I got a DW733 planer at an estate sale a few year ago.
I've run a few hundred linear feet of hardwood through it since I got it.
Last year the feed rollers started skipping, bad for planing boards.
Did some research that indicated a worn chain, so I replace the roller to roller chain.
That helped for a while, but then it started to slip again.
I pulled everything apart again, and noticed that both chains had a lot of slack.
![Image]()
I started wiggling things around and the outfeed roller had a lot of play in the bearing.
I popped the sprockets and chains off and pulled the bearing out.
The bearing is a square babbet with no obvious lubrication system. It only turns about 60 rpm so speed isn't the issue, but when I pulled it out it looked like it was running dry. And the shaft had worn about 0.1 inches of the bearing away.
![Image]()
Next day I called the DeWalt Service Center and they put the bearing (and a backup) on order, but it was the holidays and it would take a week to get them in.
I went out to the shop to figure out how to plane the lumber I needed and got to looking at the bearing again.
I noticed that the wear was at a 45 degree angle that was in the direction of the gear box sprocket.
I (cleverly) also noticed the the rest of the bearing was in great shape, it had almost no wear because the shaft had pulled way from it as soon as it started to wear. I also noticed that the bearing itself was pretty much square shaped.
I had nothing to loose, so I rotated the worn bearing 180 degrees, put some grease on it and put everything back together. It was obvious as soon as I put the chains and sprockets on that the slack was greatly reduced.
I fired up the planer and ran a few boards through it. Sure enough, no slipping. So I put the covers back on and went to work.
I picked up the spare bearings today, but will wait to put them in until I have another problem. And I have lubricating the bearings on my PMS plan now. (Like I have a PMS plan.) ((That's Preventive Maintenance System, not the other thing.))
I've run a few hundred linear feet of hardwood through it since I got it.
Last year the feed rollers started skipping, bad for planing boards.
Did some research that indicated a worn chain, so I replace the roller to roller chain.
That helped for a while, but then it started to slip again.
I pulled everything apart again, and noticed that both chains had a lot of slack.
I started wiggling things around and the outfeed roller had a lot of play in the bearing.
I popped the sprockets and chains off and pulled the bearing out.
The bearing is a square babbet with no obvious lubrication system. It only turns about 60 rpm so speed isn't the issue, but when I pulled it out it looked like it was running dry. And the shaft had worn about 0.1 inches of the bearing away.
Next day I called the DeWalt Service Center and they put the bearing (and a backup) on order, but it was the holidays and it would take a week to get them in.
I went out to the shop to figure out how to plane the lumber I needed and got to looking at the bearing again.
I noticed that the wear was at a 45 degree angle that was in the direction of the gear box sprocket.
I (cleverly) also noticed the the rest of the bearing was in great shape, it had almost no wear because the shaft had pulled way from it as soon as it started to wear. I also noticed that the bearing itself was pretty much square shaped.
I had nothing to loose, so I rotated the worn bearing 180 degrees, put some grease on it and put everything back together. It was obvious as soon as I put the chains and sprockets on that the slack was greatly reduced.
I fired up the planer and ran a few boards through it. Sure enough, no slipping. So I put the covers back on and went to work.
I picked up the spare bearings today, but will wait to put them in until I have another problem. And I have lubricating the bearings on my PMS plan now. (Like I have a PMS plan.) ((That's Preventive Maintenance System, not the other thing.))
