WEN Thickness Planer, Two Speed, 13-Inch Spiral Blade, Benchtop (PL1337)

Most excellent quality. Features are numerous. Spherical cutter superior to three blade units.

For the record, my only point of reference is the WEN 6552t, the 13" 3-blade single-speed. It was serviceable on softwood, not so much on hardwood. Even on pine, it struggled if the board was wider than 8" and the snipe was inevitable. It saw heavy use for 2 years, mostly on cherry, and still works fine. So enter my new upgrade, the 1337, 2-speed spiral cutter, and so far I am very happy. In the first few days, I have been running pine, cherry, oak, and epoxy through it, snipe is VERY minimal (few passes with an RO sander make it disappear), and it handles actual 13' boards with an ease that the old one simply never could. Wood surfaces come out really smooth, and just a little bit of machining lines on epoxy inlays, but nothing compared to what the straight blades did. My only complaint is that dust collection seemed to work much better on the older model for some reason. This one sprays copious amounts of shavings out the feed side. I feel like more is ending up on the floor than in my shop vac or vortex bucket. If this stands the test of time/abuse like the old one did, it is an awesome planer for the price.

For an entry level planer, I was quite impressed with the functionality and build quality of this unit. I have not seen WEN with two speeds, so that was a very welcomed addition to the planer when purchasing. It is heavy, so it's best to mount it to a mobile cart to move it about the shop. The cutter head being a spiral cut is a step up from the stock Dewalt's and others that ship with straight blades. The 13" cut is also another great feature to it for planing cutting boards or other material of varying sizes. It says in the manual that the wings are adjusted from the factory, but I had to adjust them after receiving the unit to remove snipe. After doing a very slight adjustment, leveling the infeed and outfeeds to being level instead of the "v" adjustment, I have had no issues. Dust collection on the unit could be better as the shroud does not seal very well and blows a lot of the chips/dust out onto the feed table and around it. Great size unit for 13 inch and very competitive with the more expensive brands.

Great entry level planer.leaves surface so smooth you almost don't need to do much sanding.when hook3d up to my wen 600 cfm dust collector almost no dust comes out the planer so it's got good dust collection as well.as far as wen products go this planer is made from mostly metal which is important to note bc alot of wens orange parts are plastic on many tools.the only plastic on this is the knobs I believe

This is the best planer for the money, made I Taiwan, well built, spiral cutting head is brilliant. Hard and softwoods plane with ease, obviously take smaller biteso the slower feed on aged hardwoods, and you can go more aggressive and or faster feed on softer materials. More and more finding WEN tools amazing value for the money. Especially when seeing more other color tools or brands contracting same manufacturers. Investment groups who buy sell and wreck quality are always looking to pull one over on consumers. Currently WEN cant be beat for the average non commercial user. Thanks WEN

i have not got to use this tool yet. in process of moving. but, what i am angry about is missing the top handle screw. i called about a week and a half ago, and i was told i would have another one, 3 to 5 days. nope. didnt even get the confirmation email i was told to be on the lookout for. i bought many wen tools. table saw, planer, miter saw, power hand planer, trim router, biscuit jointer, hand grinder, sander, etc.... now, its not like i lost the screw. their qc failed me. is it too much to ask to get what i paid for? i will call monday and try again. if they fail to make this right, i will never buy another wen item. i will switch to dewalt. i am not happy being lied to, wen. as your booklets say, i WILL remember wen....... ok, wen made their mistake right. they sent my missing part to me like they promised they would. and i didn't even have to call for a follow up. thank you, Wen. you restored my trust and belief in you. like i said, i now have a ton of Wen tools. i have barely got to use so few of them at this time because of moving. but so far, the table saw and the miter saw is perfection and got stellar reviews from me. so, i am expecting this planer to perform just as great as the previous tools i have used so far. i might as well as make a sign that says: this shop powered by Wen... lol... and, i am still proud that i took a leap of faith in believing in them, not knowing much about them. and, as their catch phrase says: i will remember Wen.....

Let me just say I have only been into wood working for the last 6 months, but I was a machinist for 20 years. Apples to oranges, but precision and good equipment go hand in hand. The thing is as they advertise a good solid 80 pounds. I don’t think you want this thing moving around and on small pieces I just had it sitting on the table without bolting it down yet. I forked out more money because I wanted the one with two speeds, rarely, but in this case I wanted the slower speed. Had it be the other way around and you could get the slower on cheaper I would have. I’m not running a business and speed isn’t my concern. I haven’t ran it on the fast speed, but I can say the slow speed isn’t scary. There are times when things happen and are over before you even realize it’s over. On the slow speed it’s not crazy slow, but a nice pace. The cuts are smooth as butter.

I really like this tool. Lots of power and does a great job.

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