WEN 120-Volt 8 in. Slow Speed Bench Grinder

The grinder was as expected and described

Does what I wanted to do . I use it to sharpening my wood lathe tools

I was burning the tips of my lathe tools on my regular grinder. This one does a much better job of sharpening without burning, though I still need to be careful. I just wish I could change the ‘drill bit’ support to a flat support like the one on the right. The supports are not interchangeable. I’d swap the stones, but I feel using the right side is awkward for me. Other than that, it runs smooth and true and does a good job.

I was looking for; a low price, high quality, low-speed grinder to use with my Penn State Industries wood turning gouge sharpening system. After I built the base unit and assembled everything I sharpened two roughing gouges and was happy with the results. Recommend this grinder for this purpose.

Works well but is somewhat out of balance. Vibrates and shakes when running. Possibly wheels are out of balance. Have only used a short time.

No issues! Balance of wheels was pretty good. Only slight vibration upon first start up. Truing wheels helped! Adjustment of angle for tool rests is a bit course. Notches for adjustment could be finer to allow for more adjustment options. Some complain about the left tool rest having the notch for drill sharpening. I just bent a piece of aluminum to cover the plate to make it flat when needed! Love it now!

Working great so far

Course wheel OK, but fine wheel a disaster. I’ll work with WEN to see if the one wheel (side to side wobble) and a couple of stripped bolts can be replaced, or back it goes. I would like to get some use out of the stock wheels. Motor runs well and removed the rust on the left shaft. Hundreds of reviews from different grinders and bad wheels seem to be the main gripe. Thanks HDepot for great delivery.

Course wheel OK, but fine wheel a disaster. I’ll work with WEN to see if the one wheel (side to side wobble) and a couple of stripped bolts can be replaced, or back it goes. I would like to get some use out of the stock wheels. Motor runs well and removed the rust on the left shaft. Hundreds of reviews from different grinders and bad wheels seem to be the main gripe. Thanks HDepot for great delivery.

I teach sharpening to woodturners. Looks identical to the widely recommended $140 Rikon. Has excellent aluminum oxide wheels. Ran true out of the box. Not very powerful but more than adequate for maintaining and initial shaping of turning tools. Shipped to my home in a few days. This seems like a bargain to me. I recommend it to my students.

Had no problem putting it together and am very pleased with how it keeps my lathe tools sharp.

Excellent grind for what I order it to sharping tools and knife what I bought it for.

I just recently started using WEN products. I have a small lathe, a belt/disc sander & now this grinder. This thing is built solid. Ready to run out of the box other than adding the shields and platforms. I did not install the platforms since I am using a sharpening jig for my lathe tools. It runs very smooth and does not bog down when pressure is applied. It has a soft start up so you need to wait a minute for it to get up to speed. This grinder is also very heavy. It mounts easily to a bench with just 2 bolts through the base.

Should have bought else where and got the 5% cash back, but was told Just make the purchase and contact us if you do not get the $50 off. Was told wrong and they are not going to make it right! BEWARE, NOT ONLINE CART TOTAL, BUT FIRST ITEM OUT OF CART TO HIT REGISTER.

Out of the box, this tool was not easy to assemble based on the instructions. The illustrations were very poor and there was not a parts list, which I always check against what was shipped. It turns out that one washer was missing, and the directions refer to lock washers in two ways. When I turned the power on, the wheels didn’t turn. That’s because the right wheel guard was slightly bent and prevented the wheels to turn. After I straightened it out, I noticed that the right wheel wobbled. I corrected that by tightening the bolt that holds it to the unit; it was shipped very loose. Once I got it set up and running, it did a fine job with chisels and gouges for carving. You will need to hone and strop your tools after commissioning, which is basically what i use this tool for now, but will use it again when my tools need re-shaping.

Grinder was very easy to assemble.I bought this grinder for sharpening my wood lathe turning toolsand it performs the job well.

Ordered this grinder from Home Depot on a Wednesday and had it shipped to the store. It arrived on Friday, in two days. Store emails acknowledged my order, provided an estimate of 4 days for it to be in the store, provided tracking information, and notified as soon as UPS delivered it. I had it before 2 PM on Friday. The grinder was in perfect condition, the wheels were installed and ran without wobble. All the parts were in the box and assembly was easy. I have a Wen sander and would not hesitate to order their products. The Home Depot price was the same as Amazon. I did not want the package delivered to my porch. But, after this experience I will choose other Home Depot products for store pick up. I chose this grinder for the low rpm and the white 120 and 60 grit wheels that came with it. It will be used for tool grinding.

Like the other reviews, I too purchased this grinder to sharpen turning tools. I like it but didn’t give it a 5 star rating mostly because it wasn’t completely compatible with the Nova Sharpening System (also purchased from Home Depot). The plastic guard around the wheels protrudes so low that the sliding arm of the Nova won’t clear. The problem was solved by raising the grinder but now the center of the wheel is above the top of the Nova. However, it seems to be working and does indeed sharpen gouges very well.Also, the mounting holes are in the center of the unit and if you need long bolts (4″) for the bench, you’ll have to insert them from below (which leaves the nut and remaining threads sticking up). Better access to the mounting holes would have been easier. Including a truing stone would have been nice since they’re hard to find locally.

You switch it on and it works. What else do you need?