sjm1580 Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 (edited) Got ready to start a new project, wood all purchased and ready to start jointing and my old 6 inch Rockwell decided to retire. Not really interested in spending much money to get her running again so I am going to look for a new 8 inch jointer. Not sure if I do enough to justify a helical head jointer, but it would be nice. I would appreciate any recommendations you might have. Thanks, Steve Edited December 10, 2016 by sjm1580 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown craftsman Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Thats easy the best value in new Machinery is Grizzy.If your buying used then you'll have to see what's around your area.Your post reads like you don't want to wrench in anything. Straight knife HH head it's up to you. Aj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjm1580 Posted December 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 18 minutes ago, Aj3 said: Thats easy the best value in new Machinery is Grizzy.If your buying used then you'll have to see what's around your area.Your post reads like you don't want to wrench in anything. Straight knife HH head it's up to you. Aj I really don't mind wrenching (within reason) but a new motor is going to cost as much as the 6 in unit is worth and getting an 8 inch model wouldn't hurt my feelings. I was looking at the Grizzly but the reviews are spotty. Do you own one, if so do you have the spiral cutter model? Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt CHEG Posted December 11, 2016 Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 I bought the Powermatic 8" helical head parallelogram jointer and I love it! It's my first jointer but it's so easy to use and produces outstanding results that it would be hard for me to imagine a lesser jointer. If you can sing the Powermatic, I don't think you'd be disappointed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted December 11, 2016 Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 I've been using an 8" Grizzly GO490X (spiral cutter heads) for the last 4 years or so. Its a joy to use, holds it's settings, the beds 76" long, puts a flat face on every board, etc. I love the carbide cutter heads. I wouldn't want anything less and wouldn't pay any more for the same features with a different color of paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted December 11, 2016 Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 G0490X since 2008. I still smile every time I use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted December 11, 2016 Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 Powermatic pj882hh! ! Great machine ! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjm1580 Posted December 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 Thanks everyone for the help. Does anyone have any experience with the Jet offerings? Looking at the Grizzly site, the jointers in my size are all on backorder, maybe that is a good sign! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted December 11, 2016 Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 I would highly recommend getting a spiral cutterhead. buy old jointer was a straight knife cutting head. I recently upgraded it to a spiral knife cutting head. It was definitely worth the extra cost. Because of the price differences between the two I would definitely get a grizzly and just put yourself on their waitlist. For every bad review of grizzly there's at least a few good ones out there most of the folks complaining about them are complaining of issues that affect every machine. My first joined two years ago was a Grizzly and it worked fine for me for many years and I sold that used for what I paid for it when I bought it used. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denette Posted December 11, 2016 Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 Just chiming in here, I've had a Grizzly 656P for about a year and a half. It's the one with the straight cutters (because I ain't made of money!) and as long as I move wood across the cutter head slowly, it looks just fine. If I rush it, there can be trouble with visible blade marks. Also, the stories about chipout with straight blades and wild grain are all true! That said, I usually joint a flat face to give myself a flat surface to register from in the planer, then when I'm near the final thickness I flip the board and plane the side I originally flattened on the jointer, which tends to take knife marks away. So in the final analysis, if speed is important to you, or if you use a lot of wood with reversing or wild grain, and if you have the cash, I'd recommend the spiral cutter head. If you don't have the cash and plane everything anyway, it's not the end of the world. Honestly your money might be better spent on a spiral cutter head for your planer than for your jointer. Looks like they don't sell the "Polar Bear Edition" anymore. For a while there the folks at Grizzly were selling white versions of their tools for a discount - I assume they got a wholesale deal on white paint or something. Anyway, the 656W is identical to my 656P aside from the paint. That said, if you do get the Grizzly 656, buy a roll of weatherstripping, some silicone, and some 1/8" hardboard, and be ready to fix the incredibly broken dust collection on the thing. There is one part in the cabinet in the base where there is a hole you could fit a grapefruit through because they didn't feel like making the sheet metal that makes the dust collection chute extend all the way to the top of the interior or the cabinet. The undersides of the dovetail adjustments (under the infeed and outfeed beds) both have huge holes that I covered with hardboard. There's another hole under the adjustment mechanism for the fence adjustment that I made a hardboard cover for. And along with it, where the jointer itself meets the base, there is about a 1/4" gap that I sealed up with weatherstripping. This is just what I remember off the top of my head, though I'm sure I did more to make the thing airtight. Once I sealed it all in, I've got some killer dust collection on it. So if you're ok with having to do some modification for good suction, I say it's a fine jointer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjm1580 Posted December 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 Well after a lot of soul searching and research I think I have settled on another 6 jointer. I am about to pull the trigger on an Oliver helical head 6 inch jointer. Power and size constraints have me almost forced to sticking with a 6 inch jointer. Anyone have an Oliver or know about them? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 Generally, and I was told this by a Griz tech, that when something is on back order, it's because it was made in China, and they're not buying any more of their tools, they're getting them all remade in Taiwan, because of the better quality and better quality control. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjm1580 Posted December 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 The reasons I decided on Oliver; made in Taiwan, Byrd helical head, heavy and longer bed(s) and a good, dependable local dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 11 minutes ago, sjm1580 said: The reasons I decided on Oliver; made in Taiwan, Byrd helical head, heavy and longer bed(s) and a good, dependable local dealer. Made in Taiwan? Isnt Oliver made in the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 Oliver is just like General, they had to go to overseas manufacturing to survive. The advantage is quality control and machines built to their specifications. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 Dependable local dealer is a huge plus! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wareaglewoodworker Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 On 12/11/2016 at 7:23 AM, sjm1580 said: Thanks everyone for the help. Does anyone have any experience with the Jet offerings? Looking at the Grizzly site, the jointers in my size are all on backorder, maybe that is a good sign! Thanks! That's the main reason I ended up with my 6" powermatic. I was all set to get the grizzly 8" with HH last spring but they were all somewhere on the other side of the pacific at the time. An 8" in any other brand was out of my price range so It came down to the Jet and Powermatic 6" offerings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjm1580 Posted December 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 15 minutes ago, wareaglewoodworker said: That's the main reason I ended up with my 6" powermatic. I was all set to get the grizzly 8" with HH last spring but they were all somewhere on the other side of the pacific at the time. An 8" in any other brand was out of my price range so It came down to the Jet and Powermatic 6" offerings. Does your Powermatic have Crimson Tide approval? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wareaglewoodworker Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 Just now, sjm1580 said: Does your Powermatic have Crimson Tide approval? If it did I probably wouldn't have bought it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjm1580 Posted December 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 I decided to go with the 6 inch Oliver. My local dealer had some concerns with tables staying true over time with jointers larger than 6 inches in width that are wedge type (not parallelogram type). For that reason I am going with the 6 inch blue Oliver and it happens to be Gator approved! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Anderson Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 I have the Powermatic 60HH, which has the helical head but is not a parallelogram version. Probably should have gone that route, but this thing is a beauty. Cut is flawless, it came dead nuts flat and square out of the box and is much quieter than my old 6" Woodteck model that it replaced. I've had it a couple of years not and not a single issue or complaint. Maybe it will get out of true someday, but so far, very good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ_Engineer Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 1 minute ago, Eric Anderson said: I have the Powermatic 60HH, which has the helical head but is not a parallelogram version. Probably should have gone that route, but this thing is a beauty. Cut is flawless, it came dead nuts flat and square out of the box and is much quieter than my old 6" Woodteck model that it replaced. I've had it a couple of years not and not a single issue or complaint. Maybe it will get out of true someday, but so far, very good. I have the same one and the same things to say about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuxleyWood Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 On 12/12/2016 at 8:08 PM, wdwerker said: Oliver is just like General, they had to go to overseas manufacturing to survive. The advantage is quality control and machines built to their specifications. Actually, they sold out to a Taiwanese company so only the name followed. At IWF and AWFS they usually have one of their American dealers in the both but making deals they run back to the Taiwanese lady who makes the final call. Most of their machines today are actually still a cut above the normal Chiwanese fare, quite heavy and well built, I have considered several of their machines but they never seem to come home with me, Equipment Sales and Surplus in Washington always seems to have the best online Oliver pricing. To the OP I think they manufacture their own heads vs using Byrd heads. 1 hour ago, sjm1580 said: I decided to go with the 6 inch Oliver. My local dealer had some concerns with tables staying true over time with jointers larger than 6 inches in width that are wedge type (not parallelogram type). For that reason I am going with the 6 inch blue Oliver and it happens to be Gator approved! 3 Tell that to my Northfield but parallelogram jointers do have some benefits but the best jointers ever made had dovetail ways. With MOST new wedgebed jointers the bed is cast onto the wedge so they have to be shimmed to adjust them, the (better) older ones were bolted so they could be adjusted. Parallelogram jointers have gained favor since they are cheaper to build and easy to adjust but built correctly one can't beat a wedgebed though poorly supported ones can sag. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandorLush Posted December 15, 2016 Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 I have an older Grizzly G1018 8" wedge bed/straight knifes that I bought used and loaded and unloaded by carrying it by the beds because I didn't know better at the time. It runs and cuts like a champ, I have had no issues in the 18 months I have been using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjm1580 Posted December 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 I need to add to what my dealer said about his concerns relating to non- parallelogram type staying true over time. His concerns were for units used in a production setting with high use. That certainly doesn't apply to me. Just food for thought. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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