Jointer upgrade

[Sam the Cat]

hey all, Considering upgrading to an 8" jointer from my 6" Jet.

Looking over the Powermatic (60A) the Grizz 1018, the Jet 8" and the Deltas. One question I have not been able to tie down deals with the DJ20. All of the models seem to have different table lengths, but each places the cutter (roughly) centered between the infeed and outfeed tables. The DJ20 appears to have a larger infeed table -- by 10 inches. Anybody have wisdom they care to share ? Should this be a decision point ?

The second issue is weight. The DJ20, Jet, and Grizz models weigh in at ~400lb -- the powermatic seems to be 500+lb (584lb includes shipping crate) Since the 60A and the DJ20 have the same table length -- thoughts on where the extra 100lb comes from ? Is the extra 100lb (more table surface etc) important ?

Cheers Eric

[B a r r y]

That's why I bought mine, along with the ultra-smooth table adjustment. Delta uses a parallelogram system on DJ series machines, which operates quite differently than the sliding dovetails used on most other jointers.

Get your fingers on one and you'll see what I mean.

Barry

[Brian]

My guess is that the 60A is under or very close to 500# outside the shipping crates. My Grizzly G0500 just arrived Friday in two separate boxes. The tables were on a crate and inside a wooden coffin. The base and motor were on another crate. So, the shipping weight was significant.

As far as this jointer goes, I can't yet report on it (though many others already have). I've been juggling a newborn with finding time to set it up. But so far I can say the infeed and outfeed tables did arrive coplanar. The extension wings required shimming, and I've only got the outfeed wing on so far. It took me about 90 minutes to get it perfect.

Brian.

[Brian]

Another note... If you're looking at the DJ20 and PM 60A, you might want to consider the Grizzly G0543 with spiral cutterhead. Its going to be more in line price-wise with the others at $1200.

FWIW

Brian.