Narrowing down jointer choices

[Ed Calkins]

I am nearing the end of my jointer research and getting to the point I have to just go with something. I have received so much guidance and shared experience from the forum I thought I would share the status.
1) I could get by with a 6" or 8" jointer and all would be well. I decided to go larger for future uses (now unknown) and to follow a lot of your advice to move larger if possible.
2) I have been chking craigslist for all areas close to me for a buy a used jointer -- good condition or a great restored US made classic -- nothing feasible so far but I will continue up to placing an order.
3) Recent free shipping offers and price reductions have been timely on some models of interest -- so I will buy something very soon.
4) Three front runners (+1), the price for these are in my budget and I have room for any of them (two dovetail, one parallelagram, accding to you guys this is not a big deal):

Oliver 4240 10", they import this from Taiwan and QC it in Washington and add a Baldor US motor, also comes with US Byrd Shelix heads (which many of you liked) -- looks cool (I know this shouldn't matter), $2600 delivered

Griz G0480 10" with Griz spiral heads, very similar in looks and specs to Oliver, ISO9001 factory, $1800 delivered, price just reduced

Griz G0609X 12", spiral hds, parallelagram, larger of course, popular with many at this time, $2300. delivered

Griz G0634, 12" combo with planer, spiral hds, haven't completely ruled this out, but leaning twds exlusive jointer $2400. delivered

Unless the used market and I converge on something, I will order one of these soon -- anyone want to help me throw the dart? thks for all the help so far, Ed

[Todd Solomon]

You're close to a Hammer 12" jointer/planer, which was on sale a while back for $3000. The Hammer is an excellent machine, a friend of mine has one and I've used it. It has the Felder quick-change cutterhead, which makes shifting or changing knives a breeze. I have it's big brother, a Felder jointer/planer. That would be my recommendation, and you save lots of footprint in the shop.

However, if you choose to go seperates, the Grizzly jointers are excellent. I just sold my Grizzly 12" Ultimate Jointer, a top notch, industrial machine. Highly recommended. I would imagine their other 12" jointers are excellent as well. I personally would lean towards Hammer over Grizzly for the combo j/p, as they've been doing it for many decades and have it down to a science (made by Felder).

[Jeff Duncan]

For that kind of money you could get a really nice used 16" shipped from anywhere in the lower 48. You should pretty easily be able to get a 12" shipped for well under $2k. And in your state I can't imagine not being able to find a decent 12" for short money. I haven't been looking recently but in the past there was always a ton of used equipment in Ca.

Just saying that unless you want a shiny new import, maybe a bit more looking would yield something nicer.
good luck,
JeffD

[Alex Shanku]

For that kind of money you could get a really nice used 16" shipped from anywhere in the lower 48. You should pretty easily be able to get a 12" shipped for well under $2k. And in your state I can't imagine not being able to find a decent 12" for short money. I haven't been looking recently but in the past there was always a ton of used equipment in Ca.

Just saying that unless you want a shiny new import, maybe a bit more looking would yield something nicer.
good luck,
JeffD

Ditto...........

[Joe Jensen]

How about a 1969 Newman 12" jointer asking price $1650. Looks nice. Here is a pic. West Coast Machinery in Sacramento is the seller

[Ed Calkins]

Are there some good internet sites for locating all these used jointers? I will try some searches but haven't been very successful. I have found some very interesting large rusty jointers that are probably excellent and better than imports but require a lot of work/knowledge to restore properly. Ed

[Jeff Duncan]

So you want all the secrets ehhh;)

I don't recommend going for machines that need a lot of work to get going unless the restoration itself is your goal. Every used machine I bought, with 1 exception, has been plug and play, oh and my shop is mostly used machines. Besides if they're rusty and require a bit of work now your talking a lot cheaper, well under a thousand, for what your looking for.

Check on e-bay but don't forget to look under the dealer listings there. Many times there are some great machines listed with dealers that don't pop up on the regular pages. Also look into local used dealers, this will require some googling but I have half a dozen local, and some not so local, dealers in my favorites folder I check with when I'm looking. The last machine i bought came from a dealer halfway across the country. Even with a very modest shipping cost ($300) the machine came in under half of what a new on would have run me.

Local auctions will usually yield the best prices but you need to know what to look for as you won't be able to see the machines run. These are listed in the Sunday paper around my way, would assume same for West Coast.

Then of course there's the CL tools listings and all the various websites for woodworking and their classifieds sections.

Lastly the most important thing when shopping for used is patience. B/C I guarantee if you buy something in a rush, you'll see something better come up within the next month or so. I'm sure there are a couple guys here who will back me up on this one:)
good luck,
JeffD

[Joe Jensen]

Are there some good internet sites for locating all these used jointers? I will try some searches but haven't been very successful. I have found some very interesting large rusty jointers that are probably excellent and better than imports but require a lot of work/knowledge to restore properly. Ed

I googled for thing s like used woodworking machinery california and I found West Coast Machinery about 3rd on the list. Try consignment machinery, used machinery, industrial woodworking, etc. The Newman would be like $10K new.

[John Hedges]

I'd jump on that Newman, looks like it's in great condition. That looks to be a heck of a deal.

[Barry Vabeach]

Ed, I have looked at the ads, but never bought from, exfactory http://www.exfactory.com/home.aspx

and woodweb http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/exchanges/machinery.cgi

Make sure you check out the power requirements, I have seen items for what I thought were good prices only to see it needed 440 3 phase power. Good luck.

[Chip Lindley]

IF you gotta have a NEW planer go for the Grizzly 0609X. But its YOUR $$$$ !

IF you can wait, look for USED as the posters here advise. I bought a 12" Northfield at auction for $120 once. Back during the Reagan Years!....

[Joe Jensen]

Ed, I have looked at the ads, but never bought from, exfactory http://www.exfactory.com/home.aspx

and woodweb http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/exchanges/machinery.cgi

Make sure you check out the power requirements, I have seen items for what I thought were good prices only to see it needed 440 3 phase power. Good luck.

Also, at least with exfactory (http://www.exfactory).com the prices listed are very high. It's all consignment, the sellers tell them they want basically market, and then exfactory marks up like 40%. At least when I listed to sell with them they did. Then they called several times to see what I would take (min price) as they had an offer. They claimed they were reducing commission too. I bought my SCMI jointer from one of their auctions. I got really lucky, the ad for the tool said local pickup only, no loading, no working with shippers, and the tool was in Las Vegas. So there was only one other bidder. I won a tool worth about $2500-3000 for $750. I had plans to rent a trailer and drive the 7 hours, and when I spoke with ExFacotry they were able to arrange shipping and and the seller was happy to crate and load for $50.

moral, don't be afraid to make an offer, and exfactory at least was very helpful in getting it shipped to me. Call if something looks interesting

[Bob Luciano]

All I can say is glad you missed this one http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u111/Bobluciano/Oliver.jpg
If I was you I would keep an eye out lots of places going under dumping really good machinery cheap because of storage costs
There is or was a 12" Grizz in San Jose for around $2K last week probably still there and no shipping company worries.
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u111/Bobluciano/oliver017.jpg

[Alex Shanku]

Awesome score on that 166, Bob!!

[Ed Calkins]

OK, I keep trying to make this simple but all of you are making a lot of sense -- I do love classic US iron -- but have restored so many old boats and other things that I want something ready to go -- still have two boats waiting in my shop. I did call on the Newman and found it is a consignment and is actually in Texas, the rep is going to find out more about it and let me know, I asked about 1 ph power and he said he thought it was likely 3 ph -- not sure of the implications of using a phase converter -- sounds like a hassle?? Anyway, thanks to all I am taking a little more time and making sure I check more sources. My dust collector was delivered yesterday so I have some installation to do on that, the trucker just called and my bandsaw is getting delivered tomorrow -- (life is tough :) ) so I have plenty to do at the moment (+ golf) and will utilize the time to scout the jointer market and think about the combo machs also. Thanks to all, any comments on using phase converters? A friend had one for an old Cinncinati mill and it was just like an additional motor, I guess I probably should have paid more attention. Ed