DEWALT Thickness Planer, 13-inch Wood Planer, Three Knife Two Speed, 15 Amp, 20,000 RPM Motor (DW735X)

Delivery was a full week late but that was no fault of Amazon. The original delivery company subbed out the package to a 2nd company and they didn’t want to drive all the way out here for just this one item. But it arrived in great condition. Reading some other reviews I opened the box and immediately took the planer apart to check for excess lubricant. I wiped down the knives with a clean rag. I doubt there was enough to cause any problems with my project but it was noticeable.
Straight out of the box this thing is beautiful to look at! I built a new 2’x4′ work bench to attach it to with a roller from HF set at the same level as the infeed table. I felt safer with this than just a stand because this is going to be used mostly outside the shop. I think the work table will be more stable setting in the yard than a small stand would be. After bolting it down to the work surface I just sat and admired it for about an hour. It looked to pretty to dirty it up with wood.
Warning!!! The blades are beyond razor sharp. Use a small peice of stock to rotate the knife head as instructed. I didn’t and quickly got red blotches on my beautiful yellow machine.
My first project was a 24″x40″ toy chest for the grandkids. Ran some cured rough cut pine through it ripped down to 6″ wide peices. This is my first big planer so I didn’t know what to expect. After a couple passes on each side the wood came out glass smooth and ready for stain. The planer does a fantastic job and is really much easier to use than I expected. All the gauges and instructions make this great for a novice user. It is loud and creates a lot of shavings so I was right about putting it outside rather than using it in the shop. After I get wheels on the bench I am confident I will be able to move it around by myself. I have over 1500′ of rough cut pine drying out that will be planed in 8′-12′ sections. I look forward to several hours of work/fun with this machine.
The planer is heavy, 100 lbs by itself. It is compact but extremely stable so use on a concrete floor shop shouldn’t cause you any tipping problems. The machine does all the work for you. Just insert the wood a couple inches and it takes over. Wood chips fly feet out the ejection port. Makes a really smooth finish on setting #2. I don’t think I will ever need to use setting #1 for the type of things I build. I don’t really know that anyone would need to use #1 unless you worked a lot with hard woods.
This is a very expensive tool that does an oustanding job of cutting wood down to a smooth surface. I would highly recommend it for that purpose. Can’t say enough good things about it so far.

Purchased on sale after years of procrastination. Delivered quickly. Well packed. 105 lbs in the box. Get help! Easy set up runs great. Took small bites. Leaves a very smooth finish. The dust collection works well with a 4 to 2 1/2. Had to use a bare hose for the 2 1/2 port. I use a 2 1/2 shop vac with a cyclone on a 30 gal metat drum. Very efficient. The 4 inch would work but the 2 1/2 port on the planer restricts the flow. Very happy. Ordered a hose adapter to make it easier.

I am a hobbyist woodworker who had considered the DW735 for a while. However, I never really had the need for it. Then I found 2 lumber mills in the area, one that sells rough domestic lumber and one that sells rough exotic lumber. That’s when it became possible to very quickly recoup the money for the planer through savings on lumber.

I decided to buy the DeWalt DW735X because I wanted the infeed/outfeed. The extra set of knives is an attractive addition as well, given the less than stellar reviews of the longevity of the stock knives on this planer.

The planer arrived on time and the box was in great condition. It’s HEAVY (~90lbs), so either get a friend to help, or get a workout deadlifting the beast! The only things that needed attaching were the dust collection attachment, the infeed/outfeed tables and the wheel for the depth control. All of these items installed with the greatest of ease and I encountered no issues with setup whatsoever.

My first test cut was on an extra piece of rough 6/4 ash that I had lying around. This piece had previously been run through a friend’s planer, which got it down to thickness, but still left it pretty rough overall. In fact, I was skeptical about the value of any planer after that experience. But on the very first pass through the DW735 the ash came out butter smooth. Literally. The difference between the surface of that board before it went through the DW735 and after was night and day. AND IT HAD BEEN THROUGH A PLANER BEFORE!

I hook my ShopVac directly to the dust port, so I can’t comment on the strength of the chip ejection. However, I have removed the top in order to check everything out and I can report that there is a substantial fan mounted directly above and behind the knives and just in front of the port, so I have no doubt that the chips created would be tossed a good distance!

The first project that I’ve worked on has been a nice wall shelf made out of solid cherry. I bought ~10 board feet of 4/4 rough lumber that I needed to plane down to 5/8″, 1/2″ and 3/8″ sections. The boards were 4/4 x 8 1/2″ x ~74″. After squaring and cutting the boards to size, I started planing by removing around 1/32″ on each pass. This was taking a while to get down to the desired thicknesses, so I decided to get a little more aggressive. I wasn’t doing anything the machine isn’t rated to handle…the depth gauge shows that up to 9″ wide boards can take as much as 1/16″ off on each pass. So I started taking that. The DW735 was working, but not noticing all that much. Things went much faster after that.

The results of the planing were astounding. My boards are exactly the thicknesses that I need them and they are SMOOOOOTH! And I only used the 96 CPI setting! I sanded the boards with my random orbital to 220 and they are absolutely perfect. I’m pretty sure that they were already ~100 grit smooth after being planed down, again, on the 96 CPI setting. I’m not sure what grit the 192 CPI setting creates, but I’d be shocked if it was less than 120-150.

I have only used the DW735X on a single project. But the ease of set up, the ease of use and the results that I have seen after that single project, along with the savings in lumber costs, have already made me a firm advocate of this planer. If you have access to rough lumber and you work more than a couple of projects per year and you’re considering a planer, DO IT! You will not regret the DW735X!

The pics are the 2 boards, still rough. The 2nd is a single board before being planed. The last pic is of the different boards I needed, planed to 5/8″, 1/2″ and 3/8″.

***update 5/2/2024***
I purchased a cyclone that attaches to a 5 gallon bucket to collect all the chips. This solution required a little tweaking (and a tool to cut the elbow to squeeze it into the planer dust port) to works, but the chips are no longer covering my driveway. It came with a hose, two elbows and a lid for the 5 gallon bucket.

Dust extraction note: No dust extractor is required and I think it might actually be detrimental. The blower on the planer blows things out like a vacuum. This does create an issue when the cyclone doesn’t latch and expects a vacuum to lock the lid in place. I used some small Irwin quick clamps in three locations to lock the lid on and tight. I got no leaking from the side. The exposed top let dust escape, but you can attach your hose with the vacuum off and turn on when done planing if that dust bothers you.

The planer does seem to leave a lot of chips on the blades, in the carriage, and after some use, that starts coming out the front of the machine. I cleaned up my area after every couple of boards. So don’t expect dust free operation. Apart from hating the mess, my concern was that the chips would impact the flatness of the boards. So, heads up.

Noise: My wife said it was loud. I had ear protection on, and it sounded like a table saw/miter saw. She, however, made a note of the noise from her office, and while she could tell I was working with the other tools, she knew I was using the planer. I wasn’t even doing wide hardwood pieces. Mostly cedar and 4-6″ pieces. So, be aware. with my ear protection on it was like any other machine to me.
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Dewalt 735x – purchased/used April 29, 2024

The good:
Set up is easy. Comes with a useful torx tool annd magnet on the handle. For setup Attach the turning handle (need a tool to hold the shank while unscrewing the bolt and screwing the handle on). Need to level the plates (need 36” flat level. (Need small hex key for leveling player, I forgot the size). Attach the dust port. I also opened up the top (for screws) and then the blade cover to check on the blades. It looked like a test run had been done as I found slight traces of sawdust. No excess oil.
The boards ran smoothly. While the blades are sharp, the machine is awesome. I understand that the blades can dull quickly though so fyi.
It pulls the boards right out of my hands and has great power.
It THROWS the chips and you will want a method to collect chips that are not a vacuum. A hose and a bucket or something. The force of the blower looks like it’s easily enough and a vacuum might be an issue. I need to find a chip collector method and I’ll update.
Lots of great YouTube videos on setup, tear down, replacing blades with helical blades.
Looks easy to break down and access parts (although replacing the head looks time consuming)

The bad:
This will likely trip a 15amp circuit. Online testing shows this can spike to 30amps and should run on a 20amp circuit.
The safety on the dewalt trips around 18amps in theory, but online says that the wires connected to it are smaller and they can melt over time when under a lot of load. This can damage the safety mechanism that makes sure the machine doesn’t run when the top is off (and ironically it CAN run when it’s off).
Blades are supposed to dull quickly and are expensive. I’ve run 8 boards about 6” wide and 8’ long once on each side fast and once slow. Performance is good so far. Pine and oak mix.

My final conclusion is that the internet has lots of customization and fixes, which look relatively easy to do, but right out of the box everything is awesome. TBD what I think a year from now. It was between this and the cutech and I ultimately decided on this because cutech never got back to me about questions I asked them. If dewalt fails at least I have some warranty and a ton of videos help me fix myself.

I have used the Dewalt DW735X for about a week, running cedar boards through it thousands of times. I am very happy with my purchase. The finish is fantastic and the blade was easy to flip when it started getting dull. The included extra set of blades is nice since they do seem to dull quickly. Something to keep in mind, this unit is VERY loud. My family and one of our neighbors commented on it. It would also have been nice to have a side dust chute instead of in the middle of the exit path. The planer also draws a lot of current. The breakers tripped when I tried to run a vac at the same time. Keeping the two on separate circuits solved that problem. I sometimes used a Bosch TS1004 dust bag for short jobs since it fits perfectly on the exhaust port.

Absolute beast of a planer! Super accurate and very durable! Very easy to set up with the in feed and out feed tables just have to make sure they are level to ensure no snipe at all. Very heavy so having it in a stationary spot or on a moveable base is a good idea. Using a dust seperator like the dust deputy is also a must as this puts off wood chips and fills a 5 gallon bucket fast. The blades are easy to clean and sharpen as well. Static discharge has been my only problem so far with this planer more due to low humidity in shop. Love that this is also an upgradable planer with options like helix blade and digital gauge easily addable. Price is expensive but you’re getting quality for what you pay for and this is a one and done purchase if you need a bench planer. Handles pine to reclaimed chestnut very good!

Todo ok

Unfortunately item was damaged in transit but it looked very capable of carrying out the required task.

La marca es buena el equipo cumple su funcion ademas de tener la posibilidad de actualizar las cuchillas a un nuevo diseño; el vendedor cumplio con su responsabilidad.

LO unico malo fue la paqueteria por la cual fue entregado al domicilio (UPS), son pesimos a la hora de entregar y nada honestos en sus comentarios. Amazon busquen una mejor logista para sus entregas, esto no les da una buena razon para habalr bien de ustedes mismos.

Just as expected, all the reviews pointed to this planer as the one to buy in the “portable” category. Nothing unexpected, you have to learn to take small cuts, and lift the board to prevent snipe, going in, and out. Delivery took a while though, it was shipped from Amazon.ca, but that turned out to be in Kentucky, but this was the cheapest option.

Purchased on sale after years of procrastination. Delivered quickly. Well packed. 105 lbs in the box. Get help! Easy set up runs great. Took small bites. Leaves a very smooth finish. The dust collection works well with a 4 to 2 1/2. Had to use a bare hose for the 2 1/2 port. I use a 2 1/2 shop vac with a cyclone on a 30 gal metat drum. Very efficient. The 4 inch would work but the 2 1/2 port on the planer restricts the flow. Very happy. Ordered a hose adapter to make it easier.

Excellent planer with lots of power. Dust extraction is very strong so dust collection of some sort is a must. Snipe is minimal if any and finish is glass smooth. Best value is buying the pkg with the tables and extra blades.

Just as expected, all the reviews pointed to this planer as the one to buy in the “portable” category. Nothing unexpected, you have to learn to take small cuts, and lift the board to prevent snipe, going in, and out. Delivery took a while though, it was shipped from Amazon.ca, but that turned out to be in Kentucky, but this was the cheapest option.

La marca es buena el equipo cumple su funcion ademas de tener la posibilidad de actualizar las cuchillas a un nuevo diseño; el vendedor cumplio con su responsabilidad.

LO unico malo fue la paqueteria por la cual fue entregado al domicilio (UPS), son pesimos a la hora de entregar y nada honestos en sus comentarios. Amazon busquen una mejor logista para sus entregas, esto no les da una buena razon para habalr bien de ustedes mismos.