WEN 6550 Thickness Planer Review

WEN 6550 Thickness Planer Review

Editor Rating: 4.7/5

Build Quality

Power

Features

Price

Review Summary

From the producers of some of the greatest woodworking equipment on the industry, the people at WEN have presented us a powerhouse that will satisfy all of your planing wants. This model will make a amazing addition to any organization that makes wood items and demands the function completed effectively.

By no means yet again have to aircraft your timber manually. The WEN 6550 has a feed charge and cut velocity that will make you desire you picked up one of these quicker. It will lower any sort of wood with pristine precision and give you completely uniform edges. It does not matter if you have imported African mahogany or some boards off a pallet on the aspect of the street it will condition them properly, cleanly, and evenly.

It is powerful, can handle a remarkable quantity of work, and with the chute for debris, it will do the job without having also significantly of a mess. It provides you the quality of craftsmanship you have arrive to assume from the WEN loved ones of items. And you will value that the 6550 Thickness Planer is available at a quite economical cost. Permit us tell you about the perks and the deficits, and you choose regardless of whether this instrument is correct for you.

The Wen 6550 – A Quick Look

Pros
  • Powerful 15A motor
  • High feed rate
  • Twin, double-sided cutting blades
  • Affordable
Cons
  • Must be bolted to table for stability
  • Not wise for small shops
  • Very loud

Specifications

Brand name Identify: WEN, Inc.

Product: 6550 Thickness Planer with Granite Table

Motor: 120V, 15A

No-Load RPM: 8,500

Cuts for every minute: 17,000

Optimum stock width: twelve.5 inches

Greatest stock thickness: 6 inches

Feed rate in ft per minute: 26

Gross bodyweight: 73 lbs .

WEN 6550 Thickness Planer Review

Tool Construction

As with all WEN products, the 6550 Planer is created of the very best materials and place together with the understanding that it will get plenty of use above many hrs operating in woodshops throughout the world. It is made to be equally sturdy and effective yet still light-weight adequate to relocate if necessary.

While it is loud, it is buffered to resist the vibrations for the duration of procedure. And if you require to disassemble the blade mechanism to sharpen the action or flip the blades to their other side, that has been streamlined for optimum safety and velocity. This instrument is all set to do the task and developed to do it proper, efficiently, and without having dread of likely accidents.

Stability

This product will come with a granite desk to enhance its all round balance and give it a minor additional fat, so it doesn’t dance about during your planing actions. It is created to be bolted to a level, nicely-seated surface, this sort of as a workbench or hefty table. This attribute is typical with many lightweight shop equipment and is getting to be a lot more well-liked.

Ease of Use

The 6550 planer has two wonderful features that make your job a snap. One is the higher RPM slicing double-sided blades, and the other is the easy to use take care of that lets you reduced the planing blades to reduce your wooden to a maximum shave thickness of three/32 of an inch. At that charge, planing even the most warped board will be handled very quickly.

WEN 6550 Thickness Planer Review

Customer Care

As with all WEN items, the WEN 6550 Thickness Planer has a concrete manufacturer’s warranty of ninety times from acquire or five hundred several hours of commercial/expert use and only applies to the original purchaser. They do not include objects that wear out by natural means.

Debris Management

All woodshops have one particular issue in common, and that is a surfeit of sawdust. The WEN 6550 is constructed with a directional exhaust port on the rear of the equipment to expel the shavings from the wooden becoming planed. It is basic to add a hose to the end of the port to manual that sawdust into a receptacle, maintaining your shop cleaner with small hard work.

Other Planers We've Reviewed

FAQ

Is any assembly required?

Not a lot. The adjustment manage demands to be affixed to its house, and the sawdust chute has to be bolted to the physique of the unit, but beyond that, it is rather a lot all set to go correct out of the box. All assembly will consider less than ten minutes if resources are commonly available.

Can it be used in any shop?

With the feed price, it is not recommended for smaller retailers. The recommendation is to use it in a shop with a lot of place. Even so, if you have an opening, like maybe a garage doorway that exposes your store to the outside planet, that may be a answer in the occasion you decide this product up and truly feel a tiny cramped doing work with it.

Are the blades easy to change?

Most users say they are. A few occasions, a particular person shifting the blades has struggled, but the men and women who have efficiently carried out a blade swap with out problems give a really optimistic check out of the method.

What is snipe?

Snipe is a deep minimize in a board likely via a planer that generally takes place on the ends of the board. This occurs when the board is tilted into the chopping wheel following the bulk of the wood floor has previously been through the planer. This is why having a amount surface is so essential.

Can an apprentice use this model, or is it better for professionals? 

The WEN 6550 is quite intuitive and user friendly. Any person with the patience to permit the wooden be planed at its best pace can operate this with relieve. So, it doesn’t make a difference what talent amount you have.

What about safety?

The WEN has three rollers that information the wooden by way of the planer, the middle roller being the one with the reducing blades. As with all bladed instruments, safe running and keeping away from distractions is critical. It is also constantly smart, particularly when working with wooden or steel, to put on the proper individual protective gear, such as security glasses.

What Users Say

For the most portion, consumer and owner views are quite constructive when it comes to the WEN 6550. They get pleasure from the speed and precision the resource delivers and the performance with which it planed even the most gnarled and warped wooden. End users commented that the ease of adjustments manufactured performing the work so significantly far more effective than other types they experienced experimented with. And they appreciated the user-welcoming procedure. The relieve of assembly was a group-pleaser as properly.

A few end users had concerns with the blades chipping within brief purchase following they began functioning the system for prolonged durations, and they speculated it had to do with the bearings inside of one of the rollers. And there is a carry take care of for convenience, but it is found on the cross member on best, which is the 1 location the manual suggests not to elevate from. This is seen as a considerable production oversight by consumers that need to have to go their tool often.

Conclusion

For the top quality, for the value, the WEN 6550 is one solid contender. Set it towards any other equivalent planer and watch it go away them in the dust the sawdust, that is. It is a superb choice for any woodshop with space to accommodate it and will give you clean, cleanse cuts in all woods, from ash to zebrawood. As an expenditure, you will not be let down.

Contents