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Feeding lumber to a Dewalt 735 planer

Cynthia White

Cynthia White

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Vancouver Island, Courtenay/Comox Valley, British
Well, good morning! :D Time for some new novice questions!

I've got the Dewalt 735 planer. I love it, and it planes great. But I think I'm not feeding wood to it correctly. It says in the instruction manual that you put the wood in there, crank it down to where you want it, pull out the wood, then feed it. Well, if I put the wood in there far enough to get a careful read, it's impossible to get it out before turning it on. If it put it in just a little to get a read, you still have to pull it hard to get it out. If I put it in a tiny bit, I'm not sure I'm getting a careful read. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks to everyone for putting up with me. :eek:
 
I usually put a board in the planer and crank down until the board just begins to move, let it run through, then run it again.

If you are doing a batch of boards, keep in mind they may not all be the same dimensions, so if you can, start with the fattest one first.

Once I get the initial height dialed in, I run all the boards through once, then start the process of cranking it down a little, running the batch of boards, cranking it down, lather, rinse, repeat...
 
Hmmm, Well, that's the way I do it.

I do it so that the board is all the way through the planer and do it just until the board starts to move.

Maybe we'll both get a lesson from the safety experts today!

But if you do it with the power off, as they say, and you are cranking it down so that you can't pull the board back out, that's probably too low to start with.
 
Don't forget there is a depth of out gauge on the front of your planer, adjust so it is just moving the gauge, turn on and feed. The rollers should feed the board even if the blades are not touching but if, say the gauge is reading 1/32" it should remove wood. Play with it and you will get the "feel" of the machine, it is a good one.
 
Cynthia White said:
You mean you crank it down while the machine is turned on???
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Here's how I do it with my cheapo Delta lunchbox planer. (It doesn't have a depth of cut gauge, just a board thinkness gauge that's worthless.) Not sure if it's the right way, but it's how I do it. Some of these steps are not as necessary with a more powerful planer...
  1. Make sure the planer is turned off.
  2. Raise the cutter head high enough that the fattest board of the batch can slide through with no resistance.
  3. Put the fattest board of the batch on the bed of the planer, then lower the cutter head slowly until it just barely touches the top of the board and makes it difficult to slide the board around.
  4. Raise the cutter head slightly, just enough to slide the board out of the planer (About 1/5 of a turn seems to work on my planer.)
  5. Once the board is removed, lower the cutter head back to the point you just moved it from. (Here again, about 1/5 of a turn on my planer.)
  6. Turn on the planer and feed the first board through. It will likely just barely remove any wood.
  7. Feed the rest of the boards through. (If there are significantly thinner boards in the batch, don't bother feeding them through yet, since the feed rollers won't be touching them.)
  8. Lower the cutter head slightly. (Again, I use about 1/5 of a turn. YMMV. Stronger planers can take bigger bites.)
  9. Feed the boards through again.
  10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until all the boards are at the desired thickness.
Sometimes, my initial height setting will be too high and the feed rollers will not make enough contact with the wood to push it all the way through the machine. In those cases, I will very slightly lower the cutter head as the motor is running, but only to the point where the feed rollers can actually push the wood again. Conversely, if on the initial pass the cutter head seems to bog down due to a thicker part of the board, I will slightly raise the cutter head as the motor is running to prevent any potential damage from overworking the motor.
 
and to add to what vaughn has said, when you run into that fatter board that caused you to raise the cut height ,remember how much you raised it then resend it at s lower setting till you can get it to the same thickness as the rest are at in the group..so you can then go threw all of them at the same cut hieght
 
with the 735, there is that red arrow in the front(feed side) that indicates how much you are going to take off.
If you dont trust the dial, that gives you 3/4, 1/2 inch etc......then you have to figure out where you are going to stop the planer.
But, just to get started, slide the piece of wood in 3 inchs under the carriage.
Turn the carriage down slowly just until the red arrow edges up a tiny bit.(technical words)
Thats where the board is set for the first pass.
You should be able to slide the board back out now, then turn on the power, slide the board through.
I also do what brent does, I turn the carriage down slowly till the wood moves and thats my first pass.
 
The DW735 has a pretty decent depth of cut gauge built in:

Capture.JPG

Slide the edge of your material under the gauge "feeler". This is well before you enter the machine and get snagged up on the things that are making it hard for you to remove the board. Lower the cutterhead till the depth of cut gauge reads about 1/32", remove your board, start the machine and make your first pass. Continue from there.
 
Wow you all sure do go thru alot of steps just to plane a board down. I just barely insert mine about 1/2" and crank it down till the dial on the front for depth of cut moves and send it thru. I find on my ridgid it's very accurate! If I'm not mistaken the 735 has one also.

As far as taking a cut I do at least a half turn. Anything under about 4" in width I'll take a full turn which on mine is 1/16".
 
I have the DW-735 and I do it just like Glenn does to start, works good for me. I run all the boards through then crank the height down about 1/4 to 1/2 half a turn, flip the boards over and run them through again. Keep doing this till I get it the thickness I need or all the rough is gone.
 
Cynthia White said:
. It says in the instruction manual that you
Click to expand...

Now hold on a minute. You just waltz in here and then start talking about READING instruction manuals? :blah::blah:
I think you may be in the wrong place... :hide:

(kidding! really!)

glenn bradley said:
The DW735 has a pretty decent depth of cut gauge built in:

Slide the edge of your material under the gauge "feeler". This is well before you enter the machine and get snagged up on the things that are making it hard for you to remove the board. Lower the cutterhead till the depth of cut gauge reads about 1/32", remove your board, start the machine and make your first pass. Continue from there.
Click to expand...

I pretty much do what Glenn says.

Vaughn McMillan said:
[*]Lower the cutter head slightly. (Again, I use about 1/5 of a turn. YMMV. Stronger planers can take bigger bites.)
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one-fifth!? seriously? Wow, that planer must be geared very differently than the 735.
I usually turn the wheel a half turn between cuts. And if I'd actually read the manual :whistling: I might even know how much of a cut that is. :rofl:
Sometimes I go 1/3 of a turn, or 1/4 of a turn, when I get to the final few cuts.
 
Okay, fellas. Been working with the planer and it's doing fine. I followed probably Allen's suggestions the closest, and I'm not having any problems now. I do have a couple of questions, though. :D

Can I run a piece through across the grain? I have one beautiful piece that's wide but short. If I have to run it with the grain, I'll have to cut it up in little pieces. Across the grain, I could run it in one pass.

Will it hurt the planer if I run a piece through that has some unstable edges that might chip off? Some of my spalted stuff looks a little iffy around the edges.

Thanks all,
Cynthia

P.S. I must say that today, getting comfortable with the planer, is the first time I feel confident and like I'm a real woodworker.
 
Art Mulder said:
...one-fifth!? seriously? Wow, that planer must be geared very differently than the 735...
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Nah, it's just sorely underpowered. Someday I hope to have a real planer, but with the type of stuff I typically make, a planer is a tool I only use two or three times a year (when I'm home and actually using my shop), so it's hard to justify moving up to something better.
 
Cynthia White said:
Okay, fellas. Been working with the planer and it's doing fine. I followed probably Allen's suggestions the closest, and I'm not having any problems now. I do have a couple of questions, though. :D

Can I run a piece through across the grain? I have one beautiful piece that's wide but short. If I have to run it with the grain, I'll have to cut it up in little pieces. Across the grain, I could run it in one pass.


Will it hurt the planer if I run a piece through that has some unstable edges that might chip off? Some of my spalted stuff looks a little iffy around the edges.

Thanks all,
Cynthia

P.S. I must say that today, getting comfortable with the planer, is the first time I feel confident and like I'm a real woodworker.
Click to expand...


Read your manual for minimum length requirements. Trying to plane a board, usually under a foot long on many planers, can be dangerous and can damage the machine.
 
Cynthia White said:
Okay, fellas. Been working with the planer and it's doing fine. I followed probably Allen's suggestions the closest, and I'm not having any problems now. I do have a couple of questions, though. :D

Can I run a piece through across the grain? I have one beautiful piece that's wide but short. If I have to run it with the grain, I'll have to cut it up in little pieces. Across the grain, I could run it in one pass.

Will it hurt the planer if I run a piece through that has some unstable edges that might chip off? Some of my spalted stuff looks a little iffy around the edges.

Thanks all,
Cynthia

P.S. I must say that today, getting comfortable with the planer, is the first time I feel confident and like I'm a real woodworker.
Click to expand...

Across the grain could be unfortunate. At best you're unlikely to get a very good cut and probably significant tear out, at worse (more likely if its thin...) it could snap the board which would probably jam it up into the knives causing all sorts of havoc. Maybe a hand plane? :D

I wouldn't stress mildly unstable edges toooo much but if it looks like a solid piece (or a knot) may come loose I'd certainly help it do so before hand. If a chunk comes loose it can reportedly ricochet back out of the planer (possibly damaging you) or (again) get wedged which can damage the machine. Now I've never either of those happen to me, but have seen some reports of folks needing a fresh pair of drawers when it did happen to them so being willing to learn from others mistakes have become more cautious :D
 
Cynthia White said:
...Can I run a piece through across the grain? I have one beautiful piece that's wide but short. If I have to run it with the grain, I'll have to cut it up in little pieces. Across the grain, I could run it in one pass...
Click to expand...

This is where the hand plane becones your friend! :D A #5 plane will do the job much better - and much SAFER(!) - than a power planer on such short pieces. You also likely won't get the chip-out that you'd get on the power planer.

Cynthia White said:
...Will it hurt the planer if I run a piece through that has some unstable edges that might chip off? Some of my spalted stuff looks a little iffy around the edges...
Click to expand...

Maybe... If a chunk dislodges and goes the wrong place inside the planer, it could damage it. If it comes flying out, it could damage you, too!
 
Cynthia White said:
P.S. I must say that today, getting comfortable with the planer, is the first time I feel confident and like I'm a real woodworker.
Click to expand...


It always a boost for me when I take a piece of really narly or raw lumber and joint and plane it to get a beautiful smooth flat piece of lumber.
I still feel like its an acomplishment. And even though planing and jointing for large builds gets a little boring and backbreaking, its still one of my favorite tasks.

just always feed wood standing off to the side a bit, so if it spits out a chip, crack or knot, it wont hit you.
And never try to pull a short piece out, never..........if it gets stuck, shut the planer and raise the carriage.
Im sure you know all this, but these machines are unforgiving.(but so much fun to use at the same time)
 
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