Poitras 4800 12" Jointer Advice

[Bob Wise]

Hi All,

I've been thinking about buying a poitras 12" jointer. Was looking for some advice from the crew here.

Any notion on price ranges? It's hard to price some of this older equipment.

I got some good advice on the Canadian wood working forum, but thought I'd seek input south of the border. :-)

Buyer is asking $1950, unit appears to be in excellent condition. My plan would be to run it off a VFD.

255746255747

-Bob

[Rick Fisher]

I think $1950 is a fair price for a 12" jointer.

[Mike Heidrick]

It would be super hard to fetch $2K for a dovetail jointer that was 3 phase even if it was 12" here. The logistics of moving it due to weight , even though weight is desirable, would be a challenge for many. Then folks being intimidated by 3 phase would get rid of a lot of otherwise interested parties as well. It would go for less than a grand here.

I have no doubt to someone its worth $2K but I would start at $800. It would probably get me banned from the sale but I bet it would become a great offer after a number of months of sitting.

It looks awesome.

[Bob Wise]

Bearing in mind that a 12" combo jet or grizzly (new) is in this price range and would include the planer as well... the price is a bit on the high
side. I do agree with mike that the right price is probably closer to $1000 than $2000. Hard to say though because these kinds of units
are also not that common, at least not in the Seattle area.

[David Kumm]

Poitras is sought after stuff. Has a small cult following due to it's quality. The tables should bolt to the wedges so check that. That puts it into a different catagory from new wedge beds. The real comparable is the Northfield medium duty jointer rather than Grizzly. I don't track Poitras as it is rare and often Canadian but would expect it in the 1500-2000 range. Dave

[Chris Fournier]

That unit has barely been used! Poitras was bought by General way back when. That is easily worth the money. A used VFD won't set you back much. Old school build and cutterhead so knife changes are a known but that is fine machine capable of fine work and lots of it!

[David Kumm]

The Northfield medium duty 12" sells new for about 14K so the price looks better every minute. The more I look the less likely i am to dicker. Dave

[Mike Heidrick]

it has short in and out tables so it will fit in spaces many current 12" models will not.

[Mark Wooden]

Those are very good jointers and chances are you can find a 3- 5 hp 1ph motor for it for the price of a VFD. The beds are not that short,remember the head is 12", so use that to scale from the picture.The price is on the high side, offer something less and work back to it if you have to. The Asian machines don't compare to it at all. I know a guy who just sold his for $1500 and it had a lot of pro shop use on it. He traded up to a 16" Northfield and didn't have room for 2

[richard poitras]

I hear anything with the Poitras name is great! J

[Mike Heidrick]

The beds are not that short,remember the head is 12", so use that to scale from the picture.

I actually own and use a 12" jointer so I know how short those beds are compared to modern parallelogram bed jointer.

[David Kumm]

Poitras tables are 74". Cutter head is 4.75" Dave

[Gary Herrmann]

You can't buy a new machine built to this level of quality for anywhere near that price. I've got 4 General machines, they're fantastic. The Poitras machines were built better.

You can ask detailed questions about the machine over on OWWM, but don't ask pricing questions. That will just get your thread shut down.

[Rick Fisher]

Poitras tables are 74". Cutter head is 4.75" Dave

4.75" Diameter cutterhead.. wow ..

I have a Griggio 12" and the cutterhead is smaller than that.. It would be interesting to see what a Byrd head would cost for the Poitras.

I agree that the Poitras should be compared to Northfield and General Canadian, not Asian Import stuff.

[David Kumm]

4.75" Diameter cutterhead.. wow ..

I have a Griggio 12" and the cutterhead is smaller than that.. It would be interesting to see what a Byrd head would cost for the Poitras.

I agree that the Poitras should be compared to Northfield and General Canadian, not Asian Import stuff.

Most old jointers ran about a 5" cutterhead. I think because most were direct drive and the large diameter added speed into the cut since they ran at 3500 rpm. The large diameter on belt drive made for a great finish. No need for a Byrd. Dave

[Jack O'Connor]

I have the Poitras 8" Jointer for the past 33 years and never had a problem. They are great machines that just keep on ticking!

[Carl Beckett]

As a reference point, I paid $1400 or $1500 for my 12" bridgewood

Have seen some combo machines around $2000 ( a different animal I know, and I know nothing about poitras, just offering a couple data points)

[Peter Kelly]

$1,950 is fair for that particular, very sought after jointer and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it if you've got the cash. You'll have to factor in some money for moving it as well.

[Rick Fisher]

Most old jointers ran about a 5" cutterhead. I think because most were direct drive and the large diameter added speed into the cut since they ran at 3500 rpm. The large diameter on belt drive made for a great finish. No need for a Byrd. Dave

I looked up the Griggo site .. The " Monobloc " cutterhead on my jointer is 120mm in diameter .. which is 4.72" .. Makes sense.. I wasn't aware it was that large..

Looking at the Grizzly site, the 12" standard jointer has a 3-3/4" Diameter cutterhead and the " ultimate " jointer has a 4" diameter cutterhead ..

Doesn't sound like a big difference .. but 4.75" .. ( the poitras ) .. is 17.65 square inches and the Grizzly ultimate is 12.56 sq inches of cutterhead .. The 4.75 is considerably larger than the 4" cutterhead ..

[David Kumm]

Rick, it also means the speed of the knives is about 25% faster in addition to the cutting angle difference. Really makes a difference you can feel when using the machine. Dave