Which Jointer Should I Buy?

[Robert Maloney]

I know this has been coverd a million times, but I'm ready to pull the trigger on a new 8" jointer. I would like any reviews on the Delta vs Grizzly vs Powermatic. Both pros and cons would be appreciated, as I value your knowledge

[Carroll Courtney]

Robert,while I have neither of the jointers that you listed alot of people here have chosen the Grizzly over the others.For the most part,they say that the table are perfectly inline w/each other,alittle cheaper,parts availabilily and choice of spirial cutter head.If I was in the market for new,Griz is what I would go with.Myself I have an older Delta/Crescent jointer from the 60's and its perfect in every way.I would look for the older jointers and see if that will fit your needs.Cheaper and some parts are still available if you ever need any.Post pics of your purchase---Carroll

[Van Huskey]

Grizzly is the value brand, you get a lot for the money, right now I would not buy most of Delta's line except maybe the Uni, the PM are the best of the three but rather pricy compared. I prefer helical heads but they aren't cheap and you can find tons of discussions pro and con vs straight knives.

I think you need to give a price range or particular models you are looking and you will get more exact recommendations.

[Glen Butler]

I currently own the powermatic PJ882HH. I love it. I smile everytime I use it. I had a 6" jet prior and avoided it as much as possible. I mostly used s4s lumber. The infeed bed adjustment was underneath and awkward to use. On the flip side my Powermatic 25A shaper and feeder has some adjustments I don't like and are not as fluid.

I think it really comes down to a personal preference on how you feel the adjustments and locking mechanisms should work. How often will you need to adjust it. If often, how fluid are the movements. Do the knobs turn with ease. How precise are the movements. Do you like the position of the knobs. Do the lock downs actually lock down. I have heard stories of people getting some poor machining from grizzly, but grizzly seems to have great customer service and will take care of those things. I steered away from the DJ-20 because they don't have the built in lifting handles, and I believe a special tool is need for truing the tables' eccentric cams.

The best thing for you would be to kick the tires so to speak and see them in person, use the adjustments, and get a feel for each machine you are considering. You may find that you don't need to pay for the powermatic because you like the grizz.

[Bill Borchardt]

Do a Google search (8" jointer review) and you'll find a Feb 06 Wood Magazine article as well as links to more recent reviews posted on this and other woodworking forums.

I just went through the 8" jointer buying decision and the inevitable seeking inputs and analysis/evaluation. The things I considered were:
- Flatness of tables and fence
- Quality of cut
- Dovetail way vs. parallelogram bed
- Length of infeed and outfeed beds
- Spiral type cutter head vs. knives
- Motor HP
- Review results (on-line & woodworker forums)

My first advice would be to look for a used machine.
I tried for several months to find something used with the features I wanted, but the few 8" jointers that showed up in my area were rust buckets, giant industrial machines I couldn't get into my basement, or way overpriced (e.g. a used, but in excellent shape, Powermatic (non-spiral head) but the guy wanted $1500 for it and I can order new for $1600 - that's crazy.)

I ended up getting a Grizzly G0593 (it's the same as the Grizzly G0586 except it has a spiral cutter head). The spiral type cutter head adds about $350 to the cost, but I decided for a hobbyist it amounted to a lifetime of never having to set jointer knives - which I valued).

This was my first major tool not bought locally - I was a bit nervous (after reading some of the damaged in shipping stories), but everything worked out fine. Although I have not used it extensively I am very happy with my decision (so far :D ).

If you're looking for bang for buck new, the Grizzly G0586 at $754 (including liftgate shipping) is hard to beat. It got great reviews and is priced very well. But . . .there are other good machines out there too.

If you want to discuss more send me a pm.

Good luck . .

Billbo
Smyrna GA

[Kent A Bathurst]

........I currently own the powermatic PJ882HH......

I have had the PM 60 for a dozen years. I like it - the best I could afford at the time. I would love to have Glen's model, but mine works great for me, and I haven't been able to come up with a "plausible excuse" to change. Don't have the helical head - but I did upgrade to a Terminus quick-change head when I bought it. Traded out a 6" Delta - mostly because 6" was a bad idea for me.

[Jerome Hanby]

Maybe I'm naive, but a jointer seems like a pretty simple device. I haven't seen any claims that a parallelogram jointer is a revolutionary improvement. I'm sure it's a bit better, but I don't think it's a make or break option. I think as long as you are looking at brands with a good recent track record (jet, delta, powermatic, grizzly) the concerns are width, table length, cutter head, and price. I'd figure out what values I had to have on the first three to be happy, then shop for the best price. That is if I were in a hurry and wanted a new machine. If you have the room and the patience, I bet you could eventually find a good buy on a piece of old iron and have something the rest of would be drooling over. I think the big worry on the old iron (other than the normal stuff concerning its condition) would be that it had a round cutter head.

[paul dyar]

I have the GO490X and other than the motor base being flimsy, I am very pleased with it.
Paul

[Robert Maloney]

What are everybodys thought on this one? I just looked at a friends, and it seems like it is built like a tank. Aside from price what are everyones likes and dislikes

[Glen Butler]

You have already heard my thoughts but I will elaborate. Know that I am not comparing this to any other machine just what I like about this one. Whether another machine has the same feature or not is beside the point.

Like I said I smile everytime I turn it on. (but I do that with most of my tools). The machining so far as I can tell is perfect. The tables are flat and the fence is true. The eccentric cams adjust with an 1 1/4 combination wrench, not included, but for the price they should. The tables move very fluidly using a long lever for quick precise adjustments. The fence also moves very quickly with a 1/4 turn of the locking cam. Very little chips do not make it to the DC. Side play in the tables is taken out with copper glides that you can adjust to make the table raise/lower with more or less pressure. The built in lifting handles were a plus for me cause sometime I need to get the jointer out of the way and I move often and I don't want to retrue the tables cause I lifted the machine by them.

The are two small annoyances. The sound is loud, I think caused by a bad bearing, but I can't find it, and it is not causing a bad cut. There is a little plastic fence glide that is inserted into the fence. Sometimes my lumber gets stuck there cause it is not flush, but I have not bother seeing if this can be adjusted. So not that annoying.

[Myk Rian]

I upgraded from a Jet 6" to a Griz 8".
Which jointer to get? One that works.

[Craig Coney]

I ended up purchasing this jointer (PJ882) after deciding to upgrade to an 8" jointer. I tried another brand prior to this purchase, and had issues that could not be resolved. I am very pleased with it, even though it was twice the price of some others out there. I don't have a Helical Head for it, but it cuts so well, I don't know if I can justify upgrading the head. If I need to do a skew cut, you can adjust the fence on this machine. Mine runs quiet, so I can't comment on Glen's experiece with that. Only upgrades I made was the PM mobile base and link-belt. You won't be disappoined in the purchase.

[Glen Butler]

I have tried to locate other PJ882 owners in the past to find out if the noise I am hearing is normal. I think it is time to do some more investigating. My planer runs very quiet and I would expect the same from my jointer.

[Van Huskey]

What are everybodys thought on this one? I just looked at a friends, and it seems like it is built like a tank. Aside from price what are everyones likes and dislikes

I have a friend with one, have used it many times and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

I am contemplating upgrading my planer and jointer, if I do not get a combo machine this will be my jointer.

[glenn bradley]

+1 G0490X. Been running it since May of 2008, love it and would buy it again.

[Rod Sheridan]

Robert, I've only owned two jointers, a General 8", and a Hammer A3-31.

I've been very pleased with both, I had the General for many years, it was a great machine, came perfectly adjusted from the factory and I managed to keep it that way until I sold it.

The next machine was a Hammer A3-31 which also came perfectly adjusted from the factory, and produces a better surface finish than the General.

The Hammer also has quick change knives, no more adjustment/fiddling, I can replace all three knives in about 6 or 7 minutes.

When I worked in industry, all the jointers were wedge designs, they worked day in, day out for decades without problems.

The big differences in jointers is the accuracy to which they're made, that's the most important criteria, not whether it has wheels or levers, or is a parallelogram or wedge design.

The one item all owners agree on however is width, no one ever complained that their jointer was too big.:D

regards, Rod.

[Paul McGaha]

I've got a Powermatic PJ-882. It's about (5) years old. No issues with it. Completely happy with it. May go to a Byrd Head at some point but it does pretty well without it.

If I were looking for a new jointer though I think I would check out the 12" Grizzly with the Byrd Head and also maybe one of those jointer/planer combos from MM or Felder.

I've had really good luck with all the Powermatic tools I have. I'm up to (4) now with the first one being the hollow chisel mortiser.

Good Luck with your purchase.

PHM

[johnny means]

Just a thought, but for the price of an 8" PM, you could get yourself a 12" Grizzly. In my opinion, an 8" jointer, for the price, does not offer much utility over a 6" machine. You are still stuck working with narrow stock. One of Grizzly's 12" machines enables you to also work with wide boards.

[Philip Johnson]

That was my choice 8 inch powermatic or 12 inch Grizzly / Shopfox, I went with the shopfox 12 inch. I would not even think of a 8 inch once I have had this one. But then again I do have several powermatic tools and the quality is top notch.

Phil

[Curt Harms]

and decided it wasn't enough of an upgrade over the 6" to be worth the cost & hassle. I don't joint much stock longer than 4'-5'. Like Rod said, I've never heard anyone complain their jointer was too wide. I replaced a Delta 22-580 benchtop planer and Bridgewood 6" jointer with a Jet 12" jointer/planer combo. I'm happy with my deal. Others may value the longer beds found on 8"+ jointers over the wider cutterheads. Different strokes for different folks.

[Cliff Holmes]

I looked seriously at a PM 882HH, but ended up going with a Grizzly G0490. Mainly because of price, but in trying out the PM I found that I didn't like leaning over that much, the bed/fence is set back from the front of the machine quite a bit. I have a chronic bad back and leaning over like that even for just a few minutes really start it aching.

From the factory, the tables were dead flat and parallel, the outfeed table was perfectly set. I've since upgraded it with a Byrd head and realigning the outfeed was very easy. The only issue was power switch mount that was welded slightly crooked, Grizzly had me a new one in a couple days.