Permission to land...

[Ole Anderson]

I get my wood at Armstrong Millworks in Highland MI. I usually have them plane it 1/16" under my final thickness (saving me many trips to the curb with bags of shavings). They flatten one face first on this 28" Northfield monster. And that big motor just to the right? That is for their bandsaw.

[Jim Becker]

...and they probably serve Sunday meals on it, too... :D

That thing is to die for. Of course, with the smooth top, it will be a bear to move a really wide board over it for that "last pass" due to natural suction between the wood and the table. (Something I'm truly thankful for the Blanchard grind on my J/P)

[John TenEyck]

Holy cow, that's a big one. I recently upgraded to a 14" J/P. To think it's only half as wide as that one is mind boggling.

John

[Phil Mueller]

Ole, you're fortunate to be so close to them. About an hour drive for me, but I enjoy the heck out of going there.

[Tom M King]

I want one!

[Jeff Bartley]

That makes my 16" Northfield look small! What size is the motor? Cast-iron beauty!

[Myk Rian]

Have you heard that jointer running? Downright scary just listening to it get wound up.
I live about 5 miles from there. Handy place to have nearby.

[Jesse Busenitz]

That's some cool Arn there! I can't imagine working around the pork chop on that thing.... seems like a lot of bigger jointers have an alternative for a guard.

[Dave Zellers]

WOW. The bed looks like a cast iron torsion box. Speaking of beds, a person could sleep on it for Heavens sake! Just remember to unplug it.

Now I feel like a total wuss with my 8" jointer.

Bucket list- See that thing in action.

How about that dainty foot. You've got to be kidding me!

[Dave Zellers]

... due to natural suction between the wood and the table...
Simple pleasures I guess, but this is one of my favorite things. When the jointer and planer are sharp and tuned up perfectly, creating a stack of milled boards that are so flat they actually stick together.

I just love that. What a difference it is working with wood that true.

[Keith Weber]

It's probably a 24" jointer. I don't believe Northfield made a 28" jointer. The width is determined by the cutter knives, not the width of the tables (which are a little wider.) Nonetheless, it's an impressive beast.

I have the baby sister, the Northfield 16HD. When I went to pick it up (Craigslist buy), I brought along my Lee Valley 50" straight edge and my Starrett feeler gauges to make sure it didn't have a warped table. No matter which way I laid my straight edge across, along or diagonally across both the infeed and outfeed tables, I couldn't get a shim under that thing or see light from a flashlight under it. I've never seen anything that flat before. Needless to say, it ended up on my trailer. Great company, and great tools.

[Jeff Bartley]

Keith, is yours 3-phase? If so, are you using a vfd?

[Ole Anderson]

It's probably a 24" jointer. I don't believe Northfield made a 28" jointer. The width is determined by the cutter knives, not the width of the tables (which are a little wider.) Nonetheless, it's an impressive beast.

I have the baby sister, the Northfield 16HD. When I went to pick it up (Craigslist buy), I brought along my Lee Valley 50" straight edge and my Starrett feeler gauges to make sure it didn't have a warped table. No matter which way I laid my straight edge across, along or diagonally across both the infeed and outfeed tables, I couldn't get a shim under that thing or see light from a flashlight under it. I've never seen anything that flat before. Needless to say, it ended up on my trailer. Great company, and great tools.
You are probably right, I just measured the width of the bed.

[Ole Anderson]

WOW.

How about that dainty foot. You've got to be kidding me!
I noticed that too, probably so it has a three point stance and no opportunity to warp due to one foot not on the same plane as the others.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Northfield lists the prices of their machines right on their website, the 24" heavy duty jointer is approximately $22k depending on options picked, that dainty machine weighs in at 2200 lbs...

[Keith Weber]

Keith, is yours 3-phase? If so, are you using a vfd?

Jeff, mine is 7.5hp, direct drive, 3-phase. I run it and others off a 20hp American Rotary RPC. I've got about 10 machines/motors that are 3 phase. I only use VFDs on a couple of smaller motors when I want a variable speed option where it wouldn't exist otherwise (like my paint booth tubeaxial fan motor -- full speed when I'm painting something nice, and reduced speed when I'm just rattle canning a couple of brackets in the winter.) The VFDs get a little expensive when you get into the 7.5-10hp range.

[Daniel O'Neill]

WOW. The bed looks like a cast iron torsion box. Speaking of beds, a person could sleep on it for Heavens sake! Just remember to unplug it.

Now I feel like a total wuss with my 8" jointer.

Bucket list- See that thing in action.

How about that dainty foot. You've got to be kidding me!

I have a 4.5" :P lol that's an impressive machine!

[George Bokros]

Wish there was some place closer to me that could face joint material 8 - 10 inches wide. They are almost three hours one way for me.

What are their prices like, just for the materia? They have the prices for milling on their website.

[Keith Weber]

WOW.

How about that dainty foot. You've got to be kidding me!


I noticed that too, probably so it has a three point stance and no opportunity to warp due to one foot not on the same plane as the others.

Yes, that's exactly it. The outfeed end has a wide stance with two legs in the casting. If you look closely at the single leg on the infeed end, you'll see that it has a hinge point at the narrowest point. The foot on that leg is free to tilt so that it lies flat on the ground but the weight concentrates on the ground in a single point directly below the hinge bolt. Like a 3-legged stool, it will sit solid and not rock on an uneven floor. That way the cast tables will not twist over time because there will be no forces trying to twist them.

With a four-footed, heavy, metal lathe, it is important to shim/adjust the feet to level the bed. If you don't, the bed can twist, and you'll end up cutting tapers when trying to turn a long shaft true. A hardware store level isn't nearly accurate enough to pull this off. You need a very sensitive, precision machinist level for this. My Starrett 199 Master Precision Level has an accuracy of 0.0005" per foot. Putting a hair under one end is enough to send the bubble scooting across the glass vial. Just making a point about cast iron twist/warpage -- I'm not by any stretch condoning the daily use of a precision level in a woodworking shop.

The Northfield tortion box jointer tables are very well designed. I forget for how exactly long, but after they cast the tables, they store them for a very long time so the cast iron cures before they grind them flat. That, in conjunction with the 3-legged design make for a very stable, flat jointer that will remain that way for decades.