new jointer help

[Dnorris1369]

ok guys think im finally ready to bite the bullet on a jointer.  I think im gonna go with a grizzly. I love my grizzly tablesaw and bandsaw so might as well stick with them.  Gonna try and splurge for the 8 inch.  anyways parellalogram vs dovetail??  Its hard for me to decide after the research ive done.  If anyone has some good and points or opinions i would love to hear them. 

[..Kev]

The parallelogram is easier to adjust and get dialed in..

[4-Square]

<parellalogram vs dovetail??>

I know many consider P to be superior to D, but there are very real Pros/Cons for each approach... There are several detailed threads over on Lumber Jocks and Practical Machinist that cover this topic in depth. I suggest you read those sources to become familiar with the implementation details, then ask specific questions about a particular mfg's implementation. It's far more important how the design is implemented vs the design approach itself.

[pghmyn]

I have dovetailed ways. No other reason but price is what made me choose this design over parallelogram.

[Freddie]

Honestly, flat beds are the most important thing over the parallelogram vs dt ways. For parallelogram beds, you have 4 points of adjustment per bed, and for dovetailed way jointers, if your beds aren't coplanar then you will need to add shims. You will need to do do setup on almost any lower priced jointer, unless you get lucky. If you wanna save a few bucks, you could go dt ways, because honestly once you dial it in you won't have to do it again for many years. I would be more concerned about the fence adjustment mechanisms, seeing that they are all not created equal. If you have ever gotten a chance to deal with a fussy one, you will know how frustrating it can become to keeping it square. I am constantly sliding my fence back and forth for edge jointing so I do not cause uneven wear on the knives. 

[mikem]

I have the G0654 6" Grizzly Jointer, which is their lowest cost floor model jointer.  I knew going in that I would need to tweak, shim, and adjust it.  I had two different settings to do this.  The first one was when I first got it, and thought I had setup good enough, but after running it for awhile I found that it wasn't.  The second time is when I start applying the shims.  This honestly took me under 2 hours to complete.  I cut up a coke can to use for my shims.  The most difficult part was getting the space opened up to slip the shims in.  Once done, the difference was immediately apparent.  Probably between the two adjustment sessions it took me a total of 4 hours to get it setup.  

 

If you are on a budget, the dovetail ways are most definitely a viable option for a decent jointer.  I would recommend researching before hand how to adjust jointers so that you know know what you are getting into. 

[Brian Jenkins]

I bought the g0490 and sent it back for the 495x. Yes, it was twice the price and it's more than twice the quality of the first one.

Having both parallelogram and dovetail, I prefer the parallelogram. But once its dialed in you don't really need to adjust them again on either.

I'd save more for the carbide cutters instead. So much easier then knives.