Thread: Dewalt DW735XE vs Carbatec 13" Spiral Head Benchtop Thicknesser

i own the C'tec 13" segmented head. Don't let the marketing peeps confuse you, it's not a "spiral", it's just a set of segmented cutters that still sit square to the head unit. The segmented head means it's much easier to replace a single cutter (or a few) if you ding them with a nail or something, rather than having to grind and sharpen a full cutter bar for a straight cutter unit. For me that was a no-brainer.

Lots of people like the DW and upgrade to the shelix head, a full proper helical head - but that puts you in about $2k judging by other threads here.

I have the Dewalt DW735 with the upgrade to the Byrd Shelix Cutterhead putting through reclaiming heaps of old hardwood and it’s not missed a beat in the 4yrs.
The three blades on the Dewalt was heaps quieter than the old two blade bench top unit I had; BUT the Byrd is quiet enough to have a conversation while running the old hardwood through it plus it comes out hand smooth reducing the sanding.
The Byrd makes a good machine into a great machine and IMHO well worth the the money.
If you were in Sydney I’d invite you to come and try some timber on it as I’ve done with a few other blokes.
That’s my twopences worth sir. Cheers crowie

This one is a true spiral helix cutter https://www.timbecon.com.au/13in-del...al-spiral-head. Out of stock and currently expected August if you pre-order.

The Dewalt is known as a good unit, especially with a spiral helix cutter. The Carbatec, and indeed the cheaper Hare & Forbes units are not true spiral units as Poundy has mentioned above, they are only two sided cutters, and set square to the line of cut.

More info given here Looking to replace my fire damaged JET 13" Delux Thicknesser

I had an older H&F not-spiral spiral thicknesser in the same style as above, and I have the DeWalt. Chalk and cheese in terms of build and robust-ness. The DeWalt is a solid piece of kit. It seems to be another level in terms of build quality.

Noise-wise, I don't think the straight-bladed D is noticeably noisier than the cheapo helical heads like the Carbatec. It's a lot noisier than true spiral though.

Finish-wise, I'm not entirely convinced that the true spirals are much better than a good straight. I have red ironbark milled with my A3 pre and post conversion, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference in a blinded test.

The only thing that would make me choose the Carbatec over the DeWalt is the ease/cost of changing a damaged knife if you hit a nail. I'd still go for the D though.

That’s a bit cheeky the way they do that.

So how do you you find the unit then? Happy with it?

if you had your choice again would you go with it or the dewalt?

Originally Posted by poundy

i own the C'tec 13" segmented head. Don't let the marketing peeps confuse you, it's not a "spiral", it's just a set of segmented cutters that still sit square to the head unit. The segmented head means it's much easier to replace a single cutter (or a few) if you ding them with a nail or something, rather than having to grind and sharpen a full cutter bar for a straight cutter unit. For me that was a no-brainer.

Lots of people like the DW and upgrade to the shelix head, a full proper helical head - but that puts you in about $2k judging by other threads here.

Bit cheeky the Carba-Tec advertising as a spiral, lowers my respect for them a bit.

i was leaning towards that but I don’t know now. If I get the dewalt I won’t be able to afford the spiral head upgrade so I’ll be stuck with the 3 head cutter

I’m stuck with total tools as I have a voucher

What are you going to do with it? If you're using it on a lot of recycled wood, then the carbatec might be a better option because you're likely to ping blades, no matter how careful you are at getting rid of the nails.

I wouldn't be too put off by the marketing misinformation - these non-spirals have been around for a while, and there's plenty of discussion about them here. Carbatec are cheekier than most as there's nothing remotely spiral or even helical about that cutter head. A true spiral can cost $1000 for the head alone - it's quite something for Sherwood to be getting an entire machine out for close to that price. I wonder how long it'll last.

Also note that the carbatec comes with HSS cutters, rather than carbide, so they're clearly trying to keep costs down.

The DeWalt is every youtuber's favourite so you'll find plenty of info/reviews over there for it. Dave Stanton did one for the Carbatec (I'm not sure what his affiliations are and who gives hime money for what)

I’ll mainly be running recycled timber through it.
i can get the $1300 dewalt for free but would have to pay 350 for the Carba-Tec. So I don’t know what to do. Originally I thought the dewalt obviously but not keen on the 3 head cutter. Happy to pay extra for the Carba-Tec if it will suit what I need it for better

If you can get the Dewalt for free it sounds a no brainer to get it, people who own it seem to mostly be pretty happy. Keep a set of blades for gnarly stuff and one for cleaner timber.
Don't underestimate how noisey these benchtop thickys are, I had the Hafco version of the Carbatec model for a while and the deafening sound was one the main reasons for moving it on.

Just a little history one my early experience with my Dewalt DW735.
It took me 2.5yrs before I became unhappy with the first set of blades, didn’t even flip them.
I’d put through a reasonable quantity of recycled hardwood.
I gave the old blades plus a new set to Peter (aka Lappa) after doing the Byrd upgrade.
It’s only my personal experience and the reason for the delayed upgrade was I was being a cheapskate.
Cheers crowie

Originally Posted by Bernmc

What are you going to do with it? If you're using it on a lot of recycled wood, then the carbatec might be a better option because you're likely to ping blades, no matter how careful you are at getting rid of the nails.

I wouldn't be too put off by the marketing misinformation - these non-spirals have been around for a while, and there's plenty of discussion about them here. Carbatec are cheekier than most as there's nothing remotely spiral or even helical about that cutter head. A true spiral can cost $1000 for the head alone - it's quite something for Sherwood to be getting an entire machine out for close to that price. I wonder how long it'll last.

Also note that the carbatec comes with HSS cutters, rather than carbide, so they're clearly trying to keep costs down.

The DeWalt is every youtuber's favourite so you'll find plenty of info/reviews over there for it. Dave Stanton did one for the Carbatec (I'm not sure what his affiliations are and who gives hime money for what)

I'm sure it won't affect his review but Dave Stanton works are carbatec in Sydney, at least on the couple of occasions I've popped in there.

Saying that, I've the carbatec model and while it's as noisey as hell, I'm happy with the build quality and the finish on the timber.

Regards

Adam

Great, my neighbours are going to love me. I’m setting it up in my garage

- - - Updated - - -

Ye I noticed he does all the videos on their website for this model

Originally Posted by crowie

I gave the old blades plus a new set to Peter (aka Lappa) after doing the Byrd upgrade.

Cheers crowie

thanks Crowie. Still got the new blades you gave me in the packet - Not used. Still on my first set!