i have had 3 of these in the last 2 years the lift mechemism that rases and lowers the planer head keeps locking up dewalt keeps replacing them what am i doing wrong that would cause this :( :( 8)
I've had my old DW732 lock up several times. Spray it down with wd40 or similar and work the lift crank back & forth 'till the lube washes off the sawdust & gunk build up.
I don't think it's jammed up since I added dust collection to it. ;D
HTH
Ed
this one was practilly new i removed the top ,took air hose and cleaned it out , sprayed with wd40 ,worked it forcablly up and down while using the air hose to clean it out compleatly thinking it was material lodged in the chain and sprockets , it started to loosen up a little bit ,put the top back on and planed a 6 ft oak board ,by then it was froze up again ,i removed the top ,the area over the exhaust cover was almost full to the underside of the cover , blew it out again compleatly ,the chain and corner sprockets appeared to be free of dust ,tried to raise and lowed planer head ,and still froze up i think that somehow the planer head get out of alingment on the four corner post , which more or less puts the hear in a bind so to speak and causes it to freeze up ,also i dont think the area under the top cover above the blower exhaust cover should be filling up with dust and contaminating the chain and sprockets ,we loaded it up today and returned to dewalt ,if they replace it it will be no 4 looks like they would figure out what was causing the problem and correct it , i am sure i would not be the only one , i could understand this if i did not try to take care of it :( :( :(
After the next cleaning and inspection for alignment try using a dry lubricant. I just picked up a coupe of aerosol cans from HD. One was graphite based the other PTFE. Both dry in short order and may stop the caking of your dust.
Are you using a dust collector? When I was still using the Dewalt, the machine would back up like that if the ducting to the collector got clogged. Maple was the worse because it would machine into these long noodle type structures.
lPolly, you're talking about the 3 blade planer , yah?
Mine has plugged . Seems how one routes the exhaust can lead to plugging if air speed is limited/throttled. I cut off the bottom of a barrel lining bag and strapped to the end of the (3"?) exhaust hose. Seemed to decelerate the dust swirl and improve performance. See, the air has got to be able to blow to carry the heavier chips . The bag lets the air keep going but the material decelerrate. I also tarp the top of the 4 x 4 x 6 cart when planing. Works for me......... ;)
in the long run,are planers worth the money? sounds like they have major issues to me
Quote from: turningfool on March 10, 2009, 10:51:58 AM
in the long run,are planers worth the money? sounds like they have major issues to me
?? versus not planing rough lumber? There are times a planed board is needed. :)
When I first got the little Ryobi planer, I had clogging problems. Not having a dust collector, I removed the cowling where you would attach the blower, and solved the problem.
Polly, you oughta look around for an old Belsaw planer/molder and just get rid of the benchtop thing. I recently saw an ad for one for $100 but the ad was 2 weeks old and I didn't bother to call. 2 days ago I saw another ad on Craigslist for a Belsaw with a 5hp motor for $300.
Quote from: turningfool on March 10, 2009, 10:51:58 AM
in the long run,are planers worth the money? sounds like they have major issues to me
I don't think these little 12-13" planers are worth it. I have had 3 different ones and gave up. Don't like them one bit.
well, now, you get what you pay for in this area- I've had a 12" portable Dewalt planar that I've really used to the max- 12" wide red and white oak, fair amount of spalted hickory and yellow poplar spalted and not, plus some pine, especially some dried blue stain I'll be using in the small house I'm working on right now. It's held up a whole lot better than me- should have spent money or time on in- and out-feed tables and I will now- just finished a half dozen 20' 4/4 spalted poplar 10" wide that came out beautiful but almost tore my arms off feeding and catching (while trying to keep it moving through the planar from one hand on one side to the other on the other). Still not sure why I kept it at 20'- goes up just as nice in 10' lenghts for most applications. Just bought a new set of blades so I can be sharpening while I still have a working planar. For the price, I've certainly gotten good value from this machine, although my time isn't that expensive (haven't quite worked up the nerve to retire yet and try living on a fixed income that's too small to afford nice toys/tools). wish i had the money for a good thickness planar and a four head molder- need a lot of rough cut turned into siding in the next few months. Oh, well, making progress on getting the mill stationary- that's keeping me occupied right now.
Lj
i tend to overkill things when I can.
a few years ago, a friend and I split the cost of a delta 22-580, that thing was a disappointment to me, but, I tend to push things pretty hard. If it won't do what I want it to do, I consider it junk.
I bought a Grizzly Z-series 20 inch planer in January.... wow, not comparable, kind of like comparing my old hud-son to my LT40, a lot more money, but a much nicer machine....
i think it all depends on what you expect from your equipment.
i have planed some red cedar that was not compleatly dried out i am wondering if the moisture in it is what is causing my problem , but the way it appears to me the area above the blades where the shavings are building up they should not be their at all the dust blower and exhaust are not stopping up it is just the build up under the top cover wrere the chain and sprockets are located , anyway i took it back to black and decker in cincy and i have not heard back from them , i would imagine they are getting tired of seeing me ,planer is 2 yrs old and warrentee is 3 years for parts only the way it is designed with the head locked up i would like to watch them dissamble it ::) ::) ;)
The new Fine Woodworking magazine is saying the Dewalt 3 blader is the best.
I built my own infeed and outfeed tables as I had some wood rollers. Performance is pretty darn good. The 3 blader I got three years ago for $400 is now $650.
(I don't really think i saved $250) :D :D
the one i took back did a good job of planing ,and setting the depth of cut ,exact alingment for inch marks , if only it did not lock up :( 8)
I have had the DW 735 for a couple of years and never had a lock up like you are having. It has been used quite a lot and is on the second set of blades. They can be turned over so in effect they make two blades. I got mine for less than $400 on sale but see that at Lowes they are $650 now. At that price I probably would of went with a stationary planer. So far I am happy with it.
I bought a Parks planer before they went out of business, I have never been very happy with it. When planing dry wood, there is always some chip-outs and lifted grain. I don't know how well the spirl cutters prevent this, but if you have a piece of high cost wood, a wide belt sander gets my vote.