Bit the bullet and bought the Dewalt 735x thickness planer.
The top 3 candidates were the Dewalt 734, Dewalt 735X and WEN PL1326. Wanted at least 3 blades and all these have the highest feedrates.
Dewalt 734,
Home depot has a sale at $399 https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-12-1-2-in-Portable-Thickness-Planer-with-Three-Knife-Cutter-Head-with-24-in-Tote-with-Organizer-DW734DWST24075/203355217 It’s only 12.5″ inches though, wanted at least a 13″ It does have 3 blades but ranked worse in finish quality. High feed rate also.
WEN PL1326
https://wenproducts.com/collections/planers-jointers/products/wen-pl1326-15-amp-13-inch-spiral-benchtop-thickness-planer
13″ spiral cutter, really wanted this, cheapest spiral cutter. Only issue was build quality, not exactly pro quality. And it was sold out. Fakespot spot said they had a lot of deceptive reviews though. Had one decent video on Youtube but had nylon parts that didn’t look so pro. It has features with lock on it and is 13″ vs the 734. The spiral looks really clean. I’d probably fall back to this if the dewalt 735x doesn’t work out. Replacement blades cheap, just not sure of durability.
Dewalt 735x
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401547510503
Best build quality, durable, 13″cut with 3 blades. The best finish quality. The fan exhaust has a blower fan in it not requiring an external one. Can also mod with a Shelix Cutterhead, https://www.ebay.com/itm/115269080561. Which is expensive but cleaner finish, that does draws more power. But may save money long run with blade changes. I may go this route eventually when my extra 3 blades die out. Myers video definitely says it’s a benefit for heavy users.
Also was recommended to use 20amp circuit. I checked by electric box, it has does use 20amp although outlet jacks are normal, not sure what thickness wire it uses. Apparently this box is outdated. Should replace it.
