I need to move up from my Delta 12" planer to one with something more to it. (I have about 1000 b.f. of old growth oak barnboards to plane down) I'm thinking about the Jet JPM-13.
Anyone have anything good bad or indifferent to say about it? How long have you had it? How much wood have you run through it? Would you buy it again? What would you change about it?
I have several Jet pieces (TS, BS, jointer), but not their planer. I have the DW735. The Jet got mediocre reviews a year or two ago by one of the magazines. They liked the Delta 22-580 back then. I'm pretty sure I saw
*another* planer review in one of this months magazines, with the Jet included. I didn't read it - since I already have the DeWalt.I *think* it's an OK planer, but there are better designs out there now.
You're talking about portable planers. The Jet JPM-13 is a stationary model with and induction motor in lieu of a universal type.
Seems to be about the same as the old Foley-Belsaw.
Personally, I'd go iron with bed rollers and a nice iron serrated infeed, which will make feeding rough stock a hell of a lot nicer. In that area, you've got a lot of 15" options. I'm a Rockwell/Invicta 13" type, the granddaddy of the moveable motors, and in a small shop, it's nice to adjust things for a constant feed height.
I've had one for several years. I also have the older (but not really old) style Delta "lunchbox" planer. The Jet works great as a moulding machine, though you do need to make a jig for feeding the stock through.
Changing/aligning knives isn't exactly quick and easy, but not too onerous. The planer knives can stay in if you use smaller moulding knives. Changing the gearing is relatively quick; maybe about 5 minutes or so at most.
I've done a reasonable amount of moulding with it. I would definitely buy it again (a power feed makes for much nicer moulding than using a router in a table, for example). I bought the open stand version and am glad I did, since the shelf makes for handy storage.
I haven't used it so much for planing. I keep that for those times when I need extremely sharp knives. It's a fine planer, though; definitely more robust than the portable variety.
BTW, the knives Grizzly sells for their planer/moulder also fit just fine in the Jet and are much cheaper.
I've had mine for about 2.5 years. It gets used a fair bit (I do commissioned furniture pieces, plus stuff for our house)- I'd guess a couple of thousand linear feet, primarily of maple, cherry and walnut. I've changed the blades once, and need to do it again, soon. I've had no problems, handles 12+ inch hard maple no problem--although the shavings from maple tend to clog the dust hood. I find it a solid machine that fit my needs (small shop and no real room for a 15" planer).
david
I've had on for about 5 years now, and run everything from 12" red oak for an entryway to 1/4" stock (on a sled) for small boxes. I haven't used it as a molder, but have seen it done, and the changeover is very easy for smaller knives. I believe that anything less than 2" wide can be used without removing the planer knives. All in all, I've been very happy with it, and would buy it again.
Ron
Ahhh. Thanks, My bad. Emily Latella: "Never mind!" :)
I've had a closed stand version with the infeed and outfeed rollers for 3.5 years. I had a Dewalt 733 prior to that and find the Jet to be far superior in terms of power and volume. I also like the fact that it has it's own stand with built in wheels so that it can be rolled out of the way easily. I leave the feed speed set to the slower speed all the time as it's fast enough for my needs. If I were trying to make a living with it I'd probably run it at high speed most of the time! I don't know how much wood has been through it but I've run maple, oak, fir, pine, and plywood through it with good results. I'd buy it again.
John
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