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Great planer for small shop.

I was one of the first to get the DW734 from Amazon. Other than the 3-knife head (with 2-sided disposable blades instead of resharpenable) and some styling details, the 734 planer appears to be identical to the previous model, the 733. I haven’t been able to get any detailed info on changes between the two models from any source I researched. It was set up right on the money out of the box except that the cut depth gage is off by around 1/128″ (not enough to matter). I was pleased that it came with a dust hood (4″), something not listed in any of the info I was able to get before the purchase.The cut is silky smooth–unless you look very closely in bright light on a darker wood surface (like walnut) you can’t see any blade marks at all.The machine functions very well–easy to set up, the controls operate very smoothly and precisely, and each of the features works as expected without needless fiddling. The dust hood, even though only 4″, clears chips and dust very efficiently. The only time any chips escaped was when I tried to take 1/8″ off of a 6″ board (a no-no according to the owner manual), and then I got a little puff of shavings out the feed end. (My setup is a Jet DC1100CK 1 1/2 HP dust collector connected via a 6″ shop duct system, blast gate, 6″ flex pipe and a reducer to the 734’s 4″ dust port.)I did have problems with a little snipe when attempting to take more than 1/32 inch in a pass–I may be able to adjust this out of the planer, but I often make two passes anyway: one to thickness and one to surface.I was surprised to have several small nicks in the blades after planing perhaps 8-10 bf of scrap (carefully inspected/cleaned beforehand), probably due to contaminants in/on the boards. In one case a small knot apparently made a nick. This was disappointing as the planer only comes with 1 set of knives and a new set is fairly expensive. Two passes at the same thickness setting makes the nick traces all but vanish, but this means passing the wood thru the planer 3 times to avoid snipe and nick traces. Perhaps the nicks were a result of embedded sand or silica in the particular scraps used, not something that will happen on a regular basis. (Although my Jet jointer didn’t take any nicks when I jointed the same scraps.)It appears to have the same fit and finish as the more expensive the Delta 2-speed, but the 734 is lighter and more portable. But I’m told the Delta unit is less prone to snipe. I chose the 734 over the 733 because of its disposable knives (I don’t have a very trustworthy sharpening service near me) and because of the 3-knife head, which should save me some sanding. If those things aren’t important to you, the older 733 might be a better value, while supplies last.Based on my short experience, I’d recommend the 734. I withheld 1 star because of the snipe and nick problems.

Update (5/17/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, DEWALT DW734 Heavy Duty 15 Amp 12-1/2-Inch Benchtop Planer Tools & Hardware, was written by Joey.

The average rating for this item is 4.3 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.