DeWalt 735- Shelix - Dust Collection

[danbell78]

I recently upgraded both my Jet 6" joiner and my DeWalt 735 planer to Shelix cutter heads.  Overall they are performing great, excellent finish and durability so far.  I have run pile of hard maple through and no nicks on the blades etc.  Noise reduction is great too, wife even noticed it from upstairs (shop is right under the living room)  Does seem to draw a bit more power I would say.  I have an issue with the planer tripping the breaker upon start up, well really it starts fine, feed a board in and part way through the cut it trips the breaker, reset and go rest of the time with no issues.  If you have an idea on what might be going on there that would be great too.  

Biggest complaint on the planer is that I seem to be having more chips escape the dust collection.  I am just running a little 1 stage, 1 hp delta collector with a bigger filter bag on top.  I don't run any ducting, just a single hose (Rockler dust right extendable hose) to the tool.  I know this isn't the best collector, but between it and the fan on that planer expected it to keep up better.  I end up with a pile of chips on the floor on both sides of the planer.  In feed side its just chips that come out as the board feeds in, especially at the end of the board.  Out feed side is a bigger pile and these are chips that get pushed out be the next board.  Am I just under powered for these smaller chips on the Shelix head?  Seems like I might be getting more airborne small particle dust too, but that is hard to judge.  Any one else have similar experience or any possible solutions/improvements?

[Jfitz]

Congrats on the upgrades!  I still run straight knives on my jointer, but I also went with the Shelix on my 735 and have been very pleased. 

That certainly is curious.....with the built-in fan, I'd expect more than adequate performance even with a small DC such as the one you have.  I have the 1.5HP Delta DC, piped with 4" PVC and I upgraded to a better Wynn filter; airflow from the DC is more than enough for the 735 (my 735 cannot 'overrun' my DC).  I have 'some' stray chips come out, but nothing terribly concerning - and definitely nothing I would call a "pile".  I have, on occasion, forgotten to turn on my DC, and the 735 all by itself has enough oomf to do a decent job collecting and sending the chips to my DC.

My first thought is that your setup is airflow constrained - either by the bag on the DC unit (clogged with fine dust) or by thew hose/piping from the tool to the DC.  I suppose you could run any number of experiments to isolate this is the issue - 

- First off, the obvious question.....are you using the 2 1/2" expandable hose, or the 4"? IMO the 4" is a must....

- Are you sure the internal fan (in the planer) isn't clogged or partially clogged?

- if possible, connect the hose to the tool but not the DC and send it 'elsewhere' (outside a window would be great; off to the other side of the shop if you must) and see if you still have the same behavior.  If this performs better, then it would seem the internal chip ejection fan is being constrained by the airflow that is being let through the DC system.

- Run the hose from the tool to the DC, but without the bag at all (this could also get messy).  Same thing - if it works 'better', than the filter is limiting the overall performance. If not, then it could be just that the combination of flex pipe and DC isn't big enough.

- Make sure you have a clean bag on the DC - they often get caked/clogged on the inside with fine dust, which severely limits the airflow.  A good cleaning will do wonders for your airflow.

 

 

As for possible improvements...

- invest in a larger DC

- Use runs of piping where possible; the flex hose has a terrible impact on airflow, so minimize it at all costs.

- upgrade to the DC to a quality canister filter (I use one from Wynn Environmental).  Better airflow and better filtration.

- Add a Super Dust Deputy to filter out the chips/dust before it gets to your DC filter.  This might be 'overkill' for that particular dust collector, but it's something you could consider.

 

 

 

[Just Bob]

I have the shelix in my 735 and my grizzly jointer.  The fan on the 735 is overpowering your dc.  Try running it with the hose connected and the dc off, I think you will see a reduction in the small chips.  Only solution is a bigger dc.

The 735 with the shelix head draws more amperage than the stock 735.  I didn't test it but I have read several reviews that included amperage draw as part of the review.  Every now and then mine will trip the breaker.  I have an air filter running on the same circuit and have to shut it off before I start planning.  

[Ronn W]

1 hour ago, Just Bob said:

The fan on the 735 is overpowering your dc.  T

+1 on that

[JerseyG1960]

I took a fairly crude approach to chip collection on my new 735 but it's worked so far. I picked up an expandable metal clothes drier vent hose at Loews that fit over the  exhaust port. I clamped one end to the port with one of the hose clamps that came with the hose and lashed a pillow case to the other end with thin rope (could empty bags quicker than with another hose clamp  that way). The machine seems to not be spitting out dust in addition to the chips. At least I'm not finding any dust settling on surfaces in the vicinity of the bag. I've only been planing boards for smaller projects so far and don't have to empty pillow cases more than once per job, but I can see this not being the best approach on bigger projects.