FS: Drill Press and Jointer

[Lou Chorich]

I'm finishing half of my basement and must sell some tools to make room.

Delta 6" Professional Jointer, model 37-195. Used about four times. Includes brand new Jointer Pal knife setting tool ($45 value) and manual. Like new. asking $250

14" Drill Press, model 14-070. Has seen very little use. Includes Incra drill press table and fence ($119 value), Mortising attachment (part

17-924, $60 value), and manual. asking $250

items are located in Worthington, Ohio. You must be able to pick them up at my home. I'll need at least one person who can assist me in getting them out of my basement and into your vehicle.

Please reply to [e-mail]

Thanks, Lou

[aswr]

I will buy both machines....please call me at 765-795-4044 or e-mail at [e-mail] thanks, Mike

[aswr]

[e-mail]

[aswr]

is interested in buying both machines please call 765-795-4044 my e mail address is aswr followed by @ then ccrtc.com trying to post my email seams not to work? Mike

[Greg O]

Why in the hell are all the good tool deals somewhere else?! This jointer would bring $500 locally, even though new price for the jointer and base sell new for about $600! Greg

[Unquestionably Confused]

I always used to say the same thing then I started keeping my eyes open and always, always carrying a blank check and several one hundred dollar bills stashed in my wallet.

Never know when you'll come across a gloat worthy bargain. I do frequently (way too frequently, according to SWMBO) and that's the key: Look hard, act fast!

Bob

[Greg O]

I looked for a good jointer for over three years! Anything good, like a Jet or Delta the owner was asking 80% of new price! Everything else was worn out junk like 70's Craftsman with worn out gibe for $200. I can't count the number of Craftsman jointers I have looked at that were real junk. I finally gave up and bought a new Jet 6" closed stand . Greg

[Joe Liu]

Harbor Freight,

you'll be surprised by the good prices you find there. (e.g. a 7" industrial rabbeting jointer with stand, $219, all kinds of drill press from $59 to $459). Many of their tools are of decent quality, some may not. But at their prices, you can afford to buy a few more. (some tools cost half, 1/3 or still less than what you used to pay). It's almost like leasing. When you need it, go get one. It's cheap! And as Lou noted, he doesn't use the tools that often (most of us don't). The Harbor Freight tools are perfectly good for the home users. But if you need to make a living with the tools, then you may want to spent the triple, quadruple or more for the really high quality products.

There is a Harbor Freight store in Columbus Square off Cleveland Ave.

[Greg O]

There is a Harbor Freight in our city. Generally I am not impressed with their tools. I have a HF 2HP dust collector, but their jointer was a bit to close to the low end for me. I am allot more comfortable paying $550 for a Jet, than $200 for the HF! I generally buy higher end tools, I just don't like paying regular price for them! Greg

[Joe Liu]

I look at it this way, I can spend $200 for a HF now and have $350 to spare.

2 years later if my HF is not holding up and I need to use another one, I can spend another $200 for the same HF or maybe by then a better model or better deal is out there. Yet, I still have $150 to spare, which will allow me to the time to get a better model or better deal later. Chances are that your whole $350 will not be used on the same thing. You get to save that $350 or use it for some other nice tools you always wanted. You may even find a Jet for $250 as Lou was asking if you still want a Jet.

But of course, if you want to spend the money now and help the economy, that's another matter.

If nothing else, business like HF has to put some pressures on the Jets and Delta's to reduce their costs.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The logic of your argument sound very reasonable and sensible. What is left out though, is the annoyance and frustration factor. If a tool is not tuned properly and cannot cut as accurately, break blades, ruins wood, make a project take lots longer, what is that worth?

Sometimes a cheap tool is OK for getting a job done. HF has a fairly good reputation for its nailers and clamps. If jointer tables are not flat, cannot be aligned, etc, you are not saving anything. Your money, your choice.

[J T]

Mon, Feb 28, 2005, 3:13pm (EST+5) [e-mail] (Edwin=A0Pawlowski) says: Sometimes a cheap tool is OK for getting a job done. HF has a fairly good reputation for its nailers and clamps. If jointer tables are not flat, cannot be aligned, etc, you are not saving anything. Your money, your choice.

I've gotten things at HF that I'll NEVER wear out, I just don't use them that often. they work great, and I coldn't justify paying extra for something with a bit more "quality".

I've not heard any feedback on the HF jointer tables yet, from anyone that has actually used one, that is. I've only glanced at them, in passing, but certainly looked sturdy enough. Anyway, if you get one, and don't like it, HF has a good return policy.

JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

[Mike Marlow]

The only problem with this logic is that it assumes that the quality is built into the cheap product enough that it will serve as well, or near enough as well as the better product, but maybe not for as long. This is generally not the case. So, for those 2 years that you're speaking of, you'll be fighting with QC issues and design issues that keep you from getting well jointed edges or drilling straight holes. Nothing gained by that. Some of the lower priced tools actually do perform pretty well and their only real drawback is that they would not stand up to high volume use. For a lot of home shop folks, that is just fine. Their equipment will never see high volume and could conceivably perform well for a lifetime. It does come down to the piece of equipment. Not all of it works in even an almost reasonable manner right out of the box, and not all of it fails to work in a reasonable manner.

Or perhaps, spend his money only once for a lifetime, and not have to deal with replacing a pretty substantial tool, or having it break in the middle of use, or find himself doing more setups and adjustments than he should.

That would be nice, but there is such a gap between what HF offers and what its target audience is and what the bigger name tool manufacturers offer that it's unlikely there will be too much price shifting. When was the last time we saw Mercedes drop their prices because a Kia dealer moved into town?

[B a r r y]

I've had the same experience. Some of this stuff won't do the task it's intended to with satisfactory results, even ONE time.

I do have a cheapie HF HVLP sprayer that actually works fine, but it's been the exception of my experiences. I'd really need to try a Harbor Freight woodworking machine myself, with wood, before I'd spend one nickel on it.

Barry

[Hippy]

[George E. Cawthon]

I looked at the 6" (or is it 7") jointer fairly carefully noting the various features. The tables seemed flat based on the various instore tools, levels and squares. But I'm no expert. Compared to the old Craftsman 4" that my FIL gave me, the HF looks like a marvel of modernity. M FIL used the Craftsman for building cabinets and windows in two different houses and was very satisfied. I had the knives ground and spent up to 2 hours getting everything adjusted. It works well but the tables are not exactly flat. Adjustments of the knives is as primitive as it can get and adjust of the tables is a bear because of design flaws (locking the tables changes the heights). In contrast the the HF blades rest on adjustable screws which would make setting the blades easy and the tables moved smoothly in dovetails.

And you are right, if you find that the tables are not flat, you've wasted some time, but you can return it. BTW, I checked a $400 jointer at Home Depot with the tools available there and it looked like the tables weren't as flat as the HF tables.

[Joe Liu]

Like I said, if you make a living with the tools, get the best you can afford, get quality tools to do quality work.

For most of us, we probably buy it once and used it once or twice...

[Greg O]

Yup! I agree with you Ed. I have never been sorry that I spent more and bought a higher quality tool. On the other hand, several times I was sorry I went the cheap way as I usually ended up buying the better tool in the end anyway! My frustration activation level is very low so an easier to use tool keeps me happy! Greg

[Greg O]

I figured the $500 I spent on the Jet was chump change over the next 30 years I will be using it! $16.66 a year! Plus figuring that if I ever need parts it was more likely that Jet parts will be easy to find where HF parts availability are questionable right now! Greg

[Hippy]

Best+Afford=oxymoron...don't we always want better than we buy? ;-)

..> For most of us, we probably buy it once and used it once otwice...

Like I said, concerning HF and Sears...for the Hobbyist... ~Hippy