I need to buy a jointer, and haven't had much luck finding a used one.
So, I've been looking at the budget 6" jointers by Ridgid and Grizzly, in the sub $600 range. Grizzly's new G0813/814 jointers aren't in stock yet, and the shipping costs would make it more expensive. I could have the Ridgid shipped to my local store for free, making it a bit cheaper.
Price aside, which would be the better jointer? Are there other brands in that price range I should consider?
I don't have the space or the money for a larger 8" jointer.
I would say get as large as you can afford or have room for. I would look for which might have longer beds. I had a short 6" jointer for years. Mostly used it to tie the dog leash to. Several years ago I got rid of it. It simply was too small. I would love to have a long bed jointer but I have managed with out and I never buy rough cut lumber any more. I use my track saw to straighten s2s when I buy that.
If you intend to use it a lot, one with the replaceable carbide cutters might be a consideration. AND some joiners are now offering the throw away replaceable blades similar to what is on the lunch box planers. Use them, flip them and use again and then replace. I think those use the Tersa knives. These are less expensive than the carbide replacements but relatively easy to replace properly.
and have absolutely no complaints. Would a larger one be "nice," do I need that extra width? Not really. So, the bottom line is, what do normally use a jointer for? Then buy accordingly.
Absolutely a good point. Buying a jointer to fit a location or space and not to satisfy the need for one might be a disappointment. I know this from experience.
Hmmmm....I was going to suggest looking at Rikon but it appears they no longer build the 20-110 and only have a little benchtop model now...
I "know nuthink!" of the Ridgid stuff (which, of course, is off-shore, TTI which is owned by the parent also of Ryobi) so there's really nothing of them related to the Ridgid pipe wrench outfit other than they licensed the name.
Grizzly does have a good reputation amongst the importers for standing behind their stuff's...
As others said, first really analyze what it is you think you'll be doing with it and buy accordingly, rather than to fit something into a niche corner in the shop.
Go big, go grizz 8" parallelogram.. or just 8" or more. wider is better. I know I have a 6 and it's barely adequate, an 8" would fit more needs. 12 perfect, but not reality.
Can you be entirely certain they aren't the same machines painted differently and put on different stands? Sometimes you can tell by looking up parts.
If not, I'd go for longest beds as others suggested. Also, most powerful motor. Best dust collection. Ease of adjustability AND set-up-- not setting it up from out of the box. Setting up everything to get perfect results: bed coplaner, knives perfectly flat to beds, etc. How easy is it to change knives?
This thread prompted me to go visit the Grizzly G490 8" jointer online. Discontinued? Replaced with G490W. From a brief comparison of the details:
G490 is rated 15Amp, G490W 12 Amps. Cutterhead spead: G490 4800 RPM, G490W 5350 RPM, so Cuts per minute 19200, verus 21400. Table length has grown by 3/8" from 76 3/8" (long). At first I though the W was for "White", but they appear to be the identical, I'm not sure what the W stands for? Fence is identical size. The shipping weight is listed as identical (562 pounds), but they may not have thoroughly updated the web site. There was a small price increase ($30) Table thickness is now 2 7/8" instead of 1 1/2" --ahh, there's the 'W'. Table height (from ground) is now 3/8" lower.
Clearly this one has been on my radar screen for a while. It's still unclear whether this will be the year...
Anyway, care to know which jointer *I* would choose? : ) I'm curious whether Powermatic or Jet can even "compete" with a 2 7/8" table thickness? Interesting that this spec. feature doesn't even make it into their product description, but it's on the "specification sheet". And some of you may already know how I am about cast iron... :: wiping the saliva from my lips :: ; )
After looking at the picture a 2nd time, that's what I surmised. That said, is this a valuable improvement? I couldn't locate comparable specs for Shop Fox or Powermatic.
If they were still being made, I would suggest Bridgewood, distributed by Wilke Machinery but they are not, nor is Wilke Machinery still in business. However, that is what I bought a dozen or more years ago because they were very well made and gave the most bang for the buck.
If I had it to do over, I would buy none. Why? Because I rarely use it and because I can do what it does in other ways. Consider...
Before you can join an edge, you must have a flat face. I can - and do - get that with my drum sander. Normally, I do both sides of a board on the sander (I start with rough lumber); at that point it is very unlikely that either edge is at right angles to the faces so I skim off one edge on the table saw, flip it and skim off the other edge.
IME, even rough lumber almost always has one edge that is suitable for guiding on the saw fence. On the rare occasions that is not true, I will use the joiner to nip off a bit so it is; however I could do the same thing with a hand plane, or with a saw or router and straight edge.
I also use the sander for edges; it will only do up to 3" wide but is is surprising how many parts are that ot less. For wider pieces, I could use the joiner but I'm more likely to use my router table, especially on very wide pieces, because I can run it flat rather than on edge.
In short, if I had to give up a tool, the joiner would go first; last would be the drum sander. Yes, I'd dump my table saw before I gave up the sander. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't buy a joiner, just saying. If I were you, I'd not worry about width; as others have said, longest bed is best. Why not worry about width? Because a joiner can give you a flat face but not parallel ones...you need something else for that. Plus, because I wouldn't run wide boards through a joiner without some sort of power feed.
I strongly doubt it's discernible to the end user...my guess would be it's simply a production change, nothing more (or less, either, for that matter).
That the overall weight didn't change noticeably means there's certainly not more actually material mass; possibly they did get a little more stiffness by slightly increasing depth dimension at the expense of number or thickness of ribbing keeping overall material at essentially the same weight. The advent of FEA is a great boon to let designers optimize such things as resonances, stiffness, etc., etc., with minimum weight. Computer time is quite cheap and models are able to be extremely accurate any more. Don't know Grizz goes to such efforts but wouldn't surprise me.
I like the look of the newer Grizzly jointer, compared to the old one with the controls up on a post. That just looks like an obstruction that serves no other function than to place the controls up higher.
I have a G0555 Grizzly bandsaw that I've had a lot of trouble getting aligned properly. Eventually had to drill out the riser holes to get the adjustment I needed. So, that experience has left me a little leary of Grizzly tools. Not enough to completely rule them out, but definitely more cautious of the brand.
Many people recommend getting an 8" jointer, but I really don't see myself needing that. I very rarely use boards larger than 6", unless I have glued up panels or something. A 6" jointer should be more than adequate for my needs.
The last few years I've started milling my own lumber. At first I was just recycling old beams into new boards, but lately I've started sawing trees into lumber and air-drying them. In every case, the boards are less than 6" wide.
Until now, I've used a crude sled with my planer to flatten boards, but it's a fairly tedious process.
Maybe besides (or instead of) the width, think of the length of the boards. "They say" you can joint a board up to 1.5 times, it's table length (but that may be stretching it).
I have a Delta with the controls on a post. It's nice, but like you said it gets in the way if you needed to bevel away from the cutter. Generally you try to tilt the fence toward the cutter. But there was a time that the grain would not allow me to flip it, so I needed to remove the post.
Had the same problem with an American made Delta..
That's mostly when you'll need the width. Right now I have about 70 board feet of 4/4 tiger maple mostly wider than 6" and I have some 8/4 and 10/4 tiger maple that is 12 or more inches wide. (leg stock). I will use the jointer to rough a bit, and wind up doing the rest by hand. Wish I had 8", and wish I had carbide spiral cutter. I think the tear out would be minimized.
Yes it is. But so is hand planning some type of wood. Others absolutely require it.
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