Steve H Graham
06-25-2015, 6:07 PM
In 2011, I bought a Rikon 25-010 jointer/planer. I didn't really need another planer, but I wanted to joint without using a sled, and I thought it was neat that this machine would joint 10" boards for a fairly low price, in a small space.
The machine seemed to work fine, but I had one major problem with it, and I thought other people should know, because they might invest in one and then get a nasty shock later. The parts that support the fence are pot metal. They are around 0.090" thick. I measured. I am not joking.
A week or two back, I dragged the jointer out to use it, and when I tried to adjust the fence, the bracket holding it snapped. I made a new part to attach the bracket to the fence, and when I installed it, the other side of the bracket snapped, leaving me nothing to work with. You can actually snap the pot metal with pliers and very little force. It's remarkable. I held a broken part in one hand and took pliers in the other and popped little chunks off at will.
I registered the product for warranty service through their website. I emailed their tech address about the problem. That was quite some time ago, and I have not gotten a response. While I was waiting, I decided to make a new support which would never fail in ordinary use. It's in the attached photo. I machined it from round aluminum tubing, square aluminum tubing, and a piece of 1018 steel I had lying around. The carriage bolts that originally held the fence on were M6s, so they are very close to 1/4" in diameter. I needed longer bolts for my invention, so I switched to 1/4". They fit fine in the original fence slots.
I still think it's a good jointer, but I would strongly advise anyone who buys one to stay away from it unless it's cheap and they have the skill and the inclination to replace the worthless fence parts.
316298
The machine seemed to work fine, but I had one major problem with it, and I thought other people should know, because they might invest in one and then get a nasty shock later. The parts that support the fence are pot metal. They are around 0.090" thick. I measured. I am not joking.
A week or two back, I dragged the jointer out to use it, and when I tried to adjust the fence, the bracket holding it snapped. I made a new part to attach the bracket to the fence, and when I installed it, the other side of the bracket snapped, leaving me nothing to work with. You can actually snap the pot metal with pliers and very little force. It's remarkable. I held a broken part in one hand and took pliers in the other and popped little chunks off at will.
I registered the product for warranty service through their website. I emailed their tech address about the problem. That was quite some time ago, and I have not gotten a response. While I was waiting, I decided to make a new support which would never fail in ordinary use. It's in the attached photo. I machined it from round aluminum tubing, square aluminum tubing, and a piece of 1018 steel I had lying around. The carriage bolts that originally held the fence on were M6s, so they are very close to 1/4" in diameter. I needed longer bolts for my invention, so I switched to 1/4". They fit fine in the original fence slots.
I still think it's a good jointer, but I would strongly advise anyone who buys one to stay away from it unless it's cheap and they have the skill and the inclination to replace the worthless fence parts.
316298