Decisions decisions: Jet 12 inch or Hammer 10 inch

[Adam Levitt]

Hello to all and thanks for all the great content.
I have the opportunity to buy one of two J/P machines and I have a dilemma. Either a 12 inch Jet, jpp-12, or the Hammer A3 10 inch.
The hammer looks to be the better machine, but the jet has 2 extra inches in size.
What would you suggest? Price is the same.

[John Coloccia]

Let us know how you like the new Hammer.

Seriously, you shouldn't even think twice about this one. There's nothing particularly wrong with the JJP-12, but the hammer is just a better machine. This is coming from a JJP-12 owner. I wish I'd bought the Hammer instead, though my JJP-12 works for me.

[Gilbert Grenier]

Hello to all and thanks for all the great content.
I have the opportunity to buy one of two J/P machines and I have a dilemma. Either a 12 inch Jet, jpp-12, or the Hammer A3 10 inch.
The hammer looks to be the better machine, but the jet has 2 extra inches in size.
What would you suggest? Price is the same.

I went through a similar dilemma and I'm going with the Hammer A3-31.

[howard s hanger]

+1 Looked at both. Got the A3-31 with the spiral head. Never looked back. Cuts as smooth as glass and is very quiet. 4 HP doesn't bog down, either.

[Adam Levitt]

Thanks for the replies. Your answers and a few threads from posters not happy with their jet, including one trying to throw it out of the window, have convinced me to drop the jet option.
I'm going to check out the Minimax offering today.

[John Coloccia]

Thanks for the replies. Your answers and a few threads from posters not happy with their jet, including one trying to throw it out of the window, have convinced me to drop the jet option.
I'm going to check out the Minimax offering today.

That was probably me. The Jet tables can be a real bear to align sometimes.

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's how I see the width issue... I want a jointer wide enough to face-joint the lumber I find in my lumber dealers. 6" is too small; there's lots of lumber wider than that. 8" is better, but still too small. 10" is good; there's not much lumber wider than that nowadays. 12" is better, but you're really reaching the point of diminishing returns. So if I were you I'd buy the better machine -- the Hammer. It is wide enough to tackle almost all boards.

To be fair, if you're considering Minimax, I think the smallest they make is a 12". It should be more comparable to the Hammer 12" than the Hammer 10".

[Rod Sheridan]

Adam, without a doubt the Hammer, however go with the A3-31 not the 10 inch version....Rod.

[Daniel Hartmann]

We had the jet machine in the co-op I used to belong to, it was loud and it clogged very easily. It also lost its adjustments easily.

[John Coloccia]

We had the jet machine in the co-op I used to belong to, it was loud and it clogged very easily. It also lost its adjustments easily.

Clogged easily mostly in planer mode? I don't know if you noticed this, but there's a little hole on the side of the dust shoot. In planer mode, you have to stick something in there to keep the baffle inside from getting sucked up by the dust collector, completely blocking off the outlet. It's not mentioned in the instructions, and I think it was a complete afterthought, to be honest. I use one of the allen wrenches that came with the unit. It took me some time to figure out just what was going on. If I recall, the first one they sent me didn't have that feature, but maybe my memory is incorrect.

It's just another one of those annoyances that simply shouldn't exist on a unit that expensive, especially considering the competition.

[Chris Padilla]

MM 16" j/p. :D

[Rod Sheridan]

MM 16" j/p. :D

elitist :-)

[Chris Padilla]

Future-proofer and "while I had the money"-er. :D :D

[Jim Becker]

Here's how I see the width issue... I want a jointer wide enough to face-joint the lumber I find in my lumber dealers. 6" is too small; there's lots of lumber wider than that. 8" is better, but still too small. 10" is good; there's not much lumber wider than that nowadays. 12" is better, but you're really reaching the point of diminishing returns. So if I were you I'd buy the better machine -- the Hammer. It is wide enough to tackle almost all boards.

To be fair, if you're considering Minimax, I think the smallest they make is a 12". It should be more comparable to the Hammer 12" than the Hammer 10".

I agree with this. I use my MM J/P mostly for flattening lumber (face planing) and thicknessing it. A wider unit not only can handle the beautiful wider boards, but it also provides more utility for other things, like cleaning up the edges of irregular shaped assemblies and skewing highly figured material to help reduce the chance of tear-out.

[Kent A Bathurst]

elitist :-)

No - just another wise-guy show-off. ;)

[Chris Padilla]

No - just another wise-guy show-off. ;)

Hey! I resemble that remark.... :cool:

On that note and not to derail this thread, consider an upgrade to a helical or Byrd shelix head if possible. The cut is amazing as is the sound level.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Late to this game, but my vote is for the Hammer.

I have a 10" Laguna combo machine. Every time I can recall when I needed to mill lumber that was too big for my 10" machine, it was also too large for a 12" machine. It will be a rare occasion when a 12" machine is enough and a 10" machine isn't. Of course it can happen, but in my experience, it's a fairly narrow use case.

So personally, assuming your budget is fixed, I would choose the 10" Hammer over the 12" Jet because I place more of a premium on quality than on the extra 2"...

[Adam Levitt]

Well, I managed to rationalize myself into going for the 12 inch Hammer.
I should be receiving my new A3 31 J/P and N4400 Bandsaw in January. Very exciting.

This leaves me around 45 days to build my workshop from scratch. I'm going for a fully soundproof garden shed, 10' x 20' gross, 8' x 18' net. I'm going for a room in a room build using a double stud wall with two layers of gypsum. Should be able to reduce sound levels by 70 db and hopefully allow me to work in the middle of the night without waking the neighbors or the babies :)

[John Coloccia]

Well, I managed to rationalize myself into going for the 12 inch Hammer

Attaboy! :)

[Jim Becker]

Congratulations. Honestly, going with the wider machine will likely pay back well in the long term in many ways. I think it was a good decision and I say that as a happy J/P owner and user.

[Jamie Buxton]

....This leaves me around 45 days to build my workshop from scratch. I'm going for a fully soundproof garden shed, 10' x 20' gross, 8' x 18' net. I'm going for a room in a room build using a double stud wall with two layers of gypsum. Should be able to reduce sound levels by 70 db and hopefully allow me to work in the middle of the night without waking the neighbors or the babies :)

That will be quite an interesting project. Do post about it -- the whys and wherefores of the design, what you do about soundproofing windows and doors, etc.

[Adam Levitt]

I'll make an effort to document it. Started clearing the old tree trunks in order to pour the concrete base. Definitely going to be exciting.

Regarding windows, I'm not planning on having any, initially, and the door will be two doors with one opening in and one out with an automatic dropping door stop and sealed all around.

The surprising thing to me is that the cost should be around $4000, not including work, which will be mostly me and a friend or two. If I manage to pull this off and build a soundproof workshop I'll be in heaven. Imagine being able to work when ever you want, and with three kids there aren't many opportunities.

I keep procrastinating doing a sketch up model, but after yesterday's purchase having a deadline has put me into a different mode.


That will be quite an interesting project. Do post about it -- the whys and wherefores of the design, what you do about soundproofing windows and doors, etc.

[Rod Sheridan]

Glad to hear that Adam, please keep us posted on your shop build........Rod.

[Keith Weber]

Well, I managed to rationalize myself into going for the 12 inch Hammer.

That's what SHE said!

[Adam Levitt]

Hehehe :) Completely

[Jim Andrew]

I was poking around on the Hammer Felder site, and saw where you can add a slot mortiser to your planer surfacer combo. Anybody done that?

[Jim Becker]

I was poking around on the Hammer Felder site, and saw where you can add a slot mortiser to your planer surfacer combo. Anybody done that?

That's a popular option with many J/P setups. The only reason I don't have it for my particular J/P is that for that specific machine vintage, the mortiser goes on the back side of the unit which isn't a usable combination in my shop. Newer versions have the mortiser on the front. I got to play with one at a friend's shop a number of years ago and it was a great addition to the machine.