Mini Review: WEN planer/miter saw stand

[Jim Becker]

I don't use my miter saw much in the shop and the very nice, but very wide Bora stand it's been living on since it was upstairs in the lumber storage area of my old shop just wasn't going to be the best choice for the new shop. A more compact, but functional stand was indicated. I could have built a mobile stand that's not unlike so many like April Wilkerson's version, but I caught an Amazon ad for a metal stand from WEN that had a really good price on it 'cause it was "last year's model". (and identical to the current one from what I can see) Honestly, just a decent, heavier duty metal mobile tool base costs about the same as the WEN stand. By the time I bought the plywood, casters and whatnot to build something, it would have been similar money. Click...

It arrived today and took about 30 minutes or so to put together. I was pleasantly surprised at how heavily it's made...it will support something like 250 lbs but rolls like a marble when the front caster pedal is pushed down and locked. It was packed very well and all parts were made accurately. All the fasteners, other than two self-tapping screws that act as stops for the pull-out material support rollers are M8 carriage bolts plus a few longer M8 bolts that hold the foot operated caster and are used to fasten the tool that will live on the stand in place.

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The folks who wrote the manual definitely have a sense of humor...read that first line...

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Assembly is done upside-down and only requires a 13mm wrench. (an extra one when installing the foot-controlled caster is a good idea)

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The telescoping bars that hold the material support rollers slip into the underside of the table with a snug fit and easy lockdown with the threaded stud knobs. One of the things I like about the design and that made it attractive for my specific use case is that the rollers can be tucked right up against the table while it's "stored" in the "tool corral"...minimal footprint that only slightly wider than the miter saw itself.

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[Jim Becker]

Once the stand it built and all the fasteners tightened down, the tool intended to be in the stand can be bolted to the top. It has an extensive pattern of perforations which make it flexible for almost any tool appropriate to live on it. For my particular "ancient" Delta 12" CMS, the rear fasteners lined up perfectly with the outside slots. For the front, I had to drill two 8mm holes in the top of the plastic feet offset from the OEM holes and lined up with the grid below. Once the tool is secured, the height of the material support rollers can be locked in and normally will not change unless the tool is swapped out.

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Here's the "storage footprint"...very compact.

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I really like this problem solver for the shop. I want the saw available in case I do need to use it, but otherwise, I want it small and out of the way. This stand does that perfectly. The singular observation I have relative to using it for a miter saw is that it might be lower than one might prefer for frequent use, while at the same time, it's the perfect height for a portable planer which is the other listed use it's suggested for by the manufacturer. I'd consider blocking up a miter saw a few inches if it felt too low and the grid on the top makes that an easy task if one wants to do it.

[Aaron Inami]

your photos in the second message did not come across. They are shown as "Attachment 495556" links, which don't go anywhere.

That being said, the stand looks like a carbon copy of the DeWalt planer stand (which I have). Except the WEN uses a sheet metal top with cross-frame underneath (and of course the miter extension supports). The DeWalt uses a plywood top with pre-drilled holes for their planers. The DeWalt stand is extremely sturdy, so I would expect the same of this WEN stand.

I had to laugh at that manual!!

[Aaron Inami]

One of the things that bug me about this stand is that if you use the secondary shelf, I find that things keep falling off. One of the things on my list is to build a light weight tray using 1/4" plywood so that the secondary shelf is somewhat useful, lol.

[Patty Hann]

Nice Stand.... and, yes, it's also nice to see a mfr with a droll sense of humor (always nice to see anyone with a droll sense of humor )

Interesting that Amazon shows the 2021 model MSA658T at $156 and the 2020 model MSA658 at $185....
I can't see any difference between the two (not to say that there isn't...only that I missed it )

Ditto on your second post....can't see the attachments/pics

[Brian Tymchak]

That being said, the stand looks like a carbon copy of the DeWalt planer stand ...

I have the Dewalt stand (about 15 years old) as well with a 735 planer on top. I first tried the caster inboard as Jim has but it didn't provide enough lift for the stand to move easily. I moved to outboard and it moves better, but not great. The Wen must have a little better geometry in it's caster assembly to give it better lift. Hopefully Dewalt has upgraded theirs since I bought mine.

[Jim Becker]

I believe I've fixed the attachments.

Aaron, i can see your point about the shelf. Given time and available effort, I'd actually like to move it lower so it just clears the caster so I can consider putting a small and inexpensive shop vac under it as a dedicated solution to get "some" of the stuff that comes off the blade. But I'm not sure it's worth it given how little I use the saw in the shop.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Interesting that Amazon shows the 2021 model MSA658T at $156 and the 2020 model MSA658 at $185....

The first thing that comes to mind is lower quality materials. Jim even mentioned being pleasantly surprised by the heft of the older model.