Older Grizzly 1018 Jointer -- worth it?

[Michael Shoffner]

Ok gang, still 8" jointer hunting here in NC. Ya'll wisely talked me out of the overpriced used Delta I found. I'm still considering a new Grizzly 8" jointer when they come back in stock. In the mean time, I've found a guy selling a Grizzly 1018 for $300. It only has a single belt on the motor, so best I can tell that means it was built prior to 1992 ( and also means adding a newer spiral head is not an option). Tables and fence all seem flat based on pics he has sent me and they show minor surface rust. I have not seen the unit in person. Its a 2hp motor wired for 220.
I have no experience from Griz machines that old. I'm perfectly happy with the more current Grizzly machinery I have.
So the big question? .....scoop this older 8" jointer up for $300 and attempt to clean her up, or spend $1300 on new with spiral head??

[Chris Hachet]

Depends on your budget and priority. Trust yourself and make sawdust, either choice would work. I personally think the more troublesome thing is that you are basing a purchase decision on your desire to get the purchase over quickly rather than waiting for the new Grizzly.

I have a friend who is very much into home theater, I talked him into buying what he really wanted. He does not regret his purchase one bit.

Personally, I would buy the new Grizzly and never ever look back.

[Vinito Caleb]

Seems like at $300 it's a good enough deal to get and add a spiral head later, or right away.
Grizzly has these: http://www.grizzly.com/products/T27713 and http://www.grizzly.com/products/T27697

I don't know what the defference is, but it would be worth a call to find out. FYI I picked up a used 6" Grizzly jointer cheap and immediately bought the same version of cutterhead to suit my machine, and in my phone call the said it wouldn't fit. I could machine things to make it work if there was a problem, but they were just mistaken and it fit right up and works great. YMMV, but it worked for me and I really like the cutterhead.

[Bill Dufour]

$1,000 dollars buys a lot of wood and tools. How much more would that be for shipping and tax? Why do you think you need a spiral cutterhead?
I bet for under $750 a machine shop would turn an existing head down to fit.
Bill D.

[Don Jarvie]

300 hundred for an 8 inch jointer is a good deal if the tables and fence are ok.

[scott spencer]

That 1018 for $300 seems like a very good deal to me if its in decent shape.

[Cary Falk]

$300 is a good deal but if you want a spiral head and one won't fit this machine then move along. I have a spiral head in my 8" jointer and love it. I found a 1018 for a friend for $450. I thought that was a good deal. We were able to put a spiral in it though.

[Michael Shoffner]

$1,000 dollars buys a lot of wood and tools. How much more would that be for shipping and tax? Why do you think you need a spiral cutterhead?
I bet for under $750 a machine shop would turn an existing head down to fit.
Bill D.

....well there lies the struggle. The difference in cash is significant between old machine and new dream machine. I've always had straight knives on my 6inch and they've been fine ( though changing and aligning them is a pain). Yet I've never talked to a person who upgraded to the spiral head and regretted it, so there must be something there. I'm hoping this is the last jointer I ever buy, and just debating if it's worth it to get one that leaves the spiral head option open. ...and on the flip side, $300 seems like an awfully good price for an 8".

[Chris Hachet]

That 1018 for $300 seems like a very good deal to me if its in decent shape.It really does, but the OP seems to want a new tool with a helical cuter head. If that's what he wants, and can afford it, that is what he should buy IMHO.

[Chris Hachet]

That 1018 for $300 seems like a very good deal to me if its in decent shape.Unless the OP would prefer to buy a new tool, plug and play, with a helical cutter head. I am a huge fan of the buy it once Idea.

[Chris Hachet]

$300 is a good deal but if you want a spiral head and one won't fit this machine then move along. I have a spiral head in my 8" jointer and love it. I found a 1018 for a friend for $450. I thought that was a good deal. We were able to put a spiral in it though.The Spiral is really nice. Alternately you could wait for a sued grizzly with the helical head-one sold around here for $800 gently used, it did not hang around on the market long.

[Michael Shoffner]

I've been trolling the used market for a year now and this is one f the only machines I've found in my area. They just don't seem to pop up much here

[Adam Merritt]

I had the opportunity to buy a 1018 in decent shape 2 weeks ago for $675 WITH a new in the box Byrd head. Something just didn't feel right, so I walked. I really want an 8'' parallelogram spiral jointer for my next purchase, and honestly, don't regret passing it up. Decide what features are most important, and buy one that fits. If saving money is the most important feature, then you have a good candidate. If others such as the spiral head are more important, then wait. Holding out another few months to get the one that fits your needs will be well worth it 10 years down the road. Those few months of waiting will be nothing compared to the long term satisfaction of getting exactly what you want. No need in looking back asking yourself the what-ifs about what you could've or should've done.

[Michael Shoffner]

Agreed. $300 is a very tempting price. Starting to think, that I should buy this and use the saved money to buy a helical head for my planer instead since thats the machine that is closest in line to the finished surface.

[scott spencer]

Agreed. $300 is a very tempting price. Starting to think, that I should buy this and use the saved money to buy a helical head for my planer instead since thats the machine that is closest in line to the finished surface.

$300 seems low enough that you could easily recoup your investment if you decided to resell it, and pursue a new machine later. The downside is just the hassle, but that's life in the fast lane of tool acquisition!

[Michael Shoffner]

$300 seems low enough that you could easily recoup your investment if you decided to resell it, and pursue a new machine later. The downside is just the hassle, but that's life in the fast lane of tool acquisition!

My thoughts exactly Scott

[Michael Shoffner]

Ok, decided to take a leap of faith on the used one. I'll post an update once I get it. Thanks to all for the perspectives

[Chris Hachet]

Ok, decided to take a leap of faith on the used one. I'll post an update once I get it. Thanks to all for the perspectivesExcellent. I have found used equipment to be a good value.

[Adam Merritt]

Excellent. I have found used equipment to be a good value.
I need to find someone like you local then! I am about ready to list a DWE7480 table saw, DW735x planer, and router table with router combo for sale. Wife says I need to recoup some of my upgrade costs and free up room in the garage. :\

[Bill Dufour]

I believe you said you have a 6" jointer. When I got my 8' delta I found the knife setting jig for the 6" Taiwan jointer worked on the older Delta 8". Do spend a little time on polishing the heads of the jam bolts for the knives. I found that made it easier.
Since this is a used machine I would remove all the bolts and gibs and wire brush the threads inside and out, grind/polish the bolt heads. File the back of gibs smooth if the bolts have scarred them.
Do one slot at a time to maintain balance.
Bill D.
PS:" My mother's house is in a 10% sales tax rate area so $1300 jointer add $130 plus shipping to the catalog price.
At $300 you will make money if you decide to resell

[Matt Day]

Agreed. $300 is a very tempting price. Starting to think, that I should buy this and use the saved money to buy a helical head for my planer instead since thats the machine that is closest in line to the finished surface.

Exactly my thought. In fact I think I said that in your other thread!

Also remember how many decades craftsmen have gotten by with straight knives. Unless cash is overflowing your pockets and you just don't know what to do with it, get the used machine and save the dough.

[Mike Stalkfleet]

You can still get the Byrd head for the older grizzly jointers through Oella Saw and Tool (http://www.oellasawandtool.com/products/Byrd-Shelix-8%22-Journal-Head-for-Older-%2820yrs%29-Grizzly-G1018-8%22-Jointer-with-Bearings.html)
Byrd apparently makes different heads in batches, so you may have to wait quite a while for them to change their setup to make yours, I ordered one 7 weeks ago and still haven't received it.

[Chris Hachet]

You can still get the Byrd head for the older grizzly jointers through Oella Saw and Tool (http://www.oellasawandtool.com/products/Byrd-Shelix-8%22-Journal-Head-for-Older-%2820yrs%29-Grizzly-G1018-8%22-Jointer-with-Bearings.html)
Byrd apparently makes different heads in batches, so you may have to wait quite a while for them to change their setup to make yours, I ordered one 7 weeks ago and still haven't received it.This is excellent to know as I will be in the market for an 8 inch Jointer at some point.

[Michael Shoffner]

Thanks again to all that chimed in with advice here. I've spent the week cleaning this jointer up. Turns out to be a 1989 model. There was quite a bit of rust on the cutterhead and tables, but they polished up nicely with some elbow grease. I fiddled with the fence adjustments too and now the fence is nice and flat. Tables were already flat. I've sent the knives off to be sharpened so I'll be making sawdust soon!
I was able to sell my Craftsman 6" jointer from Facebook in a matter of a few hours. So all said and done, I upgraded for $200!
358316 358317 358318

[Vinito Caleb]

That's cool. Looks like it's in fine shape.
I wish they'd have an 8" (or so) jointer deal on CL around here. You can take your pick of a dozen 6" any day of the week, which I did several weeks back, but I have yet to see a decent 8" for any price and I typically check two or three times a day for about three months now. There's been a nice 12" listed but at $6000 for a long time and that's about it.

I'm not sure how much luck you'd have getting dimension specs from Grizzly about their newer version spiral head, and of course I don't know if you have tools or experience measuring yours to compare. But if you could figure out whether one would fit and decided to bite the bullet I think you'd be very happy with it once it was fit up. Put it on your list to make friends with a local hobbyist machinist - it comes in handy sometimes.

[Michael Shoffner]

Yes, I've talked with Grizzly tech support a few times. Their helical heads only fit machines from 1992 or later that have double pulley motors. Mine is from 89 and only has a single pulley. However, Byrd Tooling makes one that will fit my machine for $460, so I may go that route eventually.
I never had any luck on Craigslist finding an 8" jointer either. I trolled their for 2 years with no luck. Search your region for used machinery dealers, put the word out on forums like this one, or better yet even more local. I got mine through a NCWoodworkers.net forum post. Also start watching the auction sites and you'll have much better luck. AuctionZip is a great site that will troll auctions in your area for certain keywords. Ironically after finding nothing for 2 year, I had 2 great 8" options after I had bought mine from online estate auctions in my area. Try playing with that. Good luck.


That's cool. Looks like it's in fine shape.
I wish they'd have an 8" (or so) jointer deal on CL around here. You can take your pick of a dozen 6" any day of the week, which I did several weeks back, but I have yet to see a decent 8" for any price and I typically check two or three times a day for about three months now. There's been a nice 12" listed but at $6000 for a long time and that's about it.

I'm not sure how much luck you'd have getting dimension specs from Grizzly about their newer version spiral head, and of course I don't know if you have tools or experience measuring yours to compare. But if you could figure out whether one would fit and decided to bite the bullet I think you'd be very happy with it once it was fit up. Put it on your list to make friends with a local hobbyist machinist - it comes in handy sometimes.

[Vinito Caleb]

Wow thanks for the leads. I'll start to check those other avenues out.
Too bad you're not closer. I could be the machining buddy that tweaks an inexpensive Grizzly cutterhead to fit your machine just fine, hehe.

[Michael Shoffner]

yeah....Kansas City is a long drive from Asheville!
Here are 2 national auction sites to start watching. Sometimes the area of sale is too far away to consider, but they consistently have new auctions
www.govdeals.com and irsauctions.com


Wow thanks for the leads. I'll start to check those other avenues out.
Too bad you're not closer. I could be the machining buddy that tweaks an inexpensive Grizzly cutterhead to fit your machine just fine, hehe.

[Keith Hankins]

Ok gang, still 8" jointer hunting here in NC. Ya'll wisely talked me out of the overpriced used Delta I found. I'm still considering a new Grizzly 8" jointer when they come back in stock. In the mean time, I've found a guy selling a Grizzly 1018 for $300. It only has a single belt on the motor, so best I can tell that means it was built prior to 1992 ( and also means adding a newer spiral head is not an option). Tables and fence all seem flat based on pics he has sent me and they show minor surface rust. I have not seen the unit in person. Its a 2hp motor wired for 220.
I have no experience from Griz machines that old. I'm perfectly happy with the more current Grizzly machinery I have.
So the big question? .....scoop this older 8" jointer up for $300 and attempt to clean her up, or spend $1300 on new with spiral head??

I've got the G0609 12: jointer with HSS knives. Had it since 206-7. No problems and never had an issue. A jointer to be honest is a pretty simple machine. I'd take a machinist strait edge and check the tables otherwise 300 i'd snare it in a heart beat.

I've considered putting the byrd head on mine, but never been able to justify.

Got a few griz mazhines and all good. I had the 1023TS (only sold to upgrade to sawstop), and had the horizontal boring machine I used for slot morticing but sold that to upgrade to floor model mortising machine. Also have the 17" BS. Its a good one too.

I run go buy that if its in decent shape.

[Matt Day]

Hey Keith - good advice, the jointer you suggested has been sitting in his shop for 2 weeks!

[Chris Hachet]

yeah....Kansas City is a long drive from Asheville!
Here are 2 national auction sites to start watching. Sometimes the area of sale is too far away to consider, but they consistently have new auctions
www.govdeals.com (http://www.govdeals.com) and irsauctions.com

These sites will be very, very helpful, thanks!

[Michael Shoffner]

yep!! Done did!