Planer - Dewalt DW735 13” Planer

A planer creates a parallel surface by dragging the reference surface of the wood across the flat steel base plate and using rotating blades to cut the top surface.
The best time to use a planer is after you have used the jointer to flatten one surface and the object is twice as wide as it is tall. Particularly for objects of the inappropriate ratio, consider using the table saw to create a parallel cut.

⚠️ Safety

• Wear safety glasses and hearing protection
• Do not wear jewelry, long sleeves. Tie up long hair.
• Do not place hands or anything not being planed inside the planer while it is plugged in.
• Do not reach inside to clear wood debris while the planer is plugged in.
• Do not plane material less than 6” long.
• Do not plane material less than 1/8” thick.
• Do not plane material that is less than twice as wide as it is tall.
• Do not plane more than 1/8” material per pass from softwoods such as pine.
• Do not plane more than 1/16” material per pass from hardwoods such as oak.

Assembly Information

• Tables:
  • The infeed and outfeed tables are delicate and can easily be bent out of shape. They fold up to keep them out of the way.
  • Be sure to use roller stands to support long and heavy objects.
• Cutterhead:
  • This planer is equipped with three straight knives. These can be accessed by removing the top cover and internal dust cover. To remove the covers, use the integrated hex wrench to unscrew the four screws in the top cover. Unscrew the three long red thumb screws that secure the dust cover. There is an integrated screw tray in the top of the planar to store the screws. Remove the dust cover by sliding it to the side and pulling it up.
  • The blades are secured by eight screws and can be loosened with the same integrated hex wrench. Use the magnets on the handle of the hex wrench to handle the blades. Please note that the blades are double sided, so once one side wears out, you can flip them around to get a fresh blade. Please be sure to mark the blade edge as used with a sharpie if you are flipping around the blade.
  • If you have a chip in one blade causing streaks in your cuts, you may need to only shift the blades left or right in the slotted holes instead of replacing the blades.
• Cutting gauge:
  • The red needle gauge on the front of the planer indicates how much material will be removed if you place the wood just at the front lip of the planer. See safety for maximum material cuts. Multiple shallow cuts is better for the equipment (and your wood) than a single deep cut.
• Feed rate switch:
  • There are two speeds for the feed rate: slow and fast. Slower cuts will result in a better finish. Only switch speeds when the planer is running. Do not switch it when the power is off.
• Thickness adjustment:
  • The minimum thickness stop gauge is a wheel on the left that indicates the minimum thickness. This ranges from ⅛” to 1 1/4" thick. Set to the minimum 1/8" by default.
  • The thickness crank handle on the left moves the planer up and down. Each full turn of the crank moves the planer approximately 1/4".

Dust Collection

• Attach a 4" vacuum hose to the port at the back of the planer. The planer has a fan which creates positive pressure, so be sure that the hose is firmly attached, otherwise the hose will be ejected if the planer is on while the dust collector is off.

Usage Information

• Check that dust collection is connected, gated properly, and turned on before using the planer.
• Check stock for nails or other foreign materials, and remove them before planing.
• Before turning on the planer, check the minimum thickness stop gauge and adjust the height of the cut by placing your wood just inside the lip of the planer in the middle of the width and lower the cut height until the cutting gauge just barely moves as it touches the material.
• Turn on the planer and set the feed speed to slow or fast as you require.
• Push the material into the planer slowly and carefully until you feel the power feed grab the object and start pulling it through. If you do not feel the power feed take the material, remove the piece, lower the height by 1/4 turn of the handle, and try again. Repeat until the power feed takes the material and you get a light cut.
• Reminder: do not put your hands into the planer for any reason while it is plugged in.
• After your material has been planed, lower the cutting height by 1/4 to 1/2 of a turn of the handle at each pass following the cutting depths indicated by the safety section above.
• In order to wear the cutting knives down evenly, send material through the planer at a different location width wise each time.