WEN 6530 6-Amp Electric Hand Planer, 3-1/4-Inch

For something to be a deal, it has to perform, and this does. It planes well, is constructed to suit its price (actually a bit better). The instructions are helpful.The downside is the front knob is both handle and depth-of-cut adjustment, and is easy to change when holding it. If you are careful about that, it is a great DIY solution. It is just as worthy as my other, growing collection of, Wen tools.We are using ours to level deck beams and joists, so I can't comment on how it would be for finer woodworking.If I was using it daily, or as a pro, I'd probably get one of the 4x the cost high end ones, but I'm not and I ain't, so my only regret was not getting the next Wen model up for the extra width.I'll update the review if anything changes (e.g. it breaks).

It is easy to use and does a great job. It was a little heavy on extended use but I used it anyway. Remember to use hearing protection due to the noise it makes.

I'll update this review when I've had more time with it, but for now, this is what I have seen.This planer is actually really good at chewing through wood. I'm admittedly new at this, but I'm a tinkerer, so I can figure things out pretty quickly. I just got this planer and started on a scrap piece of wood. It did very well, but I found that it starts out with divots, so I'm guessing it's probably how I'm using it. I can keep at it until I figure out that it's just me or this planer.I only docked 1 star, because the bag fills so quickly you really can't make but a few passes even at the lowest setting before the bag has to be emptied. If I could see it filling up, that would have been more helpful to know when to stop.I found it was best to empty it by pulling the long plastic sheath at the bottom and opening the bottom of the bag where it is widest. Trying to do this through the little whole near the top of the bag is MUCH harder and doesn't work as well. It would have been better to simply have a plastic container than a bag whereby it's easy to dump out the debris and you can see how quickly it fills. Either supply a plastic container or provide an adapter for the standard sized shop vac....I don't know. The container would be more of a must, but an adapter would have been a great addition. For the price...can I really complain? No...I can get an adapter.Having said that, it's filling quickly because it's actually working. It did a very nice job of mostly leveling out an edge of a board, then I did a second piece and then placed them together to see places where they don't lie flush. What I found was two things:1) The fact that I didn't have the wood on clamps on a level surface (simply freehanding this) caused me to cut at more of an angle...so I recommend clamping the wood before doing this and going as level as possible2) The edges of the first board I did bowed out from the second I placed next to it, implying I had to trim out the middle of the first one a bit, since the second board looked pretty level. Of course, you should actually use a level to ensure your faces are flat, but I was just messing around with thisThe build quality is nice, the weight is heavy enough not to lose control of it, but light enough to keep your arms from getting tired. You'll know when the bag fills up when the chips start flying out the other side, so they really needed to put in a plastic container, instead. All the knobs and features are great, but the directions are mediocre at best. I couldn't tell how to put the rabbet guide or the plane guide on without going to the commercial for the product. They need to include that in the manual.Overall, I can see how this will make quick work out of getting boards flush together, along with a sander. As with anything...planning your work out, along with practice will go a long way to ensuring a project goes well.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I bought this to plane down a 4X4 fence post so it would fit into the already existing concrete pour that had contained a previous fence post that had rotted out after 25 years. The tool work better than expected. There are plenty of "How to use" videos on YouTube for it. This tool is well worth the $40.00 it cost as I saved the hassle having to rent a tool for about the same money. Atta go Wen!

Why did you pick this product vs others?:Bought for a specific project , good reviews and good price.

Considering the low price of this planer, I was impressed by the quality and operation. The cut depth is easily adjusted, the design is handy to hand, and the operation is smooth. The most amazing thing of all is that the chip bag actually works! This is in contrast to every sander I have ever used where the vacuum bag is totally ineffective and poorly designed.

I needed a planer to level a small cheap butcher block countertop I'm making. How cheap? It's made of ripped down 2x4s. This planer honestly did pretty good after a little set up , after which it did a decent job of leveling the panel. The cuts were nice and smooth and even enough once I figured out what I was doing.However, there are several caveats you should be aware of, the first of which is that it required quite a bit of fiddling to level the blades with the rear shoe. Also, while the blades were sharp, they were not perfectly straight but slightly curved so that the edges gouged out more than the middle. If anything planer blades should be curved the other way so that they carve slightly more from the middle than the edges. I could have removed the blades entirely and spent some time leveling them on my diamond plates. I personally don't think that's unreasonable, especially for the amount of money you pay for this thing and I certainly would have done so if not for the final nail in the coffin: The front shoe was not parallel with the rear shoe in either direction which caused a lot of snipe no matter how careful I was. And unfortunately that's something I could not adjust and decided to return this unit. I could just exchange this for another one but I've now learned that I like electric hand planers enough that I want a higher quality one.So in summary, at this price point, this is a really good tool. However, if it were priced much higher it would probably not deserve more than one or two stars. Don't expect a more than a moderate level of precision and be prepared to spend some quality time with it getting it set up and adjusted properly. If all you need is some quick and dirty leveling or something like trimming down some door edges or lumber, this thing would be perfect.