Opinions On The Jet 12/12 J/P Please

[Arnold E Schnitzer]

Has anyone been running one of these for a while? I'm curious about accuracy, reliability and convenience of the changeover feature. Also, I'm interested in opinions on whether to wait for the spiral cutterhead (and if it's worth the extra money). I work mainly in figured woods. I've also seen the Grizzly version advertised and would like opinions on that one too.

[Rick Peek]

I can't comment on the jet,but I also mainly used figured woods.
Thats why I went with the Grizzly. Let me tell you,the spiral head is
fantastic. Absolutly no tear out.
I love the machine. Takes less than a minute to change over so thats
not even an issue. Much less time than dragging my lunch box planer
over & hooking up the dust collection.
Having a 12 inch jointer is a major plus as well.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I like my combination machine (Hammer A3-31).

I don't have a spiral head in it, and don't find that I get tearout with figured wood.

Regards, Rod.

[Barry Vabeach]

Arnold, I have had the Jet for several months. Accuracy and reliability seem fine to me - though I actually prefer handwheels for infeed rather than levers which may be a personal preference.Convenience of the changeover is simple - are you currently using a bench top? If yes than changeover on the Jet is much easier than that. ( I had a Dewalt portable on a fliptop base ) If you already have a full size planer with dust collection, then the changeover will be more work. I added a hex nut on the end of the planer table wheel and use a cordless drill to raise and lower the table, so it takes less than a minute to changeover. I don't do much figured wood, but I did use a little birdseye maple the other day and it came out fine. If you do some searches you will see lots of posts on helical v straight knives - also Wood magazine did a test in the March edition and said that straight knives give a better finish ( in the machines they tested ) though I would think that would vary depending on how well the knives were set and the speed of the planer. I have heard rumors that the Jet helical head will be available in the spring, but not sure on the cost. IMHO, the main benefit to the helical head would be reduced time in setting knives - especially if the heads used carbide inserts. My main whine on the combo machines is how short the planer beds are - I don't know why they are that short. The primary advantage is that you use the same open floor space to feed wood into the planer and jointer - with a dedicated planer, not only are you taking up room for the machine, you need to account for infeed and outfeed. Barry.

[Rod Sheridan]

Two items to consider are the knife type and the jointer table length.

Many people on this forum own MiniMax/Felder/Hammer machines and they have knives that require no adjustment when replaced. Very convenient and accurate, with only about 1 minute per knife to change.

The bed length seems to be more of a theoretical problem than a practical problem. Many people are jointing wood in the 6 to 7 foot range without issue.

If table length is an issue, all of the above machines accept table extensions.

Just a couple more items to ponder..........Rod.