[Ben H]

Hey guys, I'm looking to buy my first jointer and was hoping for a few suggestions on what to look at.

I'm not saying that money is no issue, but I don't mind saving and waiting for the right tool.

I'm thinking a 6" long bed Jet with quick change knives. Roughly 550.00 new. I have tossed around the idea of the helical cutter head, but haven't truely made up my mind.

Voltage is not a issue. I have both 120 and 240 slots available.

Any words of wisdom would be great.:thumbsup:

 

[TomD]

I'd like the same thoughts on the same tool. I really don't want to spend more, but will if necessary. I do not make my living doing this kind of stuff.

Tom

 

[yank]

I have a Grizzly 6" with blades, and am considering getting the Helical head for it in the near future.

My Grizz does a great job, and sits on the left side of my TS, where it is handy and works best for my shop.

 

[TomD]

My ulterior motive for buying the Jet is I have a $50 gift card coming from them and it has to be used on more Jet stuff. I will check out the Grizzly.

Tom

 

[TomD]

Ben, this is your thread and if I'm not taking it where you want it to go, just shout hey windbag shut up.

Yank, I looked at the Grizzly and it seemed to be a lot of tool for the money. The shipping charges bring it quite close to the local retailer. I do like the installed wheels, a lot, and that's $100 right there. I began noticing they have 4 blades and most have 3. Grizzly's CPM are more than some and less than others and we're talking 2000CPM difference on either side. Three blades going faster or four going slower how important are these differences?

Tom

 

[yank]

I don't have an answere to your question on the number of blades vs speeds. Mine has three blades, works fine.

I do want to get the helical head for it with the individual blades with the four cutting sides. I have researched these and from what I found, they do an exceptional job.

Wayne

 

[knotscott]

The long beds are nice if you swing the extra money. That price range often puts you painfully close to an 8" jointer that'll have more width, more length, more mass, and more HP going for it....food for thought there.

The Jet is a solid well proven machine that's well supported. I'd also look into Grizzly, General International, Shop Fox, Steel City, and Sunhill Machinery. All should be very capable of serving you well.

 

[TomD]

Knotscot,

Thanks for the links. Bigger and more powerful is usually better in a tool. When you are new to this kind of stuff knowing how much is to much is also a tough decision. A lot of folks here are happy with a 6" and many seem to recommend an 8".

Tom

 

[Ben H]

I did stumble apon a 8" JET on sale locally ( used ) for 800.00. I'm waiting on the guy to respond with the model, specs, ect....

Thats really not a bad price at 800.00.........

I have looked at Griz, but I have about 300.00 in woodcraft gift cards, and can't afford not using them.

 

[TomD]

Hey Ben,

Do you think they gave those gift cards without knowing the position you'd be in. "Hi Honey, I just spent $500 at ABC Woodworking and I could have gone to Woodcraft and bought a similar item for $200 with my gift cards." I can hear the better half's response, "The only difference I see is the color and you spent $300 more for a white one." From here things will continue to deteriorate.

Tom

 

[Ben H]

Ah, yes, but I just tell her.........

"Women, get out of the man's domain. A woodshop is a sacred place that you can't understand." well.......at least in my head thats

what I say.:laughing:

 

[knotscott]

Hey Ben,

Do you think they gave those gift cards without knowing the position you'd be in. "Hi Honey, I just spent $500 at ABC Woodworking and I could have gone to Woodcraft and bought a similar item for $200 with my gift cards." I can hear the better half's response, "The only difference I see is the color and you spent $300 more for a white one." From here things will continue to deteriorate.

Tom

I see a jewelry box coming from your shop very soon! :thumbsup:

 

[gaviaimmer]

Two Cents

I purchased a 8" Grizzly G0500 several years ago and am very happy with it. I've never regreted spending a little more for an 8" unit.

 

[smrk]

The long bed Jet with the quick change knives is a quality machine, with lots going for it.

The only problems I have heard about it (and this was just a couple of posts on the net) is the with the small plastic insert in the fence, it helps protect the tables from getting marred up but because it is recessed into the fence some people have had problems with stock getting hung up as it passes.

I have the General International 80-100L which is the same basic machine but without the quick change knives and the small plastic insert.

What the GI does have is a wider base which allows facing of longer boards without having to worry about the jointer tipping.
Plus it has storage clips for the push blocks and a large paddle for the off switch, kind of minor things but they do help.

This is not to try and talk you out of the Jet, almost any jointer in this range will serve you well including the Jet.

 

[Paul K]

It of course depends on the type of work you want to do. I had a little 4" once that I loved, a great little machine, (an old rockwell). Then I got an 8 ". then a different 8". (didn't like the first one). Loved that for about 10 years, but found i had need for a bigger one. Finally i rebuilt an old Crescent 12" (a great machine) and have been super happy ever since. Why such a wide machine? I know lots of folks only use it to "joint" edges. But once you have a GOOD table saw, and use good feather boards or other things, frankly, the edges can be darn clean without jointing. You might joint one edge, to get a straight edge, but after that, you can just cut with the saw. If you start to do more and more work using solid stock, you find that you can buy a lot nicer wood that must be planed and machined to the thickness that you need. Drawer sides and fronts for instance are usually quite a bit different in thickness. That said, when you want to prepare that stock, you don't take the raw wood first to the planer. You often take it to the jointer first, to get a flat, "planer" surface. once you have that one surface, it goes to the thickness planer to make the other side parallel to it. Thus, you can start to see why a wider jointer starts to make a lot of sense. A lot of boards are at least 8" wide. For my 12" Crescent, i fixed up a stock feeder, on the outboard end and that creates all the pressure on the outfeed and pulls the work thru, so GREAT surface. Still, i worked for years on that 8" and it serves well. So yes, i would get an 8".
As for the helical knives? Well, they sound convenient, don't they? But knives aren't that hard to change anyway. And i don't see that they leave a better surface. I know that they talk about "Shearing" the fiber etc, but i think that is just sales talk. Look at the angle that they are to the wood they are shearing. NOT a very large angle. I don't think they shear at all. What i do believe is that they are quieter. There is science to support the fact that there is less "chatter" as the blade hits the wood at so many times per second. There is a blade "hitting" the wood all the time in a helical cutter. but this is just an opinion. By the way, there was an comparison test between jointers of this range a while ago, (months i think) in FWW. Can't remember who won out.
best
paul

 

[TomD]

Paul,

Thanks for the advice.

Tom

 

[luckde]

I'm also looking for jointer advice

I have been considering a Powermatic 8" Jointer, Model 60B, while I have a reasonable budget, I must admit I will wait to purchase a tool once, rather than upgrade a tool I find wanting later. Thanks for your input.

 

[coolpete234]

Some useful info on this thread - thanks guys!

 

[dbhost]

I have read this thread with some interest as I am in the market for a jointer. I am wondering from the folks with the 8" long bed jointers, what sort of shop space do you have? I would LOVE a nice 8" jointer, but in my case, budget and space preclude such a beast.

I kind of wonder, is it better for a fellow with small space to have a bench top jointer like the Sunhill SM506, or would I be better served by jointing on the table saw with a jig?

 

[gaviaimmer]

"what sort of shop space do you have?"

I purchased my 8" jointer when I was in a very small 1 car garage. It was tight but I valued the wider bed. I'm in a larger space now but I would have purchased as large a bed as possible even for a small shop if I had to do it again.