Thanks for the review. New subscriber here! I have an older delta. It's been good for what I've done, and I've put many thousands of feet through it. All soft wood. I've been thinking about updating to helical, and this may do the trick. Thanks again.
WOW - Nice review of a very cool planer. All said, it's a great deal, although I'm a fan of the need to lock the carriage for every cut. I still love my Cutech but this is one to keep an eye on, for sure. Thanks, Larry
I was seriously considering this but decided on a used DeWalt 735 and will upgrade it with findbuytool helical head. That depth gauge made the decision for me. It just made much faster for me with DeWalt. I really wanted this to have it but i am getting tearout with figured wood.
@@jkmwoodworking another point for built in blower. I am not using any dust collection for it, only a dust right bag. Works great and reduces the amperage on the circuit which i would need for cutting.
Good video! Budget for beginners is key. Even better that you get better results with upgraded spiral cuts. I bought a used 735 planer with straight blades. It isn’t great on hardwoods. There are cheaper spiral cutters on Amazon that have good reviews for about $300. I might give it a try
So I can move the DW735 around.. but it IS heavy. So I bought a stand for it. What I decided to get was the Dewalt DW7440RS stand ($180 on amazon). It doesn't match up perfectly.. so I read a few comments elsewhere about putting some ply on the two removable arms, then mount the DW735 to that. However, I found even with my scrap birch ply it was still a little low. So I set up some 2x4s on top of the ply, and for now used some thick long screws (with socket wrench head, not philips) to mount thru the 2x4 and in to the ply. I glued those down as well to add a little more strength. Even so, I see there is an area I can run a strap under the unit around the two arms that attach to the stand. So I plan on doing that for one more bit of holding power so when I put the stand in vertical mode to move it, the unit will hopefully not come off despite bolted to 2x4 and ply and glued down. Just worried the weight of it going from upright mode to vertical 90 degrees will come loose.
Thanks! I didn't hook up an amp meter, so I can't say for sure, but it seems like the motor doesn't strain at all when I'm using it. I've heard that helical cutter heads draw less power than 3 blade planers, but I haven't measure it myself to know for sure.
Great video! Would you recommend this planer or the Wahuda 13" two-speed planer? I've been looking for a planer for some time and singled it down to these two. I'm curious to see which you would recommend.
I've not used specifically the Wahuda planer, although I've used the Cutech 2 speed planer which I believe is the same design, and made by the same company (just branded differently) so my comments are in that context. Here is my opinion... I'm a big fan of the Cutech/Wahuda 4 screw post depth adjustment mechanism, and what they claim is a patent on that design that prevents you from having to lock the carriage and yet still minimizes snipe. And at the same time, I wasn't impressed with the chain slack causing jerkiness in the Find-buy-tool depth adjustment mechanism. So that would sway me towards the Cutech/Wahuda in a big way. There is a real advantage that the Find-buy-tool helical cutterhead has in quality of cut for difficult (figured grain) workpieces, and that is where it may be better than Cutech/Wahuda. Although, for most workpieces with straight grain (90% of what I do), the Cutech/Wahuda will give an equally good cut as a helical head. It is only for figured grain workpieces that I notice such a difference. Sorry that isn't a clear definitive answer on which is best, but I hope is some helpful info.
The feel of the crank will never be solved just by tensioning unless you add another gear. This why others have 4 or even 5 gears. That's why other planers handles turns smoother.
So, it's a cheap copy of 734, with a Helical cutter. I don't understand why Dewalt hasn't made a helical cutter head version!? Been looking for a ready to go option. Grizzly is my next stop. This thing at $700, I think you are still better with the 735 straight blade. Such a heavier, better made, more accurate design!. $600.00. Then just save for the $450.00 upgrade! Sounds crazy actually to me to spend $450 on a cutter head for a hobby machine, but $1k still seems reasonable for the results you end up with...
Compared to a traditional, flat-blade, does this one cut "easier"? I ask, because I have a traditional blade and I can hear how the machine working hard. I don't think the blade is dull, because the board comes out very smooth
I didn't hook up an amp meter, so I can't say for sure, but it seems like the motor doesn't strain at all when I'm using it. I've heard that helical cutter heads draw less power than 3 blade planers, but I haven't measure it myself to know for sure.
How much can you cut at a time? half a turn max? I ask, because I often work with very large, very long, very rough & wavy roughcut. I remove an awful lot. (about 0.5")
This is the Worst of both worlds: The price-tag of an intermediate product, with design flaws of an entry-level. (bad crank, lock lever). Even my entry-level planer doesn't have either of these flaws!
Worst?! Did you miss the helical cutterhead? Lock lever is a great feature to reduce snipe. Dewalt 734 has the same. You can opt not to use it and have a snipe similar to entry-level planers. The crank is indeed poorly designed.
@@Tyr-i6q I'm not convinced about the lock lever being an anti-snipe feature, it looks more like a kludge for compensating over the lack of robustness. Snipe is often mitigated by long outfeed and infeed tables, slightly curved upwards. I have a crappy $300 WEN that doesn't snipe all that much
@@Tyr-i6q Now, as for helical: (as opposed to spiral/segmented), I don't think it's that big a deal. Maybe marginally better. What matters is if you get a good finish or not. I heard of helicals with bad finish and non-helicals with good finish. It may matter more on a high power 20". I can find a segmented cutech for 500 bucks
Wow. This is an impressive planer for $670.00
Thanks for the review on this tool.
Yes, it is impressive. Hope the video was helpful.
Thank you. Really helped me make my decision.
Great! I'm happy to hear it was helpful!
Thanks for the review. New subscriber here! I have an older delta. It's been good for what I've done, and I've put many thousands of feet through it. All soft wood. I've been thinking about updating to helical, and this may do the trick. Thanks again.
Thanks for the sub! Glad the video was helpful!
WOW - Nice review of a very cool planer. All said, it's a great deal, although I'm a fan of the need to lock the carriage for every cut. I still love my Cutech but this is one to keep an eye on, for sure. Thanks, Larry
Thanks Larry! I agree the carriage lock is a bit of a pain.
I was seriously considering this but decided on a used DeWalt 735 and will upgrade it with findbuytool helical head. That depth gauge made the decision for me. It just made much faster for me with DeWalt. I really wanted this to have it but i am getting tearout with figured wood.
I think the Dewalt with the helical cutter head upgrade is a great idea! especially getting it used for a lower price
@@jkmwoodworking another point for built in blower. I am not using any dust collection for it, only a dust right bag. Works great and reduces the amperage on the circuit which i would need for cutting.
FindBuy also makes helical cutterhead for DW735 as well for under $400 - nearly half of Shelix.
Great info, thanks!
Good video! Budget for beginners is key. Even better that you get better results with upgraded spiral cuts. I bought a used 735 planer with straight blades. It isn’t great on hardwoods. There are cheaper spiral cutters on Amazon that have good reviews for about $300. I might give it a try
Thanks!
Thanks, Steve, very informative review!
My pleasure!
So I can move the DW735 around.. but it IS heavy. So I bought a stand for it. What I decided to get was the Dewalt DW7440RS stand ($180 on amazon). It doesn't match up perfectly.. so I read a few comments elsewhere about putting some ply on the two removable arms, then mount the DW735 to that. However, I found even with my scrap birch ply it was still a little low. So I set up some 2x4s on top of the ply, and for now used some thick long screws (with socket wrench head, not philips) to mount thru the 2x4 and in to the ply. I glued those down as well to add a little more strength. Even so, I see there is an area I can run a strap under the unit around the two arms that attach to the stand. So I plan on doing that for one more bit of holding power so when I put the stand in vertical mode to move it, the unit will hopefully not come off despite bolted to 2x4 and ply and glued down. Just worried the weight of it going from upright mode to vertical 90 degrees will come loose.
tremendous video, thank you
Thank you so much!
Very informative. Thank you. How was its power draw? Some planers can overload many circuits.
Thanks! I didn't hook up an amp meter, so I can't say for sure, but it seems like the motor doesn't strain at all when I'm using it. I've heard that helical cutter heads draw less power than 3 blade planers, but I haven't measure it myself to know for sure.
Great video! Would you recommend this planer or the Wahuda 13" two-speed planer? I've been looking for a planer for some time and singled it down to these two. I'm curious to see which you would recommend.
I've not used specifically the Wahuda planer, although I've used the Cutech 2 speed planer which I believe is the same design, and made by the same company (just branded differently) so my comments are in that context. Here is my opinion... I'm a big fan of the Cutech/Wahuda 4 screw post depth adjustment mechanism, and what they claim is a patent on that design that prevents you from having to lock the carriage and yet still minimizes snipe. And at the same time, I wasn't impressed with the chain slack causing jerkiness in the Find-buy-tool depth adjustment mechanism. So that would sway me towards the Cutech/Wahuda in a big way.
There is a real advantage that the Find-buy-tool helical cutterhead has in quality of cut for difficult (figured grain) workpieces, and that is where it may be better than Cutech/Wahuda. Although, for most workpieces with straight grain (90% of what I do), the Cutech/Wahuda will give an equally good cut as a helical head. It is only for figured grain workpieces that I notice such a difference.
Sorry that isn't a clear definitive answer on which is best, but I hope is some helpful info.
@@jkmwoodworking Thanks for the explanation.
Thank you JK.
You're welcome!
The feel of the crank will never be solved just by tensioning unless you add another gear. This why others have 4 or even 5 gears. That's why other planers handles turns smoother.
So, it's a cheap copy of 734, with a Helical cutter. I don't understand why Dewalt hasn't made a helical cutter head version!? Been looking for a ready to go option. Grizzly is my next stop. This thing at $700, I think you are still better with the 735 straight blade. Such a heavier, better made, more accurate design!. $600.00. Then just save for the $450.00 upgrade! Sounds crazy actually to me to spend $450 on a cutter head for a hobby machine, but $1k still seems reasonable for the results you end up with...
Compared to a traditional, flat-blade, does this one cut "easier"? I ask, because I have a traditional blade and I can hear how the machine working hard. I don't think the blade is dull, because the board comes out very smooth
I didn't hook up an amp meter, so I can't say for sure, but it seems like the motor doesn't strain at all when I'm using it. I've heard that helical cutter heads draw less power than 3 blade planers, but I haven't measure it myself to know for sure.
@@jkmwoodworking from what I've heard, it's counter-intuitive: while it makes less noise, it does actually take more mechanical work
A simple chain tensioner could have helped on that crank.
How much can you cut at a time? half a turn max? I ask, because I often work with very large, very long, very rough & wavy roughcut. I remove an awful lot. (about 0.5")
You can do at least a full turn (1/16") at a time, probably a little bit more if you wanted to push it.
How much does it weigh
About 65 lbs
This is the Worst of both worlds: The price-tag of an intermediate product, with design flaws of an entry-level. (bad crank, lock lever). Even my entry-level planer doesn't have either of these flaws!
Worst?! Did you miss the helical cutterhead?
Lock lever is a great feature to reduce snipe. Dewalt 734 has the same. You can opt not to use it and have a snipe similar to entry-level planers.
The crank is indeed poorly designed.
@@Tyr-i6q I'm not convinced about the lock lever being an anti-snipe feature, it looks more like a kludge for compensating over the lack of robustness. Snipe is often mitigated by long outfeed and infeed tables, slightly curved upwards. I have a crappy $300 WEN that doesn't snipe all that much
@@Tyr-i6q Now, as for helical: (as opposed to spiral/segmented), I don't think it's that big a deal. Maybe marginally better. What matters is if you get a good finish or not. I heard of helicals with bad finish and non-helicals with good finish. It may matter more on a high power 20". I can find a segmented cutech for 500 bucks