Switch to Combo Machine?

[RWM]

I am in the initial phase of investigating the possibility of switching from conventional, stand alone, woodworking machines to a quality combination machine. A few years a go I moved from a huge shop to a standard two-car garage and I am constantly having space issues. I have done some investigation of the popular European combination machines and have been impressed but am looking for advice from people who have made the switch.

My first concern is with the jointer feature of the combo machines. I currently have a Delta DJ-20 and love the long beds. I am worried about jointing long boards on the relatively short beds on the combo machines.

Does anyone have stories/suggestions for me?

Thanks - Bob McBreen - Yarrow Point, WA

[Adrien T]

[charlie b]

The 42 inch infeed table on the DJ-20 sounds nice, though anything seven feet long eats a lot of floor space. On the Robland X31, the total lenght of the infeed plus outfeed tables is 55 inches - but is 12 inches wide vs 8 inches on the DJ-20. With most combis you also get a horizontal mortiser with and XYZ table - handy for horizontal boring as well.

Most of the combis also come with a sliding table. If you do sheet goods having a 52 inch cross cut fence with a flip stop is also kind of handy.

There are Yahoo groups for most of the combis and you can view the posted messages but can't view images or post to the group 'til you sign up to join one. The Robland X31 group has close to 400 members.

If you want info on the X31 I've got some web pages up about mine you might want to check out. Go here (all one line)

to see it in the scaled context of the shop. It's the red odd looking thing in the center of the bottom of the image. Click on it to go to more about the unit. It has two wheels in the back and a removable wheeled lever if you want to move it - nice since the thing weighs 1100 pounds.

If you have any questions about the Robland X31 feel free to e-mail me and I'll try to respond promptly.

charlie b