# Dewalt 735 Planer problem



## ump416542 (Mar 30, 2009)

I am havint problems with the feed rolls on my dewalt 735. They slip on larger pieces of wood and I have to literally pull them through. I have cleaned the rollers and cleaned and waxed the table. This does not sem to help. I am also getting more snipe on the infeed. Is there any way to adjust the down pressure of the rollers? HELP


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## sikrap (Mar 7, 2009)

Interesting. I'm looking at the 735 as one of my purchases. Have you tried contacting DeWalt? They seem to have a pretty good Customer Support department. Please keep us advised as to what happens and how you corrected the problem. Good Luck!!


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Ump,
Usually when you have feeding trouble with slippage involved, it means one of two things, or both for that matter. You said you cleaned the feed rollers, so that should eliminate one. If your blades are dull you will have trouble feeding large pieces. The other thing I would mention is how big a cut are you trying to take? The infeed snipe sounds like you need to support the board better and keep it level with the bed of the planer. Don't let it tip down as it enters.
Mike Hawkins


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## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

I thought my planer was messed up or the rollers were slipping the first time the blades dulled too. Your problem is the blades are dull.


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## sagem57 (Mar 31, 2009)

dude, you and i are in the same boat! i called dewalt just 2 days ago and was told there is no way to adjust the rollers. and that i should clean them. didnt help. first board went through ok, next one, same problem. i also changed the blades, thinking that they might be dull. didnt help a bit . dewalt also "strongly" recomends that you need to use there "optional " in, and outfeed tables. both tables have a slight upward angle at their extream ends and puts more pressure against the feed rollers. i argued that if the tables were nesesary to make the thing work correctly, then they should be included with the machine! and i wasent about to spend another $100 on top of the $550 i already spent. they are sending the tables for free! ill let you know if they help. but i do have a theory, i am using this machine out doors in the cold, 50 degrees and below . as my 1 hour job was reaching the 3rd hour of pushing and pulling the wood through, the sun came around and reached my location and started to warm things up. the very last board went through perefectly, without cleaning the rollers. im wondering if the cold is making the rubber too hard , causing the rollers to slip. what kind of temperature are you working in?


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## firefighteremt153 (Jan 25, 2008)

Whenever my blades get dull, my boards don't feed really well. I would change the blades and see if that fixes the problem.


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## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

I've used mine in the cold (30 degrees)with no problems many times. I have only used the planer without infeed/outfeed tables a couple times though. I built my own 36" long infeed/outfeed tables which make life much easier when planing 8' boards. What size/length/type of boards were you having problems with?


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## mmtools (Aug 21, 2008)

All of the previous is good info, and maybe this is superfluous, but are you using a vacuum/ DC?? anything to draw the woodchips out? Whenever I run my planer without DC, it tends to "slip"


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Sagem,
I have had the extra in and outfeed table since new. There is no upward angle built in. These tables have allen screws which you loosen to adjust the table heights. I set mine using a straight edge off the bed of the machine. I also use a dust collector with mine, which it states in the owner's manual you must use either a dc or a shop vac to help exhaust the chips. I don't know if I have ever used mine in very cold temps, as I normally heat the shop while I am out there. I repeat, the only time mine has slipped was when my first set of blades got dull. I have changed or flipped the blades twice since, due to self inflicted nicks in the blades. (I was running some glued up panels through with pocket screws in them. I thought the screws were below the surface enough, turns out they weren't). 
Mike Hawkins


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## Terry McGovern (Feb 5, 2009)

I have the same trouble. Smaller (2-3 inch) boards go through easily enough, bit wider will hang up frequently. I have to make very shallow cuts; maybe a quarter turn of the wheel, and the slightest unevenness in the thickness will stop it. The machine is not too old, so I doubt the blades are really dull or the rollers too dirty, and it has done this since day one. The only solution seems to be taking off less at a time.

I built infeed-outfeed tables that helped a lot.


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## ump416542 (Mar 30, 2009)

Thanks: I have infeed outfeed tables I made myself. I also have a vacum system. I will try changing blades and taking smaller cuts


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## Hhaines (Nov 26, 2008)

I have a planer like this......It works fine.......I routed the exaust out to the side with 3" pvc pipe and use a grass catcher bag to collect the good stuff.......works fine, but fills up pretty quickly when I get really busy makin' little things out of big things......


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

I have a delta planer that was doing this and the service shop asked if it were cold,it was and I warmed it up and problem solved. Worth a try!


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## b00kemdano (Feb 10, 2009)

Here's another thread about the DeWalt planers. It was just a few weeks ago and Bob contacted the appropriate service center people about this same problem.


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## sagem57 (Mar 31, 2009)

To all concerned. the extension tables have arrived, and the current temperature is 45°. As I said in my original post the blades have been flipped around, and are sharp. I will be working out doors, and will be using the factory designed discharge shoot. And I will clean the rollers before I start. I will be working with mahogany and black walnut, approximately 8 to 10 inches wide. I will try to run some stock through with the tables, and without the tables. If I get poor results at this temperature range, I will use a heat gun too warm up the rollers and try again. Just to clarify, I was told the tables had a slight angle to them which would add pressure against the feed rollers by the de- walt customer representative. Also, and I cannot confirm this because I cannot find my owner's Manual, maybe one of you guys can check this fact, but i believe de-Walt recommends that you do "NOT" use a shop vac. Because of the high discharge rate of the fan assisted chip ejection. However a dust collector is fine because it can handle the volume. To address the issue of how big of a bite I'm taking, I have tried inserting a piece of stock under the cutter head, and lowered it down until it just barely kissed the surface of the stock, and it still did not feed through. And that was working with 10 inch wide mahogany boards that had already been rough planed at the mill, so they were relatively flat. I'll keep you posted.


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## sagem57 (Mar 31, 2009)

I'm sorry to report that today's tests were inconclusive. My computer homepage was giving me the temperature reading of 45°, and when I stepped outside it was considerably warmer than that. By the time I got everything setup to make the cuts it was over 60° outside. The good news is every piece a material that are ran through the planner went through perfectly without any hesitation. And that was WITHOUT the extension tables in place. The information that I got from de-walts technical department is correct, when the tables were installed straight out of the box, they do mount at a slight angle in relation to the planner base. About a heavy 1/8 inch by measurement. In this configuration, the extension tables would indeed apply more pressure to the drive rollers provided the wood piece is long enough. However, these can be zeroed out by way of the mounting screws on the table arms. So I guess the jury is still out on this one.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*sagem*

Please put back your wife's thermometer immediately, before she see that it's missing. Stay below the radar, say nothing, give only your name, address and phone number. We didn't have this conversation!............bill:laughing:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> Please put back your wife's thermometer immediately, before she see that it's missing. Stay below the radar, say nothing, give only your name, address and phone number. We didn't have this conversation!............bill:laughing:


Ok, that's just funny!!!!!!!!!!!!
:laughing:
(I don't think it's his wife's, I think it's his sister's):laughing:


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## gregL (Feb 1, 2009)

It seems as if the 735 is a "sometimes good- sometimes problematic " planer. I had a brand new 735 that had considerable feed problems. I brought it to the Dewalt service center and they replaced the rollers, cleaned everything (even though I always keep it clean and blow out all dust with my compressor) and adjusted everything to factory specs. My blades were new and sharp. Tried it with and without my dust collector. None of this solved the problem. 
I finally bought a grizzly 3 hp 15 inch planer and have been extremely satisfied. I need tools that are dependable and the Dewalt 735 was not! Prior to having the 735 I had the cheaper Dewalt 734 with the fold down extensions and it worked flawlessly. It was better than the 735.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*There could be 1 of several issues here...*

I'm not an Engineer, but I did stay at a Motel 6 somewhere on Route 66 in 2001... 
No. 1 the feed rollers are worn
No. 2, they have lost their elasticity/compressibilty or have or become too hard, possibily due to temperature SEE No. 6 below
*Durometer* is one of several ways to indicate the hardness of a material, defined as the material's resistance to permanent indentation. It is named for instrument maker Albert F. Shore, who developed a measurement device called a *durometer* in the 1920s. The term *durometer* is often used to refer to the measurement, as well as the instrument itself. Durometer is typically used as a measure of hardness in polymers, elastomers,and rubbers.
No. 3, They have inadequate pressure downward on the workpiece
No. 4, They depth of cut is too great to overcome the roller friction
No. 5, the width of cut is too great to overcome the roller friction
No. 6, Temperature plays a roll in the ever so slight expansion/diameter of the rubber and hardness/compressibility of rubber. It should not over the working range of the tool 30 degrees to 100 degrees, but it may, because of "suppliers quality control"
It may be a combination of all the above in some cases. It would seem that the Rigid Lifetime Warranty would cover this issue, since they wouldn't want to get a "bad" reputation on the best workingtalk forum on the net. if you get my drift...heh...heh. Want me to talk to them for you? :blink: :yes: Guido and "the family".


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## Terry McGovern (Feb 5, 2009)

sagem57 said:


> and I cannot confirm this because I cannot find my owner's Manual, maybe one of you guys can check this fact, but i believe de-Walt recommends that you do "NOT" use a shop vac. Because of the high discharge rate of the fan assisted chip ejection. However a dust collector is fine because it can handle the volume.


That's correct, they do not recommend a shop vac because "most" vacs don't have the ability to overcome the planer's fan; however, I have a 5 horse, 12 gallon Rigid shop vac that easily keeps up with it, and I use it all the time without incident. The feed problems persist even if I let the chips blow out into the air.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

Mort Tenon said:


> That's correct, they do not recommend a shop vac because "most" vacs don't have the ability to overcome the planer's fan; however, I have a 5 horse, 12 gallon Rigid shop vac that easily keeps up with it, and I use it all the time without incident. The feed problems persist even if I let the chips blow out into the air.


I am the one who originally reported a feed problem with my 734. I really do think it is a vacuum problem. I hooked up my 18 gal shop vacuum without the bag inside just used the inside filter. I started out just fine for the four passes (10” boards) than two things happened. First, the board started to not feeding, second I noticed that wood chips started to exit out the infeed table. I checked the vacuum and it felt just fine, but I noticed that as I was trying to clean up the dust residue it had a difficult time picking up just the dust. I opened the vacuum, cleaned the filter, and tried again. This time the problem cured itself but reappeared when the filter clogged up again. I have not tried without the vacuum, but come to think of it when I was at the service center, we did not use the dust collector attachment and everything worked just fine “no problem”. These planners sure are temperamental. I should have kept my old Taiwan (Reliant) built planner, which never had any problems except snipe. Snipe was the only reason I replaced that old planner. I never use vacuum on the old planner I just cleaned up the mess with a dust pan and broom.


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## ump416542 (Mar 30, 2009)

*Planer problem*

I changed the blades and planed a cherry plank 3"x10"x36" with no problem. Maybe that is all there was :yes:to the problem. I hope so.


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## gtracy (Apr 11, 2009)

*735 planer*

Nice planer as far as no snipe and ease of change of blades but I have always pushed and pulled wood through even with brand new knives.


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## PJREID (Feb 12, 2016)

*Feed problem*

Worked great the first time. I have had to clean the rollers every time since. Clean them and it works fine, it's not a big problem but it does seem like a design deficiency. My shop is cold, even once the air warms up everything in it is still cold I going to try blowing some heat into it, but I should have too. I had a car once than ran real nice down hill.

Peter


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## sweet willy (Jul 17, 2013)

Whenever I have those problems the first thing I do is the first thing you did - clean the rollers and wax the table. My question to you is, what did you clean the rollers with? I have found the best thing to use to clean rollers is rubbing alcohol. I've been doing this for over three years now and it works every time. Hope you work things out as I happen to love my Dewalt planner.


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