Palgrem jointer?

[Avraham]

Anyone know anything about the Palmgren 82461 benchtop 6" jointer? The Amazon reviews are good, but it's Amazon, not rec.woodworking.

TIA, A

[Leon]

I think the brand is relative new. In general I have heard that the brand is pretty good and unique. IIRC Sears sells a combination belt, disk, spindle sander that is identical to the one that Palmgren makes, so it too is probably made by Palmgren.

[Charlie Self]

Leon replies:

Then the benchtop jointer is pretty good--I've got the Craftsman version, and it is heavy, stable and cuts cleanly. Much more cast iron than you'd expect in a benchtop tool.

[Avraham]

I checked with Palmgren and they do indeed make the Craftsman jointer, and they are identical. I'm not quite so thilled with the concept - my relatively recent (say, 10-5 years ago) experiences with Craftsman power tools leads me to believe the 'Crapsman' label they've gotten. Thanks, A

[Leon]

Educate yourself with Craftsman tools before writing them off. DeWalt and Bosch make some of the Craftsman tools among other tool makers

[Avraham]

Have they gotten better lately? The Craftsman 4" jointer of a few years ago was best used as a paperweight - the in and out feed beds wouldn't stay parallel to each other for *any* adjustment of the cut depth. My Craftsman cordless drill was a weenie (replaced with an equal-voltage DeWalt that was 10 times better). My Craftsman miter saw won't cut consistent angles, even at the notched angles.. The list goes on and on.

If they're better now, I'd be willing to try again.

Thanks, A

[Leon]

You need to take a look at the model numbers to see whom makes the tool. Many manufacturers make Craftsman tools.