Dewalt DW733 Thicknesser

[Mark18PLL]

Just purchased one of these and wanted to get some help with setup if possible. I am levelling the in feed and out feed and if I put a straight edge from one end to the other I have gaps where they connect to the main body, I have attached a photo.

I know it does not have a cast iron bed and its meant for the with job site but just wanted to check if others have managed to get it pretty bang on or are they hit and miss?

Cheers
Mark

 

[Myfordman]

It’s a while since I had one of these but I think what I did was to drop the rollers below the bed then get the tables dead flat when there was a little bit of pressure on them equivalent to a piece of timber. Particularly the out feed one. Then bring up the rollers so they are the tiniest bit above the table. Do a test cut on a shortish piece and check for no snipe.
With this type of machine and long workpieces you must control the snipe manually both feeding in and out. They are not rigid enough to manage it by itself. That is why I sold mine and got a delta four poster instead.

 

[Mark18PLL]

It’s a while since I had one of these but I think what I did was to drop the rollers below the bed then get the tables dead flat when there was a little bit of pressure on them equivalent to a piece of timber. Particularly the out feed one. Then bring up the rollers so they are the tiniest bit above the table. Do a test cut on a shortish piece and check for no snipe.
With this type of machine and long workpieces you must control the snipe manually both feeding in and out. They are not rigid enough to manage it by itself. That is why I sold mine and got a delta four poster instead.

Thanks I will give that a try.

 

[SammyQ]

Bob's method is similar to my experience too. The two fold-out tables a have a surprising degree of rigidity once set up, but dare you exceed about 4 to 5ft - in old money - the nasty bending moment of overhanging timber increases almost geometrically, and you have all sorts of diffs. I got by with clamp-on supplementary tables, bodged out of old ply and gash roofing laths, but swopped it for an HC260 as soon as wallet and second-hand market allowed. It's better, but still not perfect, but I have no room for a nice planer made from recycled Queen Mary metal, with in/out tables you could set for dinner. You just learn to get around a different set of foibles.