New Jet Planer


Chestnut

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New Jet Planer. I see some interesting features on it notable the table doesn't move but the head moves up and down which allows the unit to be built into a bench. I couldn't help but notice that the cutter head got reduced from a 68 segment head to a 48 segment head. There is no way that cut quality is going to be as good with the decrease in the number of cutters. Maybe i'm wrong?

One thing i know I'm not a fan of is the adjustment wheel being on the top. I use the top of my planer currently for all sorts of storage. Having the wheel positioned as it is would eliminate that maybe a good thing but I don't like it.

What are your thoughts?

https://www.jettools.com/us/en/p/15-jet-helical-cutterhead-planer-jwp-15bhh/722155

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1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

maybe a good thing but I don't like it

Ha! There are lots of things that are good for me that I don't like either. Using the top of a planer for storage probably isn't the best practice anyway. You wouldn't want things falling down & bouncing into the spinny bits.

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

There is no way that cut quality is going to be as good with the decrease in the number of cutters.

Do you think that really matters? The surface right off the planer isn't finish ready anyway and you still get the benefit of the cutting action of a spiral cutter. My planer has straight knives & it only takes very minimal sanding to remove the surface imperfections.

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1 hour ago, drzaius said:

Ha! There are lots of things that are good for me that I don't like either. Using the top of a planer for storage probably isn't the best practice anyway. You wouldn't want things falling down & bouncing into the spinny bits.

Do you think that really matters? The surface right off the planer isn't finish ready anyway and you still get the benefit of the cutting action of a spiral cutter. My planer has straight knives & it only takes very minimal sanding to remove the surface imperfections.

You make a good point. My only counter is if the finish is heavily scalloped and i have to take 4-5 passes with a smoother vs 2 it's more that i have to remove for finish prep. I'm not looking for finish ready off the planer but getting close is nice. I'm comparing this to the laguna 16" that has 108 cutters in 6 rows for not much more.

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I don't store stuff on my planer but I do stack my material on there as I plane, as it comes out the other end I stack it on top for the next pass.

I wonder if the adjustment wheel being there means its sort of a direct drive adjustment instead of having a belt or chain.

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6 hours ago, Chestnut said:

the table doesn't move but the head moves up and down which allows the unit to be built into a bench

And you can set infeed and outfeed supports once and be good whatever your thickness.

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30 minutes ago, Tom King said:

$2600 for a 15" planer.  No thanks.  The only reason I'd have one without rollers on the top, so my helper could roll a board back to me, would be if it had a knife grinder rig on top.

PM is quite a bit more yet...

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No threads visible on the posts, do you suppose the 'PASS' system touted in the ad really is based on pneumatics? And I'm curious how the belt drive stays tensioned. The motor is obviously inside the cabinet, not on the cutter head. I would think a spring tensioner for the belt may seriously limit the maximum head height even though it claims 6 inches.

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I agree with the handle placement.  Also solid on the reduced cutters. I don't need a finish ready surface but I would consider dropping money like that on a spiral head if I worked with a lot of figured and nasty grain. There has to be a decrease in how it handles the tasks you want those carbide inserts for. 

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1 hour ago, wtnhighlander said:

No threads visible on the posts, do you suppose the 'PASS' system touted in the ad really is based on pneumatics? And I'm curious how the belt drive stays tensioned. The motor is obviously inside the cabinet, not on the cutter head. I would think a spring tensioner for the belt may seriously limit the maximum head height even though it claims 6 inches.

Grizzly has new planers with the same design (for $800 less) and there's a picture with the belt cover off.  The motor must move up and down with the cutterhead inside of the cabinet.  There's no tensioner.  I hope they keep the traditional design around in addition to these.  I stack my drum sander on top of my planer to save space and if I'm ever in a position to upgrade from a benchtop planer it's going to be impossible to do that with the handle being where it is.

Edit:  You can also see the threaded rods for raising/lowering are inside of the posts, which explains the handle location. 

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44 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

 So I’ve got a move the cutter head and the motor assembly weight to adjust the cutting depth… I guess I’d want to see how that feels.

I think that's the point of the advertised air piston system. They have some sort of air chamber piston that offsets the weight of the motor and cutter head.

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That design is basically the same as that used in the Delta RC33 back in the eighties. I have one and the motor is on the top. It takes a bit of muscle to crank it up and down, but keep the screws greased and it isn't bad. Nice part on my Delta: set the height locks and no snipe.

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