Could do with some advise on the Dewalt DW733!

Warren,
I have the DeWalt 733 planer. I bought it about 8 months ago. I work with hardwoods 95% of the time. This is an awesome planer, I think you will be hard pressed to find any negatives about this machine. I have made many end grain cutting boards with walnut, hard maple, purpleheart, and cherry. I run all of these woods through the planer. Surface grain, edge grain run through no problem. End grain, though not recommended to be run through any planer, I run through ALL the time. Just requires minimal thickness cuts.
Search the site, there have been posts on this unit.
FYI, I got mine at Home Depot as a closeout. HD is no longer carrying this machine. I bought the floor model, no box, bartered with them to get it lower because there was no box or manuals. Then I told them that I could go to Lowes, they would do a price match plus 10%, and I would get it in a box. HD took another 15% off. Got it for $475 ! Do your homework, you don’t have to pay full price. Good luck.

Lisa

-- Imagination rules the world. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte ~ http://quiltedwood.com

The DW733 has always been a well respected capable machine. The 733 was discontinued a few years ago, and replaced by the DW734. The difference being 3 blades vs 2, and the 734’s blades are disposable vs resharpenable for the 733.

Is your Lombarte planer in need of adjustment, or is it just incapable of doing the task? I’d check into it before giving up on it completely.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

I own the Ridgid lunchbox planer and I am very happy with it. I got it at HD for around $400 about a year ago. It works beautifully on maple, purpleheart, rosewood, walnut and just about any other wood I have tried.
It would be an alternative to look at and compare.
Ellen

-- "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Voltaire

I picked up a 734, almost the same at Lowes on a rediculously great sale, $300. We word of mouth advertised it here on LJ’s for a couple of weeks. I’ve put through a lot of Red oak mostly and love this machine. clean smooth planes and no snipe. I’d never had a planer and after a brief look at the directions I put through my first board. It feels well built I’m glad I got it.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated. To add to the mix, someone has now suggested I look at the Makita 2012NB as well, both very similar machines but some say even better than the 734!

Knotscott, I am in the process of taking apart my Lombarte to see what could be amiss, on first inspection, there is clearly something wrong with the blades, either they are completely worn already. (surely not possible after passing a 3’ piece of Cumaru through it maybe 15 times) or the alignment is all wrong so I am going to remove them and take a look, any other suggestions at changes I could make to the set up? I am going to wax the tables but I’m not really sure what more could be done.

Here is a link to my current monster for those who would like to practise their Spanish (I live in Spain)

http://www.accesorios-carpinteria.com/herramienta.php?ver=634

-- Im more succesfull at making sawdust than I am at making furniture

hola Warren,

sounds to me like the knives are dull, and need resharpening/replacement. Also – if you haven’t done so yet – I’d recommend giving that planer a good cleaning/tuning – wax the bed, clean the rollers, clean the blades (sharpen and align them as necessary) – doesn’t sound like your machine is out of power – or it would bog down, and smoke itself… not the wood.

the dewalt 733 is a good machine for what it is- some reviews on the dewalt planers (and I own the 735) state that the set screws for the blades on some production models wear off, but I haven’t heard any complaints on power.

but before jumping to buy any more machinery – make sure you’re is tuned, just like everything in the shop – if it’s not tuned – it’ll look like it’s not good – which doesn’t necessarily be right.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

OK, having taken a close look at the machine it seems that the bolts holding the center of the blades werent very tight causing the blade to compress in the center. I have removed them, cleaned them up a little (they are reversable HSS blades), waxed the beds, cleaned all dust from the interior and cleaned the rollers as best I could. (they didn’t move AT ALL when the machine is off but there was no noticeable build up of debris)

I can report that…..........

A 20” piece of bubinga went through the machine and didn’t come out burnt! It came through fairly well, there were some “waves” in the piece which is new but it is better than smoke! It still took an incredible amount of time for the wood to pass through, maybe 25-30 seconds, but it got through in the end. I am only taking of 0.2 of a millimeter with each pass which is 1/126th of an inch, surely I should be able to take more than that, right?

I shall see if this is merely a temporary improvement or if the main issue is fixed and it only needs a tweak, I am not convinced to be honest, but lets see.

Thank you all for your input and advice, I really do appreciate it! I will report back with any developments

-- Im more succesfull at making sawdust than I am at making furniture

You didn’t state if the planer you purchased was new or used , only who it was made by.$500 is pretty steep for a used planer ! Is it running on the correct voltage ? 30 seconds to run a 20” board through is ridiculous. Are you feeding it in from the correct side ? LOL
I’ve owned the DeWalt 733 since they first came out and recently purchased a good used one from a retiree that was moving to Florida . Of course I tested it at his place before any money was exchanged , and now we’re both happy : )

-- I'm absolutely positive that I couldn't be more uncertain!

I have a friend that has the DeWalt…and it works like a charm. Before I bought my new Grizzly to replace my old delta planer….I SERIOUSLY considered buying the DeWalt 735

-- Don S.E. OK

Dusty56, the planer is new thus the high cost. I have however overlooked a very important fact and that is that this is a 2 speed planer and this is obviously using the slow speed. I am worried that if I but such a hard wood through the high speed, something terrible might happen to the machine. Should I try it?

-- Im more succesfull at making sawdust than I am at making furniture

Don, how do you like your Grizzly and which one did you buy? I am in the need for a planer and am considering Grizzly. Anyone else with inputs welcome with respect to Grizzly.

-- Gary, Huntsville. Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.

I have, and love, the Ridgid.

bamasawduster,
Here is a review I did over it. http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/755

-- Don S.E. OK

own a 735, just planed over 200 bf of hickory (very hard stuff).I did 1\16 th passes ,but none the less did the job.I also do lots of maple and walnut ,oak.good luck

-- eric post, tallahassee FL

Is it too late to return the machine ? The DeWalt 735 is an awesome two speed planer , but I don’t know how much they would cost in your neighborhood. I can’t believe that you are getting “waves” in your boards on such a fine cut and slow speed. Are you certain that the knives are all set properly to spec’s ? My 733 is only one speed and I adjust the depth of cut according to the width and type of wood I’m trying to plane and have had no problems .

-- I'm absolutely positive that I couldn't be more uncertain!