which jointer?

[bf]

I think the majority of posters will tell you to get an 8" jointer. I only have a 6" jointer.. Then I realized that it was more than adequate. Most of my boards don't need the face side joined. The planer does a good enough job. I face joint so rarely that I don't mind ripping the board down the middle to fit the jointer if I have to.

The only thing I'd suggest is to get a 6" jointer with a longer bed. That has the advantage of letting you join longer pieces. In defense of the 8" jointers, they generally have longer beds.

[Tim Taylor]

I'd have put a restraining order out on it!

[Tim Taylor]

There's only been one time in the past 15 years I wished I'd have had a jointer bigger than my 6" one. So take that for what its worth.

[Phisherman]

Another thought. There are several advantages of an 8" jointer over a

6". Even if you don't ever need the full 8" knife width, you can move the fence over more area to increase the time between sharpenings. This may not seem like a big deal until you have to change the knives.

[Stephen M]

That's like asking should buy the Ford Escort or the Calidac Escalade. There is alot of products price points in between.

DJ20's sound like a really nice product (I've never used one myself), but i could not justify one hobbiest use. I upgraded from a smallish 6 to a Yorkcraft YC8J; It was about $750 delivered, about 2 years ago. For non-commercial use, I think the Griz and Yorkcraft products are a much more sensible value.

You have not enjoyed working with really straight and flat stock until you start by face jointing your own stock.

Assuming that you have a planer, start with rough stock. You will spend a little more time on stock prep. but wou will save a bundle of money and have better (straighter flatter) material.

-Steve

[George Max]

My 2 cents - get a DJ-20.

I used to use a Craftsman 6" jointer/planer (as they called it.) For me, it did everything a jointer had to do. Except is was too short. Many times my projects have long parts, and the short beds of that 6" machine just couldn't make 'em flat. The extra long beds of the DJ-20 are just the thing for that. Plus it just can't be stalled. The motor is 220 vs 110 for that Craftsman. I really couldn't be happier with it.

[Frank Howell]

Consider the Grizzly 8" jointer. I have one and it replaced a Delta 6" jointer. The parallelogram beds design make it easier to do adjusments. One of the tallest fences on the market and at about 550 pounds is stable. Also it has wheels. You just step on the front pivot arm and viola, it can be moved. On sale till 9-2-06.

the 15" planer arrives. Another summer sale item till 9-2. I also bought the framing nail gun 2 months ago and it works as advertised.

[Chris Friesen]

Canada. (Some kind of deal with Busy Bee Tools, apparently.)

The closest equivalent available in Canada is the King KC-80FX, which runs about $1074USD before shipping.

Chris

[KENDALL SEYBERT]

[Chris Friesen]

is better, but compared to something like Grizzly its still quite a bit higher-priced.

As a Canuck, I really envy you guys the ability to buy tools from Grizzly and Amazon.

Chris

[Owen Lawrence]

I bought my 6" General last Christmas and I've really enjoyed having it. I use it a lot more often than I thought I would, for small projects as well as large.

I think there's no turning back for me. I've been "making do" for nearly two decades, but now I'm committed to assembling what I think is a fully equipped shop. One of the tools I'll have to wait for, but is high on my priority list, is space.

I did the math on how much money I'd save buying rough cut lumber and using the jointer to clean it up instead of paying the vendor. It will be many many years before the jointer has paid for itself. That said, the quality of my projects has gone up. So far it seems to be worth it.

- Owen -

[Stephen M]

Amen brother. I would have never anticipated the subtle but significant quality improvements that result from really flat and square stock. The only way to get that consistantly is to have freshly milled surfaces.

-Steve

[jo4hn]

I gave it to my neighbor. shhhhhhhhhhhhhh, jo4hn