Dunno if this has already been stated in the comments or not... I have this exact same WEN belt/spindle sander. And, I had the exact same problem you did here with the uneven chamfers, etc. The problem is the folding table is not square at 90°. I had to remove that spring steel detent guide, and just tighten the two handles, after getting it squared up. Dunno if the "arms" are adjustable (so I could put that spring steel guide back on), but doing that fixed the issue with mine.
My first thought was, is the table 90° square. Saw your comment @asbrand I haven't used one of these styles belt and spindle sanders before so I am shooting in the dark here. But After looking at the video and some photos I'm wondering if there is enough play between the screw and the spring detent to make an adjustment. Thought process is loosen up the handles and the screw on the detent. Then with a square hold the table 90° to the sander. Then tighten the detent screw. Don't know if it will work but just a thought.
I used to work for the company when they had assembly plants in the US. I saw what went into the tools and was pleased to see just how sturdy they were. Nice to see there's still a budget option for the hobbyist/homeowner.😎
I have this. I also have a Wen track saw and the 8" Wen jointer; they all do their jobs just fine. Pay attention to setup and check everything that can be checked, and there's a really good chance you're absolutely golden.
I have the orange brand version of this oscillating spindle sander and has something I thought was going to be a gimmick is now something I use in my shop almost daily
That miter slot is very handy, but overlooked by most reviewers I've seen. When I had the Ridgid, I would put a speed square in there and use it to clean up perfect 90s. Could also use to trim/clean up 45s, etc. Very very useful feature that is woefully lacking on all other models that I've seen.
I was literally planning on buying this Wen later this afternoon, but saw your video and had to watch it before I bought it. Thanks, Im going to go ahead and get it. 🙏✝️🇺🇸
I bought the smaller WEN portable oscillating sander (HA5932)... it is exactly the same as several of the higher priced sanders, including the very expensive Rocker sold Triton (at nearly 3x the cost). All are made by the same company and I have no complaints about their use or abilities. This 6524 is next on my list, as it is a bit larger and offers the flat sanding abilities in a stand model.
Great video! And to answer your question as to who came first, Ridgid was first by a long shot but from what I've learned they are all made by the same factory in China. The company took the Rigid design then streamlined it and now OEM's it to anyone who wants to put their brand on it. You can find the exact same sander as the WEN being sold as Bauer, Grizzly, Triton, and several other generic names. I've had an older Ridgid, two WEN's (for two locations) and the Bauer. I honestly can't see any performance difference. In fact I like the more compact size of the smaller sanders. Ridgid just changed suppliers and they are now sourcing stationary tools from the company that bought Delta so there is a new design on the sander but I haven't tried that one.
Hello Den of Tools! If you google Sealy UK sander you'll find another one in another color. I'd love to know how many are out there and in how many countries. Not sure how companies justify the price difference. Ive seen that Ridgid redesign but haven't used it yet. Looks cool for what it's worth. You have a great channel and I appreciate you checking out mine.
@@ProjectsForAllReviews I've been following these sanders for a few years and the business model is fairly odd. They seem to only do batch processing, even with the Ridgid. There will be months and months where any given model will be out of stock. Then when they come back they are usually full price and after a few months we start to see sales. Then they are gone again. Really odd.
I have the 12" drill press and 10" band saw. Totally agree with your fit/finish observations. I use them just for occasional work. Had them both 5 years and no problems. If I was a cabinet maker or someone who ran them into the ground every day I'd probably want more quality and precision, but for my DIY/hobby use of them they certainly were worth the $.
Hello Kris! While these definitely aren’t contractor grade tools I’ve found every WEN tool I’ve used to be totally serviceable and often for half the price of the next competitor! Looking forward to the next WEN review. Thanks for watching!
I am in the same boat, looking to make guitars as a hobby. I can't decide if I need the 10" band saw over the 9". I'd love to be able to resaw 6" maple for bookmatched tops, but it is worth the extra money for something I'll do a few times a year?
@@Gregatron13 Hello! I would just make sure it can really do the resaw if your going to spend the money for that reason. Small band saws are not usually very powerful. We might have the new Skil Benchtop band saw on the channel soon. Waiting to hear back. Good luck!
I've had the orange version of this tool for over 4 years. It works very nicely and has great accessory storage. I have several Wen tools and they are all excellent for my hobby woodworking.
I've got the drill press with the digital RPM control, and she's lovely, especially considering I don't use my drill press /that/ much. If I were doing this professionally, and needed absolute precision every time, I'd probably have a Powermatic, or something like that, but for my hobby where I plan on making enough mistakes that I always just buy 20% more stock, and the only client I have to satisfy is myself... (so patching a bad drill hole with a dowel, and trying again is ALWAYS an option) the Wen is more than enough tool for most of my needs.
an old bicycle innertube cut down into a small piece of tubing would likely sit over the exhaust port and give you an inexpensive nice snug fit for your shop vac hose. That trick's also good for other incompatibility issues on exhaust ports and vac hoses.
I have had this sander in my shop for a little more than two years and use it on just about every piece of scroll saw art I make. It has performed well so far. For the price, IMHO, it is the best buy. I have never seen a table sander, other than the ShopSmith, that would put an even chamfer on a piece. If it needs a chamfer, it goes to the router table.
Check the platen surface of the belt attachment. I am thinking there is some cupping in the belt itself which is not giving even tension across belt width. Try placing flat pieces to elevate where the work is contacting the belt. I have a WEN track saw on another brand 100" track. Works great and am very happy with it.
Thank you for the comparison. I'm more on the budget aware side and couldn't see the difference. I like the features of the WEN and that will be my choice. Funny that one of my thoughts was, save the money by buying the WEN and get a new drill. Great Minds!
I own several WEN tools, including this sander, and they have all met my expectations and have held up pretty well so far. This sander is good enough that I think it would be a toss-up as to the better machine between the Ridgid and the WEN. WEN wins on price though.
I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a Wen tool based on the good experiences I’ve had so far. I’m sure there will be many more Wen review next year! Thanks for watching!
When I started turning I wasn't trying to spend thousands to find out it wasn't for me, so I bought a cheap wen lathe and I still use it all the time. It doesn't have any bells or whistles but it's a decent little starter lathe and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to get started in turning.
That’s one of the great advantages to these inexpensive tools. Low cost of entry and the ability to try new things. I’ve never used a wood lathe but would be a fun review video to make. Thanks for watching!
I bought one. Didn't really know how to operate one. Word of advice. If the belt rides up, it's on too tight, loosen it a bit and it will stay in place.
@@ProjectsForAllReviews It's about 7 months now and I still love it. The only problem I've had is trying to loosen the knob to change spindles. I think maybe I've had the belt part of the sander on too long.
It definitely appears those were both made by same parent company (they're based in Taiwan, and that's also how they achieve such quality at such a low price.). From your comparison video, which was very well done, I'm now leaning to Rigid version of the tool, for 2 reasons; that handy dandy miter slot you pointed out, and the larger table area. Dimensionally it is similar to most 13-in planers and it could share the same flip-top-cart as the thickness planer.
I think it's because the sandpapers extending slightly above the edge of the table on the upstroke. So you're getting the rolled Edge effect, from the edge of the belt. But that's just a guess.
The Wen is back with its owner but I have my Ridgid and we’ll probably do a follow up vid soon where I try to solve some of its issues. Possibly using all the suggestions from the comments. Thanks for watching!
Good guess. I am also thinking this is true. I'm in bed now and just got done looking for all the issues with flat sanding but I know what you are getting at. Raising the base with your own surface should fix that part but look for my recent post on Dec 28.2022 about all the issues I found in general. It needs some engineering
I added a 12 inch tube and made sure it's sealed at the base. The other end has a PVC sleeve that's been heated to fits my vac hose. There are other options though
I've been looking at the Wen and the Bauer, which are identical except in color. But after watching your videos on this one and the Rigid, I think I will go with a regular spindle sander. I already have a belt and disc combo, so I'm not seeing much need for an oscillating belt sander that doesn't sand straight. Thanks.
Smart! There’s no advantage to these really in your case. I wish I’d bought a belt/disc instead of the Ridgid but that’s not the tools fault. Eventually I’ll figure out how to sand something straight. Thanks as always!
I also have a HFT 4 x 36" belt/ 6" disc sander. Got it back when they still had coupons for $65. I like it OK for my hobby shop. But...I got spoiled years ago when I worked in a shop with both a Delta/Rockwell 6x48" (flat and vertical) and a 6" x 89" oscillating belt sander which was horizontal. 95% of the time I went to the big boy, because the oscillating action virtually eliminated sanding marks. I am giving serious consideration to picking up one of these. I bought the Wen oscillating spindle sander about 18mo ago. Like mentioned...finish was a bit rough, but the working surfaces were just fine. I spent about an hour with a 6" mill bastard file and a foam sanding block doing cleanup. At this price point, I expect it. I've had no small experience with HFT, and already have my files, abrasives and a jug of VM&P ready when I open a new box with a tool in it 😉
@@woodrowsmith3400 Yep, buying budget tools will always mean spending more time getting them up to par, and people need to keep their expectations in check. I think it is a universal rule of life,.. you can either spend the money, or you can spend the time. When you don't have much money, it makes the decision much easier. Hahaha!
The Ridged, Wen, Harbor Freight and Jet sanders, drill presses and several other bench top tools are all made in the same factory in China. Just rebranded with minor differences for different manufacturers. I know this because I know the purchasing manager for Wen. Their corporate office is very near where I live
To date, I have purchass a Wen jig saw, an 8" variable speed bench grinder s(well made), a 3/8" portable battery powered drill along with an extra, more powerful battery, a 3 gallon shop vacuum and an electric pressure washer. The pressure washer is not powerful and I wanted less power so I don't tear up any siding or remove what shouldn't be removed as a gas powered unit can do. It is light, convenienty and gets done my chores from siding to concrete walks and driveway. They have a quite a variety of products. I have zero complaints about any of them and will look towards Wen for all my power tool needs.
Something I recently learned - but not 100% sure if it's correct - is that Wen will not (or is very reluctant to) honor their warranty from products bought through Amazon. On another note, the Bauer brand from Harbor Freight appears to be exactly the same as the Wen. Price is pretty much the same, too. Harbor Freight has a much easier warranty to deal with - especially if you have a HF store nearby.
I’m the same way about Wen. I bought their 12” drill press awhile back. It’s just ok. I think I’d rather pick up a used Ridgid spindle sander than investing in another Wen. Good video👍
Thank you for your review. I’ve been setting up my shop for the last 3 months and honestly I’ve not even considered wen tools because of how cheap they are. I finally watched a few reviews of wen tools and after reading reviews I’m convinced they are just fine. Almost 100% of reviews are very positive. Just ordered the air ventilation system and will be ordering the spindle sander so thanks again for putting this video out there
I have the cheapest Wen ceiling mounted air filter and it’s been really great. I use it all the time and recently forgot it on for a few days, no problems. Thanks for watching!
I like that saw also. Check out my review here: How Cheap Is Too Cheap?? || Wen Track Saw CT1065 || Review ruclips.net/video/NfJKkrPq4B4/видео.html Thanks for watching!
Changing the direction of the belt means that the LH thread on the Ridgid is not needed- personally I prefer the sanding direction on the non-Ridgid versions. Lots of makes, otherwise virtually identical. I paid a little more for light grey, 'cos I do not like orange (the cheapest version in the UK). A missing item is a right angle fence- so I made one. Also removed the trailing cord, and fitted an IEC connector. Hose connector changed to DeWalt AirLock (best hose connector system on the market). Very happy with it.
Ok, I did some digging in the Wen belt/spindle sander. The spring detent in the right side is not set to 90 degrees. Just like most tools. I I loosened 1 screw and removed the other, flipped it away and put the screw back in and tightened the others one with the spring, so I don't loose them. I played around with my precision square I trust and found that the left and right sides both need adjusting separately because the base has some flex and maybe not totally flat. I then inspected the belt sanding unit and it has issues. First, the left mounting arm that slides into the plastic has a tone of flex. This would matter for 90 top to bottom, as long as it flexes in the same plane but when using the metal stop bar, it might matter for the horizontal plane compared to the tip of stock resting on that metal stop. Next the metal stop moves and is not to be trusted. Totally needs to be modified. Then I found that the screws holding the belt sanding head are NOT flush with the surface we are counting on. Either drilling a better bevel for the recessed screws with a metal counter sink but or sandind down the screw heads might work. I urge great thought into how you tackle this and take your time. Get it all flat either way but dint blame me if you F.U.B.A.R. it! Also, the metal stop puts positions the wood right where the sanding head and it's large roller meet and that creates a bad area for small pieces to get pushed in and leaving an uneven sanding job. This problem seems hardest to fix but maybe simply making an new stop bar that won't allow any wood to to be pressed in that area when the face and roller meet would be in order. In all cases, this video helped a lot because it's been driving me nuts. I urge everyone to read what I typed and go look at each issue. I think everyone will agree on these real issues. I do believe they can all be fixed with some time and thought. I might be encouraged to make a video showing each issue and later making a video on how I fixed each one. I sure would love to read comments from anyone one the same page and their ideas! I really hope this helps! Oh, Im also considering makings some sides to help with dust. Maybe something that is adjustable depending on what I'm doing. Also, I made a 12 inch dongle for the vacuum port with heated PVC that fits my hose. I'm going to look into the DeWalt hose attachments as some one mentioned here. Good luck. It is a nice machine but needs some love and a little more engineering!
@@316woodworks9 I agree that the provided stop is poor- it is placed as an end stop for side sanding, where is will give maximum sanding length. It is useless as a side support for end sanding, as you say. For this I made my own fence, that fits from the front of the table to the belt, mounted further to the left. At the price-point this tool is sold, I did not expect precision; I view it as a roughing sander, rather than for finishing. Having said that, there is a lot to be said for modifying it for better performance. I am either fortunate, or my branding company imposes more QC, but the belt is square to the table at the larger cylinder, and leans in slightly at the top at the smaller. Given the belt tensioning required, a better tolerance would require a more expensive design. Applying force when sanding causes the assembly to flex (it is single ended support) so best to minimize pressure near the end of sanding. My table required no adjustment, it was as true as any die-cast alloy structure is likely to be. When I was (much) younger, I had few tools; my sanding equipment consisted of a flexible disk in my electric drill. Crude as this sounds, much practice allowed me to sand to a satisfactory level. I would sand bevels on curved surfaces free-style. One develops a feel for the process, holding the workpiece in one hand, the drill in the other. Some of this feel transfers to the much more controllable sanding on a tool like this- I do not fully rely on the tool to get all the angles right.
If it is built the same way as my Triton, the potential cause for the surface not being perpendicular could be that you running the sanding belt too low. On my Trition, the belt sanding attachment has a ledge at the bottom. If the sand paper goes below that point it will slight tilt, making the surface to uneven.
The chamfer variation could be attributed to the work surface not being at right angles to the sanding surface. Are you happy with your purchase of the Wen?
I've worn out several Ridgid sanders and keep with them.The Wen looks like a mirror image of the orange monster. The Wen socialites faster than the Ridgid. Uneven chamfer due to table not being at 90 degrees to the sander? Prefer the Rdigid spindle knob versus the Wen nut. Orange rocks!
I have the planer and it can get bogged down on wide boards from 10 -12 in wide even just removing 1/64 in per pass other than that I am happy with it.
The difference in chamfer width, is due to the belt not being perfectly square to the table surface. The table "might" be able to be shimmed in order to get 90 degrees.
Well I like the Ridgid because it has a groove in the tabletop for your miter square along with better control of your wood piece either the piece being vertical or horizontally. If Wen put in that groove I'd buy it. Thanks for the comparison video.
I used to work for a company here in New Zealand that assembled two different brands of the same product the assembling line was next to each other and sometimes we just swapped out parts with each other if we were short of parts. 🙂🙂🙂
Great video Mike as always! I got a ridgid about 3 months ago Father’s Day sale at TTI or Direct Tools for $198 best deal ever for day an time! Was considering on of those at the time! By the way still need to reach out to you I will try this weekend about the Delta saw top!
I have a number of WEN tools and they are all actually quite satisfactory. Very heavy duty. My WEN belt sander is a beast. And they are not fly-by-night or using components that are weird and unattainable. I think they are a reasonable option for some tools in the shop.
I own a few WEN products and it's a company that I'd like to like even more. But like Harbor Freight, I don't purchase their more expensive items because of experience some of my close friends have had with customer service when things go south on their products. For budget items such as this sander, I'd gladly spend $15 or more for some quality control and assurance along with some responsive customer service and replacement/replacement parts. Budget offering will always have their place in our shops. While we're on the topic of budget friendly tools, I have a lot of Husky brand tools. I'd have to say that 70% of what is in my tool box is Husky and I've never been let down by them. Of course I'm no heavy duty diesel mechanic but a simple DIYer.
I would never buy a Wen anything, but there's no doubt it's an almost exact duplicate of the Ridgid, with an improvement: the double locking table knobs, and the better spring steel. In Canada, I just checked my Home Depot website. The Wen is a special order, and more expensive than the Ridgid!
I have every Ridgid tool that I bought back in the 80's including the sander. I say go with the ridgid if you don't want to replace it in 2-5 years. WEN's are Harbor Freight caliber tools.
Had this for 2 yrs, finally put it to a full task of edge sanding a 2-inch thick ash board 3-ft long. The motor burned up halfway through the second board. It worked great on small projects but this was too much.
I had a blue version of this machine from Machine Mart. The motor fell to bits after not very much use. There are several retailers of Oscillating Spindle sanders. They all look the same other than the colour of the case.
Could the uneven chamfer be the result of the belt sander not being square with the table top? If the workpiece isn't perfectly perpendicular to the belt, then one corner is going to touch the belt first and when enough material has been sanded away, the other corner will touch the belt. When you pull the piece away from the belt, one corner spent more time against the belt than the other, giving you an uneven result. Not sure you could do anything about it, but that seems to be the cause.
This is my thoughts also. If your interested check out my Ridgid sander vid. I remove the belt and run the belt drive with a square on it to see how square it stays when oscillating. It isn’t perfect but its better than I expected. Thanks for the comment!
Good review and comparison. As a hobby woodworker I own several WEN tools and have no regrets. I also own a Rigid 6” jointer that is good but the Rigid job site table saw I bought wasn’t very good (I returned it).
Thank you! I have a few Wen tools now and they are cheaply made for sure. All function properly and none have failed so there is that. Definitely not a bad option for occasional use. Thanks for the comment!
I have a Wen track saw and it's been great. I will say the anti kick back lock can be a pain until you get used to it but I got annoyed and removed it because I get annoyed easy LOL! Also it uses the same track saw track as most other brands like Makita, Triton and Festool.
I put the Wen on a festool track and it fit very tight and felt like it was binding. I didn’t force it because the Festool track was borrowed from a friend. Possibly it was just the anti kick back cam causing it but I decided I didn’t want to buy him a new expensive track so I let it go. Thanks for watching!
That’s awesome! I was looking at, dare I say vintage, WEN tools on eBay not too long ago. USA made and based in Chicago if I remember correctly. Almost ordered one for the channel. Maybe one day. Thanks for watching!
a comment a few days ago mentioned this: "The Ridged, Wen, Harbor Freight and Jet sanders, drill presses and several other bench top tools are all made in the same factory in China."
The real question is are these two identical "under the hood". Are the bearings the same? Are the bearing mounts in cheap thin plastic that will eventually loosen? Are the motors the same or is one better than the other? Given the fit and finish compromises made on the easy to see stuff, I'd be surprised if the Wen didn't make more compromises in these areas too.
The wen is the twin brother of the Grizzly oscillating sander. Most of the Wen products are Grizzly twins. The Manuel has alot of the same info. The manuel for Grizzly does go more in depth. And most part numbers are the same.
Your review is great and gets to the heart of the matter - is the cheaper tool enough for the needs of the shop? For a professional cabinetmaker probably neither of these will be good enough. For the home shop it is pretty much a toss up between them. I have a few Wen tools and I notice there is a lot of plastic. But they do the job and the plastic actually lightens the tool. The Ridgid does have a lifetime warranty but the average home shop will likely not need it. So despite the warranty, for the price difference and portability I will take the Wen. Thanks for the excellent review.
I've been doing woodworking since 1980 when I learned it in high school woodshop class. In the mid-90's I purchased the Ryobi Oscillating Spindle Sander for about $400 and thought it was a good deal at the time, they were new to the market. The plastic piece that held the belt in place that forced the up and down motion kept on breaking. I ordered the piece from Ryboi three times as it would only last about a year. I should have ordered 20 of them because later Ryobi stopped producing the sander and stopped making the part. So, this leads me to your review, based on opening up the sander for both the Ridged and Wen products, what pieces do you believe would be the first to break and need replacement? I would recommend woodworkers to purchase replacement pieces and keep them handy for replacement. My Ryobi still works, but does not move up and down at all, it also makes a loud noise due to the broken piece has no resistance. I'm thinking of going with the WEN, but I'm also curious as to which pieces should I order now for the future weak link in the product. I believe this should always be mentioned in a product review. My 1978 Sears and Roebuck Radial Arm saw, I have to 3d Print a piece for raising and lowering the saw because it breaks twice a year due to the resistance it receives. I 3d Print four of them at a time and it's a five minute replacement process. Of course Sears no longer makes any of the pieces for that saw, but I can find resin case pieces for it for about $30 a piece. So I 3d Print them for about $1.00 a piece. Your thoughts on the possible weakest link in the WEN and Ridged - sounds like a recommendation for your next video!
Hello! The plastic fan that keys onto the bottom of the spindle and drives the belt drive and the bracket the belt drive slots into opposite the spindle look like weak links to me. The Ridgid and Wen have the same basic design but I have not received a comment on either vid about someone breaking these parts. Both parts look like simple 3D printable parts. Good luck and thanks for watching!
You can get a factory blemish or factory reconditioned ridgid version at direct tools under $200 tough out the year sometimes you can order them via their website or at a store location
I have the same sander and also a WEN, drill Press, bandsaw and track saw. I can say that the only one I am not satisfied with is the bandsaw. Nothing I can do will make the saw trach straight. I'll just live with it until I can purchase a replacement.
No bandsaws on the channel yet but that should change soon probably with an emphasis on budget models and adjusting. They can be a pain for sure. Thanks for watching!
The Wen is cheaper but it doesn't have the "Life time service warranty" Do you want to buy it once or 2 - 3 times? I would spend the extra for the Ridgid, register it and forget about it.
They won't warrantee a design flaw and the Wen has several. I'm guessing the Ridgid does too but I need to look at one now that I see the design flaws with my Wen.
The uneven chamfers are caused (in your case) by the table being hinged up too high. In other words, the detents in the table angle adjustment are slightly off.
@@ProjectsForAllReviews If the same side stayed down against the table, the piece would end up as a thin slice of a very tall irregular pyramid. If you happen to flip the piece over while sanding (while assuming the table was at a right angle to the belt when it isnt) then the vertical vertex would be tilted to the right or the left.
On the very odd occasion I might wish to have an oscillating sander, I'd be more than happy with the cheaper Wen. It appears the Wen doesn't have a vertical plate beneath the sandpaper to hold a piece against while sanding-- hence the diminishing sanding angle. Does the Ridgid have that? We don't know how the Ridgid fares against the Wen on this, since no comparison was made. I've never looked at an oscillating sander in person, but I always assumed there was a rigid surface beneath the paper at some point to hold the paper at a firm 90deg. angle. Anyway, for the chamfers you were making, I'd just hold down a piece of sandpaper on my bench and rub the piece against it (unless I had to make 600 of these things). I sub'd, BTW...
Hello! Yes both brand belt attachments are basically the same with a rolling cylinder on each end and a vertical plate between them. Honestly I would probably do the chamfers just how you described. I did it this way on a project once just to check out the sander and got random chamfers and it sparked the Ridgid video. When I reviewed the Wen I did the same to see the result and both are the same. Random angled chamfers. Eventually I’ll revisit this and try to figure out why. Thanks for the comment and for the sub!
Thanks for the review. Up until recently, I've gotten by with a spokeshave, card scraper, rasps, sandpaper on dowels. For some gifts this year, I made bandsaw reindeer and had access to a spindle sander (several actually). It was handy for these gifts. Given how infrequently I am likely to need the tool, the Wen looks to be perfect. If I was doing "production" or batch work as a side hustle and it was going well, I'd likely go with a bigger unit anyway. Since I'm not, the Wen will do me just fine. Any thoughts on the Triton brand one?
I haven’t used the Triton spindle sander but I’ve studied pictures and it appears the Wen Triton and Bauer from HF are identical. I believe the Wen was the lowest price of the three though. It’s really not a bad unit for occasional use. Good luck. Thanks for watching!
This would be perfect for shaping a guitar body. These cheaper ones work just as well as the Ridgid which now costs an eye watering $320. Thanks for the comment!
Thx good review How is the dust collection on the Ridgid VS WEN ? I would have to use a reducer on the Ridgid. But I can grab a Ridgid for $110 in great shape bs WEN I would have to buy new
I honestly didn’t go too deep into dust collection on these and probably should have considering they are sanders. These vids are a little old but I remember both sanders dust collection being similar as both are basically the same design. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Any comment on the ergonomic trade-offs of the belts turning in opposite directions between the Rigid and Wen models? Depending if you are left or right handed, I'd think one would be more convenient for holding a piece against a spindle while the other is more convenient for working around the large curve of the large oscillating panel.
Ok, how hard would it be to replace the long carriage bolt on the Ridgid with a rod that you cut threads on both ends and put two knobs on it to secure the table?
WEN is certainly good enough for a hobby player like myself. You can get high quality results if you try. Certainly don't expect their stuff to last forever, but you don't pay such a price for them, so be it.
i do a lot of small boxes with lots of curved surfaces and i'm looking for a snader that would be better than my drill press. i'm torn between the ridgid and one of cheaper copies! the ridgid has been around for a long time and is well proven. i'm guessing they had a patent that ran out!
I found the Ridgid and this Wen to be so similar I don't think it would matter which you chose. The Ridgid is larger and gives you some extra space on the table that may be helpful. Thanks for watching and good luck with the decision!!
As with all things for consistency: patterns and jigs I feel if you made a jig for the chamfer, instead of free hand, you would have had more consistent results
Something very similar experience looking at manifold gauges for auto air conditioning a couple of years ago. There was one at Harbor Freight for $50 and others for various higher prices. If you looked closely at them it became very obvious the came out of the same factory. The only difference I could see was the color of some of the plastic pieces, the rest were identical as far as I could tell from the online pictures. I used to be in the air tool business and I can tell you that there are only about 5 companies in the world that can make air tools. How many brands are there? Lots more than 5. I'm sure the same thing goes for most other tools.
I see that the motor on the Wen is 3.5A as compared to the Ridgid that has 5A. Did you notice any difference in performance? BTW, the Wen is almost exactly like the Bauer at harbor freight.
And the whole head needs to be looked at. My screws stuck out and therefore the sanding surface is not flat. Also there is slop in the left side mount.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Rigid carry a lifetime warranty on their tools? That, to me, makes the choice easier. Sure they look somewhat the same, but the Rigid with it's larger table looks beefier. I guess it boils down to how much the consumer is willing to dole out?
Yes the Ridgid has the lifetime warranty. It does have a larger table but I wouldn’t say any of its components are beefier or more heavy duty. Definitely better quality materials and more refined. At almost twice the price of the Wen it’s a tough call. I’ve owned the Ridgid a couple years and like it but the Wen functions almost the same. Like I said, tough call. Thanks for watching!
I checked the price differance for when i buy my osolating sander and the price between the wen and rigid is only $20.00. I am definitely going to buy rigid. The $20.00 difference for a better warranty is worth it. Home depot sells both.
It would be interesting to put a square on the table and check the squareness of the shoe for the belt. I'm guessing the manufacture isn't too accurate.
Check out my Ridgid vid. I check it oscillating without the belt. Not perfect but better than I expected. Both machine produced identical sanding results. Thanks for watching!
It's way off and the detent spring is useless unless you work for the government. Also there is only 1 detent spring on the right and so the left side is praying that the base is not flexing. I like the on and off switch though. 😂
Curious about the warranty!!?? One of the biggest reasons I continue to go back to Ridgid is the Lifetime warranty that is available on most of their products. Wonder what the Wen warranty is??
WEN has a 2 year warranty on this sander. 90 days if used in a commercial application. Not as good as Ridgids but considerably less expensive to buy. Thanks for watching!
The first thing I'd suspect about the uneven chamfering test is that the spindle isn't square to the table. Kinda surprised you didn't check it for square. For me, that would be a deal breaker. After that, I'd suspect a cheap sanding belt. Get a premium belt and try the test again.
The spindle is square but off slightly when it oscillates. The cheap belt is a possibility for sure. I have not tried a good quality belt with either this or my Ridgid but it’s worth a try. Both sanders had identical results with the oem belts. Thanks for the comment!
That whole belt assembly has issues. There is slop in the left mount and the sanding surface screws are not flush and the metal stop bar out wood right in a transition spot from the sanding surface to the large roller. All can be fixed I believe. Going to work in it soon and might make a video.
I have a Wen shop air filtration / circulation systems which is almost exactly identical to the same unit sold with other names and paint colors. It has performed perfectly for two years now.
It's a shame about the taper/misalignment issue, because it's a deal breaker. I wonder if you put a square against the belt assembly and then the mounting/drive rod what that would reveal? If the oscillation mechanism could be shimmed or straightened it might be worth the effort.
Hello check out my Ridgid sander vid. I do exactly that, removed the belt and ran it with a square. Has some movement but was straighter than I thought it would be. Both sanders have exactly the same flaw when sanding. It’s a mystery to me. Thanks for the comment!
I've had two of this exact Wen model. Both had the uneven chamfer problem. The first one gave up the ghost when the lock down nut "welded" itself to the spindle and would not remove at all. I called Wen, and they shipped a new one quickly. They had me return the broken one in the box the new one came in so they could have engineers see what the problem was. Wen was excellent about the return. Knock on wood - no problems yet (about 3 years later) with the new one. BUT! - it too has the uneven chamfer problem. I checked spindle and belt squareness to the table - dead on. The problem seems to occur when pressure is applied to the spinning belt. It seems to flex just enough to cause the uneven chamfer. I do not believe it is a table problem, as I folded down the deck and tested everything again. Same result. I may disassemble it one day and try shimming the motor assembly in relation to the deck such that I can get an even chamfer. Sad that you have to do that, but I cannot afford an industrial grade unit. I just place a slight shim under the trailing edge of the workpiece before I feed it lightly into the belt; this helps a little.
Direct Tools just had this for $168+ $15 shipping factory blemished on 11/7. Ridgid is my go to for handheld tools and shop vacs due to their LSA and I'm really happy with this sander. The LSA is honestly pretty incredible, especially on something modular like this with all the moving pieces.
I'm not going to go hunting through the comments but the chamfer problem looks like the table is not perpendicular to the belt. I bought my Ridgid shortly after they changed the color to orange and it is literally impossible to get both ends of the table 90 degrees to the belt - if one side is correct, the other is not. I took the first one back thinking it was a fluke but the second one was the same way. Also, the degree markings/detents for bevel sanding are way off. I do like the larger table on the Ridgid.
My table is the same as you described. I’ve learned to live with its shortcomings. For the current $330 price I expect better than though. Thanks for watching!
You are so over the target with the left and right part. I'm thinking a custom base is in order.along with the sanding base modified to fix some issues with flatness and the screws sticking out
@@316woodworks9 I'm just surprised that this is still a problem, it's been like that for years now. If I ever get the time I'm going to look at removing the bolt that runs the length of the table and see if I can put a short bolt with a knob on each end of the table. I'm just too busy right now to look at it.
“…or a yellow cat you don’t trust.” LOL. Oh yeah, I’d trust a monkey more than MY yellow cat and cats don’t even have hands! Good review…thanks for sharing.
Makes you wonder if Wen is a Ridgid made tool that's entry level.. With all the companies owned by holding companies these days it's hard to tell who owns what
Dunno if this has already been stated in the comments or not... I have this exact same WEN belt/spindle sander. And, I had the exact same problem you did here with the uneven chamfers, etc. The problem is the folding table is not square at 90°. I had to remove that spring steel detent guide, and just tighten the two handles, after getting it squared up. Dunno if the "arms" are adjustable (so I could put that spring steel guide back on), but doing that fixed the issue with mine.
Thank you for the tip!
My first thought was, is the table 90° square. Saw your comment @asbrand
I haven't used one of these styles belt and spindle sanders before so I am shooting in the dark here.
But After looking at the video and some photos I'm wondering if there is enough play between the screw and the spring detent to make an adjustment. Thought process is loosen up the handles and the screw on the detent. Then with a square hold the table 90° to the sander. Then tighten the detent screw. Don't know if it will work but just a thought.
I used to work for the company when they had assembly plants in the US. I saw what went into the tools and was pleased to see just how sturdy they were. Nice to see there's still a budget option for the hobbyist/homeowner.😎
"I used to work for the company when they had assembly plants in the US." Which one? Ridgid or Wen?
I have this. I also have a Wen track saw and the 8" Wen jointer; they all do their jobs just fine. Pay attention to setup and check everything that can be checked, and there's a really good chance you're absolutely golden.
I have the orange brand version of this oscillating spindle sander and has something I thought was going to be a gimmick is now something I use in my shop almost daily
That miter slot is very handy, but overlooked by most reviewers I've seen. When I had the Ridgid, I would put a speed square in there and use it to clean up perfect 90s. Could also use to trim/clean up 45s, etc. Very very useful feature that is woefully lacking on all other models that I've seen.
Thanks for watching!
I was literally planning on buying this Wen later this afternoon, but saw your video and had to watch it before I bought it. Thanks, Im going to go ahead and get it. 🙏✝️🇺🇸
Good luck with the new sander! Thanks for watching!
I bought the smaller WEN portable oscillating sander (HA5932)... it is exactly the same as several of the higher priced sanders, including the very expensive Rocker sold Triton (at nearly 3x the cost). All are made by the same company and I have no complaints about their use or abilities.
This 6524 is next on my list, as it is a bit larger and offers the flat sanding abilities in a stand model.
Great video! And to answer your question as to who came first, Ridgid was first by a long shot but from what I've learned they are all made by the same factory in China. The company took the Rigid design then streamlined it and now OEM's it to anyone who wants to put their brand on it. You can find the exact same sander as the WEN being sold as Bauer, Grizzly, Triton, and several other generic names. I've had an older Ridgid, two WEN's (for two locations) and the Bauer. I honestly can't see any performance difference. In fact I like the more compact size of the smaller sanders. Ridgid just changed suppliers and they are now sourcing stationary tools from the company that bought Delta so there is a new design on the sander but I haven't tried that one.
Hello Den of Tools! If you google Sealy UK sander you'll find another one in another color. I'd love to know how many are out there and in how many countries. Not sure how companies justify the price difference. Ive seen that Ridgid redesign but haven't used it yet. Looks cool for what it's worth. You have a great channel and I appreciate you checking out mine.
@@ProjectsForAllReviews I've been following these sanders for a few years and the business model is fairly odd. They seem to only do batch processing, even with the Ridgid. There will be months and months where any given model will be out of stock. Then when they come back they are usually full price and after a few months we start to see sales. Then they are gone again. Really odd.
I got the wen and I love it, had it about 4 years. Wood or Metal it hasn't let me down.
Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!
I have the 12" drill press and 10" band saw. Totally agree with your fit/finish observations. I use them just for occasional work. Had them both 5 years and no problems. If I was a cabinet maker or someone who ran them into the ground every day I'd probably want more quality and precision, but for my DIY/hobby use of them they certainly were worth the $.
Hello Kris! While these definitely aren’t contractor grade tools I’ve found every WEN tool I’ve used to be totally serviceable and often for half the price of the next competitor! Looking forward to the next WEN review. Thanks for watching!
I am in the same boat, looking to make guitars as a hobby. I can't decide if I need the 10" band saw over the 9". I'd love to be able to resaw 6" maple for bookmatched tops, but it is worth the extra money for something I'll do a few times a year?
@@Gregatron13 Hello! I would just make sure it can really do the resaw if your going to spend the money for that reason. Small band saws are not usually very powerful. We might have the new Skil Benchtop band saw on the channel soon. Waiting to hear back. Good luck!
I've had the orange version of this tool for over 4 years. It works very nicely and has great accessory storage. I have several Wen tools and they are all excellent for my hobby woodworking.
I've got the drill press with the digital RPM control, and she's lovely, especially considering I don't use my drill press /that/ much. If I were doing this professionally, and needed absolute precision every time, I'd probably have a Powermatic, or something like that, but for my hobby where I plan on making enough mistakes that I always just buy 20% more stock, and the only client I have to satisfy is myself... (so patching a bad drill hole with a dowel, and trying again is ALWAYS an option) the Wen is more than enough tool for most of my needs.
Hopefully we’ll get some budget drill press for reviews soon. Thanks for watching!
an old bicycle innertube cut down into a small piece of tubing would likely sit over the exhaust port and give you an inexpensive nice snug fit for your shop vac hose.
That trick's also good for other incompatibility issues on exhaust ports and vac hoses.
Yep that would work. My go to is electrical tape. I bought the 12 pack last time I ran out and use it for everything! Thanks for watching!
@@ProjectsForAllReviews no probs. Good video :)
I have had this sander in my shop for a little more than two years and use it on just about every piece of scroll saw art I make. It has performed well so far. For the price, IMHO, it is the best buy.
I have never seen a table sander, other than the ShopSmith, that would put an even chamfer on a piece. If it needs a chamfer, it goes to the router table.
I agree Bob! Thanks for watching!
I have several Wen tools and have been happy with every one and saved a lot of money in the process.
I feel the same way! Dirt cheap and pretty good. Thanks for watching!
Check the platen surface of the belt attachment. I am thinking there is some cupping in the belt itself which is not giving even tension across belt width. Try placing flat pieces to elevate where the work is contacting the belt. I have a WEN track saw on another brand 100" track. Works great and am very happy with it.
Thank you for the comparison. I'm more on the budget aware side and couldn't see the difference. I like the features of the WEN and that will be my choice. Funny that one of my thoughts was, save the money by buying the WEN and get a new drill. Great Minds!
I own several WEN tools, including this sander, and they have all met my expectations and have held up pretty well so far. This sander is good enough that I think it would be a toss-up as to the better machine between the Ridgid and the WEN. WEN wins on price though.
I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a Wen tool based on the good experiences I’ve had so far. I’m sure there will be many more Wen review next year! Thanks for watching!
When I started turning I wasn't trying to spend thousands to find out it wasn't for me, so I bought a cheap wen lathe and I still use it all the time. It doesn't have any bells or whistles but it's a decent little starter lathe and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to get started in turning.
That’s one of the great advantages to these inexpensive tools. Low cost of entry and the ability to try new things. I’ve never used a wood lathe but would be a fun review video to make. Thanks for watching!
I bought one. Didn't really know how to operate one. Word of advice. If the belt rides up, it's on too tight, loosen it a bit and it will stay in place.
My wife bought me this one for Christmas. Can't wait to unbox it. I won't have to read the directions now...lol. Great video and thanks for it.
Glad I helped! Good luck with the new sander!
@@ProjectsForAllReviews It's about 7 months now and I still love it. The only problem I've had is trying to loosen the knob to change spindles. I think maybe I've had the belt part of the sander on too long.
Thanks for this. The Wen is on sale for Amazon Prime Days for $137. I'm getting it!
Great video!! You can adjust the tilt of the table to get a 90 degree bevel.
The throat plate for using the drums, where it dips down, you could just put some painter's tape on the tabs or plate to raise it up to level
It definitely appears those were both made by same parent company (they're based in Taiwan, and that's also how they achieve such quality at such a low price.). From your comparison video, which was very well done, I'm now leaning to Rigid version of the tool, for 2 reasons; that handy dandy miter slot you pointed out, and the larger table area. Dimensionally it is similar to most 13-in planers and it could share the same flip-top-cart as the thickness planer.
Glad the vid helped! Good luck with the new sander!
I think it's because the sandpapers extending slightly above the edge of the table on the upstroke. So you're getting the rolled Edge effect, from the edge of the belt.
But that's just a guess.
The Wen is back with its owner but I have my Ridgid and we’ll probably do a follow up vid soon where I try to solve some of its issues. Possibly using all the suggestions from the comments. Thanks for watching!
Good guess. I am also thinking this is true. I'm in bed now and just got done looking for all the issues with flat sanding but I know what you are getting at. Raising the base with your own surface should fix that part but look for my recent post on Dec 28.2022 about all the issues I found in general. It needs some engineering
I own a few WEN tools and I've been pleased with them and how well they work !
A little duct tape on the dust collection port makes a nice gasket and helps when hoses are slightly off.
Duct tape is our friend! Thanks for watching!
I added a 12 inch tube and made sure it's sealed at the base. The other end has a PVC sleeve that's been heated to fits my vac hose. There are other options though
I've been looking at the Wen and the Bauer, which are identical except in color. But after watching your videos on this one and the Rigid, I think I will go with a regular spindle sander.
I already have a belt and disc combo, so I'm not seeing much need for an oscillating belt sander that doesn't sand straight.
Thanks.
Smart! There’s no advantage to these really in your case. I wish I’d bought a belt/disc instead of the Ridgid but that’s not the tools fault. Eventually I’ll figure out how to sand something straight. Thanks as always!
I also have a HFT 4 x 36" belt/ 6" disc sander. Got it back when they still had coupons for $65. I like it OK for my hobby shop. But...I got spoiled years ago when I worked in a shop with both a Delta/Rockwell 6x48" (flat and vertical) and a 6" x 89" oscillating belt sander which was horizontal. 95% of the time I went to the big boy, because the oscillating action virtually eliminated sanding marks. I am giving serious consideration to picking up one of these.
I bought the Wen oscillating spindle sander about 18mo ago. Like mentioned...finish was a bit rough, but the working surfaces were just fine. I spent about an hour with a 6" mill bastard file and a foam sanding block doing cleanup. At this price point, I expect it. I've had no small experience with HFT, and already have my files, abrasives and a jug of VM&P ready when I open a new box with a tool in it 😉
@@woodrowsmith3400 Yep, buying budget tools will always mean spending more time getting them up to par, and people need to keep their expectations in check.
I think it is a universal rule of life,.. you can either spend the money, or you can spend the time.
When you don't have much money, it makes the decision much easier. Hahaha!
The Ridged, Wen, Harbor Freight and Jet sanders, drill presses and several other bench top tools are all made in the same factory in China. Just rebranded with minor differences for different manufacturers. I know this because I know the purchasing manager for Wen. Their corporate office is very near where I live
I own the Harbor Freight model and based on this video, they are exactly the same.
@@burtreynolds3143 I own a blue one sold by Machine Mart UK. Motor packed up. Inside one of the magnets was rattling around lose.
Made by Clarke. That’s awesome. I wonder how many clones of this one sander are out there.
They are all made in the same Chinese factory with the different brands on them.
To date, I have purchass a Wen jig saw, an 8" variable speed bench grinder s(well made), a 3/8" portable battery powered drill along with an extra, more powerful battery, a 3 gallon shop vacuum and an electric pressure washer. The pressure washer is not powerful and I wanted less power so I don't tear up any siding or remove what shouldn't be removed as a gas powered unit can do. It is light, convenienty and gets done my chores from siding to concrete walks and driveway. They have a quite a variety of products. I have zero complaints about any of them and will look towards Wen for all my power tool needs.
I’ve also had good experiences with Wen tools. Better thank expected for the price at least. Thanks for watching!!
Something I recently learned - but not 100% sure if it's correct - is that Wen will not (or is very reluctant to) honor their warranty from products bought through Amazon.
On another note, the Bauer brand from Harbor Freight appears to be exactly the same as the Wen. Price is pretty much the same, too. Harbor Freight has a much easier warranty to deal with - especially if you have a HF store nearby.
I’m the same way about Wen. I bought their 12” drill press awhile back. It’s just ok. I think I’d rather pick up a used Ridgid spindle sander than investing in another Wen. Good video👍
Thank you for your review. I’ve been setting up my shop for the last 3 months and honestly I’ve not even considered wen tools because of how cheap they are. I finally watched a few reviews of wen tools and after reading reviews I’m convinced they are just fine. Almost 100% of reviews are very positive. Just ordered the air ventilation system and will be ordering the spindle sander so thanks again for putting this video out there
I have the cheapest Wen ceiling mounted air filter and it’s been really great. I use it all the time and recently forgot it on for a few days, no problems. Thanks for watching!
I've got the latest version of the WEN track saw and it's really nice.
I like that saw also. Check out my review here:
How Cheap Is Too Cheap?? || Wen Track Saw CT1065 || Review
ruclips.net/video/NfJKkrPq4B4/видео.html
Thanks for watching!
Changing the direction of the belt means that the LH thread on the Ridgid is not needed- personally I prefer the sanding direction on the non-Ridgid versions. Lots of makes, otherwise virtually identical. I paid a little more for light grey, 'cos I do not like orange (the cheapest version in the UK). A missing item is a right angle fence- so I made one. Also removed the trailing cord, and fitted an IEC connector. Hose connector changed to DeWalt AirLock (best hose connector system on the market). Very happy with it.
Ok, I did some digging in the Wen belt/spindle sander. The spring detent in the right side is not set to 90 degrees. Just like most tools. I I loosened 1 screw and removed the other, flipped it away and put the screw back in and tightened the others one with the spring, so I don't loose them. I played around with my precision square I trust and found that the left and right sides both need adjusting separately because the base has some flex and maybe not totally flat. I then inspected the belt sanding unit and it has issues. First, the left mounting arm that slides into the plastic has a tone of flex. This would matter for 90 top to bottom, as long as it flexes in the same plane but when using the metal stop bar, it might matter for the horizontal plane compared to the tip of stock resting on that metal stop. Next the metal stop moves and is not to be trusted. Totally needs to be modified. Then I found that the screws holding the belt sanding head are NOT flush with the surface we are counting on. Either drilling a better bevel for the recessed screws with a metal counter sink but or sandind down the screw heads might work. I urge great thought into how you tackle this and take your time. Get it all flat either way but dint blame me if you F.U.B.A.R. it! Also, the metal stop puts positions the wood right where the sanding head and it's large roller meet and that creates a bad area for small pieces to get pushed in and leaving an uneven sanding job. This problem seems hardest to fix but maybe simply making an new stop bar that won't allow any wood to to be pressed in that area when the face and roller meet would be in order. In all cases, this video helped a lot because it's been driving me nuts. I urge everyone to read what I typed and go look at each issue. I think everyone will agree on these real issues. I do believe they can all be fixed with some time and thought. I might be encouraged to make a video showing each issue and later making a video on how I fixed each one. I sure would love to read comments from anyone one the same page and their ideas! I really hope this helps! Oh, Im also considering makings some sides to help with dust. Maybe something that is adjustable depending on what I'm doing. Also, I made a 12 inch dongle for the vacuum port with heated PVC that fits my hose. I'm going to look into the DeWalt hose attachments as some one mentioned here. Good luck. It is a nice machine but needs some love and a little more engineering!
@@316woodworks9 I agree that the provided stop is poor- it is placed as an end stop for side sanding, where is will give maximum sanding length. It is useless as a side support for end sanding, as you say. For this I made my own fence, that fits from the front of the table to the belt, mounted further to the left.
At the price-point this tool is sold, I did not expect precision; I view it as a roughing sander, rather than for finishing. Having said that, there is a lot to be said for modifying it for better performance. I am either fortunate, or my branding company imposes more QC, but the belt is square to the table at the larger cylinder, and leans in slightly at the top at the smaller. Given the belt tensioning required, a better tolerance would require a more expensive design. Applying force when sanding causes the assembly to flex (it is single ended support) so best to minimize pressure near the end of sanding. My table required no adjustment, it was as true as any die-cast alloy structure is likely to be.
When I was (much) younger, I had few tools; my sanding equipment consisted of a flexible disk in my electric drill. Crude as this sounds, much practice allowed me to sand to a satisfactory level. I would sand bevels on curved surfaces free-style. One develops a feel for the process, holding the workpiece in one hand, the drill in the other. Some of this feel transfers to the much more controllable sanding on a tool like this- I do not fully rely on the tool to get all the angles right.
If it is built the same way as my Triton, the potential cause for the surface not being perpendicular could be that you running the sanding belt too low. On my Trition, the belt sanding attachment has a ledge at the bottom. If the sand paper goes below that point it will slight tilt, making the surface to uneven.
Thanks for the insight and for watching!
I never saw a belt sander and I have worked in several kitchen cabinet shops that did exactly what they were supposed to do
Until they got modified. Right? ;)
The chamfer variation could be attributed to the work surface not being at right angles to the sanding surface. Are you happy with your purchase of the Wen?
I've worn out several Ridgid sanders and keep with them.The Wen looks like a mirror image of the orange monster. The Wen socialites faster than the Ridgid. Uneven chamfer due to table not being at 90 degrees to the sander? Prefer the Rdigid spindle knob versus the Wen nut. Orange rocks!
I have the Wen 10 inch drill press and the belt sander. No problems with either. Looking at planers and considering the Wen.
I haven’t used the planer yet but I’m sure we’ll get one to test eventually. Thanks for the comment Daniel!
I have the planer and it can get bogged down on wide boards from 10 -12 in wide even just removing 1/64 in per pass other than that I am happy with it.
The difference in chamfer width, is due to the belt not being perfectly square to the table surface. The table "might" be able to be shimmed in order to get 90 degrees.
I have used both the Rigid and the Bauer version of this. The biggest notable different is the work top, the Rigid has a bigger top.
how is the Bauer?
Well I like the Ridgid because it has a groove in the tabletop for your miter square along with better control of your wood piece either the piece being vertical or horizontally. If Wen put in that groove I'd buy it. Thanks for the comparison video.
I agree the miter slot is a huge advantage. Wen dropped the ball there. Thanks for watching!
I used to work for a company here in New Zealand that assembled two different brands of the same product the assembling line was next to each other and sometimes we just swapped out parts with each other if we were short of parts. 🙂🙂🙂
Great video Mike as always! I got a ridgid about 3 months ago Father’s Day sale at TTI or Direct Tools for $198 best deal ever for day an time! Was considering on of those at the time! By the way still need to reach out to you I will try this weekend about the Delta saw top!
That’s a great price for the Ridgid and more inline with what I think is a fair price for that unit. Thanks as always Michael!
I have a number of WEN tools and they are all actually quite satisfactory. Very heavy duty. My WEN belt sander is a beast. And they are not fly-by-night or using components that are weird and unattainable. I think they are a reasonable option for some tools in the shop.
I agree! Thanks for watching!
I have the Grizzly version, got it on sale last year for $179. Solid machine.
I own a few WEN products and it's a company that I'd like to like even more. But like Harbor Freight, I don't purchase their more expensive items because of experience some of my close friends have had with customer service when things go south on their products. For budget items such as this sander, I'd gladly spend $15 or more for some quality control and assurance along with some responsive customer service and replacement/replacement parts. Budget offering will always have their place in our shops.
While we're on the topic of budget friendly tools, I have a lot of Husky brand tools. I'd have to say that 70% of what is in my tool box is Husky and I've never been let down by them. Of course I'm no heavy duty diesel mechanic but a simple DIYer.
I would never buy a Wen anything, but there's no doubt it's an almost exact duplicate of the Ridgid, with an improvement: the double locking table knobs, and the better spring steel.
In Canada, I just checked my Home Depot website. The Wen is a special order, and more expensive than the Ridgid!
I have every Ridgid tool that I bought back in the 80's including the sander. I say go with the ridgid if you don't want to replace it in 2-5 years. WEN's are Harbor Freight caliber tools.
I appreciate your layed back honest personally. I can relate
Thanks for watching Brian!
Had this for 2 yrs, finally put it to a full task of edge sanding a 2-inch thick ash board 3-ft long. The motor burned up halfway through the second board. It worked great on small projects but this was too much.
I had a blue version of this machine from Machine Mart. The motor fell to bits after not very much use. There are several retailers of Oscillating Spindle sanders. They all look the same other than the colour of the case.
I saw that one made by Clarke. I wonder how many different versions are out there. Could be dozens! Thanks for watching!
Could the uneven chamfer be the result of the belt sander not being square with the table top? If the workpiece isn't perfectly perpendicular to the belt, then one corner is going to touch the belt first and when enough material has been sanded away, the other corner will touch the belt. When you pull the piece away from the belt, one corner spent more time against the belt than the other, giving you an uneven result. Not sure you could do anything about it, but that seems to be the cause.
This is my thoughts also. If your interested check out my Ridgid sander vid. I remove the belt and run the belt drive with a square on it to see how square it stays when oscillating. It isn’t perfect but its better than I expected. Thanks for the comment!
Good review and comparison. As a hobby woodworker I own several WEN tools and have no regrets. I also own a Rigid 6” jointer that is good but the Rigid job site table saw I bought wasn’t very good (I returned it).
Thank you! I have a few Wen tools now and they are cheaply made for sure. All function properly and none have failed so there is that. Definitely not a bad option for occasional use. Thanks for the comment!
I have a Wen track saw and it's been great. I will say the anti kick back lock can be a pain until you get used to it but I got annoyed and removed it because I get annoyed easy LOL! Also it uses the same track saw track as most other brands like Makita, Triton and Festool.
I put the Wen on a festool track and it fit very tight and felt like it was binding. I didn’t force it because the Festool track was borrowed from a friend. Possibly it was just the anti kick back cam causing it but I decided I didn’t want to buy him a new expensive track so I let it go. Thanks for watching!
my brother bought a Wen hand drill over 55 years ago, still works but never used anymore.
That’s awesome! I was looking at, dare I say vintage, WEN tools on eBay not too long ago. USA made and based in Chicago if I remember correctly. Almost ordered one for the channel. Maybe one day. Thanks for watching!
I have the Bauer, and I'm pretty sure all of these are OEM'd out of the same factory. (Wen, Bauer, Triton)
I agree! There is zero difference as far as I can tell from pics of the others. Thanks for watching again!
a comment a few days ago mentioned this: "The Ridged, Wen, Harbor Freight and Jet sanders, drill presses and several other bench top tools are all made in the same factory in China."
The real question is are these two identical "under the hood". Are the bearings the same? Are the bearing mounts in cheap thin plastic that will eventually loosen? Are the motors the same or is one better than the other? Given the fit and finish compromises made on the easy to see stuff, I'd be surprised if the Wen didn't make more compromises in these areas too.
I agree Chris! Unfortunately this Wen wasn’t mine so no disassembly was possible but I wonder the same thing. Thanks for watching!
Cheaper tools do require a little more set up to get them just right and possibly a finer grit sandpaper.
The wen is the twin brother of the Grizzly oscillating sander. Most of the Wen products are Grizzly twins. The Manuel has alot of the same info. The manuel for Grizzly does go more in depth. And most part numbers are the same.
Your review is great and gets to the heart of the matter - is the cheaper tool enough for the needs of the shop? For a professional cabinetmaker probably neither of these will be good enough. For the home shop it is pretty much a toss up between them. I have a few Wen tools and I notice there is a lot of plastic. But they do the job and the plastic actually lightens the tool. The Ridgid does have a lifetime warranty but the average home shop will likely not need it. So despite the warranty, for the price difference and portability I will take the Wen. Thanks for the excellent review.
Thanks for the comment!
I've been doing woodworking since 1980 when I learned it in high school woodshop class. In the mid-90's I purchased the Ryobi Oscillating Spindle Sander for about $400 and thought it was a good deal at the time, they were new to the market. The plastic piece that held the belt in place that forced the up and down motion kept on breaking. I ordered the piece from Ryboi three times as it would only last about a year. I should have ordered 20 of them because later Ryobi stopped producing the sander and stopped making the part. So, this leads me to your review, based on opening up the sander for both the Ridged and Wen products, what pieces do you believe would be the first to break and need replacement? I would recommend woodworkers to purchase replacement pieces and keep them handy for replacement. My Ryobi still works, but does not move up and down at all, it also makes a loud noise due to the broken piece has no resistance. I'm thinking of going with the WEN, but I'm also curious as to which pieces should I order now for the future weak link in the product. I believe this should always be mentioned in a product review. My 1978 Sears and Roebuck Radial Arm saw, I have to 3d Print a piece for raising and lowering the saw because it breaks twice a year due to the resistance it receives. I 3d Print four of them at a time and it's a five minute replacement process. Of course Sears no longer makes any of the pieces for that saw, but I can find resin case pieces for it for about $30 a piece. So I 3d Print them for about $1.00 a piece. Your thoughts on the possible weakest link in the WEN and Ridged - sounds like a recommendation for your next video!
Hello! The plastic fan that keys onto the bottom of the spindle and drives the belt drive and the bracket the belt drive slots into opposite the spindle look like weak links to me. The Ridgid and Wen have the same basic design but I have not received a comment on either vid about someone breaking these parts. Both parts look like simple 3D printable parts. Good luck and thanks for watching!
I didn't hear you mention anything about the motor size. Are they the same? That is probably the one part that will end up going out over time.
Good question but I don’t know. If the Wen was mine I would have disassembled both to see if they have the same internals. Thanks for the comment!
In my opinion the motor is pretty solid. I would like to see 20-25 percent more power to give it a 5 star motor rating.
Thank you for the honest comparisons.
Thanks for watching!
Believe the motor amps and ram is different too please let us know thanks for the show
You can get a factory blemish or factory reconditioned ridgid version at direct tools under $200 tough out the year sometimes you can order them via their website or at a store location
Yep. It’s on the site as a blem for $224.95. That’s a good deal! I think I saw it at the Depot last week for $330. Thanks for the tip!
I got one for 168 to my door earlier in the year factory blemish
I have the same sander and also a WEN, drill Press, bandsaw and track saw. I can say that the only one I am not satisfied with is the bandsaw. Nothing I can do will make the saw trach straight. I'll just live with it until I can purchase a replacement.
No bandsaws on the channel yet but that should change soon probably with an emphasis on budget models and adjusting. They can be a pain for sure. Thanks for watching!
The Wen is cheaper but it doesn't have the "Life time service warranty" Do you want to buy it once or 2 - 3 times? I would spend the extra for the Ridgid, register it and forget about it.
They won't warrantee a design flaw and the Wen has several. I'm guessing the Ridgid does too but I need to look at one now that I see the design flaws with my Wen.
The uneven chamfers are caused (in your case) by the table being hinged up too high. In other words, the detents in the table angle adjustment are slightly off.
Possibly but the randomness of the chamfer is what confuses me. We’ll re-readdress this in another vid eventually. Thanks for watching!
@@ProjectsForAllReviews
If the same side stayed down against the table, the piece would end up as a thin slice of a very tall irregular pyramid.
If you happen to flip the piece over while sanding (while assuming the table was at a right angle to the belt when it isnt) then the vertical vertex would be tilted to the right or the left.
One down side. There's no miter gauge slot. I use it extensively on my Ridgid.
Agreed it can be very useful. Thanks for watching!
Great video, very informative, I am a diy er and homeowner, cant break the bank.
Thank you!!!
On the very odd occasion I might wish to have an oscillating sander, I'd be more than happy with the cheaper Wen. It appears the Wen doesn't have a vertical plate beneath the sandpaper to hold a piece against while sanding-- hence the diminishing sanding angle. Does the Ridgid have that? We don't know how the Ridgid fares against the Wen on this, since no comparison was made. I've never looked at an oscillating sander in person, but I always assumed there was a rigid surface beneath the paper at some point to hold the paper at a firm 90deg. angle. Anyway, for the chamfers you were making, I'd just hold down a piece of sandpaper on my bench and rub the piece against it (unless I had to make 600 of these things).
I sub'd, BTW...
Hello! Yes both brand belt attachments are basically the same with a rolling cylinder on each end and a vertical plate between them. Honestly I would probably do the chamfers just how you described. I did it this way on a project once just to check out the sander and got random chamfers and it sparked the Ridgid video. When I reviewed the Wen I did the same to see the result and both are the same. Random angled chamfers. Eventually I’ll revisit this and try to figure out why. Thanks for the comment and for the sub!
Thanks for the review. Up until recently, I've gotten by with a spokeshave, card scraper, rasps, sandpaper on dowels. For some gifts this year, I made bandsaw reindeer and had access to a spindle sander (several actually). It was handy for these gifts. Given how infrequently I am likely to need the tool, the Wen looks to be perfect. If I was doing "production" or batch work as a side hustle and it was going well, I'd likely go with a bigger unit anyway. Since I'm not, the Wen will do me just fine. Any thoughts on the Triton brand one?
I haven’t used the Triton spindle sander but I’ve studied pictures and it appears the Wen Triton and Bauer from HF are identical. I believe the Wen was the lowest price of the three though. It’s really not a bad unit for occasional use. Good luck. Thanks for watching!
Another piece of equipment by wen that i’d use in guitar building which doesnt need to be $1000 to do its job. I like having the options.
This would be perfect for shaping a guitar body. These cheaper ones work just as well as the Ridgid which now costs an eye watering $320. Thanks for the comment!
Thx good review
How is the dust collection on the Ridgid VS WEN ?
I would have to use a reducer on the Ridgid. But I can grab a Ridgid for $110 in great shape bs WEN I would have to buy new
I honestly didn’t go too deep into dust collection on these and probably should have considering they are sanders. These vids are a little old but I remember both sanders dust collection being similar as both are basically the same design. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Any comment on the ergonomic trade-offs of the belts turning in opposite directions between the Rigid and Wen models? Depending if you are left or right handed, I'd think one would be more convenient for holding a piece against a spindle while the other is more convenient for working around the large curve of the large oscillating panel.
I used both of there’s sanders back to back and honestly I barely noticed the difference. I think you would be fine either way. Thanks for watching!
Ok, how hard would it be to replace the long carriage bolt on the Ridgid with a rod that you cut threads on both ends and put two knobs on it to secure the table?
WEN is certainly good enough for a hobby player like myself. You can get high quality results if you try. Certainly don't expect their stuff to last forever, but you don't pay such a price for them, so be it.
i do a lot of small boxes with lots of curved surfaces and i'm looking for a snader that would be better than my drill press. i'm torn between the ridgid and one of cheaper copies!
the ridgid has been around for a long time and is well proven. i'm guessing they had a patent that ran out!
I found the Ridgid and this Wen to be so similar I don't think it would matter which you chose. The Ridgid is larger and gives you some extra space on the table that may be helpful. Thanks for watching and good luck with the decision!!
@@ProjectsForAllReviews i bought the ridgid, the bigger table area was the main factor
As with all things for consistency: patterns and jigs
I feel if you made a jig for the chamfer, instead of free hand, you would have had more consistent results
I agree but as the the previous commenter said there’s no miter slot on this one making jigs a little tough. Thanks for the comment!
Totally true!
Something very similar experience looking at manifold gauges for auto air conditioning a couple of years ago. There was one at Harbor Freight for $50 and others for various higher prices. If you looked closely at them it became very obvious the came out of the same factory. The only difference I could see was the color of some of the plastic pieces, the rest were identical as far as I could tell from the online pictures. I used to be in the air tool business and I can tell you that there are only about 5 companies in the world that can make air tools. How many brands are there? Lots more than 5. I'm sure the same thing goes for most other tools.
It’s an interesting industry for all the cloning and rebranding for sure! Thanks for watching!
Triton, HF, and Grizzly all seem to be essentially the same. I wonder if there are motor & fit 'n finish differences.
I see that the motor on the Wen is 3.5A as compared to the Ridgid that has 5A. Did you notice any difference in performance? BTW, the Wen is almost exactly like the Bauer at harbor freight.
No performance difference that I could tell. If I hadn't seen the spec I would have thought they were the same. Thanks for watching!
The front shelf needs to be squared up to the belt for an even chamfer.
And the whole head needs to be looked at. My screws stuck out and therefore the sanding surface is not flat. Also there is slop in the left side mount.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Rigid carry a lifetime warranty on their tools? That, to me, makes the choice easier. Sure they look somewhat the same, but the Rigid with it's larger table looks beefier. I guess it boils down to how much the consumer is willing to dole out?
Yes the Ridgid has the lifetime warranty. It does have a larger table but I wouldn’t say any of its components are beefier or more heavy duty. Definitely better quality materials and more refined. At almost twice the price of the Wen it’s a tough call. I’ve owned the Ridgid a couple years and like it but the Wen functions almost the same. Like I said, tough call. Thanks for watching!
I checked the price differance for when i buy my osolating sander and the price between the wen and rigid is only $20.00. I am definitely going to buy rigid. The $20.00 difference for a better warranty is worth it.
Home depot sells both.
I see $202 for the Wen and $329 for the Ridgid at Home Depot. Possible you saw a sale? Thanks for watching!
@@ProjectsForAllReviews I am in Canada maybe that is why the price differance.
The Wen cost more vs Rigid at the moment... dunno if all the promo jacked up the price.
Doesn’t the rigid have the lifetime warranty/replacement program
It would be interesting to put a square on the table and check the squareness of the shoe for the belt. I'm guessing the manufacture isn't too accurate.
Check out my Ridgid vid. I check it oscillating without the belt. Not perfect but better than I expected. Both machine produced identical sanding results. Thanks for watching!
It's way off and the detent spring is useless unless you work for the government. Also there is only 1 detent spring on the right and so the left side is praying that the base is not flexing. I like the on and off switch though. 😂
Curious about the warranty!!?? One of the biggest reasons I continue to go back to Ridgid is the Lifetime warranty that is available on most of their products. Wonder what the Wen warranty is??
WEN has a 2 year warranty on this sander. 90 days if used in a commercial application. Not as good as Ridgids but considerably less expensive to buy. Thanks for watching!
The first thing I'd suspect about the uneven chamfering test is that the spindle isn't square to the table. Kinda surprised you didn't check it for square. For me, that would be a deal breaker. After that, I'd suspect a cheap sanding belt. Get a premium belt and try the test again.
The spindle is square but off slightly when it oscillates. The cheap belt is a possibility for sure. I have not tried a good quality belt with either this or my Ridgid but it’s worth a try. Both sanders had identical results with the oem belts. Thanks for the comment!
That whole belt assembly has issues. There is slop in the left mount and the sanding surface screws are not flush and the metal stop bar out wood right in a transition spot from the sanding surface to the large roller. All can be fixed I believe. Going to work in it soon and might make a video.
I have a Wen shop air filtration / circulation systems which is almost exactly identical to the same unit sold with other names and paint colors. It has performed perfectly for two years now.
I have one too and it’s been flawless so far! Thanks for watching!
It's a shame about the taper/misalignment issue, because it's a deal breaker. I wonder if you put a square against the belt assembly and then the mounting/drive rod what that would reveal? If the oscillation mechanism could be shimmed or straightened it might be worth the effort.
Hello check out my Ridgid sander vid. I do exactly that, removed the belt and ran it with a square. Has some movement but was straighter than I thought it would be. Both sanders have exactly the same flaw when sanding. It’s a mystery to me. Thanks for the comment!
I've had two of this exact Wen model. Both had the uneven chamfer problem. The first one gave up the ghost when the lock down nut "welded" itself to the spindle and would not remove at all. I called Wen, and they shipped a new one quickly. They had me return the broken one in the box the new one came in so they could have engineers see what the problem was. Wen was excellent about the return. Knock on wood - no problems yet (about 3 years later) with the new one. BUT! - it too has the uneven chamfer problem. I checked spindle and belt squareness to the table - dead on. The problem seems to occur when pressure is applied to the spinning belt. It seems to flex just enough to cause the uneven chamfer. I do not believe it is a table problem, as I folded down the deck and tested everything again. Same result. I may disassemble it one day and try shimming the motor assembly in relation to the deck such that I can get an even chamfer. Sad that you have to do that, but I cannot afford an industrial grade unit. I just place a slight shim under the trailing edge of the workpiece before I feed it lightly into the belt; this helps a little.
Good comparison! I think I’d keep watching Direct Tools and buy the Ridgid sander there for a little more with their LSA.
Direct Tools just had this for $168+ $15 shipping factory blemished on 11/7. Ridgid is my go to for handheld tools and shop vacs due to their LSA and I'm really happy with this sander. The LSA is honestly pretty incredible, especially on something modular like this with all the moving pieces.
I'm not going to go hunting through the comments but the chamfer problem looks like the table is not perpendicular to the belt. I bought my Ridgid shortly after they changed the color to orange and it is literally impossible to get both ends of the table 90 degrees to the belt - if one side is correct, the other is not. I took the first one back thinking it was a fluke but the second one was the same way. Also, the degree markings/detents for bevel sanding are way off. I do like the larger table on the Ridgid.
My table is the same as you described. I’ve learned to live with its shortcomings. For the current $330 price I expect better than though. Thanks for watching!
@@ProjectsForAllReviews Interesting, seems like they would have fixed that by now.
You are so over the target with the left and right part. I'm thinking a custom base is in order.along with the sanding base modified to fix some issues with flatness and the screws sticking out
@@316woodworks9 I'm just surprised that this is still a problem, it's been like that for years now. If I ever get the time I'm going to look at removing the bolt that runs the length of the table and see if I can put a short bolt with a knob on each end of the table. I'm just too busy right now to look at it.
“…or a yellow cat you don’t trust.” LOL. Oh yeah, I’d trust a monkey more than MY yellow cat and cats don’t even have hands! Good review…thanks for sharing.
Lol! Hands would definitely make him less trustworthy! Thanks for watching!
Are those orange round size spindle disk; are they metal or plastic? The large orange piece is plastic as you mentioned.
Sorry, for the post, you mentioned the material used in both the Ridged and WEN discs towards the end of the video.
Thanks for watching!!
Same Taiwan factory makes them all to brand spec. Same for most planers - one factory building to spec with minor qualitative differences.
Makes you wonder if Wen is a Ridgid made tool that's entry level.. With all the companies owned by holding companies these days it's hard to tell who owns what