Jointer purchase decision

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I am new to woodowrkign and am thinking of purchasing a cheap jointer. (Cheap because I have two small kids and money is hard to come by!) I was looking at a Delta table top model but seem to have read bad reviews about it not cutting straight or something. Also, If I have a long board of 5 feet or longer would a table top work? The Delta benchtop is 199.

They also have another Delta with a stand that is bigger. I think it will take off 1/2 inch at a time. It is 349.

Are all table tops junk? Is it best to avoid them? What would you recommend?

Reply to
stryped
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I had the delta bench top jointer. I wouldn't recommend it. I did one project with it and sold it. The tables were aluminum and out of flat by about 1/8" on the edge of the outfeed table on the side of the fence. This made it impossible to edge joint boards with the fence all the way back. The motor was good, but loud. The dust port used to clog with dust because I didn't have dust collection at the time. The tables were just too short to joint anything over, I'd say, about 3 feet.

For about $350, I'd suggest this one:

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'd stay away from the table top models in general. For a little more, you get a lot more jointer. The tables are double the length and cast iron instead of aluminum, you get an induction motor, a proper stand, and a cast iron fence instead of stamped steel or aluminum.

Also, you would never take off 1/2" at a time on any jointer no matter how big. I'd say 1/8" is probably the absolute limit with 1/16" or

1/32" being more realistic. If you need a board to be 1/2" thinner, run it through a planer in multiple passes taking 1/16" or 1/8" if you have a larger planer with a big motor and the board isn't too wide.

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

It can, *if* your technique is good. But that it at the limit of its capability,

You misunderstand how a jointer is used. You make multiple passes, removing a small amount at a time (like < 1/16") to iteratively approach flat. It usually takes me a 3 or 4 passes to flatten a board, more if it has significant bow wtist or cup.

The 1/2" measure is the max depth of a rabbet that can be cut by the jointer. The only measurements that you really need to be concerned with are bed width and more importantly length.

With jointers, size matters. The geometry of the tool dictates that you can flatten a board up to twice the length of the jointer's bed, (if you stand on your left foot pat your head and use good technique). They are not "junk", they are seriously limitted in capacity. Someone who unsuccessfully tried to joint a 5 foot board using marginal technique might conclude that they are all junk because they tried to make a tool designed to joint a

3-foot board do something that it is not designed to do.

Find used or save for the floor model.

-Steve

Reply to
Stephen M

If you happen to have a router table, then you have the makings of a poor man's jointer using a straight bit...

METHOD 1 | | |

Reply to
Joe Barta

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Could you explain this to me? Is it good enough to edge joint boards for glueing into pannels?

Reply to
stryped

He probably wants to face-joint.

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

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How would I get it shipped to me? (Grizzley) I bet it would be expensive.

How would you get replacement parts if it was a problem?

Reply to
stryped

I gave you damn cool drawings! What more could you possibly want?

:-)

Yes it is... but... like anything else, it's possible to have a sloppy setup and get sloppy results. Practice on a few pieces of cheap pine and see how it goes.

Joe Barta

Reply to
Joe Barta

The length of a jointer's bed pretty much determines the length of the board you can joint. I know, quite a few people CAN take a five foot board and joint it on a two foot jointer and my hat's off to those people but I'm not one of 'em. The more board you can lay flat on the infeed table, the longer flat you can make.

I found my four-inch vintage craftsman jointer worked great for boards up to three feet long. Any longer and it was guesswork, time, frustration, and more time, followed by hand planes.

Benchtop jointer=little short boards. That's what it turned out to be in my case. But I bought that little jointer for 75 and sold it for 50, and I actually did get 25 bucks worth of use out of it, so I don't think I did too bad. I was glad to see it replaced by that 8 inch Griz, though. :-)

Reply to
else24

Look at the link. There's a shipping charge, looks like $69. But there's no tax though if you're not in MO, PA, or WA. If you are in one of those states, just drive there. So it might cost you an extra $50 or so to go with the grizzly. I haven't looked at the specs for the delta you mentioned, but I bet the griz is better.

The shipping is handled by a freight company. They show up with a big truck. It's not quite as automatic as ups or fedex, but it's easy. You might have to pay a little extra for lift gate service, sometimes not. It depends on the freight company. You can also usually pick it up at the freight terminal to avoid that problem.

Grizzly has been around for 20 years or so and has a good reputation for customer service. Just do a google search for grizzly here or on woodnet. I wouldn't worry too much about parts. Things like motors, knives, belts, pullies, and bearings are sort of generic, so you can get them anywhere if something happens to griz. I doubt that though. These are also generic chaiwanese machines. Chances are high that someone like sunhill, wilke, shopfox, or even jet or delta will have the exact same machine painted a different color and priced differently. Griz seems to be doing great and is putting pressure on all the others at the moment.

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

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Price: $325.00 Freight*: $69.25 Your Price**: $394.25

They have a good repotation for taking care of their customers.

Reply to
Stephen M

I had this discussion recently with somone via e-mail. The conclusion was to consider one of the generally cheaper 6" long bed jointers such as

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Reply to
No

Check their web site. They list the shipping charge.

I have not needed any repair parts for my Grizzly jointer, which, BTW, runs like a champ.

The only time I needed parts from Grizzly was for a new tool. I did not like the finish on one piece, there was a handle missing, and a tapped hole in another was not good. I made a call and the parts ware here in two days. They did not want the original parts back.

I know that there are some who dismiss Grizzly out of hand because it is not Delta, or Jet, or Powermatic, or some other famous fancy brand. Me, I have a shop full of their heavy iron and have been very happy with what I have purchased. ____________________ Bill Waller New Eagle, PA

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Reply to
Bill Waller

Here's a suggestion: gamble $15 and run a want ad in your local paper. I was planning on buying a new 14" bandsaw this winter and on a whim decided to run an want ad right after the holidays. I ended up getting offers for six band saws, including three that I thought were real steals. I bought a Jet 14" (with aftermarket fence, Carter guides, three speed kit, a bunch of blades, etc.) for $225. The receipts the guy had in the manual say he spent about $900 for the whole mess four years ago, and the saw had barely been used. I'm sure there are as many unused jointers laying around collecting dust, so give it a shot. I ran my ad in the "Building Materials and Tools" section of our paper for a week; all the calls came on the second weekend so be patient.

Reply to
Kiwanda

I've been happy with my Sunhill SM-150

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That said, I've just ordered an 8" jointer from Grizzly just because I found I was always looking at face jointing 6-7" boards. Cheers, cc

Reply to
James "Cubby" Culbertson

He might also be able to do the tablesaw technique where you clamp the board to a sled and run an edge through a blade. He'd need a real table saw and a good blade for that though.

He could also pick up a jointer plane and clamp the boards together.

brian

Reply to
brianlanning

Reply to
stryped

You could ask Grizzly. Or look on their website. __________

You could ask Grizzly. Or look on their website. ___________

Duh...

Reply to
dadiOH

No

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

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Reply to
dadiOH

In the first example, looking down at the table as in the drawing, the outfeed side of the fence is even with the edge of the cutter and the infeed side of the fence is to the right 1/16" AT THE MOST... 1/32" is even better. Imagine a jointer, but on it's side.

Joe Barta

Reply to
Joe Barta

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