WEN 6560 10-Amp 6-Inch Benchtop Jointer with Filter Bag

I'm a hobbyist and this is my first jointer, so take my review with a pinch of salt because I never actually used a jointer before, so I can't tell you if this is a good or a bad jointer, because I have no comparison point, so I'll try to stick to facts.Packaging left something to be desired...Amazon sends typically one thousand bubble bags and some times the Russian doll version of boxes within boxes when I order one $5 screw driver...yet this $250 piece of equipment which is supposed to be a precision tool (the maximum you can cut at a time is 1/8") came in the original package from the manufacturer as you would find it in a store, with no additional packaging. So basically just a cardboard box with some Styrofoam inside. Since it is pretty heavy as soon as it moved around the Styrofoam got torn to pieces, so there wasn't much protection. I guess I was lucky, the jointer was not damaged, but if you order one, before you throw away your return packaging make sure it is in good shape as I can easily see how it can get broken in transport (if you read some of the other reviews it does happen).I'm an engineer by training, but I'm more of a "book" engineer than a "hands on" engineer, though not entirely useless with my hands, I'm not the craftiest of guys. Even then, I tend to laugh when people complain about lack of instructions or instructions not being clear as most stuff is pretty much self evident or easy to figure out with a little bit or thinking or nowadays with a quick YouTube "how do you?" video. Surprisingly enough there wasn't one for unboxing this thing (I looked), the website also has nothing. Another aside, even the WEN website does not have blades in stock (and I can't find them anywhere, nor could I find confirmation that any other kind would fit, I'm hoping that won't last forever, obviously I'll need blades at some point).Well, in this case I was stumped for a little while as the manual is not very detailed on the assembly instructions (there is not a lot to put together, maybe 30 minutes of work if you know what you are doing. It took me about 1.5 hrs between Googling things and figuring it out on my own). If you have worked with jointers before, then you will be done in 20 minutes. But if this is your first one...here are a few things that might help you:1.- When you install the second lever, unless I missed something, there is no way to screw it in without disassembling the lever handle first (take the little screw out, careful not to lose the spring). Maybe if you install both handles BEFORE you put the back brace (which holds the fence in place) then you might not have to do it. But the manual says to install the brace first before the second handle, but after that the lever gets in the way and you can't screw it in without taking the handle first. Not a big deal, but it made me doubt I was doing things right and the last thing I wanted to do is to test a jointer with sharp blades rotating at high speeds with the nagging feeling that maybe I didn't set it up right!2.- The second "movable" rail where the brace gets mounted...it really just hangs on there, it is the brace that kind of holds it in place (since you have to install the movable rail first, I thought I was doing something wrong as I couldn't figure out how it was going to stay in place...but once you try to slide the brace in place then it made sense to me...but I wasted a lot of time trying to find assembly video or instructions on the web, again, found nothing for this jointer).Now, none of the above would be enough for me to knock a star from the product (it was a bit of a hassle, but I figured it out eventually) , the main reason I took one star off is that adjusting the fence to the 90 degree angle is pretty challenging, there is no way, that I could figure out, to do it delicately...you basically have to wing it, trying to push and pull with one hand in an awkward position while trying to use your square the best way you can. When I finished I think I did a decent job...but I noticed that the center of the table was pretty much 90 degrees, but the ends were slightly off (very, very minor, but I could see light through the square and the surface, less than a hair, but it was there)...now since the center section seemed Ok, this could mean that the plates aren't completely horizontal. I have yet to play with the base (one reviewer mentioned something about the inboard and outboard bases not being coplaned from factory....maybe that is what I need to do). Anyway, it was so minor, I didn't worry, but again, even if it works out perfectly, it is not easy to do, the design could be better. This setting up is a pain even if you do know what you are doing.But overall knowing what I know now, yes I would still go for this one. The price is great and the jointer is good enough if obviously not what a professional furniture maker would use, but unless you want to spend thousands instead of hundreds of dollars, this is the one if all you do is play around in your garage on the weekends like me.Now, I only joint a couple of small boards, initially I was putting a lot of pressure in the back of the wood piece and I was worried the thing wasn't working well...after a few YouTube videos (you put the pressure actually in the front of the wood piece) things work out much better and I got pretty straight planes on my piece. So it seems it is working well. It is by far the cheapest jointer out there and the reviews I could find compare it either favorably or at least equal to more expensive units. All and all then so far, I'm pretty happy with the purchase. As I use it, I'll try to update this review in case it might help someone out there considering this unit.Oh, one more thing, the bag (with the spring) does work well with a bucket...trying to use a plastic bag, unless, again, I did something wrong, it's a joke. The plastic braces (I couldn't figure out what they were for a while) when you try to bend them to form a circle where the bag will hang...the plastic collapses...you can still kind of make a closed area (it won't be a circle that's for sure) and may be able to hang a bag there...but don't waste your time, the wind coming off the unit will make a mess probably anyway. The bucket thing works pretty well.I've made about 6 cutting boards now of different thicknesses and I'm really happy with this thing. It joints very well, when I put two pieces together they fit perfectly. One does have to be careful, if you put too much pressure at the beginning or at the end of your piece you can get a good bit of snipe, but if you keep a balanced pressure on the part of the piece that's coming off the blade, it works really well.Also...WEN now does have the blades in stock.Update: I've used this thing now for a quite a while (I've made like 10 cutting boards and other things) and it just cuts beautifully, I can't take a star just because it was a bit hard to set. I'm so happy with how it works, I have to give it 5 stars. Done a lot of jointing and the blades are as sharp as the first day.

I bought this in conjunction with the WEN 6550 Benchtop Planer. There was a good price on both of them combined, and free shipping via Prime, so I decided to risk this jointer in spite of the seriously mixed reviews. As my first jointer, I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but I don't regret buying it. For the price, I think it's a good piece of kit.After the mixed reviews, I spent a long time (several hours over a couple of days) checking everything about the jointer and looking for what had been reported as common issues. What I found was a solid machine that was well built without the issues reported in most other reviews. The infeed and outfeed tables were smooth, burr free, and coplanar. After a thin coat of paste wax to them, stock glides across them with no resistance. The fence was solid, straight*, and once I had it adjusted to my standards, held its position well.*One note about the fence. There was a very slight (maybe 1/32 to 1/64 of an inch) of twist along the length of it. I was able to compensate for it by carefully adjusting the fence with a combination square to check for square against the base. To me it wasn't worth returning the unit and trying to get another one - your mileage may vary.Checking the blades was straight forward. They were both set properly, flat and square to the outfeed table.Initial cuts were good. After a bit of playing with the depth of cut (the manual says no more than 1/8", but mine wouldn't go past 1/16"), I found that 1/32 to 3/64 of an inch is preferable with a soft wood. I haven't tried a hard wood with it yet, but my guess will be that 1/32 would be about the limit if you want smooth cuts. However, once you have it dialed in, cuts are smooth, corners are square, and I was able to go from jointer to planer and end up with dressed lumber that was ready for assembly, sanding and finishing with no additional work needed.My one complaint about this machine is actually the manual. The instructions are all there, but they're not easy to read, and I build Lego kits. The information density in each step is very high, with multiple substeps steps crammed into one "step" as a single paragraph, requiring you to make sure you haven't missed anything as you go by repeatedly reading each step.Overall, I like the machine. We'll see how long term use goes, but as an entry level machine for an amatuer woodworker still learning the trade, I'm pleased.

This is my first jointer. It is for my garage shop, I am by no means a master wood worker but I can put a table, some casement or a cabinet together. I bought this planer in March of 2017 and just took it out of the box today Sept 7 2017. All the parts were there. Took me an easy 30-40 minutes to get it unpackaged, assembled, cleaned, waxed and squared. My fence lined up easy to the table on both sides, no complaints there. I checked the cutter height and it was perfect with the outfeed table right out of the box. This jointer works great, is very heavy and sounds feels like it will run for a long time.Previously I have been jointing on my planer with a jointing sled, mainly just large boards, and I have been using straight edges, a skill saw and then a glue line blade on my table saw to get my edges cleaned up on smaller pieces. Definitely a huge production but it netted me decent results. This jointer makes everything about squaring a board so much easier. I really thought it was fun to use too. This morning I made 4 48" clamping cauls out of some older 2x4s I had laying around. By my second attempt I had the hang of it and was squaring boards with ease. Very cool. This addition to the shop is worth the $250- I paid. I doubt I'll ever need a second planer. The tables are a little short as it is a bench top model. I have a rolling 4'x8' butcher block work bench I use my bench tools on. I just build melamine boxes to function as infeed/outfeed extension supports for the tools. I'll do this for this jointer as well. It works pretty good.This is my first WEN tool. I have now ordered the WEN 12 inch drill press. I ook forward to adding that to my shop's capabilities too. Cheap and functional. Go WEN!