jointers

Well the lower end jointer appears to have gone up to $2250 already.

So both jointers look pretty good but you are paying for the extra teeth on the more costly one. And it seems the cutter heads may be from different manufacturers. They are called different names. Money being no object....

I would like to see a video showing the importance or advantage/disadvantage of the extendable infeed roller. It seems that the end of the board would drop down in the void between the roller and the infeed table if the board crowned up in the middle. And having said that why no outfeed roller.

And I am seeing the more expensive one with 3 HP. vs 1.75. I did not see a 1.5 version.

Given the length of the tables, I was surprised to see that they are relatively light weight. 300 lb unpacked. Is the Jet that light too? My Jet jointer/planer comes in at about 500lb IIRC. 600lb packed.

And the last thing to consider, the warranty.

Jet may be 5 times longer. 5 years.

More teeth and larger motor (3HP vs. 1.75HP). I'd rather not run another 220 line but perhaps wouldn't need it because the chances of it running full-tilt for any time is zero. I have one 20A line run for the DC and another for all of the tools (TS, BS, and lathe). I

The Laguna is a parallelogram jointer, where the others have dovetail ways. I don't know how significant that is, really, but I understand that adjusting tables on a dovetail machine is one RPITA.

I must have been thinking about the 6".

I don't know anything about Jet customer service but Laguna's reputation isn't great. I've only contacted them a couple of times but was reasonably satisfied. As you may remember, the light mount (part of the lathe) was tapped wrong. After *finally* getting the right number, they sent out a replacement part, no charge (I'd have been pissed otherwise). Small problem. They sent the flange for the

Agreed. An extra 8" on a 72" bed doesn't seem like it's worth much and could be a real problem. I marked that up to the design marketeering department.

I've been thinking about that roller and also about some of the boards I've run through my DJ-20. The beds on the DJ-20 are 76.5" and I've run 12'-16' stock through it. The wood drags on the edge of the infeed table as it's fed. I'm thinking that the roller would likely reduce or even eliminate that friction and make it easier to feed the wood.

Is HP really much of a concern with jointers? I think its kind of like a drill press. HP isn't really a factor in deciding which drill press to buy. With a jointer you will be taking off more wood the wider the jointer is. But you can and do adjust the depth of cut so you are only taking off a tiny tiny tiny amount of wood. And you sneak up on taking off the wood. You don't start taking off a full cut. Now I'm not saying you want an underpowered jointer. But once you get enough HP, its enough. You can then ignore that spec.

For just a jointer, I would think 1.75 hp should be enough, my combo unit had 3 but it also has to engage the infeed and out feed when in planer mode.

I bought my Laguna BS many years back and when it arrived it was missing one of the ceramic guide inserts. Laguna was sympathetic and agreed to send out the replacement as soon as they got one in. I used a dowel pin for quite a while as they ordered and sent me the wrong one and that started over again. Beyond that I have had no issues.

With Jet I also got good service. My 3hp TS motor had a start up jolt when turned on. Jet reps sent me a new start up solenoid and eventually a new motor. None helped as I learned that the Delta Unisaw had the same issue. It was explained to me that I had great line voltage so the motor was coming up to speed instantly. I also had a bad large rubber insert form my oscillating spindle sander. They immediately sent a new one to me. And finally my drum sander feed belt had a tracking issue. They sent me a new feed belt.

I did not have to wait much at all for replacement parts from Jet. Laguna was another story.

I personally would feel that Jet would provide the better service after the sale. They always had the parts, and I would venture to say that their depth on inventory of parts is deeper than Laguna. My Laguna is a great machine but with the fact that it was built in Italy might explain the parts issue, although the ceramic guides are unique to the Laguna brand and are probably manufactured in the U.S. Who knows.

My ultimate feeling is that the European Laguna machines are closer to commercial/industrial in quality. Jet is probably closer to the smaller business/pro in quality on their more robust machines.

Last, I ordered my Jet jointer/planer combo the Monday after Thanksgiving. It finally arrived January 18, IIRC. I am certain this is Covid related. I original was going to order the Hammer combo machine for significantly more money but they were quoting me 7 months wait.... I was OK with that but the fact that I was going to pay $500 for lift gate shipping and delivery AND they would not guarantee a lift gate delivery left me with a lot of doubts..

I bought my Jet through my local Woodcraft and deliver with lift gate had gone up in price from free, to $25. Fine!

Jet's dealer network is considerably larger than Laguna's. When I bought my Laguna, I had to buy direct from Laguna. Laguna is now available through Woodcraft and Rockler but I would wager that parts availability will probably fall short compared to Jet.

Chew on all of that for a while. LOL

LOL exactly. Hammer offers an extension but is solid iron with no big gap. I would be more concerned with the gap, on the Laguna, than the short addition. After all, you run boards through a jointer because they are not straight or flat. Certainly when the end of the board falls between the in feed table and the roller the board will lift up on the out feed side. It may not be an issue but I would have to try it out before I was convinced that is is a feature and not a problem issue.

Yes. But when the end of the board clears the roller it falls and drags on the end of the in feed table.... ESPECIALLY on boards less than 8' long.

Eliminating that friction or drag would be temporary with every board that is longer than the in feed table.

I would agree with that analogy. With less HP you can make a shallower cut or feed slower.

BUT BUT BUT.

If the lower HP jointer has less than 1/2 the amount of teeth I would think that each tooth is taking a bigger bite. And that could "Possibly" be "something". LOL

Old style planers essentially had 3~4 blades that cut all across the board. And that is a bigger hunk of wood being removed with each knife cut.

I certainly think this can be "over thought" into indecision.

But it also has to be perfectly coplanar with the table. Another possible nightmare, IMO.

I can see it important if you're doing rabbets or taking the deepest cut possible. Why you'd want to do either beats the heck out of me.

Yes, but there is always multiple teeth cutting in the helical cutter. Any "flywheel" effect isn't going to help.

Isn't that what we're here for?

LOL. I keep forgetting that. Provide as many scenarios as possible. And add situations that are not pertinent to the issue. ;!)

I don't see that as a problem so much as the roller not being coplanar with the table. Bending the board (either up or down) going through the knives doesn't seem to be a good idea. I guess it's better than hanging off the end but it's still only 8". Maybe if it makes it easier for rollers, it might be worth it.

Seriously, that's about where I am. I was 90% sure the Laguna was the right way to go but the new, lower end one just isn't going to happen. Only 20 knives? I don't seen $2800 for the upper model either. The Powermatic is high, too. Unless something happens, it looks like the Jet is the better deal. Jet always seems to have a 10% sale going on so that pays the sales tax and a (very) little.

Yes, it's temporary. However, when you have 12-16' boards in play the last thing you need is more friction while you've got all that wood hanging out there!

By the time the end of the board reaches the roller it's a non-issue. This as the problem of the board drooping, even a little, over the end of the infeed and dragging is all but gone by then... The feed pressure is on the outfeed table within a foot or two of feeding and that generally controls the cut. When face jointing, if a board is so bowed or twisted that more than droop is creating a lot of friction at the end of the infeed table I'd think it should be cut to shorter lengths. This as there might be nothing left by the time it's flat! Likewise, for edge jointing, if the crook is real bad it should either be straight line ripped or cut into shorter lengths.

Me... bow/twist/crook assessments take place before the wood gets to the jointer and if they are bad enough a saw will be involved before the jointer is used. It's the droop induced friction on the long boards that would be nice to moderate and a roller could help do that.

Gotch'a I can clearly see how this would be a good feature with loooooong boards. They likely would bend and straighten as their ends reached the roller.

I was thinking more in lines of the lengths that "I" would likely be running through the jointer. Less than 8' and really likely less than

Well, the Laguna is certainly a more "sexy" looking machine and we all know that is an important category.. ;!) I had that to consider between the Jet and the Hammer. So maybe not so important. ;~)

Then the color, that is going to be as clear as black or white.

So with the lower end Laguna with 20 teeth...The upper end with almost triple the teeth, 54, The Jet falls some where in between with 36. I think that 20 teeth would be maybe a bit too coarse. I think feed rate will even out the playing field on all of these models.

My 12" Jet has 56 teeth so the ratio is the same as with the 36 teeth on the 8" Jet. I can attest that the cut is smooth AND QUIET or should I say, q u i e t.

BUT with 54 teeth,,,, I would think smoother. But where do you draw the line? Are you going to apply a finish as the work exits the jointer or will you finish sand? If you are going to sand I would think the quality of the cut on the Jet will be fine.

The guard might be a consideration but they all appear to be the American version, pork chop. Oddly I thought the Euro style would be weird. After using it I prefer it just from the stand point that the American version slaps the fence every time the work clears.

Table height is almost the same for both. The style/thickness of the soles on the shoes you wear in the shop probably differs more.

Where do you like the switch? It appears that the Jet has dual positions, high or low. apparently you get both with the Laguna and the bump bar across the front. I wonder if that would be an accidental shut down issue. I often accidentally turn my SawStop off by leaning into the on off switch.

Table adjustments. That is a big difference between the two.. The crank on the Laguna will be finer to adjust but slower. The lever on the Jet is quick but more coarse. With a jointer the fine tune adjust with the wheels is probably not a factor. And how often will you make those adjustments once you find the setting that you like.

Voltage is the same so you will have to deal with that.

The Laguna is 3 hp, the Jet is 2 hp. 2 is probably going to be plenty.

Can you put your hands on one before the purchase. Rockler and Woodcraft are common stores, maybe not for you, but both carry both brands. BUT right NOW neither are likely to have one on the floor to look at. My local Woodcraft store is almost empty of anything that is not built in the USA.

Will shipping be a consideration? I had my jointer/planer delivered into my garage for $25 above purchase price,

Is the Laguna mobile? YES, build in wheels.

Yeah... this isn't an issue when making most furniture and cabinets but it can be with architectural woodworking... For example, I've got a big poplar tree that I'll be milling into boards. If the logs allow for it, I hope to yield some boards about 18' long. With them I'm going to make baseboards and crown for my house. That will leave me with no joints any where in those items. Everything else will be 8-10 feet. With one face jointed I can run them through my thickness planner and Jet molder.

An associate of mine owns a commercial cabinet shop. He does paneled bank interiors, hotel lobbies, etc. I've watched him joint 16'+ cherry on his 8" Powermatic jointer before running it through his Williams & Hussey molding machine. I watched intently to see if he had any tricks for working with boards that long...This as he's got 30+ years in the business. The short answer was he had the same struggles as I.

Moving forward with my renovation, I will have my power feeder on the jointer to process the trim and flooring before thickness planning and molding. The power feeder will deal with the droop and friction much better than I can by hand...

We've all had our challenges doing woodworking and we've all come up with solutions... some more elegant than others!