6" Jointer Options

I am going to be buying a 6" Jointer in the next week. My choices locally are these,

  1. Delta JT360 9.00 @ Lowes
  2. Ridgid JP0610 9.00 @ Home Depot
  3. Craftsman 21706 9.99 @ Sears
  4. Central Machinery 30289-0VGA 9.99 @ Harbor Freight
  5. Central Machinery 345253-0VGA 9.99 @ Harbor Freight

Any bargains here ? Any that I should absolutely stay away from ? Get the cheapest at 279.99 or the more expensive at 399.99 ? Is the any real differences at this price point ? I am new to woodworking and trying my hand a furniture making. Any help is welcome Thanks

SteveD61

Reply to
SteveD61
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If you live near Florida, want the best 6" jointer ever made, and don't mind paying more than the numbers you mention above, I have a Delta DJ15 for sale.

- - LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

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Reply to
LRod

Look at the Grizzly, Sunhill, and Yorkcraft options as well. Good things have consistently been written about them.

Brian.

Reply to
Brian

[snip] I have a 30 yo 6" Craftsman that I'll let go for $100 plus shipping. Works just fine. Now. Grumble. mahalo, jo4hn
Reply to
jo4hn

If you get the HF then be sure to get it on sale--which is most any month, less than $220, sometimes less (I got one for $189).

Be forewarned, the instructions were written by non-English speakers who never assembled one themselves. It's not really that bad (it's a fairly simple tool), but be prepared to fiddle with it a little on your own. There've been some good posts on it here if you care to do a search.

The fit and finish of the others might be a little better, the assembly definitely easier, if not already assembled, so there's that to consider.

Most of use who have the HF and feel comfortable messing with machinery like it well enough and consider it a great deal for the money. If you have the money to spare, one of the other models might be worthwhile.

These cheaper 6"-ers are probably all made from the same factory, however, so if you accept the limitations of this group of tools then you'll be happy with most any one. Nice shops will have at least 8" older machines, or the higher end Delta's, Powermatics, etc.

My 2¢ H

Reply to
Hylourgos

Hi, I have the Yorkcraft 6" Jointer from Wilke Mach.

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I love it, no problems at all, was $299.00 + Shipping.

Cya...

Reply to
Tony

Can I drive over and pick it up?

-Phil Crow

Reply to
Phil Crow

Steve, 3 years ago i bought that 6" Delta jointer at Lowes, and while i cant compair it with your other choices, i can tell ya, except for keeping the blades sharpned once in a while, ive had no probs whatsoever.........(sometimes thats worth the xtra $$)... daviswoodshop

"SteveD61" wrote

Reply to
sawdust

Reply to
Grandpa

I have recently purchased the Ridgid JP0610 at Home depot. This is my first jointer so I am far from being an expert, but here's my $.02 worth. I was able to look at the Craftsman Pro and the Jet in person. I also considered Delta, HF and Grizzly, but I did not actually see any of those. In just looking at them, the Ridgid seems to be built about as well as any of them.

I have not looked at the HF jointer, but other HF equipment that I have looked at is missing something. Like metal. The castings are much lighter in weight and maybe even made out of a less expensive metal (not sure about that one, just an impression). Fit an finish of the tools is also lacking. I would think that all of this would lead to more vibration, less durabililty, less accuracy, and more time to set the tools up properly.

But for my Ridgid, assembly was easy, but there were a couple of steps when a helping hand was needed from wifey. When it was all together I had to make a couple of minor adjustments to the fence. According to my engineers square, it wasn't exactly 90 deg out of the box. Maybe something like 88. And the preset stops for 45deg and 135 deg were not set at all. Other alignments were good.

I have not had to change knives yet, so I don't know how that is going to go. From the manual, it doesn't look like rocket science. Tables are dovetailed with gibs provided to make sure they are, and will stay, nice and snug. Handwheels are nice and work smoothly.

It has a partially open stand with the legs splayed out to the sides as opposed to a vertical cabinet like on all the others that I looked at. When I first saw the Ridgid I was thinking that this was kinda cheap. But now it seems to me that the wider base would tend to make the Ridgid a little more stable in that direction. I ran some 6' pieces through it and the stability was good.

Other than that. . .sweet.

The reason that I purchased the Ridgid was price. I was at our local Home Depot looking at the Ridgid. After a few minutes speaking with the sales rep, I was getting ready to leave. Another sales person came over and said that they only had one more in the box and that a new model was coming out. The current model was selling for $399 and the new model would be selling for $479 (I think). I had checked the Ridgid website just that morning and it looks like the only change is the color of the base. Mine is all a light grey and the new one is Orange and dark grey. Anyway, he said I could have the last one in the box for $250 to which I replied "I'll get my truck". Sweet!

My only other comment is that you say you are new to woodworking. I would suggest that if your budget allows, you should purchase good quality tools and stay away from the bargain tools like HF and others. I say that because you just might get hooked on wood and if you do, a good quality tool will provide greater precision, dependability, and repeatability over a longer period of time. And if you do get hooked, you would probably want to "upgrade" in a year or two anyway. If you should decide that woodworking is not for you, I think it would be easier to sell your equipment.

Have fun making sawdust,

Wayne

Reply to
NoOne N Particular

Reply to
Rick Samuel

I have the Craftsman. As with most Sears, wait for it to be on sale.

Buying this one was like getting a kit. The main body and tables was preassembled but everything else needs to be put together. Lots of screws to make the base. For me this was a partial plus since it allowed me to get it into my car while the Rigid was just a little bit too big to fit.

This was my first experience moving up from a bench top unit. I just ran a bunch of oak through it to make some 20 edge joints. Every one was straight with no gaps - can't ask more than that for an edge joint.

John

Reply to
John Siegel

If you go with the Rigid at the Home Depot be "SURE" and ask if they will give you a "sale Price" I have seen these excellent Planers go as low as 199 at the HD.. More typical is $299 But Hey what a DEAL..

Ya gotta ask!!!

Reply to
Gregory Jensen

Reply to
Grandpa

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