Jointer/Planer

[Brandon Weiss]

I need a new tool.....or two. In the next couple of months I plan on purchasing a jointer or a planer, or a combo machine. I'm leaning right now toward the combo machine since I have limited space in my garage shop and my budget is going to be limited to about $500 or less, with emphasis on the less part. Any good recommendations? I have looked at the Jet 10" machine at my local Woodcraft and it looks nice, price looks good too. Any other information/recommendations would be appreciated.

[Lee Koepke]

I need a new tool.....or two. In the next couple of months I plan on purchasing a jointer or a planer, or a combo machine. I'm leaning right now toward the combo machine since I have limited space in my garage shop and my budget is going to be limited to about $500 or less, with emphasis on the less part. Any good recommendations? I have looked at the Jet 10" machine at my local Woodcraft and it looks nice, price looks good too. Any other information/recommendations would be appreciated.
I picked up a 6" Jet Jointer for $600 or so this past summer.
Year or so ago I got a DeWalt 534 planer for 350-400 ish.

Depending on what you build, I got more use out of the planer, I was able to use my glue-line rip blade and a jig for my TS to get me thru without a jointer.

Now that I have a jointer, I like it, no 'set up' time for neating up a fit.

[Van Huskey]

There are some reviews of the Jet 10" J/P here. It CAN be a decent tool if setup properly BUT it is a serious compromise since it is VERY inexpensive. Then again a jointer and planer for under $400 is really hard to get even in the used market and you don't see many of the Asian (ie cheaper) J/Ps in the used market since they are relatively new.

[Mike Reinholtz]

Hi Brandon, Do yourself a huge favor and skip the Jet benchtop machines. I bought a 10" brand new and spent a ridiculous amount of time dialing it in and aligning the blades, but it was never very good. First, it's far too lightweight- I added 100 lbs of sand to the base to help with this. Next, the motor is grossly under-powered for 10" material. I was trying to joint 8" wide Maple and would bog it down taking 1/32" passes. No matter how slow I worked the 2 blade cutterhead still left noticeable marks on the surface. The only time was ever satisfied with the results, was when I set up 2 horses by the infeed and outfeed tables with melamine tables. Even then I was only jointing 4" red oak (again taking 1/32" per pass).

I had only bought it to get me by until I had room for an 8" or larger jointer. I already had a DW735 with a Byrd head, so I didn't use the planer much. The few times I did use the Jet as a planer I ended up running it through the dewalt to clean up the surface. I put it on CL and haven't missed it. Shortly after selling it I found a 1970s Delta Rockwell 8" jointer on CL for $250, it's a HUGE difference.

My advice would really be to find a 6" jointer on CL, they show up all the time and can easily be picked up for $200. Start with that and watch for a benchtop planer- Ryobi, dewalt, and ridgid show up on my local CL all the time and can be had for a similar price. I think you would be much happier with dedicated machines, would have better results, and could even stay under your budget.

[Dan Karachio]

Ditto on nixing the combo. You will meet your budget, but not at all satisfy what you need to do. I found a great 6" jointer on CL and bought a new Dewalt planer - both at just around $600. Both on wheels allow me to do what I need to when I want to. Sorry for being a downer, but I started down this path and while it seemed ideal, it just isn't. The other day I saw a super heavy duty 10" combo at Woodcraft, but it was near $2000. The Jet was nearby and it looked (and felt) like a toy in comparison.

[Rod Sheridan]

Combo machines are great, I have a Hammer A3-31.

That said, expect to spend a few thousand dollars for one that works properly.

The little Jet you're considering would be a waste of money, you would soon replace it.

I would suggest that $400 to $500 EACH for a jointer and planer may get you a reasonable used one.

Regards, Rod.

[Chris Kennedy]

I considered that machine, but decided against it for a variety of reasons.

1. While the price is right, I would be bothered about getting a combo machine for less than what either one of its components should cost.

2. I build mostly small things with small stock, so I thought a smaller machine wouldn't be a problem. But then I looked at what it would be like to feed 3/4" stock through the planer, and thought it would be very inconvenient.

3. Since I would need to edge joint mostly, I thought this would be good. But then I found out that the fence doesn't move, in which case you are always dulling the same part of the knife.

4. I finally saw one on display at Woodcraft, and the fence was ridiculously bent. Overall, the machine didn't look particularly robust.

I have since bought a DW 734 and a Grizzly 6". Cost more -- definitely, but far more robust.

Cheers,

Chris

[Brandon Weiss]

I looked on CL yesterday and found a Ridgid Jointer and Ridgid Planer for $300 total. They are the older style red and gray models. The both look brand new. The Jointer still has the preservation/machining grease on most of the parts. The planer looks just as new. Some of the hardware has rust on it, but that's about it. Due to the seller's situation I won't try to make a gloat out of this, but I will say I'm glad to finally have both of these tools. I'll post pictures shortly.

[glenn bradley]

I'm glad some folks with experience chimed in on the low-dollar combos. I felt bad not saying anything but, could only repeat what I had heard sine I have not used one. Thanks again to those who have and spoke up, I'll sleep better.

[Jim Becker]

I personally love my J/P combo...it was a great decision for my shop and for my woodworking. A wide jointer is a must for me and this tool format gives me that without the extra space requirements that separate tools of similar capacity afford.

[Curt Harms]

but it sounds like about $2K is the entry price. Rikon recently introduced a 10" J/P which looks like the one they had for a while and withdrew from the market. No idea what it costs.

[Mark Woodmark]

I have a combo J/P. Although change over doesnt take long, it is an annoyance. Especially cranking the planer table up and down all the time. Dont understand why they havent engineered some sort of quick release into the planer bed that would allow it to go up and/or down quickly to the approximate thickness desired, then adjust it from there. Seems like they went to a lot of trouble to accommidate dust collection

[Chris M Pyle]

search craigslist for the Makita or the Hitachi Jointer/planer combo, they get pretty good reviews.

You may get lucky and find an INCA combo machine for just a hundred or two more (which I think is an amazing deal considering how much they sold for brand new)

Good luck

[Andrew Gibson]

I have a combo J/P. Although change over doesnt take long, it is an annoyance. Especially cranking the planer table up and down all the time. Dont understand why they havent engineered some sort of quick release into the planer bed that would allow it to go up and/or down quickly to the approximate thickness desired, then adjust it from there. Seems like they went to a lot of trouble to accommidate dust collection

Can you attach a post to the crank so you can use a drill to wind up the table? :D:cool:

[Mark Woodmark]

Can you attach a post to the crank so you can use a drill to wind up the table? :D:cool:

Or better yet, a reversable motor with gear reduction and a remote switch. Then install either air or hydraulic cylinders to the jointer tables to lift them. The remote switch for this would also unlatch these tables prior to lifting them and automatically slide the jointer fence to the front of the machine so these tables will lift freely.....Or get rid of the dust collection hood and place the jointer bed directly over the planer bed so no change over is necessary.....Similar to my old Roybi AH115