Building the Perfect Planer || Best Small Shop Planer

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[LaFeuilleAF]

This is a nice improvement! Decibels (dB) are not linear, and the perceived loudness can change significantly with only a small change in dB, especially above the hundred, so going from 105 to 95/100 is pretty good already. Also, too bad you couldn't plug the dust collector: the biggest different will come when it's on and connected to the planer. Dust collectors generate a lot of wind/suction, and it amplifies a lot (!) the planer's noise. The helical head will significantly help with that, since the wind/suction passes through it way smoothly. Cheers from Switzerland!

[Zircon]

I did exactly the same setup two years ago. It was well worth the aggravation of installation. One other mod you should consider is adding a Wixey digital thickness gage to your DeWalt. Once calibrated you can adjust finished board thickness to well under 0.01”. In fact, I’ve been seeing repeatable results in the 0.005” range with the helical head. Other than somewhat limited width you have a real cherry planing machine.

[philshock]

You probably should have mentioned the Shelix comes in two sizes for the 735. The one that you installed is the smaller one that doesn't require cutter removal for installation, and an OEM version that will retain the same cut diameter as stock but requires cutter removal for installation. The link you provided is actually the OEM version and will require all 40 cutters to be removed before you can install it. Once it's in, you can reinstall the cutters.

The DeWalt 735 has become somewhat of a ubiquitous standard at this point for lunchbox style planers. I've had mine for 10 years and still works flawlessly. I actually prefer the straight knife cut - as long as the blades are sharp, they provide a glassy smooth surface. My Grizzly 8in jointer with a helical head is pretty good as well but the planer is a bit smoother. "Louder" doesn't matter to me as I'll be using hearing protection regardless.

[NaroiStudio]

Got this planer for my shop. I don’t regret buying it. I’m actually thinking about installing the shelix blades and this video helped me made up my mind. Solid upgrade.

[ingoroemer]

I've got the same planer, have had it for almost 20 years. Small shop and yeah, it is certainly loud in there, in fact I make a note not to start it up until after 8AM, keeps the neighbors happy 🤣

[me-qgmt]

That was a very good video. Thank you. I live in Thailand and bought this planer. I also switched from the straight knives to the helix type. The reduction in noise is considerable. Also as was was mentioned in the video the reduction in the higher frequency sounds was significant. One thing that was not mentioned is that the helical inserts are made out of solid carbide whereas the straight knives as supplied from the manufacturer are high speed steel. I plane a lot of teak. Teak is very abrasive because of the silica within the wood. The HSS straight blades were wearing out after only about 100-200 linear board feet. I have done hundreds of board feet of teak for the past three years using the helical inserts and have not even had to rotate any of them to a new cutting edge.

[larryk]

I bought the exact same planer and exact upgrade about five years ago, and it is without a doubt money well spent. I just finished thicknessing 80 BF of 4/4 hard maple to 1/2 inch for some sliding barn doors and the final pass is almost finish ready. I absolutely love what I get from this tool and upgrade.

[therealweenis]

Nice video. I have the same setup. The power on the wall was ample enough to run the planer, but the breaker I would trip was actually on the planer itself, not the shop. I resolved this by changing the power cord on the planer to be a higher gauge, and all is right in the world. Awesome small shop setup.

[JeepinMaxx]

Thanks for the video! I've had the Dewalt for about 5 years and have wanted to upgrade to a helix cutter head. As others mentioned - the dB scale is logarithmic, not linear. So 5db difference is quite an improvement. Example - 90db is a lawnmower or wet/dry vac, 110db is car horn or concert, 120db is a jet engine, and 140db is a gunshot

[inspiringbuilds]

Great video and planer. The Shelix helical cutter head is a game changer that I’ve always highly recommended. 👍

[RealPeoplePerson]

Decibel (dB) when listed in a product description is often measured at a distance of 1m (3.28ft). As we all know, the closer you put your ear to the audio source, the louder the noise. When comparing two product listings, it's worth making sure both dB values are measured at the same distance. Some sneaky folks will measure at a greater distance to appear less noisy.

[jasonpaul]

If you don’t want to make the conversion yourself you can buy the OLIVER MACHINERY
13" Planer with Helical Head Model 10045. It already has the Byrd Shelix helicalhead cutter installed and it runs around $999. I bought mine on sale for about $100 off. It also has a digital readout which I love. It really helps dial it in for very accurate cuts. I also tested it with a friends tester and it measured at about 84 DBA’s under load. It should be installed on a 20amp breaker and rarely cuts out. Butter like surface of course. Anyways, just sharing in case you don’t want to all the conversion work.

[venoofnecona]

If you plug in to a 15-amp receptacle it can trip the breaker. Make sure it is a 20 amp. receptacle. Do not change out the breaker from 15 amp to 20 amp. 15-amp breakers use 14 grade wire, as a 20 amp uses 12 grade wire. If you change the breaker, you can cause a fire and burn down your house or shop. I am an electrician with 40 years' experience.

[kmclaren]

One of the other great things about this planer in a small shop, its internal blower is incredibly powerful so some people have skipped external dust collection and just added like 1 ft of pipe and a dust collection bag. Great way to delay cost as you’re getting into a new and expensive hobby. Or you could be like me and push it into the driveway and let the blown shavings become extra mulch on your landscaping 😂

[russrandall]

Joining the ranks of the common weekend woodworker again. Love to see your takes on the options i have for budget and space! Great series.

[rabbit]

Loving your small shop series as like many, I only have a small single garage shop! Looking forward to seeing how you get on. Love your playful presentation style- keep up the great vids ❤

[richarddicktaylor]

This is you best video for ages - a practical experiment without sponsorship or marketing BS that's relevant to a huge proportion of your subscribers. I liked the paving one (what a great bloke that bloke was) but this style or hands on experiment is getting back to the Tank/Lawnmower vibe.

[thetoolman]

Another mod to help it run quieter is to remove the built-in blower and replace it with a 3D printed chute that exits through the top. If you are using a dust collector anyway, the blower isn't needed.

Also, sound pressure is measured on a logarithmic scale. A 3dB reduction is approximately half as loud, though the way we perceive sound, it takes about 6dB to "feel" like half.

[jerrywoodlee]

A very informative video for those thinking about changing their planer.

[theelmagoo]

This is great as I just picked up this Planner and was questioning whether to get the helical upgrade! A few notes to toss into the information mind share as well:

- Others have mentioned it already, the Decibel scale is logarithmic. That means that changes in the scale are a bigger jump than just the number (i.e. that 10bB difference you measured is actually around double the difference). So that was indeed a good improvement in noise reduction!

- Just to note, you can usually find the 735 used for around $450 - $500ish on FB marketplace (I got lucky and found mine for $425 with a set of replacement blades and it had the extension tables). That can save you some cash if you're wanting to go this route (just doing a quick look and I see 8 for sale in the DFW area for $500 or less).

- There's another option to consider for a small shop that also comes with a Helical head, it's this Grizzly 12" planer / jointer combination. It's on wheels so it's easy to move around, and it's 120V 15A power so no need to go 220. Plus you get the bonus of it also being a 12" Jointer! It pretty much costs as much as the 735 + helical upgrade new.


They also have an 8" version for under $600 as another option.