Comparison between Grizzy and Jet Combination Jointer and Planner.

[Warren Humphries]

Hello
Im in the market of buying a Combination Jointer/Planner.

Im looking at the Jet 12" and also the Grizzy 12"
Does anyone have any experience with either one of this Items?

Which do you think makes the best Tool?

Thanks

Warren

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I have a Jet JJP-12 for a 4-5 years. I like it. In my hobby shop it is more then enough tool and very good quality. I have a few Grizzly machines, never have a problem with any. May be it will be little bit underpowered for production shop.

Ed.

[Van Huskey]

The biggest difference for me is the head. The Jet has a shear cut head with a significantly higher population of cutters one must decide if that and the 4 year longer warranty is worth the price difference. There are other differences as well the head is just the big one for me, also check the replacement cost of cutter bits many of the Grizzly heads require cutters that are 70% more than the Byrd cutters.

[David Kumm]

The biggest issue with J-Ps is the ability to lift and return the jointer tables to dead flat and parallel. On some machines the tables will vary depending on how hard you tighten the kip levers so test them out. Many have good success but that is a machine where quality counts. I would look at a used as well. J-Ps are often hobby machines and low use so you can find a high end Felder or MM for a good price. Dave

[Van Huskey]

Dave's point about used is excellent. But if you are set on new take a HARD look at the Hammer A3-31 it is by far the best of the light-weights (along with the Minimax) the Hammer with easy set knives is $3k and with a Byrd head $3.8K. Worth the extra money over the Grizzly and Jet IMHO.

[Curt Harms]

I've had the Jet JJP-12 with straight knives pretty much since they were introduced to the U.S. Market. It does what I bought it to do. I'd agree with Eduard's assesment. The motor is pretty small for 3 h.p. and there have been reports of heat related problems when run under load for extended periods. I usually work one or two pieces then turn it off so I've had no heat related issues. I did have to replace a start capacitor. I called Jet's tech support, told 'em what it was doing (head was moving maybe 1/16", motor was humming) Tech said "yup, sounds like a start cap", sent me a new one and life is fine again. I might consider refitting with a spiral head at some point but for non-figured woods the straight knives seem to work fine.

Switch over is cited by some as an issue but for me it's not an issues. I haven't timed it but probably takes less than 1 1/2 minutes. I'd recommend some sort of digital readout on the planer bed. If I don't make an extra piece of whatever and have to plane a replacement for a screwed-up piece the DRO makes it quick & easy. I've not even seen let alone use a Hammer A3-31 so can't compare it to the Jet & Grizzly. I can't recall reading a negative review on the Hammer though. Perhaps it's like comparing a Grizzly or Shop Fox cabinet saw to a Unisaw or Powermatic 2000.

[Warren Humphries]

Thank you Curt.. Just walking around in high weeds trying to make the right Decision .

One thing I noticed on the Grizzy it does have a 5 HP motor instead of the 3 Hp.

Thanks again
Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Thanks Van
I will Check The Hammer and the Minimax out. Just dont want to Buy a $2500.00 Paper weight. Also I will look at the used Market as well.

Thanks
Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Hi David
Do you believe that the Grizzy has a better solution for that? You think this might be a issue with these type of machines? I can go with seperate units just be more money and more space. Was look to save on both.. But if that will be a issue ever time I change ,,, might not be worth the risk.


Thank You

Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Hi Ed
Have you ever had a problem with ability to lift and return the jointer tables to dead flat and parallel? What I understand is that the Grizzy has a 5 HP motor compaired to the 3HP Jet.

Thank you

Warren

[Matt Meiser]

I've had my JJP-12 with the helical head about 2 years. Still satisfied. I added an iGaging readout which works great. I bet changeover takes under a minute for me. I believe Grizzly requires removal of the fence, Jet doesn't. The Grizzly used to have a huge post on the back of the fence which was a drawback to me. Right after I got mine they introduced the Polar Bear model with a redesigned fence. I might have gone that way if it had been available then. The head would have been the biggest sticking point for me at that point.

Chip collection in Jointing mode isn't the best--I get a pile on the planer bed I need to suck up during changeover. But my friends Minimax does the exact same thing.

It took a bit of getting used to the Euro guard but I like it now. It has a big advantage of not swinging out so far when face jointing a wide piece.

I don't have any issues with the tables.

[David Kumm]

Hi David
Do you believe that the Grizzy has a better solution for that? You think this might be a issue with these type of machines? I can go with seperate units just be more money and more space. Was look to save on both.. But if that will be a issue ever time I change ,,, might not be worth the risk.


Thank You

Warren

Warren, if you have room separates are the way to go. there are great deals on used jointers and planers and although new separates cost more you eliminate potential problems inherent to combo machines. J-P are great choices when space challenged but if not look at other options. Separates are lots easier to resell if your needs change. Dave

[Warren Humphries]

thanks dave

Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Hi Matt

Thank you very much for you input. The Grizzy what i understand now has a new design which has a differant fence which is the 6034Z which is taking the place of the Polar Bear Series. Im like you not sure about the Euro Guard looks a little strange. I wish I had a place to look at these 2 items together to see how they change over and how easy each machine really is... If you had the room and the extra money would you go seperate peices?

Thanks

Warren

[Matt Meiser]

I had separates (couple different iterations in fact.) I have a 30x48 shop and still like the combined unit for space savings. The 12" jointer is the biggest reason. An 8" jointer or 15" planer takes as much floor space as the 12" combo. Most 12" jointers are much larger.

[Mark Henshaw]

I have owned the Grizzly 12" J/P for a year and have been happy with the machine. I will echo previous posters who have stated that if you have the money and space, seperate machines will be a better route. The carbide spiral head does a very good job of both planing and jointing smoothly, even some very figured birdseye maple that I ran through last month. As I am just a hobbyist, the change over time is not crucial for me but as with all of these J/P machines, it does slow you down. The tables are much more difficult to get and keep completely parrallel then a standard jointer.

[Gary Venable]

I have had the JP-12HH for several years now. No complaints. I have never had an issue with the motor being underpowered and the beds staying parallel has also not been any trouble at all. The changeover does require you to plan out your milling but once I got used to that I have not even noticed the change as being an issue.

-Gary

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

"Hi Ed
Have you ever had a problem with ability to lift and return the jointer tables to dead flat and parallel? What I understand is that the Grizzy has a 5 HP motor compaired to the 3HP Jet.

Thank you

Warren"
Short answer - never. But I always clean and vacuuming bed and supports. Once in a while checks table for parallelism.

Ed.

[Ryan Mooney]

Im like you not sure about the Euro Guard looks a little strange. If you had the room and the extra money would you go seperate peices?

I have the A3-31, and after my initial "hmmm" on the euro style guard (which is similar to what you are looking at) I love it. It actually helps hold the stock down some (obviously don't count on this, but it does help) and generally leaves less blade exposed which my fingers appreciate.

I would second the DRO or equivalent for the planer. I added a "digital" dial to mine (~$100ish) and it makes repeating cuts much easier due to having to move the table up and down (always seems like you cut enough and then sure enough need one more cause ... ooops!).

Separates might be nicer in some cases, but I don't really feel its been a big deal. If I had separates it would be to get more features besides changeover (a bigger planer perhaps) although if I was in a production shop I think I'd feel different about the time (I spend vastly more time navel gazing to figure out what to do next than any possible amount of time I could spend flipping the tables up/down).

[Erik Loza]

I have the A3-31, and after my initial "hmmm" on the euro style guard (which is similar to what you are looking at) I love it.

You know, I prefer the American-style guard, since my hands never have to leave the board during the pass (the whole "lifting the hand as you pass over the bridge guard"-thing is still weird to me after all these years...) but will be the first to say that having the pork chop on a jointer/planer can be awkward, especially if you keep the mortising unit mounted on the machine. If a customer tells me they plan to use the mortiser a lot, I always suggest getting the Euro-guard. Just my 2-cents.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Ryan Mooney]

Its kind of like coffee versus tea, you either like one, the other, both or neither :D I guess I'd advise "don't rule a machine out because of it and give it a try if you can - who knows you might like it". I can certainly see the more control argument, and like I said I did have a bit of "hrrrrmmm..." conversion time when I first got it so ymmv.

[Curt Harms]

Thank you Curt.. Just walking around in high weeds trying to make the right Decision .

One thing I noticed on the Grizzy it does have a 5 HP motor instead of the 3 Hp.

Thanks again
Warren

Here is my take on the 3 h.p. vs. 5 h.p. thing. When Jet introduced their helical head machine, they reduced the planer feed rate from 20 feet/min. to 12 ft./min. Grizzly stayed with the 20 feet/min. feed rate and bumped the motor to 5 h.p. There was someone here that replaced the straight knife head on their JJP-12 with Jet's helical head. He said he had no power issues, 3 h.p. worked fine with a helical head. Perhaps limiting depth of cut is helpful. It doesn't seem like Jet would redesign the planer feed mechanism (and delay getting the JJP-12HH to market for several months) without a good reason to do so I'm not sure about the real story.

[Paul Johnstone]

If you can do seperate machines, I think that's the better solution.
Sure it takes up more space, and I understand that's a problem for some.
Even if you have to put the planer and jointer on mobile bases, I think that's a better solution than a combo machine.
A dedicated jointer will have longer tables, which is really nice for longer/heavier pieces.



Hi David
Do you believe that the Grizzy has a better solution for that? You think this might be a issue with these type of machines? I can go with seperate units just be more money and more space. Was look to save on both.. But if that will be a issue ever time I change ,,, might not be worth the risk.


Thank You

Warren

[James Baker SD]

Several have mentioned the desirability of separates, which is what I have now (the typical 8" joiner and 15" planer). I am seriously thinking of going to a combo, partially to save space in a garage which needs to house a car at night, but mainly to get a joining capacity equal to my planning capacity. Don't think there is anyway I could fit a 12" or 16" joiner in my shop. I joint wide boards (or at least I want to joint them) a lot more often than I joint really long ones.

James

[Warren Humphries]

Ryan
thank you for your Input. I have just never seen the euro gaurd in action.

Thanks

Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Thanks Erik for your input... I really appricate your time to respond.

Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Thanks Paul
I appricate your input, thats what I really want to do if i can swing it.

[Warren Humphries]

Curt

Thanks again ..I understand what you are saying. Some great info and some things i have yet to think about..

Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Hi James

Thats is a great thing to think about as far as what you can Joint with the combo machine.
Makes alot more sense to be able to joint the same thickness as what you plane.

Thank you so much for your input.


Warren

[Warren Humphries]

Thanks Ed
I appricate all your info..

warren

[Paul Johnstone]

Several have mentioned the desirability of separates, which is what I have now (the typical 8" joiner and 15" planer). I am seriously thinking of going to a combo, partially to save space in a garage which needs to house a car at night, but mainly to get a joining capacity equal to my planning capacity. Don't think there is anyway I could fit a 12" or 16" joiner in my shop. I joint wide boards (or at least I want to joint them) a lot more often than I joint really long ones.

James

Well, this is probably considered a big no no, but I remove the guard from the jointer on really wide boards and joint each side.
That often gets it flat enough to run the opposite side through the planer.
I have done this techique on glue ups that get slightly bowed with great success too.
But if you joint short/wide boards more often than long/narrow boards, you have a solid point.
I'm more long and narrow in my projects :)