Thank you for posting this step-by-step video. I was able to upgrade my planer without too much hassle. One quick change - I would keep the screwed removed on the original blade head. I was not able to top out the head without removing the screws first.
Holy crap, gotta gut the entire thing to swap this out! Doable, but almost wondering if I should be putting the cutting head upgrade money towards just buying a new machine, now that I have the space. This has been a great planer for what it was, but really wanting the helix head these days. Thanks for the insight, nicely made video!
chrisberry84 thank you! I really liked this planer in its stock form, but I absolutely love it even more after upgrading it to the new cutter head! It is quite the investment as it costs about $25 more than the actual planer itself...but the cutter head will not lose any value! I doubt I will even rotate all the cutters before I sell the machine, as each side of the cutter lasts around 2 years! I would really like to get a big 20” helical planer one day, but I’m limited on space. Taking it apart really wasn’t bad at all! It took a few hours and that’s with recording every step I did, so I could maybe shave off 30-45 minutes without filming. I’ve planed all sorts of wood, including very hard maple, white oak, barn wood...it did fantastic on all of them! The surface finish looks just like the day I installed it. Basically it doesn’t leave as glossy of a surface as a fresh set of knives, but it still leaves a very nice and consistent surface! I would dull a set of knives in about 30 minutes planing hard maple. That gets expensive considering each set it $50! I would definitely recommend upgrading the cutter head, as it has worked very well for me!! Thanks for watching, Michael
It wasnt bad at all. I still haven't rotated the blades off the original edge and I installed it several years ago. Planed tons of white oak, hard maple, hickory, locust, even some barn wood with thick layer of paint.... blades still cut excellent. The head has definitely paid for itself more times than I can count.
Agree! I’ve got a new planer on the way. A friend of mine recommended I install one of these blades. No thanks 😂 I’m sure it’s great though! Just not doing all that on my brand new toy 😊
I pulled the trigger and got the Lux III cutter head! Ready to tackle the swap next weekend and pouring through all the vids to get acquainted. One vid had a left-right thickness discrepancy post assembly and he had to adjust the underneath sprockets by trial and error to get it right...has anyone else come across this issue following assembly?
I locked the cutter head in place before I took those sprockets and chain off. When I reassembled it I planed a board and it was the exact thickness on either edge! If you don’t lock the cutter head it will definitely get off a little but I don’t think it would take to long to adjust each side.
@@ricklee4216 It went well...made sure I had benchtop space to organize disassembly and 2hour block so as not to rush through it. Cutterhead insertion was easy, it was machined precisely. The quality of planed surface was exactly what I was expecting! Noise reduction was only a bit less (more hype than anything significant) you're still using ear protection! Taking shallower passes to avoid stated motor overload with constant multiple head cutting but over time you'll get a feel for how aggressive you can go. Game changer for my diy shop! Have fun with it! 👍
I want to do this upgrade with my DW734, did you notice the motor speed slow down at all ? I have read about people doing this upgrade with the DW 735 and they claim it slows the motor down, do to the increase weight of the cutter head . I'm a building contractor and I use this machine a lot .
I definitely reccomend doing this! So the cutter head weighs the same at the stock one, but the motor goes under more load than a 3 knife cutter head. The technical explanation is there is always a cutter cutting the wood so the motor doesn't have as much time to speed back up like it would with a 3 knife cutter head. That being said, the motor still bogs down less with this cutter head than if you have a dull set of hss knives on it. I've been using this planer a lot since I did the upgrade and I'm still in the first edge of the cutters. I've ran some nasty wood through too... barn wood, wood with a little dirt on, and a large amount of rough sawn white oak, hard maple, and poplar. I recommend it and do not regret a thing👍🏼
It does take more power to drive the helical cutter. Just take shallower cuts and it will work beautifully. I put the Lux Cut III on mine and definitely recommend it.
@@geoffreystearns1690 best part is the blades don't go dull after 30 minutes of planing hard maple!! Mine carbides are still on their first edge and cutting fine! I've run some gnarly stuff through them that would have dulled the stock blades so fast.
Joshua C I love it! No more changing knives after an hour of planing hard maple! The surface finish is interesting... a fresh set of knives in the stock cutter head makes almost a reflective surface on maple, but these carbides do not. It has to do with shear angle if you are familiar with that at all, but I’d rather have a less shiny surface all the time vs a really shiny surface for only a few minutes! The other thing I noticed is a few of the knives aren’t completely in the correct spot or something because there is a few really small ridges in the boards after they get planed. Still no big deal, 5 seconds of sanding with 150 gets rid of them. The chips this cutterhead makes are also only about 1/2” wide so the dust collection is greatly improved! Overall I’d definitely buy it again! Thanks!!
Elicson Workshop nice. Thanks for the reply. I just unboxed my DW734 a few days ago and accidentally planed through a staple nicking the knives almost immediately lol. Luckily they’re reversible but I’m also noticing the steel is extremely soft. I noticed a nick caused from just a knot in a 2x4. Anyways, I appreciate the video! This will be something I do if I don’t eventually upgrade to a grizzly planer combo on the future.
Joshua C it seemed like the knives from a few years ago lasted much longer than these newer ones! Not sure if that’s true or if I just started working with harder woods... and I will probably use one maybe two edges of the carbide inserts before i buy a bigger planer! I have a smaller shop and this size/ performance planer is what works right now! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for posting this step-by-step video. I was able to upgrade my planer without too much hassle. One quick change - I would keep the screwed removed on the original blade head. I was not able to top out the head without removing the screws first.
Holy crap, gotta gut the entire thing to swap this out! Doable, but almost wondering if I should be putting the cutting head upgrade money towards just buying a new machine, now that I have the space. This has been a great planer for what it was, but really wanting the helix head these days.
Thanks for the insight, nicely made video!
chrisberry84 thank you! I really liked this planer in its stock form, but I absolutely love it even more after upgrading it to the new cutter head! It is quite the investment as it costs about $25 more than the actual planer itself...but the cutter head will not lose any value! I doubt I will even rotate all the cutters before I sell the machine, as each side of the cutter lasts around 2 years! I would really like to get a big 20” helical planer one day, but I’m limited on space.
Taking it apart really wasn’t bad at all! It took a few hours and that’s with recording every step I did, so I could maybe shave off 30-45 minutes without filming. I’ve planed all sorts of wood, including very hard maple, white oak, barn wood...it did fantastic on all of them! The surface finish looks just like the day I installed it. Basically it doesn’t leave as glossy of a surface as a fresh set of knives, but it still leaves a very nice and consistent surface! I would dull a set of knives in about 30 minutes planing hard maple. That gets expensive considering each set it $50! I would definitely recommend upgrading the cutter head, as it has worked very well for me!!
Thanks for watching,
Michael
I put the Lux Cut III on mine. Took about 6 hours of patient work. Helps to have a precision torque wrench to reinstall the cutters.
I'd considered replacing my blades with a helical head. after watching this... no way.
It wasnt bad at all. I still haven't rotated the blades off the original edge and I installed it several years ago. Planed tons of white oak, hard maple, hickory, locust, even some barn wood with thick layer of paint.... blades still cut excellent. The head has definitely paid for itself more times than I can count.
I was thinking the same thing.
Agree! I’ve got a new planer on the way. A friend of mine recommended I install one of these blades. No thanks 😂
I’m sure it’s great though! Just not doing all that on my brand new toy 😊
I pulled the trigger and got the Lux III cutter head! Ready to tackle the swap next weekend and pouring through all the vids to get acquainted. One vid had a left-right thickness discrepancy post assembly and he had to adjust the underneath sprockets by trial and error to get it right...has anyone else come across this issue following assembly?
I locked the cutter head in place before I took those sprockets and chain off. When I reassembled it I planed a board and it was the exact thickness on either edge! If you don’t lock the cutter head it will definitely get off a little but I don’t think it would take to long to adjust each side.
I just got my Lux III and am planning on installing this weekend. How did it go?
@@ricklee4216
It went well...made sure I had benchtop space to organize disassembly and 2hour block so as not to rush through it.
Cutterhead insertion was easy, it was machined precisely.
The quality of planed surface was exactly what I was expecting! Noise reduction was only a bit less (more hype than anything significant) you're still using ear protection!
Taking shallower passes to avoid stated motor overload with constant multiple head cutting but over time you'll get a feel for how aggressive you can go.
Game changer for my diy shop!
Have fun with it! 👍
I want to do this upgrade with my DW734, did you notice the motor speed slow down at all ? I have read about people doing this upgrade with the DW 735 and they claim it slows the motor down, do to the increase weight of the cutter head . I'm a building contractor and I use this machine a lot .
I definitely reccomend doing this! So the cutter head weighs the same at the stock one, but the motor goes under more load than a 3 knife cutter head. The technical explanation is there is always a cutter cutting the wood so the motor doesn't have as much time to speed back up like it would with a 3 knife cutter head. That being said, the motor still bogs down less with this cutter head than if you have a dull set of hss knives on it. I've been using this planer a lot since I did the upgrade and I'm still in the first edge of the cutters. I've ran some nasty wood through too... barn wood, wood with a little dirt on, and a large amount of rough sawn white oak, hard maple, and poplar. I recommend it and do not regret a thing👍🏼
It does take more power to drive the helical cutter. Just take shallower cuts and it will work beautifully. I put the Lux Cut III on mine and definitely recommend it.
@@geoffreystearns1690 best part is the blades don't go dull after 30 minutes of planing hard maple!! Mine carbides are still on their first edge and cutting fine! I've run some gnarly stuff through them that would have dulled the stock blades so fast.
Nice! I heard you can only upgrade the 735 but apparently not. How have you liked the performance of the 734 so far with the helical cutter head?
Joshua C I love it! No more changing knives after an hour of planing hard maple! The surface finish is interesting... a fresh set of knives in the stock cutter head makes almost a reflective surface on maple, but these carbides do not. It has to do with shear angle if you are familiar with that at all, but I’d rather have a less shiny surface all the time vs a really shiny surface for only a few minutes! The other thing I noticed is a few of the knives aren’t completely in the correct spot or something because there is a few really small ridges in the boards after they get planed. Still no big deal, 5 seconds of sanding with 150 gets rid of them. The chips this cutterhead makes are also only about 1/2” wide so the dust collection is greatly improved!
Overall I’d definitely buy it again! Thanks!!
Elicson Workshop nice. Thanks for the reply. I just unboxed my DW734 a few days ago and accidentally planed through a staple nicking the knives almost immediately lol. Luckily they’re reversible but I’m also noticing the steel is extremely soft. I noticed a nick caused from just a knot in a 2x4. Anyways, I appreciate the video! This will be something I do if I don’t eventually upgrade to a grizzly planer combo on the future.
Joshua C it seemed like the knives from a few years ago lasted much longer than these newer ones! Not sure if that’s true or if I just started working with harder woods... and I will probably use one maybe two edges of the carbide inserts before i buy a bigger planer! I have a smaller shop and this size/ performance planer is what works right now! Thanks for watching!
Putting it back together I noticed that the blade lock doesn’t lock around the new helix. Did I do it wrong?
jakefree2 I have the same issue. Any luck?
Cat got your tongue?