Helical Cutterhead for DeWalt DW734/DW733 12-1/2 Inch Wood Thickness Planer

I upgraded my Jointer to a carbide helical cutter head several years ago, and it is one of the best things I have ever done. I have wanted to do the same to my planer, but I wasn’t sure it was worth the expense and trouble. Then I came across some You Tube videos about this cutter head from FindBuyTool. It had some great reviews, and the price was in my budget so I gave it a try.

This head has 56, 4 sided, carbide inserts on a true helical 12 1/2 inch head. They even included 4 extra inserts, as well as two Allen head drivers for installing the inserts. Everything was packed very well, and arrived within one week of my order being placed. I have not used it on a project yet, but my initial testing looks very good. I had to do some adjustment of my tables to reduce some leading edge snipe, but the quality of the cut is very good. It is noticeably quieter, and the dust collection has improved tremendously due to the smaller chip size.

The most difficult part of the installation is seating the bearings of the new cutter head into the planer. Unfortunately there are no installation instructions that come with it, so I had to rely on the internet and You Tube. The tools included a deep socket that I can only assume was meant to help with this installation, but I was not sure how. I don’t have much experience with installing bearings, so I was afraid to bang on the bearings too hard. I ended up finding a large washer that was about the same diameter as the bearing and banging on it with a smaller PVC pipe to get it seated. Including good instructions would go a long way to making this a better product!

Installation was easy and it works very well. Couldn't be more pleased.

This helical cutter head for the Dewalt 734 is a perfect fit. Easy to install, works so much better and quieter than the old knifes. Last longer. The company is quick to respond to questions and to fix any issues. The price was more than fair. Quality was great.

I put off buying a helical head cutter for my planer for a few years now due to the expense. I found these and they are very reasonably priced, so much so that I bought one for my dj20 jointer.
Haven’t used them much but love how well they work.

Definitely a game changer. Much better finish and doesn’t clog the dust collection like straight blades 12” chips don’t fit a 4” hose.. 3/4” does

The helical cutter head I ordered for my Dewalt DW 734 arrived as expected and in good condition. Install went well in part to the useful YouTube installation video. So far, I have surfaced some rough sawn pine and love how the new helical cutter head works!

I watched a video a guy made on how to change one out. It was a good instructional video. So I bought one since I was having problems changing my blades out. Was very easy to do. The cutter head is a little quieter than the old head. The wood doesn't really need to be sanded afterwards either. Comes out with a glass finish. Very happy with this new cutter head.

Ink me in as a happy woodworker! My new cutter head has already saved me hours of sanding time since wood comes out of my planer ready for 150 grit. The shallow grooves left by my old two straight knives are gone. Snipe has been reduced to next to nothing. As an old mechanical engineer, I really appreciate excellent machine work - and FindBuyTool provides exactly that. Tolerances are excellent. Installation went smoothly after I watched the YouTube video. I recommend you take your time, clean and lubricate fastidiously, because how often do you tear your planer apart? Although it's tedious installing the cutters to the cutter head, FindBuyTool has done an excellent job machining the head so that the cutters seat exactly where they need to be positioned. I didn't really notice a reduction in noise but I added the helix head to improve the quality of the finish - and it has done that in a superior fashion. I was struggling with the idea of a $600 investment for my old DW733 but at $300, this is a no-brainer enhancement. I highly recommend this product!