# WEN brand power tools



## Jluoma (Nov 28, 2019)

Does anyone use WEN brand? I am looking to get a planer, and WEN is much cheaper than others I've seen. Are they any good? Or should I plan to buy a better brand? It'll be used as a hobby so it wont get tons of use.


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

Ive actually heard rave reviews about that planer. My only concern would be longevity and customer support on it. 

So I cant directly speak for its use, I do think it might be prudent to shop around for a known high quality used one perhaps? Good luck


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

The answer may be "it depends." The real question is how well Wen supports its tools in the country where you live. 

I do not know how much Wen does its own manufacturing versus how much Wen sells from other manufacturers. We just bought a Wen combination 1 inch belt / 5 inch disc sander. It is identical to many other belt/disc sanders from other brands. The only difference is the color of the plastic parts. I chose the Wen model strictly on price - it was the lowest cost of all the identical models from other brands.

(There is an older Wen model of the same belt/disc sander, and it is identical to a lot of different brands, too. I doubt that Wen is the manufacturer for all these different competing brands.)

The belt sander has held up under moderate use for three weeks. I am not impressed with the design, where you must use a Phillips screwdriver to remove (okay, loosen) three screws that hold the protective cover. You must take off the cover to change the sanding belt. The short tapered screws go into matching plastic holes. It is not a good design, in my opinion. They should have provided a tool-less solution like knobs or thumbscrews, and used real metal inserts for durability, considering that belts are changed often.


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

They *appear* to be pretty decent tools from what I've been reading. In deciding on a drill press, recently, I nearly pulled the trigger on a _Wen 4225 15 in. floor standing drill press_. I'm a bit of a tool junkie, though, and in reading between the lines the reviews I decided to up my game and go with _Jet_, instead. But the _Wen_ probably would've served my needs.


It's not a power tool, but I purchased a _Wen MB500 Universal Mobile Base_ for my table saw. I'm quite pleased with it.


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## mjadams61 (Jan 1, 2016)

I have the wen 13" planer and does the job. I been running alot of hardwood cutting boards thru it. One thing I learned is to make light passes because the straight blades even though there are 3 will tend to gouge a little but other than that I like it.

One thing that truly annoys me I cannot find no helical head replacement for it


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

mjadams61 said:


> I have the wen 13" planer and does the job. I been running alot of hardwood cutting boards thru it. One thing I learned is to make light passes because the straight blades even though there are 3 will tend to gouge a little but other than that I like it.
> 
> One thing that truly annoys me I cannot find no helical head replacement for it


Glad you mentioned it, I was looking at jointers the other day and came across these "cutech" planers and jointers with helical heads at a price I cant really wrap my head around. 

https://yearlyshop.com/products/cut...piFKHF87jY1M4lKIQMTr4zIU3Ybcrww8aArOeEALw_wcB


I know nothing of the company and havent looked into them yet, but thats a mighty interesting proposition for 337$.


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## mjadams61 (Jan 1, 2016)

bob493 said:


> Glad you mentioned it, I was looking at jointers the other day and came across these "cutech" planers and jointers with helical heads at a price I cant really wrap my head around.
> 
> https://yearlyshop.com/products/cut...piFKHF87jY1M4lKIQMTr4zIU3Ybcrww8aArOeEALw_wcB
> 
> ...


They are spiral heads, I have the 6" jointer, and there is a difference between spiral and helical heads. The spiral is basically a straight cutter head like the bladed ones except segmented, helical are cutters that are set at a slight angle where the shear the wood not gouge like a spiral cutter.


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

mjadams61 said:


> They are spiral heads, I have the 6" jointer, and there is a difference between spiral and helical heads. The spiral is basically a straight cutter head like the bladed ones except segmented, helical are cutters that are set at a slight angle where the shear the wood not gouge like a spiral cutter.


Oh cool, thanks for the info. I always thought the terms were interchangeable! 

What's your opinion on it? I work with figured woods (especially flame maple) quite a bit, and Im so exhausted with straight blades lol.


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## mjadams61 (Jan 1, 2016)

bob493 said:


> Oh cool, thanks for the info. I always thought the terms were interchangeable!
> 
> What's your opinion on it? I work with figured woods (especially flame maple) quite a bit, and Im so exhausted with straight blades lol.


Now rikon has a 13" planer at a decent price with helical heads

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...21bd69702d0676000002,5797ca6769702d0da200058a
.


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## mjadams61 (Jan 1, 2016)

Now when you start looking into helical head planers you are going to spend a little more. But if you can find a used planer that they make a helical head replacement for then you might come out a head or not.


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## redeared (Feb 7, 2019)

I have a WEN belt/disc sander and a spindle sander, they are fine for my needs, if you push too hard they will bog down. They are not used much so for the price they work for me.


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## NoThankyou (Mar 21, 2018)

Let me put it this way.

I need a car. Do I buy a Yugo or a Bentley? Woodworking machinery is the same. There is the very pricey, the expensive, good value and the just plain ugly. 

I have seen demonstrations of the very pricey. The dust collection was so good that it could be used in the customer's living room. I have used the expensive and good value. I have difficulty telling the difference between the functionality of either. In my shop I have a lot of good value machinery. I also have some ugly too. The ugly were purchased to do a single job. OMG, they have lasted through three jobs. I'm way ahead! ($12 pneumatic staple guns)

The point is that you have to determine what you are going to us the tool for and how much usage. There are tools that are aimed at 'Tool Collectors' that will rarely be used but talked about intensely. "I have the new Ultra-Deluxe Q1430!" that is until the Q1431 is released. 

The tools that fall into the good value category are generally good enough for most small commercial shops and most definitely the home shop user. In this category aim for the top of the line for the particular function you are trying to satisfy. 

Go to the retailer's website for the particular brand and model. Look at the reviews. Usually the one and two star reviews are the most revealing. Look for the reviews that are describing a real fault with the hardware. They will tell you more than anything.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Are the helical cutters made from carbide? I found inexpensive tools with helical cutters where the cutters where made from high speed steel (HSS), not carbide. If you wanted the same tool with carbide cutters, you paid more.

It was not obvious. What caught my attention was the price of the tool. I could not figure out how they could reach that price point with helical cutters, until I figured out where the savings was (the HSS cutters). 

I did a web search, but could not find the brand of tool that came with the HSS cutter option, but beware, they are out there. I think it was a small jointer, but I expect others to follow.


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## lexadmn (Jan 5, 2018)

I do not have a WEN planer, but do have a few WEN power tools - 4" power plane, track saw and 17" drill press.
So far, all have exceeded my expectations and continue to perform well with surprising accuracy.
I have no issues with the company.

I once owned one of their 9 inch benchtop bandsaws and needed to replace the guide bearings.
I ordered the bearings from WEN for around half price compared to my local hardware.
Were the bearings cheap knock-offs? Don't know, don't care, but they continued to perform as long as I owned the saw.

I read reviews a lot as there is good information if you look for it, but often find many of the negative posts are from customers that have their drawers in a wad for unrelated reasons. 
Besides, what works for one person, may not for another.
I once bought a DeWalt 734 planer and owned for about 18 months. I could hardly wait to see it go away.
It performed in a way that it was designed, but it did not fit me. Today, I now know..... I have no use for a portable planer. 
It is a hit-or-miss, but I still read. It entertains me.

All manufacturers have a bad day from time to time. Some seem to struggle to get it right.
Experience will help guide you through the weeds until you learn your way.

Buy what you can afford (and fits you) and use the heck out of it, until you can afford to do better.

KC


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## SEMIJim (Nov 26, 2019)

Good points, NoThankyou, and pretty much spot on, except...



NoThankyou said:


> Usually the one and two star reviews are the most revealing. Look for the reviews that are describing a real fault with the hardware. They will tell you more than anything.


 Not necessarily. E.g.: In reading the reviews of many things I often find many of the one- and two-star reviews can be discounted. The four- and five-star reviews can actually be more revealing. But you have to discount the reviews that consist of all glowing remarks and read between the lines of the others. You'll often find remarks like "...except this and that, but you have to remember what you're paying for this thing. It's not a $$$ thing."

But I'm one of the tool junkies of which you speak. I simply appreciate well-made tools. Hand tools, power tools, yard equipment. Doesn't matter. I simply love tools that excel at what those tools are supposed to do.

OTOH: I have champagne tastes and a beer budget, so I often compromise. It becomes a question of whether or not the compromise tool will perform satisfactorily. Sometimes the budget has to compromise


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## bob493 (Nov 13, 2019)

I find myself wary of consumer reviews in general aside from durability cases. If theres a bunch of 2 star reviews saying "motor crapped out at 6 months" its probably indicative of a not quality product. I also find a fair amount of time people like to "justify" their cheap purchase. Some tools can be great AND cheap, but no, im sorry, your harbor freight pliers arent "As good as knipex for 1/10th the cost". They may be cost *efficient* which is fair to talk about, but quality is quality. What you need vs what you can afford Id guess


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## DesertRatTom (Aug 14, 2012)

I have found that the WEN tools are identical to certain other brands. My WEN benchtop drill press is identical down to the casting marks with the Jet, and the WEN DP is solid. Their 10 inch band saw is identical to the Rikon. I have a couple of other WEN air filter units, which match the Jet on filter size, HP and other features. They work fine for me, but I'm not a heavy duty user.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Tool Agnostic said:


> Are the helical cutters made from carbide? I found inexpensive tools with helical cutters where the cutters where made from high speed steel (HSS), not carbide. If you wanted the same tool with carbide cutters, you paid more.
> 
> It was not obvious. What caught my attention was the price of the tool. I could not figure out how they could reach that price point with helical cutters, until I figured out where the savings was (the HSS cutters).
> 
> I did a web search, but could not find the brand of tool that came with the HSS cutter option, but beware, they are out there. I think it was a small jointer, but I expect others to follow.


I found an example of a jointer with a helical cutterhead, where the cutter inserts are high speed steel (HSS), not carbide. Worse yet, the inserts are sharpened on two sides, not four. 

https://www.rikontools.com/product/20-600h

I looked, and the Wen jointers are NOT the same as the Rikon above. The Wen jointers use two blades, not a helical cutter. 

(Our Wen 1 inch belt/5 inch disc sander appears to be identical to the Rikon and many other brands, other than the color.)


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## Jluoma (Nov 28, 2019)

Thanks everybody. I think I will wait until I can afford a better brand. 

Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk


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## kennywayne99 (Feb 8, 2018)

I have a Wen drill press and oscillating spindle sander and love them both.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk


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## IowaDave (May 21, 2015)

I own one Wen tool, it is the planer though. I bought one after my son had one and was happy with it. I have had mine for about 18 months and have used the heck out of it and if it crapped out tomorrow, I will have gotten my money's worth out of it. Other than a few nicks in the blade(s), it is still working perfectly. 

Note - I bought just prior to making about 15 large bookcases that were all made from recycled wood. Wood that I reclaimed from shipping crates, not pallets, but protective cases around large products to protect them from damage during shipping. Although the boards were to have had all of the nails and screws removed...I found through use that my "nail removers" did not get 100% of them out. Hence, the nicks in the blades.

I would buy the Wen planer again in a heartbeat.


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## sheartak (Jan 19, 2020)

Helical cutterheads and spiral cutterheads are just different descriptions of the cutterblock with reversible knives with smaller sizes with four edges, usually are 14x14x2mm or 15x15x2.5mm. There are two most commonly used knives, one is straight edges, the other is round edge with little curve or round edge at radius of R50, R100, R110 or R150. The knives with curved edge sit at an 10 to 12 angle to the center line of the cutterhead. This generate a shear or slice action. Byrd in USA puts 15x15x2.5mm R100 knives, Sheartak in Canada put 15x15x2.5mm R150 knives on their cutterheads. Grizzly have cutterheads with knives at sizes of 14x14x2mm straight edges or 15x15x2.5mm round edges. 

Helical cutterheads mostaly come with knives made of carbide powder with hardness from HRA 90 to HRA94. It's much harder than HSS blades. HSS blades can be made much sharper but do not last longer than carbide. Carbide knvies and HSS blades are made with total different technology. Carbide knives are 8 to 10 longer in use than HSS blades. 
There are heclial cutterheads with carbide knvies clamped in the pockets with help of wedges or gibs. These knives usually have two cutting edges or just one edges. Cutterheads like this are usaully refered to heavy duty type. It can cut 5 to 10cm one single pass. 
No cutterhead is perfect. It depends on the type of boards you cut, the volume of your work, the surface finish you require and the feel you seek and the budget you want to invest.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Great, helpful post from @sheartek. 

At least one company is making spiral type cutterheads with high speed steel cutters. As I posted earlier in the thread, the small Rikon jointer uses two-sided HSS cutters.


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## BNB187 (Mar 10, 2019)

mjadams61 said:


> Now rikon has a 13" planer at a decent price with helical heads
> 
> https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...21bd69702d0676000002,5797ca6769702d0da200058a
> .


I'm not so sure this is a true helical head machine as well. The manufacturers all seem to be using that terminology interchangeably with segmented cutters. This Rikon machine is eerily similar to the Cutech 40600H-13, the only difference I can see is that the Cutech machine has a snipe lock. It seems like an exact copy of the older Ridgid lunchbox planers. I've got a King planer that is identical to the Cutech, was able to get it locally for under $700 CDN. My King works pretty well, but you do have to take pretty light passes as you get close to final thickness as it will tend to tear out bits of material if you go too deep with it. The Rikon machine seems to be about $400 more than the Cutech and doesn't have the snipe lock. My King machine has the snipe lock and it actually works quite well for the most part.

It is nice to be able to rotate the blades but can be a bit of a chore finding the one knicked blade that needs to be rotated. The cutters can be gotten off of Amazon for $75 for 30 of them, just be careful with the size and how many sides are cutters.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

mjadams61 said:


> Now rikon has a 13" planer at a decent price with helical heads
> 
> https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...21bd69702d0676000002,5797ca6769702d0da200058a
> .





BNB187 said:


> I'm not so sure this is a true helical head machine as well. The manufacturers all seem to be using that terminology interchangeably with segmented cutters. This Rikon machine is eerily similar to the Cutech 40600H-13, the only difference I can see is that the Cutech machine has a snipe lock. It seems like an exact copy of the older Ridgid lunchbox planers. I've got a King planer that is identical to the Cutech, was able to get it locally for under $700 CDN. My King works pretty well, but you do have to take pretty light passes as you get close to final thickness as it will tend to tear out bits of material if you go too deep with it. The Rikon machine seems to be about $400 more than the Cutech and doesn't have the snipe lock. My King machine has the snipe lock and it actually works quite well for the most part.
> 
> It is nice to be able to rotate the blades but can be a bit of a chore finding the one knicked blade that needs to be rotated. The cutters can be gotten off of Amazon for $75 for 30 of them, just be careful with the size and how many sides are cutters.


Somehow I missed @mjadams61's earlier post with the Woodcraft link to the Rikon planer. Read the Woodcraft description carefully. It says, "13” Benchtop Planer #25-130H features a six row helical-style cutter head and *26 HSS insert cutters*. Each indexable knife insert is *precision sharpened on two edges* and can be easily..." (Emphasis mine.)

-> The cutters on the Rikon planer are NOT carbide and do not have cutting edges on all four sides. They are two-sided HSS cutters. That may be better than HSS blades, but not nearly as good as four-sided carbide cutters. 

Since I have only seen these two-sided HSS cutters on Rikon tools, sources for replacement cutters may be limited and priced accordingly.


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## BNB187 (Mar 10, 2019)

Tool Agnostic said:


> Somehow I missed @mjadams61's earlier post with the Woodcraft link to the Rikon planer. Read the Woodcraft description carefully. It says, "13” Benchtop Planer #25-130H features a six row helical-style cutter head and *26 HSS insert cutters*. Each indexable knife insert is *precision sharpened on two edges* and can be easily..." (Emphasis mine.)
> 
> -> The cutters on the Rikon planer are NOT carbide and do not have cutting edges on all four sides. They are two-sided HSS cutters. That may be better than HSS blades, but not nearly as good as four-sided carbide cutters.
> 
> Since I have only seen these two-sided HSS cutters on Rikon tools, sources for replacement cutters may be limited and priced accordingly.


My King is very similar to the Rikon and seems identical to the Cutech. It was outfitted with HSS cutters from the factory. They were ok but not great. I was able to find these cutters as replacements from Amazon. Have only had them installed for a couple of weeks but seem to be pretty decent, time will tell I suppose. My word of caution is check the width measurement, there 14mm and 14.3mm, mine are 14.3mm may be somewhat less common but didn't take me long to find. The carbide replacements I ordered claim to be 94.5 hardness so I'm hopefully they will last a long time.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SF4Z2F5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

I still don't understand two-sided cutters. I wonder whether they are thin and need more support in the corners, or maybe the manufacturer saved a few pennies on grinding costs. Whatever the reason, it doubles the cost of replacement cutters. If the manufacturer cheapened out on the cutters, where else did they "economize"?


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## mjadams61 (Jan 1, 2016)

Tool Agnostic said:


> I still don't understand two-sided cutters. I wonder whether they are thin and need more support in the corners, or maybe the manufacturer saved a few pennies on grinding costs. Whatever the reason, it doubles the cost of replacement cutters. If the manufacturer cheapened out on the cutters, where else did they "economize"?


I may be wrong in my thinking but I think the 2 sided cutters are made because there is more material supporting the outside corners or the end of the cutters. If the cutters have cutting edges on all 4 sides then they might be more prone to the edges or the corner of the corners chipping. And at the speeds these cutters are turning is what gave me the ideal on why they are made that way.

By no means I am a machinist but having made stuff in the past and knowing just a little in how things are made it just seems to be common sense to me in how I would make cutters for machines especial if they are made the way helical and spiral head cutters are made.

But all in all I may be wrong


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## mjadams61 (Jan 1, 2016)

BNB187 said:


> I'm not so sure this is a true helical head machine as well. The manufacturers all seem to be using that terminology interchangeably with segmented cutters. This Rikon machine is eerily similar to the Cutech 40600H-13, the only difference I can see is that the Cutech machine has a snipe lock. It seems like an exact copy of the older Ridgid lunchbox planers. I've got a King planer that is identical to the Cutech, was able to get it locally for under $700 CDN. My King works pretty well, but you do have to take pretty light passes as you get close to final thickness as it will tend to tear out bits of material if you go too deep with it. The Rikon machine seems to be about $400 more than the Cutech and doesn't have the snipe lock. My King machine has the snipe lock and it actually works quite well for the most part.
> 
> It is nice to be able to rotate the blades but can be a bit of a chore finding the one knicked blade that needs to be rotated. The cutters can be gotten off of Amazon for $75 for 30 of them, just be careful with the size and how many sides are cutters.


I mention before the difference in helical and spiral is in the ways their blades are sitting. Helical are sitting at a angle and spiral are sitting straight

The left is helical and the right is spiral


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## sheartak (Jan 19, 2020)

4-edge knives are more difficult to make than 2-edge knives as reversible knives must be of high precision to ensure interchangeabilty. 4-edge knives are more expensive then 2-edge knives consequently. It has nothing to do with supporting either the outside corners or the end of the cutter. 4-edge knives are two times of the use of 2-edge knives. 
People usually feel more spirals is better than less spirals. That is not correct. The number of knives on the spiral cutterhead is one of the deciding factors to the pricing and how the cutterheads works. There are inefficient or lazy labors, but each knife on the spiral cutterhead as efficient as one another. The 26-knives spiral cutterhead virtually less valuable as one with 40 knives, not to mention the former is 2-edges HSS, the later is 4 edges carbide.


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