# Thickness planer Dewalt 734 or Wen



## jjb (Jun 4, 2014)

Hi all.
I am looking to purchase an entry level thickness planer. I have never used one.
Mainly I need to be able to plane wood down to CMs/MMs. Possibly plane milled wood from our property later.

I am looking at the Dewalt 734 and the Wen. On ww forums, I have not read good things about the Wen, but on Amazon I have. 

There is more than $100 price difference. 
How is the Wen compared to the Dewalt?
Does anyone know the minimum thickness that can be planed of the two?

Thanks.

J


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## gmercer_48083 (Apr 9, 2016)

I've had my Dewalt now about 15 years and have been extremely satisfied. It has setting stops of 3/4", 1/2" and 1/4". It can plane thinner if you make a table bed to insert to raise the bed surface closer to the blades. Dewalt uses a head lock lever to prevent the cutters from chattering as the material is planed. Easily adjusted up and down. Has adjustable infeed table. Blade changes are easy. Has a 4" dust port. Basically I would buy another one.


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## bargoon (Apr 20, 2016)

I've got the Dewalt and have not had any problems with it. If you have a dust collector I strongly advise getting the dust (chip) collector shroud.


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## sweensdv (Mar 3, 2008)

I own the DeWalt DW735 and couldn't be more happy with it. DeWalt planers have long been rated near or at the top where benchtop planers are concerned. From my experience with my DW735 I would go with the DeWalt over the WEN every time.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

I just bought a DeWalt 734 from CPO Dewalt for $340. It has three knives unlike most of the other benchtop planers.


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## nxtgeneration (Feb 22, 2016)

I have had my Dewalt 735 for about 6 months. Very happy with the purchase. The only Wen product I have is a bench top drill press. The drill press does its job but the overall quality just isn't there. I don't use it a ton so it should last me awhile but if their planers are built the same I would spend the extra $100 and get the Dewalt that has been proven over and over again.


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## sweensdv (Mar 3, 2008)

The current issue of WOOD magazine has a comparison of the more popular models of planers. The DeWalt 734 and 735 both scored very high and the WEN wasn't even included in the comparison.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

WEN is fairly low end, but sometimes that's all you need. I just bought a WEN air cleaner last week. I took it out of the box, opened the clip that holds the filter in, and it broke. It's not a deal breaker, but a bit annoying. I'll simply put some weather strip in there. In this case, I bought a fan in a box, so I'm not really concerned about heavy duty or accuracy.


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## MaintenanceMan (Jun 25, 2010)

If you can save up some extra coin and get the Dewalt 735 you'll never regret it....


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## notskot (Feb 22, 2015)

The DW734 is pretty well proven. The Wen is not. I'd rather invest another $100 wisely than risk wasting the whole planer budget.


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## ducbsa (Jul 6, 2014)

I got a 734 because its specs are so similar to the 735 and is cheaper.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

ducbsa said:


> I got a 734 because its specs are so similar to the 735 and is cheaper.


Same here. I couldn't justify the extra $250 for the 735.


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