Thread: WEN spiral planer v DeWalt

There aren't huge numbers of US members here, so possibly not many with experience of WEN. It looks similar to the generic tall planer format used by many compnies. The DeWalt is quite a different beast. I've had the DeWalt and a machine similar format to the WEN, and the DeWalt was a league ahead in terms of quality. But then the WEN might be exeptional.

The DeWalt is 25 pounds heavier, and more weight is often good in machinery

The WEN appears to be a generic Asian 26-cutter segmented head; these are NOT spiral or helical heads. The finish they give sits between what you get from a normal twin knife head and the more expensive spiral heads. I have both types in my shed plus access to a Shellix helical headed thicknesser at my local Guild; there are significant differences in the resulting finish each type give.

A couple of years Australian Wood Review magazine conducted a comparison between two top-branded Asian segmented head thicknessers and the Dewalt 735 with the normal 3-knife head; the Dewalt actually gave the better finish despite using straight knives.

I guess it boils down to how much value you place on the resulting finish. The WEN should give a finish that requires little sanding or scraping, the Dewalt should give a finish that requires no further work.

Thanks for the info Chief. Glad to learn new things.

I've had someone suggest this Oliver planer. Any opinion on it?

12-1/2" Thickness Planer - 10044

Umm, the Wen says it has HSS cutters, which translates to High Speed Steel which is what conventional planer knives are made of and somewhat inferior to the Tungsten Carbide cutters in the Shelix system. The Dewalt machines are boringly reliable but I haven't seen a "Wen" machine anywhere to compare it with anything else. Which is probably why I own a Dewalt.

The Oliver would be a step up from the WEN as that runs a quality branded helical head; although it only holds 34 cutters so it probably runs only two helixes. You also get 4 cutting edges on each cutter, the segmented head cutters only give you two.

Regarding cutter material; TC is preferred because it has excellent edge retention but HSS can be made sharper; it ‘s also cheaper. AFAIK all the 26 cutter segmented head models are supplied with HSS cutters with TC as an option. When I bought my thicky I ordered a complete set of TC cutters from SJE tools; the HSS cutters were replaced with them without ever touching timber. The reason for this was that I needed to dress down 1/4m3 of QLD Redgum; I didn’t expect the HSS cutters to remain razor edged for the whole job.

Originally Posted by bradleyheathhay

Is the WEN PL1326 spiral planer comparable to the Dewalt 735 w/ spiral head upgrade? Looking at buying my first planer and I understand the advantage of going with a helix head, but is the DeWalt in this case worth paying more than twice the price, $427 vs over $1K? I've read good reviews about this WEN planer as well as their customer support.

WEN PL1326 thickness planer...

WEN PL1326 15-Amp 13-Inch Spiral Benchtop Thickness Planer — WEN Products

Does the 1k DeWalt come with the helical head or is the head on top of that.
The Oliver does look like a good compromise with a number of good features like the Wixey, Byrd cutter block with carbide inserts and head lock. One advantage the DeWalt has is the 4 screws on the corners rather than 2 screws in the centre for height adjustment so you don't get any head tilt on entry and exit of the timber that causes snipe, but that may be overcome on the Oliver by the head lock.

Its a bit hard to comment on machines from the USA that we have not seen here. All I can say is the oliver looks to be a proper helical head machine so should likely do an OK job. I have the drwalt 735 with normal strait blades and as long as they are sharp it does a good job. It can be fitted with a helical head but that is almost as much as the cost of the machine in the first place. I know someone who made the upgrade and it makes a good machine better but not sure on the price being worth it. Here in Australia the dewalt is about $1300 with strait blades and likely about $2000 with helical. I think you just have to do the homework and the sums. Its what we all do when looking at new machines.
Regards
John

Good Morning Bradley

I am in the process of upgrading from a generic chinese thicknesser and have looked at everything available here and what is in every workshop that I have been able to access. My considered opinion is that the de Walt DW735 with spiral head is the best thicknesser under Aus$4,000. (It retails for around A$2,000). This probably translates as "... the DW735 spiral is the best planer available under US$2,000."

I have never seen a WEN product, but it looks remarkably like the generic chinese stuff sold under several brand names. The issues that I see are:

• Usual chinese product quality variability,
• DW is a well proven product,
• DW has 40 cutter blades, WEN has 28 blades,
• DW blades are tungsten, WEN are HSS,
• DW blades are skewed and arranged in four spirals,
• WEN blades are not skewed and are in straight lines, presumably offset between rows.

Cutters - Helix.jpgDW735

Cutters - WEN.jpg WEN

In my view, the differences in the cutters is worth ~$500, plus the peace of mind with DW's proven quality.

Thanks for teaching about the different cutter head materials. Following my buy once cry once philosophy I'll stay away from the HSS.

The dewalt after buying the helix cutter upgrade is $1k+, that's USD. The planer alone I think is around $750.

Wow, I hadn't noticed the Oliver only had 2 support posts, assumed it had 4 I guess. I was liking that Byrd head and DRO.

Any thoughts on the Laguna PX12? Priced at only $599. PX|12 Planer | Classic Machines | Laguna ToolsThanks for the thorough advice everybody. I always learn more than I expected when I ask the experts here.

Originally Posted by bradleyheathhay

Wow, I hadn't noticed the Oliver only had 2 support posts, assumed it had 4 I guess.

A slight misinterpretation; it has FOUR support posts and TWO screw adjusters. The support posts try to keep the cutter head from tilting and the screw adjusters control the height. The DeWalt uses four screw adjusters in lieu of support posts; these provide better support to prevent racking but need to be synchronised to turn together; this is another reason why the DeWalt has a higher price.

The Laguna looks to be another rebadged generic segmented head; although with their name on it I would expect the Quality Control to be considerably higher than the others. They claim that the cutters are four sided rather than two so it’ll be very slightly different from the WEN. Going by the specs I would rank it between the WEN and the Oliver; the Oliver should outperform the Laguna but it might be a close call.

The Laguna and Oliver look like identical machines except for a few cosmetic differences and the cutter head. The Oliver seems to have the superior cutter block with true spiral helical inserts compared to the Laguna just having a helical pattern and what appears to be less inserts.

Oliver.JPG Laguna.JPG Laguna head.JPG Oliver head.JPG

Hi Graeme, Can you purchase the735 with the true spiral head as an upgrade or is it a case of doing the upgrade yourself , bit of mechanical engineering there, and trying to find a new home for the redundant old head and straight bits,thanks Ross

Something they don't tell you about the "pancake" Dewalt as opposed to the "Lunchbox" version (I know, I own one and can't remember it's model number) is that the "pancake" version has it's own dust extractor built in. The only problem is that you then need something to catch the chips. It blows stuff everywhere! I have mine ducted to a 200L "pickle barrel" to catch the chips.

Originally Posted by woodsurfer

Hi Graeme, Can you purchase the735 with the true spiral head as an upgrade or is it a case of doing the upgrade yourself , bit of mechanical engineering there, and trying to find a new home for the redundant old head and straight bits,thanks Ross

No, local supplier says that they would fit the Shellix cutter head free of charge - "It only takes 5 minutes" - and I would finish up with two cutterheads.

I use a lot of repurposed time and use a set of "sacrificial blades" in my old lunchbox thicknesser to remove the top surface and find nasties (often non-magnetic). Change blades to do final smoothing. So I did not see it as a disadvantage having two cutterheads.