*The cutters are actually 14.27mm* Here are some aftermarket carbide replacements. amzn.to/3aELiMX Wen 13" Thickness Planer w/ Spiral Cutterhead amzn.to/3aQOaDI *this was $450 when I bought it on amazon. Right now it only looks to be sold by third party sellers. If the price is over $500, look at some of the other brands mentioned in the video* Wen 13" Thickness Planer (3 blades) amzn.to/3eFzUPa Wen 12.5" Thickness Planer (2 blade) amzn.to/3gWVwZY Review- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mwM8XxMbkoQ.html
“Hopefully my neighbors fiesta won’t be too much to distract us” - says the guy that fires up a planer outside and runs stock through it all day long. 😂
As a fellow Fiesta neighbor, I almost stopped watching the video at this point. However seems that he has a sense of humor and realized that his planer was ruining the Fiesta...hahaha. I will continue to watch.
I just received my own Wen 13" Planer with spiral cutter. I watched several videos and read the reviews on this planer. I was more than pleased! After unpacking and the minimal assembly required, I ran a test piece through the planer and encountered a very slight bit of snipe on the front edge. I adjusted the infeed table and the outfeed table 1/2 turn up of the adjustment screws. The next run was absolutely perfect, no snipe whatsoever. I then sent eight large roughcut project boards through the planer. After the final cut, the walnut came out the back of the planer glass smooth...I was amazed. I love, love, love this planer. Better than advertised!
I just ordered this planer this morning before work. I have a truck laod of old mill oak 1x8x10s that are beautiful after being planed down. I got a heck of deal on it. I am hoping it was a smart decision but I guess I'll find out this weekend.
Thanks for the review. I bought this planer and like it a lot. I was just wondering what can be done about the wood chips coming out on the infeed. I will try to make the stand in a way to catch most of the chips.
You can pull out the 2 1/2" insert from the dust collection port...that will open up the full 4" bore for your 4" hoses...I didnt realize till a week or so later that it pulled out.
@@DarienCharlton so far so good. I purchased a Dustopper to attach, very helpful! I can’t estimate the board foot that have been ran thru it already, but I’ve had no complaints from the quality of planing. I would suggest very small adjustments each time. Too large of a bite will bog it down
Thanks for the review. I bit the bullet and got the cheapest WEN a couple years ago, best decision ever. Works great. Glad to see they are putting these cutters on new tools. Time for others to catch up! Need to start a "no more straight knives" petition.
Hi Brad, Nice review. I have had a thicknesser for about a year, second hand, and never used it. I don't do much flat work if any and when I do segmenting I true up the rings on the lathe. This might well change as I want to start to make some cutting boards. Take care Brad. Cheers, Huw
For Wen your cheap has a handful of decent tools. 4 Bolts makes a lot more sense! Looks like it got the job done, just need to CNC some metal versus nylon and get carbide cutters.
Yup, the 4 screw system is definitely way better I'd say. I'll be interested to see how the sprockets hold up after a year. 2 year warranty so I'll be keeping an eye on them for sure
What is your opinion on this after one year? The replacement blade you posted are they any better? How are the sprockets on the bottom holding up? Is the spiral head worth getting this over the dewalt?
The threads for the depth adjustment rods on the dewalt are way heavier duty. I think a long term test of this planer would be great, as you have planed. Thanks.
Upside is you can rotate those cutter heads easy and get probably 3 times the life of a regular blade. So when you wear out all 4 sides buying carbide replacements won’t be a big deal
@@BradsWorkbench wow, they really cheaped out on not making it fully 4 sided huh? Have you bothered trying to sharpen them (including the nonfunctional sides?) or have you not needed to?
Also 3:34 the inside piece does pop out. I has so much trouble with this choking my dust collector. But after reaching out to WEN, they told me that the 2½ part does come out, but it takes a bit of elbow grease.
Nice planer but I didn't hear what you said, all I could think about is what's going on at the fiesta, that sounds more fun! They're telling their guests; "I hope that guy next door isn't going to run his planer all day"!
So far so good. But i do work in a wood shop full time now so i use their planers more often. I still pull it out about once a month or so. I think it will do well for hobbyist or avid diyers.... but if used daily with hardwoods, u may want to step up to something a little more sturdy
Hey man, it's been a few months since you've made this video, any update? Did you try getting carbide cutters for it? Has anything broken or wore down yet? I was thinking about getting a dewalt planer, but this one is definitely cheaper.
Havent needed to swap cutter yet, but everything is still holding up. The dewalt is a great planer. I guess if i had to get picky the wen lacks in power a bit. I have had to take it slower with some of the super hard woods like ipe, rock maple, etc
@@BradsWorkbench Awesome, thanks for the reply. I watched another video that compared the Dewalt with other planers and that was one thing they mentioned was that the Dewalt was much more powerful than the others and even when cutting a lot of material at a time it didn't slow down the feed rate at all. Thanks for the info about the Wen.
I had the one without the spiral cutter heads it worked great for the first few months then things started breaking on it I now have a Dewalt 735 much better planer quality.
I had the 2 blade, 12.5" for 2 years. Never gave me an issue. But with budget line tools like this, the QC isnt typically the best either. But wen does offer a 2 year warranty with their planers and alot of their tools
Thank you for filming this and pointing out the sprocket concern. A 1-year review is a great idea. For me, I'm planning to make a planer purchase in the next couple of days. How has the Wen held up? Any new concerns? Thanks again, Brad.
So far so good. It is a bit under powered when used on some REALLY hardwoods such as osage orange, ipe, etc... but i think most would struggle with those. Just had to take lighter passes
Hi Brad! Fantastic review. I plan on getting this soon but im currently building a new work table with hinged sections for each tool. Any chance you could snag a measurement full width, and then also depth with the feed tables folded up? Youd be doing me a huge solid if so! Thanks!
good info thanks for the review. instead of playing music in video it would have been better to hear the machine on the 12 inch ash. unless you are a band there is no need to play music in video!
You know you can adjust that 1/64th drop on that old planer right ? Just had to do mine, a lot more, due to set screw backing out. Also I thought the blades were 14.25 and there aren’t any after market ?
Yes i played with the adjustments... they are 14.25, I was mistaken. Wen does sell replacements but im still gonna try and see what happens if I put 14mm in to see if its not just a marketing ploy to make you stick to buying theids
Subtle question: Why do planer manufacturers (as well as portable table saws) continue to place the power cord on the left side of the machine, that being the side that you walk through when receiving your board? This creates an immediate safety hazard unless you find some way to snake the cord over to the right hand side. Just wondering...
I'm guessing the plastic gears are glass fiber reinforced. In which case there's a chance they'll last forever. Certainly the chain won't suffer any ware.
Right with them in the low speed application they are in, if you keep the whole adjustment area clean and lubricated I do not see them ever showing much wear.
Do you know if this planer has a locking head? It doesn't look like it has a manual lock but I can't find any info about whether or not it has an automatic lock. Thanks!
I’ve been set on the Harbor Freight Hercules planer but am now thinking one of these due to the spiral cutter head. What is the purpose of the two rollers on top? Thanks!
@2:30 The center table on mine bows downwards and when I feed boards through, it causes the boards to bow, and snipe. Even with a shooting board, it has this issue. Anyone else have that issue? Why did WEN not support that part properly, or have any type of adjustment like with the in/outfeed tables?
One thing i do know is all planers will have snipe. You can never completely eliminate it. Even our $30k, 30 inch 2 sided planer at work has it. But with good infeed/outfeed support and tuning u can reduced it to where its barely noticeably. Or run a sacrafice piece before and after your work piece. But typically i just account for it and add 3" to front & back of what im planing then chop it off when done
6:29 I'm not eorried about those as the planer lift assembly carriage shouldn't have any sort of heavy pressure or wear on those sprockets. Now if it were for the feeder,.or blade, thennnn I'd have an issue. But then again, I've seen really low quality cast iron sprockets break, where a reinforced nylon would not.
@Richard Recupero ...Go for the Dewalt you wont be disappointed and its built to last long-term with only maintenance. I've operated several of the budget friendly planers, and though they will work, they do not compare to the Dewalt. The build materials are much better on the Dewalt, and the quality of cut with the stock straight edge blades is amazing. I rarely use the finishing setting when surfacing or planing boards because the rough dimension setting comes out nearly 320 grit finish by itself. Mine has almost no snipe from the infeed/outfeed tables and it could be used everyday non-stop without issue. Nothing against the other brands, but I dont have time for inferior quality or extra money to replace my tools when they fail every few years. I believe highly in "Buy once, cry once". Spend the money for the longterm product and keep trucking.
@@ryangwin1318 I learned this lesson with boots a long time ago an now apply it to everything. Have a toe joint with no cartilage an they wanted to do surgery. Finally got some good timberland boots and 15 years later the issue is more than manageable, no surgery either. Some things are worth the money, every time.
Ahhhh, u know used tool prices are sky high right now. I sold the old wen i bought for $250 for $190 in less than a day. Then used that money to help the upgrade. Just something to think about if u do want to upgrade
@@BradsWorkbench Will the 14mmX14mmX2mm fit into this unit? Their specs state 14.25mmX14.25mmX2mm. That is why I decided not to get their Spiral Cut Jointer, instead I got a Shop Fox W1876 which uses 14mmX14mmX2mm 4 sided inserts. will upgrade to the carbide when necessary.
By the way the reason I got the Wen 8" (beside Brad's recommendation) was I received an email from Amazon that the Shop Fox spiral Jointer wasn't available. So I went to Lowes and got the Wen - wider and cheaper.
If you are more than a hobbiest, then this will not stand the test of time. I've gleaned that inferior products with cheap components do not last and then it's virtually impossible to find replacement parts rendering your equipment as redundant. I've always been of the philosophy that a cheap man pays twice. Bite the bullet right from the get go and buy tools with substance. I would invest the extra dollars and purchases the DeWalt 735. Thanks for your review and your input about this WEN. Cheers!
P.S. Amazon is currently out of these cutter heads so if you are in need of themimmediately, you are SOL. You need to think about that before buying one of these. And yes. Those nylon gears on the underside are a cheap cop-out over using real steel gears.
Its fine.... i just dont use it very often because about 3-4 months after video, i started working in a woodshop full time. So i use their planer mostly which is why the update never came
@@BradsWorkbench don’t remember, too much saw dust! 🙊 Thanks for the response I need one to take advantage of the free wood furniture people want gone and mill it for my needs! Cheers!
I'm looking to get one of these for my shop and would be bolting it to a flip-top tool cart. Is there anything that you can think of that would be a problem if this were to spend some of its time inverted?
I honestly think thats what threw off my last planer so i personally dont take the risk anymore. These tools were not made to be hung upside down. However i know alot of people do it. So either it hasnt given them problems or they don't care to notice being 1/32 or 1/64 off. I am kinda overly finiky (if thats a word) when it comes to that kinda stuff.
@@BradsWorkbench I figure I'll probably have the disc sander on the downside most often since it shouldn't really care too much being upside-down as it is just a motor with a disc on it's shaft; up or down shouldn't matter to the bearings really.
Ummm....features are great but HOW DOES IT CUT???? The WEN 6550 I just sold had terrible problems with snipe!!!! And it was terrible for tear-out on some hardwoods. THOSE are what make-or-break a planer!!!! BTW...all the rows of cutter heads seemed to have 4 cutters....so how does it have 26 cutters?
1) i showed it literally cutting hardwoods 2) every planer has snipe. The way you tune up the planer determines the amount of snipe. 3) tear out is about grain direction, not the planer. 4) 2 rows have 5...... any other brain busters larry? 😆
@@BradsWorkbench 1. You showed it but not in a way we could see it. And you never commented. 2. "Tuning" a planer can make it better or worse, but the Wen 6550 was bad no matter what one did. I tuned it, I made a planing sled...still VERY bad snipe! 3. Yes, tear out is about grain...but surely you do not profess that all planers do the same on a given piece of lumber? The WEN 6550 could NOT mill tough woods without ridiculous tear-out. Purpleheart was hopeless (several pieces...always bad), and it even struggled with maple and walnut. 4. Thank you for the review!!!!
I reviewed the wen 6550 a couple years about and used it almost exclusively with hardwoods. Are there better planers out there, of course. But for something that cost $250 at the time with a 2 year warranty, it did everything I asked of it. Just gotta slow down and baby cheap tools sometimes
@@BradsWorkbench ohh nice, I ask because when I need to flated a side of my epoxy work I usually use a base with router and take a lot of time. Thanks for the tip
This is what I was thinking. Spitting image of the Rikon 25-135H to be more specific, including the spiral cutter head, but at a more reasonable price. Rikon's offering is priced too steeply for what it is IMO, this is more like it. It's not a $750 tool with the sparse insert count but $450 is reasonable. Wen has a reputation of not supporting their products though. I don't know about Rikon's support.
I actually have a video about that because I felt the same way but they have really improved their customer service. Go to their site and send them an email and test how fast they respond. The rikon may be built better or to slightly different specs, but i havent been able to confirm this.
@@JeffDM Rikon's support is now quite good. My father bought one of their benchtop bandsaws, and the packaging had some slight damage to one corner. When the packaging was removed, there was a little spot in that corner where the weld in the base had a tiny crack. My dad called them up, explained the issue, and after sending a couple of photos, they sent him a new one, no charge, even for shipping. The best part? When he called him back because they didn't include a return shipping label, Rikon said "Nah, we don't want it back. Keep it." So now, he has one set up with a half inch blade and one with an 1/8" blade. Never changes a blade!
My dad has a 72 ford dump truck that has an original FoMoCo stamped plastic timing gear. 360 engine. If plastic lasts in it, it can last in this application.
I have a bit of a problem with WEN calling the cutter head spiral when clearly it's NOT! It is a helical head. I find their marketing to be VERY misleading.
Actually I think it's referred to as a segmented cutting head! Nothing Spiral or Helical about it. The difference in the two head types being the angle of the blades are addressing the wood are at 0 degrees with segmented vrs 15 degrees on a helix or spiral.
This is under powered. A buddy of mine bought one. And had to borrow my back up Dewalt 734 to complete his project. This is horrible with hardwoods. For a Diyer it's a good start off planner. But don't expect miracles from it.
Yea, i agree. Although i pretty much only work with hardwoods but you're correct, its not gonna be a high production machine. I dont think anything made by wen is.
Talk about click-bait. The thumbnail showed the Dewalt and there's no comparison used to show that this is the "game changer". Truth in advertising please.
