Rikon Planer/Jointer

[Stew Hagerty]

OK, so I was thinking about changing up my shop a bit (like none of us ever do that) and I ran across the Rikon 25-210 12" Planer/Jointer combo machine. At around $1900 it appears to be a pretty good deal. The reviews I read are weighted heavily on the high side too. UT, as always, I trust you guys far more than online reviews when it comes to shop equipment and tools. So... What do you think? I currently have a DeWalt DW735X with the stand. And I do not have a Jointer because I really don't have room for one. However, if I could replace my DeWalt with a combo unit, that could work. Any thoughts? Anyone have this machine or heard things about it?

342569 342570

[larry senen]

If you buy it i think you should get the helical head model .

It appears to be similar to the SCMI machine i had, if it is ,keep all the hinges well oiled.

[David Kumm]

Take a Oneway type gauge and level the infeed and outfeed tables. Open and close the jointer tables a few times and measure to make sure they are still in alignment. Also check against the knives. Then I would lower the infeed as normally used, take a reading and repeat the open close. If there are machine issues with a jointer planer it will usually be the inability to return to exact settings. If it passes the test, you have a decision to make. If not, run for cover. Dave

[Stew Hagerty]

If you buy it i think you should get the helical head model .

It appears to be similar to the SCMI machine i had, if it is ,keep all the hinges well oiled.

The helical model is $700 more (37% more).

[Greg Parrish]

Never seen one but like the idea. I'm sort of wishing I had one with the helical head instead of my DW 735 on stand and my Powermatic 54a jointer. Would loose an inch of planer space but would gain 6 inches of jointer space. Also, would take only the space of one tool which is good in a small garage sized shop. Good point about about maintaining square after moving from one function to the other and back.

[Stew Hagerty]

Take a Oneway type gauge and level the infeed and outfeed tables. Open and close the jointer tables a few times and measure to make sure they are still in alignment. Also check against the knives. Then I would lower the infeed as normally used, take a reading and repeat the open close. If there are machine issues with a jointer planer it will usually be the inability to return to exact settings. If it passes the test, you have a decision to make. If not, run for cover. Dave

The problem is Dave, where I live there are none to put my hands onto.

[David Kumm]

Sorry, Stew. I thought you had run across one locally ( physically ). If buying sight unseen you need reviews from anal guys who use theirs enough to know if they hold up. Dave

[Stew Hagerty]

Sorry, Stew. I thought you had run across one locally ( physically ). If buying sight unseen you need reviews from anal guys who use theirs enough to know if they hold up. Dave

Yeah, that's why I came on here. Online reviews are one thing, but I don't know who they are, or if they are even real reviews -VS- paid reviews.

[Roger Feeley]

If you need a 12" jointer, fine. It seems out of balance to me. If I could justify a 12" jointer, I would want a 24" planer.

I use a Jet 6" jointer and plan to upgrade my lunchbox planer to a 20". If I want to flatten the face of a board, I generally hot glue it or wedge it to a carrier and feed it through the planer. About all I use the jointer for is edges.

[Stew Hagerty]

If you need a 12" jointer, fine. It seems out of balance to me. If I could justify a 12" jointer, I would want a 24" planer.

I use a Jet 6" jointer and plan to upgrade my lunchbox planer to a 20". If I want to flatten the face of a board, I generally hot glue it or wedge it to a carrier and feed it through the planer. About all I use the jointer for is edges.


That is basically how I have been getting by. I use a sled in my planer for faces and I use my nice vintage Stanley #8 for the edges. Whenever I have needed to plane something wider that the 12 1/2" the DW735 can handle, I have just done it by hand. And I really don't run into that very often. No I don't need a 12" jointer, but then I've always heard you should get the widest one you can afford. My interest in it is not the size (as long as it is at least 12"), so much as it is the combo part. It wouldn't take up much more space than my Planer, and yet fulfill both functions. And I thought at $1900 is didn't sound like that bad of a deal. Especially since I know I can get $450 for the DeWalt with the stand. That drops my cost to under $1500.

[larry senen]

$2369@ performance tool center.com spiral head.

[Stew Hagerty]

$2369@ performance tool center.com spiral head.

Ah, well if it's just $400 more then that might not be so bad.

[Curt Harms]

It looks like the Jet JJP-12. Lots of people like the helical cutterhead, especially for twisted/interlocking grain or figured wood.

[rudy de haas]

When I was buying my stuff I went to a wood working shop in Calgary where the staff were deeply uninterested in helping people who don't know their secret handshake. However, they had the rikon 10" combo on display and didn't even seem to notice as I did everything except run it (no wood and no power). Overall it seemed very plasticy and loosely put together. I thought it junk, but in retrospect the staff may simply not have assembled the floor model correctly.

The machine I liked best was grizzly's (and I would have bought one if they'd been reasonable about shipping to Canada) G0675 - still on Amazon as Made in the U.S.
--see https://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-G0675-Jointer-Planer-10-Inch/dp/B0027W4488 - which it is not, but solid and vastly more convincing as a quality product than the rikon.

[Dick Mahany]

I'm looking at the Rikon.......Down-sized about a year ago, and let my JJP-12 go. BIG MISTAKE. With all of the reported shortcomings reported about the smaller tables and inconveniences of changing from jointer to planer mode.......just try and get by without either in a new shop. I never had one problem with the Jet JJP-12, but can't afford to buy it again with current pricing. I'm not a full time professional and don't need the Felder/Hammer quality, but 12" proved to be everything I ever needed. I would still pass on anything anything 10" or less for my needs, but Rikon and Grizzly are now getting my attention.

[Stew Hagerty]

When I was buying my stuff I went to a wood working shop in Calgary where the staff were deeply uninterested in helping people who don't know their secret handshake. However, they had the rikon 10" combo on display and didn't even seem to notice as I did everything except run it (no wood and no power). Overall it seemed very plasticy and loosely put together. I thought it junk, but in retrospect the staff may simply not have assembled the floor model correctly.

The machine I liked best was grizzly's (and I would have bought one if they'd been reasonable about shipping to Canada) G0675 - still on Amazon as Made in the U.S.
--see https://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-G0675-Jointer-Planer-10-Inch/dp/B0027W4488 - which it is not, but solid and vastly more convincing as a quality product than the rikon.

I appreciate the info Rudy. My understanding is that there is a huge difference between that 10" machine and the 12" I'm looking at, in both quality and capabilities. But, having never seen their 10" in person, it's nice to get a perspective from someone who has.

[Stew Hagerty]

I'm looking at the Rikon.......Down-sized about a year ago, and let my JJP-12 go. BIG MISTAKE. With all of the reported shortcomings reported about the smaller tables and inconveniences of changing from jointer to planer mode.......just try and get by without either in a new shop. I never had one problem with the Jet JJP-12, but can't afford to buy it again with current pricing. I'm not a full time professional and don't need the Felder/Hammer quality, but 12" proved to be everything I ever needed. I would still pass on anything anything 10" or less for my needs, but Rikon and Grizzly are now getting my attention.

So have you been able to lay on hands Dick? I have no dealers withing 200 miles of me, so it makes it tough.

[Curt Harms]

When I was buying my stuff I went to a wood working shop in Calgary where the staff were deeply uninterested in helping people who don't know their secret handshake. However, they had the rikon 10" combo on display and didn't even seem to notice as I did everything except run it (no wood and no power). Overall it seemed very plasticy and loosely put together. I thought it junk, but in retrospect the staff may simply not have assembled the floor model correctly.

The machine I liked best was grizzly's (and I would have bought one if they'd been reasonable about shipping to Canada) G0675 - still on Amazon as Made in the U.S.
--see https://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-G0675-Jointer-Planer-10-Inch/dp/B0027W4488 - which it is not, but solid and vastly more convincing as a quality product than the rikon.


I wonder if the machine you were looking at was the Rikon 25-010. I kinda thought that was an effort to knock-off the well regarded Inca jointer-planer and is still shown on Rikon's web site.

[Curt Harms]

Dick, if you're missing the JJP-12, these guys have it on sale for not much more than I paid when they were first available.

http://www.equipmentsalesandsurplus.com/product_p/708-475.htm

$1985.95 for straight knives, $2960 (!) for the helical head, free shipping. I bought mine before helical cutterheads were commonly available but for common domestic species straight knives seem to work fine.

[glenn bradley]

The helical model is $700 more (37% more).

Read an article on the payback on insert cutter heads. It is pretty rapid and pays dividends every day thereafter. If you use the machine 2 or 3 years the insert head is less expensive. There's price and then there's cost.

From discussions by owners on the forums, combo machines outside the established stable of high end maker's can have stability / repeatability issues. Try to find folks who have owned this machine for a year or more (and who will give an unbiased opinion). A thread like "Rikon 25-210 Owners, Your Experience?" on a few forums should get some results.

[Erik Loza]

...From discussions by owners on the forums, combo machines outside the established stable of high end maker's can have stability / repeatability issues...

Can't comment on the Rikon but a different Chinese manufacturer (no jointer/planers are made in the USA; only Europe or China/Taiwan) tried to clone the Minimax FS30 Smart 12" jointer/planer and the feedback I've gotten from owners is that maybe you get a good one, maybe you don't. Sample variation to the point that some machines were such lemons that the customers ended up returning them and going an entirely different route. One of the issue with the Chaiwanese machines is that I don't think the manufacturers (pick any brand) understand to how to engineer a jointer/planer. Jointer/planers originated in Europe and they understand how to engineer and build them over there. The Chaiwanese can copy what they see from an aesthetic standpoint but they don't seem to understand why a certain part needs to spec'd a certain way or be of a certain material. For example, I've seen pot metal used on Chaiwanese machine where it really should be machined steel, inadequately thin castings, or thin sheet metal where it should be an iron casting. The hinge design is the achilles heel of any jointer/planers and the machine really needs to be well engineered to hold its adjustments, as Glenn mentioned.

I'm not bashing Chaiwanese jointer/planers. There are probably owners out there who have been very satisfied with them and we're all on a budget. I own plenty of Harbor Freight tools. If I'm building engine, while Harbor Freight sockets could be totally fine, I wouldn't trust a Harbor Freight torque wrench. I would pay more to have a Craftsman, Mac, or Snap-On for that critical application. And jointer/planers are a more critical application. A stand-alone Chaiwanese jointer and a lunchbox planer are probably pretty safe bets. They "know how to build those", if you get my meaning. The jointer/planers, I'm not so convinced of. At least not yet. This is just my personal opinion, of course. I would ask around and see if anyone out there has one of these Chaiwanese jointer/planers that is more than, say, five years old.

Best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

Erik

[David Kumm]

+1 what Erik said. I sound like a broken record but with jointer planers it is all about the tables and the hinge mechanism. If that isn't right the head becomes irrelevant. If you get a machine and it works great, put an Esta or Shelix on it if you feel you need it. My fear would be to pop for the head and find I didn't like the machine. To be clear, I'm not speaking from personal JP experience, but from the many posts on many forums and my experience rehabbing dozens of woodworking machines. Take it for what it is worth. Dave

[Rich Riddle]

Stew,

I am the odd man out. You can purchase that if you like, but for about the same money a used European model will pop up sooner or later. I have less than you will spend on that with the regular cutter head in a 14" Minimax with a Helix head. Perhaps I am just becoming more patient these days. That said, if you want an Asian machine, I prefer Taiwan models. For some reason they seem to have a bit better quality control than China.

[Michael Sapper]

Stew, about a month ago I replaced my dewalt lunchbox and jet 6" jointer with a Hammer A3-31 combo machine with the spiral cutter head and COULD NOT be happier. I looked at both the Rikon and Jet combo models before choosing the Hammer. What ever you get spend the money on the spiral head for many reasons non the least it being way way quieter, no need to wear hearing protection even though I do. I see you're in Ft Wayne. Feel free to visit my shop in Carmel to see the Hammer in person.

Michael

[Stew Hagerty]

I see you're in Ft Wayne. Feel free to visit my shop in Carmel to see the Hammer in person.

Michael

Thank you Michael, I would live to come down for a visit sometime. I am disabled and unable to drive myself, but my wife and I do get down to Indy every so often. If you don't mind, I'd like to add you as a friend so that I remember who to contact next time we are thinking of heading your way.

[Curt Harms]

+1 what Erik said. I sound like a broken record but with jointer planers it is all about the tables and the hinge mechanism. If that isn't right the head becomes irrelevant. If you get a machine and it works great, put an Esta or Shelix on it if you feel you need it. My fear would be to pop for the head and find I didn't like the machine. To be clear, I'm not speaking from personal JP experience, but from the many posts on many forums and my experience rehabbing dozens of woodworking machines. Take it for what it is worth. Dave

I don't know about other brands but Jet's JJP straight knife and helical head models have different feed rates. 20 FPM for straight knife, 12 FPM for helical IIRC so there's more involved than just the cutterhead in that case.

[David Kumm]

The more inserts, the more hp it takes to operate so the differing feed rates make sense. It is harder to push a wide board across a jointer with a helical than a straight knife. Dave