which jointer?

Should I get a 6" jointer like the Delta 37-195 or should I hold out for the

8" DJ-20?

I am starting to add onto my shop and figure that the jointer could save me some time. I am now using a straight edge and a flush cutting router bit to straighten edges. It works but is a bit labor intensive.

Reply to
R. Pierce Butler
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6" is good, 8" is better. Depends on your $$$ situation and patience to wait.
Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

In addition, it is awkward to joint a 8" board on a 6" jointer. I certainly don't mean that it can't be done. Jim

Reply to
Jim

"R. Pierce Butler" wrote in news:Xns981F7FD341EDFmc2500183316chgoill@10.232.1.1:

Your mileage may vary. Mine did.

I used hand planes to do my jointing. Lots of planes. And figured that I was not really Roy, and didn't get all of the boards as true and flat as they might be. So when a sweet, freshly rebuilt Delta-Rockwell 8" machine, nearly as old as I am, was offered by a friend from the local club, I wrote him a reasonably sized check. Built a rolling cart, made space in the shop, and built some cabinets for the bathroom. Lots of drawers, doors, face frames and shelves out of maple.

But it didn't go any faster, and I was still doing most of the touchup with handplanes anyway. Last week, a friend mentioned he was looking around for a jointer, so mine may have a new home soon. We'll see.

There are more cabinets to build - a kitchen or three, but I think I can get these done just as well, just as quickly, with the cabinet full of handplanes.

Always knew I had a streak of old fart in me...

Just don't buy a 6", thinking that you'll buy an 8" later. THAT math always seems to be expensive. (Like $2500 worth of handplanes is cheap...)

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Patriarch wrote in news:Xns981F7688C38D0patriarchatcomcastdo@216.196.97.136:

If your friend changes his mind, let me know. Where are you located?

Reply to
R. Pierce Butler

Worse, it's awkward to joint a 6 1/8 " board on a 6" jointer. That's why I upgraded.

Reply to
DJ Delorie

Patriarch wrote: ...

If using mostly sheet goods and start with surfaced hardwood, I can see it, but can't if use much roughsawn lumber. I really can't imagine the time to have to hand-prepare every face surface prior to even the first pass through the planer to get two parallel surfaces...particularly in August in an open shop in W KS! :)

:) I ken that...

That I do agree with wholeheartedly as well...

Reply to
dpb

I have the DJ-20 and it's great. Heavy and solid, and doesn't ever seem to get out of alignment. Nice long bed too. This sucker is heavy--two strong men to lift it onto the base. If you use a table saw much you really need a jointer.

Reply to
Phisherman

For me it was a balance between space, need and money. I decided the 37-195 would fit in the space and I so rarely need to face larger pieces. When the rare occasion comes up, I use a sled and run it through the planer.

The 37-195 is a good machine. It required some effort to get it tuned perfectly as well as re-tapping and helicoiling on some of the threads do to my over exertion but after the fussing around it works very well.

Dave

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Reply to
Teamcasa

Cry once... I started with a 6" and ended up with a DJ-20. I recently ran about 800 linear feet of 8-12 foot stock over it to get a good straight edge before ripping to width. The boards came out straight with one pass--the long bed works well. It's also real nice to handle stock 8 inches wide on it with one pass. On that note, I wouldn't mind having a 12" or maybe a 16" jointer. ;~)

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

"R. Pierce Butler" wrote in news:Xns981F8CB1D16B9mc2500183316chgoill@10.232.1.1:

18 miles east of San Francisco, CA. I'm not going to ship it anywhere. ;-)

It took two of us to disassemble it and get it into my pickup truck in pieces when I bought it.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Why not really hold out for one that David Marks owns? No matter what you buy, there is another model that is just a little larger for only more money. The answer to such questions as this depend on the size of your shop and the size of you budget. Only you know these two critical elements. Jim

Reply to
Jim

When it comes to a jointer, consider the following:

1) The one you are looking at absolutely won't fit in your available space, no way will it fit.

2) You absolutely can't afford the one you are looking at, no way can you afford it.

That is the jointer for you.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Hi,

Despite all the comments you had so far about getting an 8" jointer instead of the 6", there are a few facts worth noting before making your final decision. If you're not on a budget and don't care about spending money, please disregard the following notes and get an 8"...

  1. For equivalent quality, the 8" cost twice as much as a 6".

  1. You will rarely have to joint boards wider than 6". Of course, you can buy them that wide but for any decent glue up that won't warp, you would be better to split your board in 2 strips of 3" and joint/plane them individually. So this is never an issue.

  2. The size of the jointer doesn't affect the quality or the precision like a tablesaw can (cabinet vs. contractor model). You can expect the same results if you take care of your blades, if your jointer is tune-up properly and if you use proper techniques.

  1. A 6" will run on a regular 120V circuit as opposed to the 8" which will require most likely a 220V outlet.

  2. Footprint wise, the 6" is much smaller than the 8" so if you're in a small workshop, the 8" might be eat quite a bit of space and since jointing is usually done at the beginning of a project, it will be in your way the rest of the time.

  1. The beds on a 8" jointer are certainly longer than those on a 6" but will this be useful to you? Longer beds just means the ability to joint longer stock. Do you make moldings? If you make normal furniture, you will hardly joint boards over 6' long which can be handled very easily by a 6" jointer.

  2. Assembling a 6" jointer can be done alone if you work smartly. Assembling an 8" alone is not impossible but takes a lot more thinking and "helping" devices...

As a last note, of course you may get frustrated a few times when you want to joint at 6 1/8" wide board on a 6" jointer. You may even bite your lips a few times and say "Hmmmmm, I should have bought a 8" jointer instead"... But when it happens, just straight up one edge so it can be ripped safely on the tablesaw under 6", then joint.

As you have probably guessed it already, I'm talking here by experience... I have a 6" jointer and I didn't have the extra 1000$ a

8" jointer would have cost me. I've gone through the same thinking you're doing now so I made my decision and don't regret it in the same way I don't regret not having a timesaver, an oscillating spindle sander, a shaper.

I figured out a 1000$ extra is too expensive for the once in a blue moon frustration I may encounter with my 6" jointer.

Hope this helps,

Greg D.

Reply to
Greg D.

Ain't that the truth? I started with a 4" tabletop POS, went to a 6" and finally ended up with the 8" aircraft carrier that now sits proudly in my garage... uh, I mean shop. Looking back, I should have just bitten the bullet and bought the 8" jointer to start with. Every time I use it, I smile. What a pleasure...

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

I have the Grizzly 8". Great tool. My ancient Craftsman 6" tried to kill me so I switched. mahalo, jo4hn

Reply to
jo4hn

The majority of what I use is rough-cut. I don't have a jointer. No need for one. It's the rare board that takes any more than one minute to prep for the planer. Usually, not that long.

Reply to
CW

Greg D. wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Thanks Greg. You gave me some helpful points and food for thought. Maybe I should just keep going with my handheld router, flush trim bit, straghtedge and call it a day. I am just now starting to put my shop into some kind of order after a hiatus of about 15 years. Tomorrow I pick up a compressor, PC Plate joiner, and a monster Milwaukee router. I have some kitchen cabinets to make as well as matching cabinets for the 2 and 1/2 bathrooms.

I also need a dust collector so that will be next.

Reply to
R. Pierce Butler

"R. Pierce Butler" wrote in news:Xns981FE2F6CB5C1mc2500183316chgoill@10.232.1.1:

Well, I bought my 8" Delta Rockwell, freshly rebuilt and tuned for speed, for $799. So this about an 'extra $1000' doesn't ALWAYS hold true.

Doesn't mean that you HAVE to buy an 8" jointer, however.

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Hmmm, a lot of the answers here leave me bemused. To clarify: I have a little Electra Beckum over and under machine. So the knives are 260mm wide (just over

10 inches). And, you know, I never, ever find myself using the jointer for anything wider than 2 inches, max. Usually 3/4' to 1 1/2". Anything wider that needs flattening goes through the thicknesser on alternate runs until I have a flat board with parallel surfaces.

The one thing I would wish for in a jointer is a long infeed and a long outfeed table. Solid cast, preferably. The entire table on my Electra is around 3' and I struggle with pieces over 6' long - entirely too many misses in getting a straight edge; beyond 8' it gets to be a joke. That'd be the top of my list: a nice long table, and 6" wide is fine by me, so long as I have access to a 10" thicknesser as well.

I love my finishing planes but for joining boards, I prefer to use the machine. If I had to join boards with handplanes, I'd likely give up building furniture! Never tried the router method -- you've given me food for thought w.r.t. long boards now :)

-Peter

Reply to
Peter Huebner

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