DeWalt Planer Guide: DW734, DW735, DW735X, and Cordless Models Explained

A thickness planer is one of those tools that changes how you work once you've got one. Instead of buying dimensioned lumber and paying a premium for it, you can run rough-sawn stock through a planer and surface it to exactly the thickness you need. It opens up more material options, cuts costs on bigger projects, and gives you a cleaner, more consistent surface than what you'll get off a table saw alone. DeWalt makes four planers — three benchtop thickness planers and one cordless hand planer — and they're not all built for the same type of work. This guide covers every model in detail so you can figure out which one belongs in your shop or on your jobsite.

If you're a woodworker running a cabinet shop or small furniture operation, you're probably looking at the DW734, DW735, or DW735X. If you're a contractor or finish carpenter who needs to shave a door edge or knock down a high spot on a floor, the DCP580B cordless hand planer might be exactly what you need.

Here's the full lineup at a glance. All models listed are available at Authorized Tool Outlet.

The DW734 is DeWalt's entry-level benchtop planer. It's got a 15-amp motor, a 12-1/2-inch maximum cutting width, and a single speed cutter head running at 96 cuts per inch. Three single-sided knives handle the cutting, and the fan-assisted chip ejection keeps shavings moving away from the work. The DW734 can plane boards up to 6 inches thick and handles material removal up to 1/8 inch per pass.

If you're running a small cabinet shop, doing custom furniture work, or planing material on a regular basis, the DW735 is the right tool. The two-speed cutter head lets you rough down stock quickly on the first pass and dial in a clean surface finish on the final pass without switching tools. The double-sided knives are a practical advantage for anyone who planes regularly. The DW735 is one of the most popular benchtop planers in its class and has been for years for good reason.

DeWalt backs that up with its own numbers. According to DeWalt's product specification documentation, the three-knife cutter head on the DW735 delivers 30% longer knife life compared to two-knife designs. For anyone running the machine regularly, that adds up over time.

The DW735X is the same planer as the DW735 in every meaningful way. Same motor. Same two-speed cutter head. Same 13-inch cutting width. Same double-sided knives. The difference is what comes in the box. The DW735X includes two extra infeed and outfeed support tables and an extra set of knives. That's it. If you look at the tool itself, the DW735 and DW735X are identical.

Whether the DW735X is worth it over the DW735 comes down to whether you want the tables and extra knives bundled in. If you're setting up a permanent planer station and you know you'll want extension tables, the DW735X is a better deal when you factor in what those tables would cost separately. If you already have outfeed support from another setup or you just want the planer itself, the DW735 is the same machine at a lower cost.

The DW735 and DW735X are the same planer. They have the same motor, the same cutter head, the same speeds, the same knives, and the same cutting capacity. The DW735X adds infeed and outfeed extension tables and an extra set of knives to the package. If you need extension tables for longer boards and want a spare knife set on hand, the DW735X gives you more value out of the box. If you don't need the tables, the DW735 is the right buy.

If you're hanging doors, doing finish carpentry, or working on floors and you need to remove material from specific areas rather than machine lumber to a consistent thickness, the DCP580B cordless hand planer is your tool. It's lightweight, runs off your existing 20V MAX batteries, and handles door trimming, floor leveling, and edge work cleanly. You don't need a thickness planer for jobsite fitting work.

A lot of contractors run a shop for material prep and work on jobsites for installation. In that case, you might actually want both. A DW735 or DW735X in the shop for dimensioning lumber, and a DCP580B in the truck for jobsite fitting. The two tools don't overlap much in what they do, and the DCP580B runs on the same batteries as the rest of your 20V MAX tools.

If you're building projects at home on weekends and you don't plane material constantly, the DW734 is a solid and more affordable place to start. It handles rough stock fine, it's lighter than the DW735 at 80 pounds versus 92 pounds, and it's the right size for occasional shop use. When your volume grows and you start hitting the limits of a single speed cutter head, that's when the DW735 makes sense.

A thickness planer is a straightforward tool, but a few habits make a real difference in results and knife life.

• Don't take more than 1/16 to 1/8 inch per pass on hardwoods. Aggressive passes cause snipe, tear-out, and extra wear on the knives. Light, consistent passes give you a cleaner surface.
• Run boards at a slight angle if they're narrower than the full cutting width. This spreads knife wear more evenly across all three cutters.
• On the DW735 and DW735X, use the 96 CPI speed for rough stock removal and 179 CPI for your final passes. That two-speed feature is the biggest reason to choose the DW735 over the DW734.
• Make sure your stock is flat on at least one face before planing. A thickness planer won't fix a cupped or twisted board — it'll just make a thinner cupped or twisted board. Joint one face flat before planing for thickness.
• Keep the infeed and outfeed tables clear and support long boards. Snipe at the start and end of a board is often caused by inadequate support on entry and exit.
• Change or flip knives when you notice a pattern of ridges or mill marks on the planed surface. Dull knives leave marks and require more passes to get a clean surface.

Whether you're setting up a woodworking shop, running a cabinet operation, or just need to trim doors and fit material on the jobsite, there's a DeWalt planer built for your situation. The DW734 is a solid entry-level benchtop planer, the DW735 is the better long-term tool for active shops, the DW735X adds tables and a spare knife set for guys who want to hit the ground running, and the DCP580B cordless hand planer fills a completely different role for jobsite work.