DeWalt DW735

I would encourage you to pick up the Dewalt 735 13” planer. It’s a 3 knife, and has incredible performance. It is a 4 post vs a 2 post - you will be very happy with it.

The Dewalt 735 has been the go to recommendation for a while and it's a solid tool.

The 735 is one of the best bench top planers on the market. It is heavy at about 90lbs so keep that in mind. I keep a shelf at waist height to store it so I never have to bend over to pick it up or put it down.

The blades are inexpensive. For the size and cost it's hard to beat. Dust extraction is great too.

I have the Dewalt 735 and I kinda wish it would fail me so I could upgrade… but it’s just so dang great. The knives last way way longer than I expected (like, 3 large dining tables worth or red oak) and because they’re the disposable kind it is super easy to swap out when you need to.

I upgraded to the 735 recently because of the chip collection. These planers make a huge mess - the "dust hood" on the 734 (obviously on the left) gets clogged easily and creates that big mess. So much to where i couldn't take it anymore and upgraded to the 735 (right). ... the fine-tuning, height gauge, etc on the 735 is far superior.

The dw 735 planer is a classic for good reason. It's not a perfect machine, but for the money, it's a great choice.

Get the dewalt 735 planer. Then in a year or so, upgrade to the helix head. I find I use the planer far more than the joiner.

The boards will be rough-sawn, so you can have a mill plane finish them, or get a planer (I opted for the Dewalt 735).