17 replies to this topic

[MIKWoodworking]

Has anybody used this machine. I am interested in it for the Jointer. A 10 in. Jointer for $499.99 is a deal. Does anybody have experience with it?

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[Nick Feola]

i don't have any personal experience with it, but i believe the reviews have mostly been on the negative side. one of the main complaints being over all of the plastic parts. apparently, it's difficult to keep the machine in tune and easily loses adjustment. again, i have no experience of my own with this machine. im merely regurgitating what i've heard from others.

i too would LOVE a good 10" jointer. no one seems to make one though. most manufacturers jump from 8" right up to 12". then your talking about $2-3k. well, such is life.

[MIKWoodworking]

Thanks, I saw this in a catalog today and it was the same price as the 6" I was going to get, so I got excited. I'm waiting to see if someone who has used it, likes it and if so I will think about it.

[MIKWoodworking]

I own a 12.5" Planer and the jointer is all I am really looking at. If this model isnt worth it, is there a decent 8" on the cheaper end $350-$500?

[Sac]

You might be able to find one on craigslist in that range, but it is going to need some work. But who knows, you might get lucky. As for that Jet, I think that youare better off saving you money for a good 8" jointer. If you get an 8", you should be able to joint a 10" board with a technique that MArc has demonstrated that involves taking the blade guard off. WOOD Mag also just did an article on how to do this as well. Good luck.

[MikeM]

I have not heard good things about that machine. Very light weight for a 10" jointer. I would much rather see you get a good 6 or 8 inch jointer that will give you good results rather than one you are going to have to constant fight to get a good surface.

[Nick Feola]

You might be able to find one on craigslist in that range, but it is going to need some work. But who knows, you might get lucky. As for that Jet, I think that youare better off saving you money for a good 8" jointer. If you get an 8", you should be able to joint a 10" board with a technique that MArc has demonstrated that involves taking the blade guard off. WOOD Mag also just did an article on how to do this as well. Good luck.

Sac,
could you please elaborate on this?

[MIKWoodworking]

So is the Grizzly G0654 a better option?

[Particle Board]

The combo machines just dont have what it takes to joint wide boards unless you step up to a felder or something along those lines.


Don

[Wilbur Pan]

I have the Rikon 10" jointer/planer. I like it a lot. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the fence is kind of cheesy, but it doesn't bother me too much since I use hand planes for edge jointing for the most part anyway.

The Rikon 10" jointer/planer goes for about $1000, which is considerably more than the Jet, but from the reviews that I've seen of the Jet and my experience with my machine, there's a reason why the Jet is so much cheaper.

[Sac]

Sac,
could you please elaborate on this?

It is a pretty easy thing to do, but it does involve taking the blade guard off of your jointer. What you do is this...

• Take the blade guard off (be careful)
• Using the full width of the jointer, begin to face joint the board. This will joint the full 6"(or 8" depending on what size board you have), and leave a small strip of un jointed material on the side closest to you where the jointer knives stopped. You will want to take a few passes, enough to give you a pretty flat surface.
• Take a piece of MDFthe width of the area the you jointed, 6 or 8", and use double stick tape to attach it to the board (I reccommend the stuff that you get at Rockler. To me it is the best stuff out there). Essentially you are making a sled for this board.
• Once taped to the board, run it through the planer to create a parallel face. Do this till you achieve a flat face.
• Removed the MDF "sled," and run the first face through the planer to make flat like the other.

I hope that this helps explain. Like I said, WOOD Mag just did an article on it. I will look to see if I can find what issue it is.

[Nick Feola]

It is a pretty easy thing to do, but it does involve taking the blade guard off of your jointer. What you do is this...

• Take the gurd off (be careful)
• Using the full width of the jointer, begin to face joint the board. This will joint the full 6"(or 8" depending on what size board you have), and leave a small strip of un jointed material on the side closest to you where the jointer knives stopped. You will want to take a few passes, enough to give you a pretty flat surface.
• Take a piece of MDFthe width of the area the you jointed, 6 or 8", and use double stick tape to attach it to the board (I reccommend the stuff that you get at Rockler. To me it is the best stuff out there). Essentially you are making a sled for this board.
• Once taped to the board, run it through the planer to create a parallel face. Do this till you achieve a flat face.
• Removed the MDF "sled," and run the first face through the planer to make flat like the other.

I hope that this helps explain. Like I said, WOOD Mag just did an article on it. I will look to see if I can find what issue it is.

Quite ingenious! Thanks Sac! I get wood magazine but can't remember seeing that article

[jsiard]

FWW just reviewed a few 12" combo machines, the Jet JJP-12 and Grizzly G0634XP received the best reviews. The Jet changover was the easiest and quickest while the Grizzly had the most power with a spiral cutter head, both came in below $2,400. While they aren't in the same league as the Felder they also don't carry the hefty price tag as their euro cousins. The Grizzly with 5hp and a segmented cutterhead delivered for under $2,400 seems like a great value. I would step up to a 10" or 12" jointer but space considerations won't allow that so this looks like a great alternative, I had looked at the euro machines but at almost 4X the price it was way out of my league. Looks like a road trip to Muncie PA is in my near future...

[Particle Board]

FWW just reviewed a few 12" combo machines, the Jet JJP-12 and Grizzly G0634XP received the best reviews. The Jet changover was the easiest and quickest while the Grizzly had the most power with a spiral cutter head, both came in below $2,400. While they aren't in the same league as the Felder they also don't carry the hefty price tag as their euro cousins. The Grizzly with 5hp and a segmented cutterhead delivered for under $2,400 seems like a great value. I would step up to a 10" or 12" jointer but space considerations won't allow that so this looks like a great alternative, I had looked at the euro machines but at almost 4X the price it was way out of my league. Looks like a road trip to Muncie PA is in my near future...

If your going to stay in the low end take a look at the hammer in the same price range. Much more machine for the money. Iirc you can even add a slot mortiser down the road they may even have Teresa cutters that are leaps and bounds better than spirals .

Don

[Sac]

Quite ingenious! Thanks Sac! I get wood magazine but can't remember seeing that article

I FOUND IT!! It is the May 2012 issue on page 65. It shows you how to get that done.

[MikeD]

I have a Hammer 12" combo. The only two things I don't like are the fence is a little stiff and the up and down if you forget to joint all your boards first. The fence isn't that big of a deal. I usually joint at 90 anyway.

[Particle Board]

I FOUND IT!! It is the May 2012 issue on page 65. It shows you how to get that done.

I think they stole my method been doing a variation of or that exact thing for 25 years. Just kidding around.
http://www.woodtalkonline.com/topic/6613-any-tips-on-truing-boards-wider-than-your-jointer/

[Texfire]

I've got that model but would not recommend it to others. It's my first jointer, and the learning curve was worsened by the difficulty in getting the machine set up square and level. I spent a lot of time making surfaces that were flat but not parallel before I figured that out. Also if I remember correctly, the adjustments for it were not intuitive, you adjusted the outfeed table, not the infeed. The mechanism for adjusting the table is not conducive to fine adjustments. I did get it working well enough to do a shop project, but the motor is much noisier than one with a larger motor. They just had to make too many compromises and use too much plastic to get down to that price point for it to be very accurate.

None of this criticism really applies to the planer function, it is a good little planer, if having a lower width capacity than other lunchbox planers in the same price range. I'd suggest saving your money on this combo unit and getting a good lunchbox planer and 6" or 8" jointer instead. You're going to spend at least twice as much, if not three times, but you'll be happier with your purchase for longer. I used mine for one project and will probably replace it before the next one with either two separate tools like a 13" lunchbox planer and 8" jointer or a larger 12" floor combo unit.