Dispoz-a-blade on Jet JJP-12 combo machine?

[Bob Mircetic]

Hello everyone,

So I was all set to plunk down the money and purchase the "self set" dispoz-a-blade quick change knife system ( http://www.estausa.com/ ) this afternoon. Called them up, with credit card in hand. The fellow on the phone, however, was kind enough to advise me to check if there would be an issue with the infeed rollers. Apparently when you install their system in the cutterhead, it raises the knife height by approx 1.5 millimeters (or something like that). This is not an issue for jointers, as you adjust the outfeed table to bring them in line with knives once, and then you're set from there on out. But since this is a combo machine, the planer infeed rollers *may* need adjusting too. I've looked over the manual, and see no reference as to how one would adjust the infeed rollers.

Does anyone happen to know if the infeed rollers can be adjusted on this machine? Better yet, anyone happen to have already installed the dispoz-a-blade system on their JJP-12?

Any comments/feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

[Dave Avery]

Bob,

Probably best to call Jet........ I'm also curious as to the answer. Best. Dave.

[Bob Mircetic]

Yeah, you're probably right, Dave. Was just hoping to hear some feedback from users before Monday.

Thanks,
Bob

[Dave Avery]

Bob,

Curt Harms has one, has fiddled with it quite a bit, and is FAR more mechanically inclined than I - you may want to PM him and see if he knows. Please let me know what you find out either way. Thanks.... Dave.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Bob,
If you find anything out, please post us.

I've been looking hard at getting a JJP-12. The only thing holding me back is that I prefer spiral or helical index knives. However, the Dispoz-a-blade may be a nice alternative.

By the way, Byrd has given me a quote for a Shelix head for the JJP-12. They claim it works fine. The price is a bit steap at around $1,095. You would have to install it yourself which may be a chore and possibly create potential Jet warranty issues.

-Jeff :)

[Matt Benton]

Installing a byrd head on the JJP12 will void the warranty.

Jet is scheduled to have their version of a helical head for the JJP12 finished by the end of March 2009...

[Bob Mircetic]

Jeff, thanks for the info. But ouch, another $1,100 for a Byrd is a little steep. That nearly puts you into Euro machine territory, price wise. I heard/read somewhere that the current JJP-12 wouldn't handle a helix head very well, something about the feed rate being too fast for the added resistance that kind of cutterhead creates, which causes the motor to constantly trip a breaker. But I guess that may also just depend on depth of cut...

Matt, interesting, I didn't know Jet had definite timetable for releasing a helical version. Although the helical cutterheads are huge improvement over the traditional system, I still see a couple drawbacks to them. I don't know exactly how many inserts are on a 12 inch cutterhead, but even if you could remove/clean/rotate and replace them at the rate of, say 2 or 3 per minute, you're still probably looking at fair chunk of time before you complete the entire thing. Also, how easy is it to identify previously used edges? And of course, there's the cost...

That's why I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this dispozablade system will work...

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I don't own a helical head, so this is just a regurgitation of what other folks have said.

The cutters are carbide so they last much longer than HSS. But the big benefit of a helical head is that you can machine funky grain woods. It also reduces the noise output, which is very nice.

I don't know why the JJP-12 has a fast feed rate of 20 fpm. I would think that 16 fpm is plenty fast for a machine targeted towards the serious home hobbyists. I also believe that the maximum depth of cut is too much which pushes the motor's load up and is unnecessary for the hobbyist (time is not money). I do like the fact that the JJP-12 operates on 20A electrical service unlike the Grizzly and some of the Euros which require 30A.

However, as I stated earlier in this post, Byrd said that they sold these heads for the JJP-12 and have had a positive outcome. But, I agree, the head is fairly expensive. Probably too expensive for me.

-Jeff :)

[Gary Benson]

Bob,
Did you consider or discuss the posi-set system with Esta or Jet. It would seen that they are adjustable enough to work in our combo machines. You would have to set them the first time, but changes thereafter would be indexed.

Just curious because I will be making the same change soon.

Gary