I went against the grain and have a number of wen tools and they all perform great for the money. They seem to last and do a pretty good job for the price. Another thing wen is great at is customer service. I had to order a new motor for a saw I called them and I had a new motor in three days.
Great review. I bought the same one already, but haven't used it, setting up the table for it. I am buying rough cut lumber from an Amish neighbor named Paul. He is very kind and will throw in a free board here and there when I am loading up. It is already less than half of buying hardwood at any other place. I love watching him saw lumber on that old saw mill. I have grown up around Amish here in Ohio my whole life. I just moved back. being in my pole barn doing woodworking and stuff helps me keep my mind off of pain and helps with depression and stuff. I am a disabled veteran. I just figure out ways of doing the things that are hard. Like I have a few hogs as well. I just rigged up a watering system and ways to do things that make things less physical effort.
They are 2 sided blades. You might be able to buy an after market 4 sided blade. Also the blades are HSS, you can buy carbide tipped replacement blades for it.
The WEN blades are only sharp on 2 sides. With the angles and set up of the cutting head 4 sided indexable will not fit. It's an interesting design choice with how popular the 4 sided indexables are however it's not actually unique to the WEN and blades are readily available.
@@SavannahDan I’ve used the planer a couple of times so far and it has been great! I didn’t get the Wen track saw I went with the milwaukee track since I already have tons of batteries and chargers.
So I got the planer and it is amazing. It does have horrible chip collection but other then that it does a fantastic job. I used it on some old oak boards and they came out beautiful. I couldn't be happier with it so far. I also picked up a couple adjustable hight roller stands which I also wanted for my table say. The blades so have 4 sides. I hope it holds up because I have a massive pile of oak boards and I'm getting a few more truck loads of them next weekend for free. Another bonus is I'll have tons of mulch for my gardens. I also used it on some pine boards. I didn't have to adjust it much to eliminate snipe either. I raised the out feed plate just a hair and on the oak boards practically no snipe at all. One the pine it does have the slightest bit on the front but by slightly lifting as it comes out I can eliminate it on the back side.
I've not use a planer before ... so you can feed a 7/8" board in multiple times and it'll eat it away until if gets down to your 3/4" stop? ... or do you have to crank it down a bit with each pass? I'm guess I always thought you had to manually lower the cutting head with each pass?
I just got this planer. I have a 5 hp vac hooked up to it. Id say it only picks up about 20 percent of the waste. Anything that I can do to make it better?
I have mine hooked to a 650 CFM dust right and it still only collects about 60%. The Dewalt was about the same. If there’s a better way, I don’t know it.
It's called 🙄 "Don't do this with a Planer" 😂😂 ... 👍🏽 appreciate the warning! On another note, i'm thinking of asking for this same Planer for Christmas (would be my first).... You mentioned the rollers at the top, what are their purpose?
how loud is it? do you think its comparable to anything else? my router is pretty loud, louder than my table saw, wondering how those compare to this planer...
Was your Dewalt the 735 type 12? I had the Type 1 for years, and it finally died out after years of use. I bought a new one, type 12, and the motor burnt out in 2 months, and lifting system failed. So, after a long battle, Dewalt had it replaced. And 5 months in, same issues again. I was eventually refunded. Shame that Dewalt has been cheapening their items so much the past 4 years. (I just bought the WEN pl1326 like you, so I just started watching your video and had to ask about your Dewalt. )
Mine is the the 735 DWX I think it’s called. Not sure if that’s the type 12. It worked fine until that blade broke off and it won’t feed boards anymore. It done something to the gearbox that turns the rollers maybe 🤷🏻♂️
Welp, I've had the PL1326 for 10 days, and my biggest gripe is the dust collection and the inability to get the blades to not leave the mini gouges all over it. (I've gone through the teeth in a way that only fellow 80-HD'ers could understand... and only 2 seemed a hairs breath off.) The Pro's... it's really quiet. EXTREMELY quiet. I've only ran a bit of hardwood maple, but a ton of SYP for a bed frame, and I'm in shock at how quiet it is (and I'm in a really small space.) Another pro.. it has a disgustingly smooth finish (if it didn't have those small gouged lines on every piece. I'm now torn on whether to keep it or return it and buy the Dewalt 735... I had the old DW735 (the type 11(iirc) ... it was the 735 that didn't break as often as the newer type that is full of the SB&D cheapening issues that caused tons of things to fail.
The only thing I'm noticing so far is on some work pieces, there are two raised "lines" running along the long axis of the work piece resulting in a not completely smooth piece on discharge. It's like there is a gap in the cutter heads but with the spiral configuration I can't see that happening. I've emailed WEN support but after a week and two emails I've not heard from them. Wondering if you've experienced this?
You have a chipped square blade somewhere. Look at all the little blades and see if you can see a defect in one and if you see one replace that blade or turn it so a new edge is cutting
I finally heard back from WEN. They advised to check for a nicked blade. I’ll tear into it and report back. WEN didn’t mention whether it would be covered. I did tell them it’s been doing this since day one.
I run into this with my older knife version planer. Its definitely a chipped knife. Ive changed them int he past but this happens when a previous piece was run through and maybe had a small rock embedded in it. Nothing but a quick pass with block plane or sander will fix the wood. And I assume this issue arises with many planers.
I found the Achilles heel for this planer... the dust port!!! It is horrible with dust collection, and it's because the dust hood hose fitting has a 2-inch choke point. The 4-inch fitting is only cosmetic, as it chokes a 4" dust collect collection and cuts my volume down to nearly zero. I was hoping someone made a 4 inch hood fitting for it, but I can't find one for this particular model (PL1326). 😢
@Yellowhammer Woodcrafts true, but the chips getting under your boards, and in the feeder roller can be bad news. I'm going to see if I can make my own dust hood actually. I was hoping that planereveryone else having this had figured out a way to fix it.
Idk if this is just locally for me, but I just bought this model from Home Depot for $365. It makes me nervous that this is the only spiral head router I have ever seen under ~$650, but that means I'm not out to much money if it isn't good.
You posted this video two months ago and Amazon’s price now is $500. Did you buy this planer 2 months ago or did you just post the review two months ago?
This head will only fit the 2 sided carbides. They need the 90 on the back side to keep the bits straight. Not a fan of this design. The 2 sided bits cost the same as 4 sided so they are twice as much in reality since you get half the life. The carbide are much more durable than the stock hhs blades. They are simple to change out. If I needed to plane wood all the time I would get a different machine. But for weekends warriors out there this is a cost effective unit that gives great results. Dewalt with a shelix would be a step up but at more than twice the price.
I went against the grain and have a number of wen tools and they all perform great for the money. They seem to last and do a pretty good job for the price. Another thing wen is great at is customer service. I had to order a new motor for a saw I called them and I had a new motor in three days.
Glad to hear. Thanks for watching
Great review. I bought the same one already, but haven't used it, setting up the table for it. I am buying rough cut lumber from an Amish neighbor named Paul. He is very kind and will throw in a free board here and there when I am loading up. It is already less than half of buying hardwood at any other place. I love watching him saw lumber on that old saw mill. I have grown up around Amish here in Ohio my whole life. I just moved back. being in my pole barn doing woodworking and stuff helps me keep my mind off of pain and helps with depression and stuff. I am a disabled veteran. I just figure out ways of doing the things that are hard. Like I have a few hogs as well. I just rigged up a watering system and ways to do things that make things less physical effort.
Thanks for watching and your service. We are also both veterans
Well done thorough review. Thank you.
Thanks
I’m going to end up buying this planer soon. I don’t have a huge shop so it’s likely that this will be perfect for me.
I have this same planer... It works great!
They are 2 sided blades. You might be able to buy an after market 4 sided blade. Also the blades are HSS, you can buy carbide tipped replacement blades for it.
Thanks
Excellent review and thanks for sharing the safety information about your mishap.
Thanks for watching
They should be sharp on all 4 sides. Also after they are dull replace them with carbides.
Thanks, I actually bought carbide replacements when I bought the planer, but just waiting until I need them.
The WEN blades are only sharp on 2 sides. With the angles and set up of the cutting head 4 sided indexable will not fit. It's an interesting design choice with how popular the 4 sided indexables are however it's not actually unique to the WEN and blades are readily available.
Great video and thorough review of the planer! Love the rooster crow in the background!
Thanks for watching
same here! I loved it too. It is unfortunate that we fry them, and make a snack or sandwich.
Got mine a few weeks back still haven’t used it yet. Can’t wait! I was also thinking about getting the Wen track saw
I'm looking at this planer. I did get the 7.25" Wen track saw with the Powertec rails and it has done a fine job for me.
@@SavannahDan I’ve used the planer a couple of times so far and it has been great! I didn’t get the Wen track saw I went with the milwaukee track since I already have tons of batteries and chargers.
Good video and great info. A lab mic would help with the low audio.
I'm pretty sure they're sharp on all 4 sides. I just ordered mine this morning so I won't get it until Friday.
So I got the planer and it is amazing. It does have horrible chip collection but other then that it does a fantastic job. I used it on some old oak boards and they came out beautiful. I couldn't be happier with it so far. I also picked up a couple adjustable hight roller stands which I also wanted for my table say. The blades so have 4 sides. I hope it holds up because I have a massive pile of oak boards and I'm getting a few more truck loads of them next weekend for free. Another bonus is I'll have tons of mulch for my gardens. I also used it on some pine boards. I didn't have to adjust it much to eliminate snipe either. I raised the out feed plate just a hair and on the oak boards practically no snipe at all. One the pine it does have the slightest bit on the front but by slightly lifting as it comes out I can eliminate it on the back side.
I've not use a planer before ... so you can feed a 7/8" board in multiple times and it'll eat it away until if gets down to your 3/4" stop? ... or do you have to crank it down a bit with each pass? I'm guess I always thought you had to manually lower the cutting head with each pass?
Yes you have to crank it down little by little until you get it to where you want it. The stop keeps you from cranking past the thickness you want it.
the blades are sharp on 2 sides, so you can turn them 90 degrees. pretty easy to do, but there are 26 of them :)
Thanks
I just got this planer. I have a 5 hp vac hooked up to it. Id say it only picks up about 20 percent of the waste. Anything that I can do to make it better?
I have mine hooked to a 650 CFM dust right and it still only collects about 60%. The Dewalt was about the same. If there’s a better way, I don’t know it.
Do you still love this tool? what brand carbide cutters did you use?
Yes it still works great and I’m still using the cutters that came on it.
Mine just broke today. Roller gearbox broke. not the chain or sprockets, the internal gearbox. Have used it on approx 200 used fence boards only.
That sucks
those three gears inside the box? did some of the teeth break?
@@xisotopex yes. One of the gears shredded. They have mailed me a new gearbox under warranty.
@@masonmainpage4105 are they plastic or a cheap pot metal?
@@xisotopex some type of metal
How many watts does it draw when operating, I have a 2,000 watt solar generator id like to use with it
Sorry but I’m not sure
Watts = Amps x Volts (roughly) so it should draw about 1800w with a 15a motor and 110-120v. I believe you'll be ok.
Just bought this
Congrats. Hope you like it
are you by chance close to the Birmingham al area?
Yes I am. About 40 minutes away.
It's called 🙄 "Don't do this with a Planer" 😂😂 ... 👍🏽 appreciate the warning!
On another note, i'm thinking of asking for this same Planer for Christmas (would be my first).... You mentioned the rollers at the top, what are their purpose?
I assume they are for passing the board back to the front to run it through again. They are kinda pointless unless maybe it’s a really long board
Yea, when my wife gets to crowing, I gotta get up and let her out too.
😂
Sorry for letting the chickens out 😂
how loud is it? do you think its comparable to anything else? my router is pretty loud, louder than my table saw, wondering how those compare to this planer...
Not as loud as the Dewalt but I’d say all planers are loud. Loud enough to need hearing protection but not loud enough to make your ears bleed😂
@@yellowhammerwoodcrafts I have to do all my projects outside, and I would like to annoy my suburban neighbors as much as possible... jk... :)
Was your Dewalt the 735 type 12? I had the Type 1 for years, and it finally died out after years of use. I bought a new one, type 12, and the motor burnt out in 2 months, and lifting system failed. So, after a long battle, Dewalt had it replaced. And 5 months in, same issues again. I was eventually refunded. Shame that Dewalt has been cheapening their items so much the past 4 years.
(I just bought the WEN pl1326 like you, so I just started watching your video and had to ask about your Dewalt. )
Mine is the the 735 DWX I think it’s called. Not sure if that’s the type 12. It worked fine until that blade broke off and it won’t feed boards anymore. It done something to the gearbox that turns the rollers maybe 🤷🏻♂️
Welp, I've had the PL1326 for 10 days, and my biggest gripe is the dust collection and the inability to get the blades to not leave the mini gouges all over it. (I've gone through the teeth in a way that only fellow 80-HD'ers could understand... and only 2 seemed a hairs breath off.)
The Pro's... it's really quiet. EXTREMELY quiet. I've only ran a bit of hardwood maple, but a ton of SYP for a bed frame, and I'm in shock at how quiet it is (and I'm in a really small space.) Another pro.. it has a disgustingly smooth finish (if it didn't have those small gouged lines on every piece.
I'm now torn on whether to keep it or return it and buy the Dewalt 735... I had the old DW735 (the type 11(iirc) ... it was the 735 that didn't break as often as the newer type that is full of the SB&D cheapening issues that caused tons of things to fail.
The only thing I'm noticing so far is on some work pieces, there are two raised "lines" running along the long axis of the work piece resulting in a not completely smooth piece on discharge. It's like there is a gap in the cutter heads but with the spiral configuration I can't see that happening. I've emailed WEN support but after a week and two emails I've not heard from them. Wondering if you've experienced this?
You have a chipped square blade somewhere. Look at all the little blades and see if you can see a defect in one and if you see one replace that blade or turn it so a new edge is cutting
@@yellowhammerwoodcrafts Thanks, I'll check that out.
I finally heard back from WEN. They advised to check for a nicked blade. I’ll tear into it and report back. WEN didn’t mention whether it would be covered. I did tell them it’s been doing this since day one.
I run into this with my older knife version planer. Its definitely a chipped knife. Ive changed them int he past but this happens when a previous piece was run through and maybe had a small rock embedded in it. Nothing but a quick pass with block plane or sander will fix the wood. And I assume this issue arises with many planers.
@@alanf403 I don’t think they would cover that.
I found the Achilles heel for this planer... the dust port!!! It is horrible with dust collection, and it's because the dust hood hose fitting has a 2-inch choke point. The 4-inch fitting is only cosmetic, as it chokes a 4" dust collect collection and cuts my volume down to nearly zero.
I was hoping someone made a 4 inch hood fitting for it, but I can't find one for this particular model (PL1326). 😢
Yeah it’s not great but it doesn’t really bother me that much. I just blow my shop out with a blower afterwards
@Yellowhammer Woodcrafts true, but the chips getting under your boards, and in the feeder roller can be bad news. I'm going to see if I can make my own dust hood actually. I was hoping that planereveryone else having this had figured out a way to fix it.
Is the 2 inch inner part removable? If not just cut it out if you're only using a 4 inch hose.
@danielleroberts8964 actually, it is removable. But it took quite a bit of force. I thought I'd break it.
Idk if this is just locally for me, but I just bought this model from Home Depot for $365. It makes me nervous that this is the only spiral head router I have ever seen under ~$650, but that means I'm not out to much money if it isn't good.
That’s a good price. I like mine. Dust collection isn’t great but neither was the Dewalt in my opinion. That didn’t matter much to me though.
You posted this video two months ago and Amazon’s price now is $500. Did you buy this planer 2 months ago or did you just post the review two months ago?
I posted the review shortly after I bought it.
@@yellowhammerwoodcrafts wow the planer went up $100 in just a few months. Thank you.
@@Marrio49 They must have realized it was underpriced
My dewalt exploded today, RIP
Ahhhh that sucks!
This head will only fit the 2 sided carbides. They need the 90 on the back side to keep the bits straight. Not a fan of this design. The 2 sided bits cost the same as 4 sided so they are twice as much in reality since you get half the life. The carbide are much more durable than the stock hhs blades. They are simple to change out. If I needed to plane wood all the time I would get a different machine. But for weekends warriors out there this is a cost effective unit that gives great results. Dewalt with a shelix would be a step up but at more than twice the price.
Dewalt was first one I bought. It has been sitting in the corner broken for about 2 years now 😂 I actually like this one better.
instead of getting a planer try getting some mics
Sorry but I can hear it fine. I am looking for some new mics though
His mic is fine
Enjoy the channel or move on, but don’t be a dick just so you can read your own comment.