Jeremy Greiner
11-20-2010, 12:11 PM
Before purchasing the Jet Jointer/Planer combo machine I did a bit of research and found a lot of mixed reviews. Many of the bad reviews on Amazon were complaining about broken, bent or dented parts some even admitted to heavy box damage.
I couldn't find a similar priced alternative I figured I'd give the tool a try. I ordered from my local Woodcraft store (for the same price) instead of through Amazon. This was for 2 reasons, the Woodcraft store get's the package directly from Jet via freight instead of UPS or Fedex and if there were any problems with the unit it would be easy to return.
Once I got the tool home, unpacking it wasn't very difficult and overall assembly was easy. The most difficult part was assembling the stand which is a shame because the stand is complete garbage. It is very flimsy and could tip if not weighted properly. For me this wasn't an issue because I knew that I was going to build my own stand going into the purchase. (The stock stand puts the tool much taller than I would like).
The in and out feed on the jointer were properly aligned and co-planar out of the box. The fence once installed needed some tweaking to achieve 90 degrees but that took all of 5 minutes to do.
The out feed for the planer table has some adjustment screws to help remove snipe. Running my test planes through and using my caliper I didn't notice any snipe issues but I'll have to keep an eye on it.
Most of the parts are steel and extruded aluminum, instead of cast iron but they aren't slouches either the parts are very sturdy and if treated properly I think will last a long while.
Changer over takes about 2 minutes, it could be faster if you were trying to beat a speed trial or something but I generally take my time with such things. I could see it being annoying if you jointed then planed each piece of wood separately but if you plan things out you can do all your jointing, then switch over and do all your planeing.
The dust collection worked very well, stock it outputs to a 2 1/2'' hose with a 4'' adapter. Using the adapter I was able to connect it to my dust collector and it sucked up all the dust. I think this can be connected to a shop vac I just don't know how well it would do.
Pros:
Price
110v (this may be a con for some people?)
10'' Jointer
Saves a lot of space
Con
10'' Planer (most lunch box planers start at 12'' from what I could tell)
Stand is crap
Time it takes to switch modes
Will need out feed support for more tasks than some of the larger jointers
Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase we will see if it stands the test of time. If you want a good jointer/planer and are happy to stick with 10'' wide boards and are willing to overcome the major cons by making your own stand and using out feed rollers this is a good purchase.
If anyone has any questions or wants me to try something I'd be happy to try.
I couldn't find a similar priced alternative I figured I'd give the tool a try. I ordered from my local Woodcraft store (for the same price) instead of through Amazon. This was for 2 reasons, the Woodcraft store get's the package directly from Jet via freight instead of UPS or Fedex and if there were any problems with the unit it would be easy to return.
Once I got the tool home, unpacking it wasn't very difficult and overall assembly was easy. The most difficult part was assembling the stand which is a shame because the stand is complete garbage. It is very flimsy and could tip if not weighted properly. For me this wasn't an issue because I knew that I was going to build my own stand going into the purchase. (The stock stand puts the tool much taller than I would like).
The in and out feed on the jointer were properly aligned and co-planar out of the box. The fence once installed needed some tweaking to achieve 90 degrees but that took all of 5 minutes to do.
The out feed for the planer table has some adjustment screws to help remove snipe. Running my test planes through and using my caliper I didn't notice any snipe issues but I'll have to keep an eye on it.
Most of the parts are steel and extruded aluminum, instead of cast iron but they aren't slouches either the parts are very sturdy and if treated properly I think will last a long while.
Changer over takes about 2 minutes, it could be faster if you were trying to beat a speed trial or something but I generally take my time with such things. I could see it being annoying if you jointed then planed each piece of wood separately but if you plan things out you can do all your jointing, then switch over and do all your planeing.
The dust collection worked very well, stock it outputs to a 2 1/2'' hose with a 4'' adapter. Using the adapter I was able to connect it to my dust collector and it sucked up all the dust. I think this can be connected to a shop vac I just don't know how well it would do.
Pros:
Price
110v (this may be a con for some people?)
10'' Jointer
Saves a lot of space
Con
10'' Planer (most lunch box planers start at 12'' from what I could tell)
Stand is crap
Time it takes to switch modes
Will need out feed support for more tasks than some of the larger jointers
Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase we will see if it stands the test of time. If you want a good jointer/planer and are happy to stick with 10'' wide boards and are willing to overcome the major cons by making your own stand and using out feed rollers this is a good purchase.
If anyone has any questions or wants me to try something I'd be happy to try.