OK, so I need some advise here guys

[Fred Voorhees]

Due to the generosity of my bosses and my Mother for Christmas, I have added enough to my shop budget to finally acquire either the Jet or Grizzly 12" combination jointer/planer and I am looking for anyone who has either and would like to give their thoughts - pros and cons - on their machines to help me in deciding which one might be the way to go. The cost is almost a wash with the Grizzly being just slightly less expensive....not enough to really sway me to be honest. So, it comes down to features and the word of mouth of the guys at SMC who I trust implicitly. One thing I have a bit of worry about is the length of infeed and outfeed on the combination machines. Am I correct in thinking that it might not be enough for infeed and outfeed support? Can anyone shed light on that aspect in their responses? That would be appreciated!

[Jeff Monson]

Fred, you might want to do some searching here as there have been alot of discussions on both machines over the last year. I dont think the length of tables will bother you. I debated both and bought a hammer a3-31 instead, it also has the short tables but it doesnt affect accuracy. FWW also did a review on combo machines there is a good article on their website also.

[Brian Tax]

I made the same decision as Jeff and went with the Hammer. The deciding factor for me was, the combos seem like pretty complex machines and I decided to go with a more proven machine. Every owner I talked to, raved about the hammer and I am happy with it, also happy I got it on sale.

[Michael Koch]

Fred, I was in the same boat as you, and went with the MiniMax FS 35. At 14" and 4.8 hp the decision was easy, also I got a great deal on a used one. You might want to shop around. MK

[Rod Sheridan]

Fred, I have a Hammer A3-31 and I won't bore you with how much I like it.

I've jointed 80" material on it, absolutely no problem.

The Hammer has table extensions of 16" and 31" available, which adds a lot of length to the machine.

At 55", adding a 16" infeed and outfeed extension gives you an 87" long 12" jointer. Hard to beat in a home shop.

If Grizzly have table extensions, you should consider them..........Rod.

[Jim Becker]

Fred, Curt Harms has the Jet, I believe, and he's not far from me. I'd bet he'd be happy to give you a demonstration and let you fondle it!

And I'm sure you know I already support your desire to go in this direction! My J/P purchase was an absolutely great decision. In a nutshell, the length of the infeed and outfeed tables has not really been material to me, especially because I do final dimensioning after piecing out larger boards for project components...it's a good "best practice" to do that anyway. In that manner, outside of skimming boards on the jointer to be able to see the grain, etc., I almost never have a really long board to deal with. Even so, I handle 8' boards with no problem without extra support on my MM.

[Fred Voorhees]

Fred, Curt Harms has the Jet, I believe, and he's not far from me. I'd bet he'd be happy to give you a demonstration and let you fondle it!

And I'm sure you know I already support your desire to go in this direction! My J/P purchase was an absolutely great decision. In a nutshell, the length of the infeed and outfeed tables has not really been material to me, especially because I do final dimensioning after piecing out larger boards for project components...it's a good "best practice" to do that anyway. In that manner, outside of skimming boards on the jointer to be able to see the grain, etc., I almost never have a really long board to deal with. Even so, I handle 8' boards with no problem without extra support on my MM.

Jim, fondling may be in order. There is really no rush at this point. Maybe we can set something up for after the holidays sometime in January. Appreciate it!!! I'll need a bit of advice on the electrical upgrade situation anyway....so a chat with you will be in order sometime also.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Fred, personally, I really think that the table length is one of the most overblown "issues" of a combo. Seriously, what is the long average board that you joint? Divide that in half, and that will be an adequate length for most of your work. For those really wacky things that require jointing of 8' stock or whatever, get an extra set of hands to help.

The biggest issue I think is the change over process. Are you confident that the machine that you buy will register back to it's initial settings every time? How long does it take to change?

Aigner makes the extension tables that go on some of the Euro machines, and with a little fiddling, you could probably get one on a Grizz or Jet. Or you could just buy the Hammer!;) (thats what I'd do for the record!)

Good luck!

[Mike Heidrick]

Hammer/Felder guys seem to be spot on and the Felder user group on Yahoo is very active. Not sure of the wait time on the Hammer line though.

A buddy in Springfield IL owns the Jet combo and he loves it and the price was great as he found it "used" on CL but it had never been used.

I have a seperate 12" DJ30 and 20" DC580 planer and doubt I would go combo. I am just not good enough yet.

[Rick Fisher]

You never meet a hammer owner who isnt in love.. I think it says something.. The other consideration is resale value..

I have seperate machines, but if I went combo, I would go Felder/ Hammer.