the box except that the cut depth gage is off by around 1/128" (not enough to matter). I was pleased that it came with a dust hood (4"), something not listed in any of the info I was able to get before the purchase.

The cut is silky smooth--unless you look very closely in bright light on a darker wood surface (like walnut) you can't see any blade marks at all.

The machine functions very well--easy to set up, the controls operate very smoothly and precisely, and each of the features works as expected without needless fiddling. The dust hood, even though only 4", clears chips and dust very efficiently. The only time any chips escaped was when I tried to take 1/8" off of a 6" board (a no-no according to the owner manual), and then I got a little puff of shavings out the feed end. (My setup is a Jet DC1100CK 1 1/2 HP dust collector connected via a 6" shop duct system, blast gate, 6" flex pipe and a reducer to the 734's 4" dust port.)

I did have problems with a little snipe when attempting to take more than 1/32 inch in a pass--I may be able to adjust this out of the planer, but I often make two passes anyway: one to thickness and one to surface.

I was surprised to have several small nicks in the blades after planing perhaps 8-10 bf of scrap (carefully inspected/cleaned beforehand), probably due to contaminants in/on the boards. In one case a small knot apparently made a nick. This was disappointing as the planer only comes with 1 set of knives and a new set is fairly expensive. Two passes at the same thickness setting makes the nick traces all but vanish, but this means passing the wood thru the planer 3 times to avoid snipe and nick traces. Perhaps the nicks were a result of embedded sand or silica in the particular scraps used, not something that will happen on a regular basis. (Although my Jet jointer didn't take any nicks when I jointed the same scraps.)

It appears to have the same fit and finish as the more expensive the Delta 2-speed, but the 734 is lighter and more portable. But I'm told the Delta unit is less prone to snipe. I chose the 734 over the 733 because of its disposable knives (I don't have a very trustworthy sharpening service near me) and because of the 3-knife head, which should save me some sanding. If those things aren't important to you, the older 733 might be a better value, while supplies last.

Based on my short experience, I'd recommend the 734. I withheld 1 star because of the snipe and nick problems.

I purchased this machine about six months ago after being extremely impressed with my neighbor's DeWalt DW733 planer.

After just a few uses with some Pine boards, I felt that something wasn't quite right. After calling DeWalt and explaining the problem best I could, they were stumped and suggested I take it to my local DeWalt service center, which happened to be just a few miles from my house. After a week or two, the said they had found nothing wrong with it. After testing it upon return, I could definitely tell that something had been fixed, tightened, adjusted, whatever. It worked great for a very short time after that on Pine and Cypress boards, but more problems began developing. Dull blades seemed to be the culprit, so I attempted to flip them. But guess what -- one of the blades had already been flipped! I replaced all the blades with new ones and the difference in performance is incredible. It is now the wonderful machine that impressed me so much at my neighbor's. But I'm puzzled as to why my blades needed replacing after very little usage on soft lumber.

Quality control seemed to have skipped my machine for some reason, but now that the bugs are gone (I hope), this is a great planer. I'd give it 5 stars, but I'm giving it 4 for the bugs I had to deal with. One other quality control problem: the data sticker on my machine says it's a DW735 13" Thickness Planer! The folks at DeWalt sure were shocked and confused at that big oversight.

By the way, buy or build a stand for this machine. I built a 2-tool, flip-top stand for about $50. Unless you always have a helper handy, you can forget about moving it on a regular basis. Besides, the vibration tends to move the machine if not bolted down.

Lastly, buy hearing protection. Unless you're already deaf, you'll need it.

UPDATE: After about a year of use, this planer continues to be a wonderful machine. However, be warned that the blades dull very quickly. My neighbor owns the DW733 model and he is still on his original set of blades after 2-3 years of use while I'm on #3 after one year of use. We both generally plan the same stuff at the same frequency of usage using only a 1/64" cut with each feed. With replacement blades at $50 a set, this can get very expensive.

Hats off to Dewalt on this one. I purchased this planer about mid Dec. (3 weeks ago) I have use it several times, mostly on 3/4" maple with a few other matrls. thrown in. It has performed wonderfully. The dust collection shute is a big plus and works fairly well with my heavy duty shop vac. I suspect it will work even better with a good dust collector of 500 or more cfm.(My next purchase)
The three blade system leaves a VERY smooth surface (mimimum sanding with fine sand paper for a stainable finish) Most of the wood I have ran is not more than 7" wide and at 1/16 depth of cut. The unit is capable of more buy why heat the blades.
Snipe has been virtually none. A very small amount of snipe occured when I went for a deeper cut on a 7" wide maple board.
The depth of cut gauge on the infeed side is about the best idea ever, (other manufacturers take note) and the preset finish cut depth can be somewhat handy as well.
The two handles on the top outside of the planer make it very easy to move around my garage, into the pickup, or on to the elevated bench where I keep it out of the way when not in use.
If i had any complaint it would be this...If the dust shute had a quick disconnect or latch type attatchment, it would be handy so that the outfeed table could fold up for storage without having to break out any tools. A minor inconvenience that has no effect at all on performance.
If your'e looking for a portable garage/jobsite planer, this one is up to the task. You will be pleased with the results.
P.S. I haven't had to change the blades yet, however, I did open up the unit and did a "mock" blade change to become familiar with it...very easy to do requiring no special knowledge or tools..Good job Dewalt.

I have a comprehensive shop (stationary tools, hand tools, etc.) Two years ago, I purchased one of these planers, and initally loved it. But running less than 1000 lineal feet of softwoods and hardwoods through it, have experienced numerous break downs - mainly due to parts in the cutterhead and roller drive assemblies just coming undone. Repaired it numerous times and now it sits idle - have just had it. (Also DeWalt's website for replacement parts does not work well at all) I have put more time in repair and maintenance into this planer than all my other power tools combined - some of which have been running over twenty years.
I own Delta, Porter-Cable, Skil, Hitachi, Makita, Bosch, etc - tools, but this is the last De Walt tool I will buy - period!

so far, so great. this is the first planer i have ever owned and i can't imagine a simpler machine to use. it was dead on right out of the box, with no detectible snipe. the dust hood works great (i have it connected to a 2hp bridgewood dust collector). the two things that have impressed me the most so far are the finish, the wood only needs a quick 220 sanding before finishing, and the accurancy of material removal gauge. that thing is awesome when you need to just shave off a 1/32 or 1/64 of an inch. i can't imagine trying to dial that in without one of these gauges.

i spent a long time comparing this planer to the delta two speed planer. i took a trip to lowes, which carries both machines, i decided that the dewalt had a better fit and finish, and the ergonomics were much better, eg. the four column lock right over the motor is great for quick releases and lock downs.

overall, a great machine.

I bought this planer a month ago from a local home center. I was disappointed to see it made in Taiwan, but little can be done since most are anyway. It took almost no time to set up, and I was planing some Zebrawood right away. Zebrawood is a notoriously difficult wood to plane, but this machine did a superb job. No snipe or problems in 11 BF of lumber. I've planed 2 BF of Purpleheart, 17 BF of Black Walnut, 7 BF of White Oak, and some small amounts of other hard and soft woods. The knives are still sharp and doing a fine job. The depth adjustment is very easy to use, and accurate. The turret stop can be set for 3/4", 1/2", 1/4", 1/8" settings for repetitive thickness planing in different boards. This is a very nice feature. The dust collection works well, but don't expect 100% of the chips to be collected as some do find their way out. I have it hooked up to a ShopVac and the system works well for me. Changing the knives is easy, and the overall fit and finish of the machine is quite good. The important thing to remember is to never take more than 1/32" off at a time. Shallow passes take more time, but they don't load the motor or knives as much and the finish quality is better. Also, allow the tool (and knives) to rest/cool after several minutes of use. This planer isn't designed for cabinet shops and shouldn't be left on for long periods of time. Use rollers to support long pieces of lumber as this will make it less likely for the board or machine to be damaged. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. I have used this machine heavily in the past month and will continue to put it to use. I am confident it will hold up as I've had good experience with DeWalt. I highly recommend this tool.

First, a little praise for Amazon. $25.00 discount, free shipping, and free set of spare knives (didn't even know these were included.), resulted in a delivered price of [...]. That's the best deal in town, especially when you consider the free [...] knives.

Now, the planer. It's heavy. Really heavy. But that's a good thing. It took only 10 minutes to set up, read the manual, and make my first sawdust. Initial results were excellent. Glass-smooth surfaces on White Oak, Poplar, and Red Oak. Minimum snipe limited to ends of board. No snipe detected elsewhere.

Nice fit & finish. Decent manual. Good ergonomics. Plenty powerful.

So far, highly recommended. I'll update after a few hundred board feet.

UPDATE - 2 Years Later

I'm still very pleased. I've put in excess of 1000 bf through the planer now. It hasn't missed a beat. Unbelieveably, I'm still on my first set of knives. They are a little nicked now due to some hard maple I put through it a few weeks ago, but I'm not yet sufficiently motivated to change them. This machine has served me well, and shows no signs of slowing down. It still ranks 5 stars.

UPDATE - 1 Week since Last Update

I broke down and turned the knives over. I cut myself in the process. Clumsy! A few cuts after freshening the knives made it obvious that I should have done this some time ago. The planer performs like new. Still 5 stars.

Update - At 4 Years

Still 5 stars. I turn or replace the knives every 6 months or so. The knives don't like Hard Maple, but all other species do fine (including Walnut & Oak). The results delivered by this planer are excellent.

Update - At 6 Years
Still going strong. Just added a Wixey digital readout that I got from Amazon. Still 5 stars.

I really wanted to like this planer, I read the reviews here on Amazon and it seemed like a nice planer. First of all the blades are terrible. Three reversable blades, easy enough to flip and change. But they screw into an aluminium shaft. I wonder how long the threads will last? After 72 board feet of hard maple I need to buy new blades at $50.00 a set. 24 boards, 6" by 72" both sides. By no means a serious woodworkers planer. I will look into other knives possibly made by Infinity cutting tools. When the knives dull the height adjustment crank turns all by itself then the feed rollers stop feeding the boards. The depth of cut lock is very flimsy. I need to clamp the crank in position with vise grips. Keep in mind that I am only cutting 1/64 inch each pass. Took all day to plane 12 boards. The blades will dull at about 18 lf at 1/64 in. cut. Both infeed and outfeed and depth stop were supposed to be factory adjusted. Not one adjustment was even near correct. Very disapointed. The finish cut is great though. The machine seems fine except for the lousy blades. I hope I can find a good aftermarket blade for this machine. I can't afford to pay $50.00 every time I use my tools.

After having read the instructions, I set the planer up on it's new bench, and within literally minutes I was able to plane my rough-sawn to exact dimensions with ease. I have never owned a planer, but have used several "industrial" planers in the past. This piece of equipment was by far the easiest tool to set up, adjust and use than any other equipment I own. The finish is like glass even after 60 BF of Cherry. I must agree with other reviews that a normal shop-vac simply will not keep up with the fodder this planer produces. I'm sold on this one!

I ran less than 100 foot of white pine and had to turn the blades over. Two of the bolts holding the blades were tightened from the factory too tight, and stripped out. I ended up drilling and using a bolt extractor to remove the two bolts. Buyer beware..Dewalt has lost my respect as a quality tool maker.