Should I Purchase New Blades?

[Jonathan McCully]

Looking to purchase my first planer and jointer and I think I’ve settled on the DeWalt 735x planer and the Grizzly G0814 6” jointer. Both of those fit my price point and the mobility that I require.  My question is what the opinion of seasoned woodworkers regarding the blades that are included with these tools.  Should I purchase a different set of blades to go with those?  I know I purchased a new blade for my table Saw and never used the factory included one, but didn’t know if this was necessary for the jointer and planer.  I appreciate your thoughts.

[Chestnut]

Factory blades on the 735 are disposable and decent use them up. People on here recommend blades and i'm sure they'll chime in. I can't speak for the jointer but i assume that they are good.

Down the road considerations on the 735 for the Byrd head should be made. It makes the planer better in my opinion. Best part is you can save for the upgrade using some disposable blades in the mean time and waiting doesn't cost you.

[RichardA]

I can't speak to your jointer. But I can speak to your planer blades.  Dewalt makes thin un honeable blades. When they are used up they're useless.  Infinity tools makes a blade for the 735 from HSS it's thicker, and can be honed many times. The set I have in mine have been honed 5 times.  They are a bit more expensive, but being able to hone them saves you $$$ in the long run.

[Marmotjr]

We have a current thread right now on the 735 blades that might answer some questions:

I can speak from experience though, the standard 735x blades (mine came with a second set too), are plenty fine for my use.  I've had mine about a year and haven't had to change them yet, but then I haven't been running a cabinet shop either.   When it's time to replace these (I'll try sharpening them first), I'll be eyeballing a helical head

[Chet]

I think the above information will serve you well in regards to the planer.  As far as the jointer goes I would say do basically the same thing, us it get used to it and while you are doing that, research other possibilities.  No real sense in replacing right out of the gate something that will work for know.  The planer that you are getting is a beast and should serve you will for a long time.  The jointer you are getting is on the small side as far as table length and I would guess that down the road you will want to up grade to at least a 6 inch jointer with longer tables and at the price point of this jointer, thinking about putting a Byrd helical head would probably not be money well spent because the head will be close to the cost of your jointer.  

I can't speak to the quality of the present day Grizzly blades but can tell you that I just got rid of a Grizzly jointer that was probably the Great Grandfather to the one you are getting.  I bought it in 1992 and just gave it away with the original blades still on it, although they had been sharped here and there.

[Coop]

Agree with all of the above. @RichardA turned me onto the Infinity blades and you can’t beat them. I have a similar Grizz jointer and have only had to sharpen the knives once, but everything is relative. Nice jointer IMO.