[Mr. Wacko]

I have always done wood working of one kind or another for most of my life but have never owned a jointer or a plainer? My 2 car garage shop space doesn’t really allow me the space to have both. So I really have been leaning towards purchasing one of these multi purpose machines. I have heard horrible things about nonadjustable beds and squaring issues. So I turned to you guys for tips and support from those who have paved the way before me.

 

[B Coll]

I have always done wood working of one kind or another for most of my life but have never owned a jointer or a plainer? My 2 car garage shop space doesn’t really all me the space to have both. So I really have been leaning towards purchasing one of these multi purpose machines. I have heard horrible things about nonadjustable beds and squaring issues. So I turned to you guys for tips and support from those who have paved the way before me.

It depends on what you will be making. A planer is a planer, so no big deal there as long as it is set up well. A jointer will only flatten a board across the length of the bed. A 24" jointer will never come close to flattening a 6' board. Think of it as a hand plane and you will understand. So you would want a jointer bed that would give you a satisfactory result based on the wood lengths you usually work with. I would assume they make some decent ones. I know Hitachi made a pretty good one years ago. Good luck.

 

[Mr. Wacko]

It depends on what you will be making. A planer is a planer, so no big deal there as long as it is set up well. A jointer will only flatten a board across the length of the bed. A 24" jointer will never come close to flattening a 6' board. Think of it as a hand plane and you will understand. So you would want a jointer bed that would give you a satisfactory result based on the wood lengths you usually work with. I would assume they make some decent ones. I know Hitachi made a pretty good one years ago. Good luck.

Thanks

 

[PPBART]

I have a planer, but no jointer -- and don't seriously plan to buy one. There are work-arounds that let me get by without a jointer without major issues (just check Youtube), but doing without a thickness planer would cause me problems!

 

[Tool Agnostic]

Ditto @PPBART above. I have a planer but no jointer. I had a separate long bed 6 inch jointer a long time ago. I may get one again someday. In the meantime, I get by just fine, and may never get another jointer.

For me, face jointing is the planer with a sled (with shims and wedges). Edge jointing is the table saw, with a sled for the first edge.

I have never owned or used one of those combination jointer and planers in one tool. People here say that they take too much time and effort to convert from one use to the other and back again. One thing that might appeal to me is that the jointer part is as wide as the planer.