Yorkcraft YC-8J

Hi Ken, I have the 6" Yorkcraft, which I love. Plan to upgrade to the 8" eventually.

Tony

-- Mountan Talk:

I have Yorkcraft 15" Planer that I got on a very good price. I started to build my shop with Grizzly tools, but now I will consider Yorkcraft as a viable alternative.

Cheers, Ollie

I purchased the 6" model last week and had the weekend to put it together and try it out. In general I am happy although some things were disappointing.

Here are my thoughts:

Shipping was quoted at one price but when the shipper called to make delivery arrangements they asked $35 more than was quoted. Called Wilke to fix and they did, although they told me there would be a fuel surcharge which was not mentioned when the order was placed. Not a lot of money but one of those annoying lack of paying attention to details things that makes a difference.

Jointer arrived with all the shipping containers undamaged and properly palletized. When opened I found a dime size dimple in the stand and the blade guard paint was chipped, as it if had been dropped even though it was bagged in plastic.

Assembly was straightforward with the single exception of putting one allen screw into the base from under the stand. The only way to get this screw in was through the dust chute and it was impossible to see anything. It all had to be done by touch, including getting the bolt started and inserting an allen wrench. Man, that was a real bitch. And if you have big hands it would only be worse.

The unpainted metal surfaces were coated in grease - mineral spirits and a wide putty knife cleaned it off quite well. There was no oxidation on any surface. The knives were beautifully set and required no adjustment at all. The pulleys also lined up fine, although I don't like the belt and will probably swap it out for a link-belt in the future. I have yet to check the runout on the pulleys - have to do that soon. The fence was about .025" out of plumb and about the same for the 45 degree settings. Not particularly hard to adjust but time consuming to get right. I did not like the amount of play in the vertical stop but there was no way to reduce it and practically speaking the play had no impact on the reliability and repeatability of the setting.

The motor was advertised as USA but it was Chinese through and through. I liked the mounts and the adjustments - easy to access and easy to use. It is a cap start motor but with only one cap, so it is not a cap run. If you look at the Delta motor in their online user manual it is clearly USA cap run and cap start. Probably one of the reasons for the diff in price between the two. I wired it for 220VAC with the wiring diagram found inside the motor cover.

The tables and the fence were dead flat except for one small crown in the right rear corner of the infeed table. That created a dish in the table of about .005" which Wilke said was in spec and that seems right to me. I could probably stone this little rise down but I am going to wait to see if I notice it making a difference first.

The Wilke Machinery webpage advertised the USA motor and a "thumb release locking lever." Mine had neither. A call into Wilke found them surprised that their online catalog advertised those things and they said they would remove the erroneous information but did not offer to replace either the motor or supply the lever. They did offer to replace the blade guard and to send me an extra set of knives to make up for the dented stand.

As for operation, this is my first jointer so I was not sure what to expect. I like the rack and pinion adjustment and after considerable adjustment and tuning it is very smooth. The switch position on a pole is unnecessary in my opinion. The infeed table adjustment lever works efficiently but I think I would prefer a wheel - not a big thing really. The built-in mobile base is truly great and makes it very easy to move. I wonder about the life span of the adjustable legs as they don't appear all that sturdy. The tool works very well indeed and I made about 50 passes with walnut, sycamore and mahogany and found no discernible difference. Each of these boards was around 4 feet long and there was no problem balancing them on the tables. They were 6/4,

When all was said and done my thoughts were it is a good product but I questioned my decision to save a few pennies. The final price came in at $425 with shipping. The Delta version from Amazon with free shipping, the $50 rebate and the Amazon $25 credit would have landed on my door for about $35 more. Factor in a 5 year warranty, the USA motor and locking lever (but admittedly no mobile base - another $50) and I can see the value in Delta. As always your mileage may vary. Hope this helps and I have some pix of my experiences, if you would like to see them let me know.

Ken Dibble wrote:

rattle.

replying to Ken Dibble, R Dillon wrote: Do you have a user manual for a yorkcraft yc-6j. If so, can you email a copy to snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net? Tks