New Jet combo Planer/Jointer

[Dave Richards]

Check this out. I wonder if it will be available in the US and how much it will cost. Doesn't show up on the US Jet site, yet.
http://www.jettools.co.uk/planerthicknessers.html

http://www.jettools.co.uk/IMAGES/jpt310_prod1.gif
http://www.jettools.co.uk/IMAGES/jpt310_prod2.gif

[Timo Christ]

I've seen it in the new european catalog, too. Nice feature the simultaneous opening of the jointer tables. Looks like parallelogram table adjustments... the jointer fence doesn't look too hot from the pics.
I think it will retail for about 1800 euro here.

[Michael Ballent]

Well they list on the site £1349.00 and for some reason the number seems to come across the same but in dollars, so I would think that the price would be $1349 give or take $100 :D

[Timo Christ]

If they will sell it here for less than 1500 euro i will take a very good look at it..
possible buy for next year.. ;)
a fence upgrade should be the smallest problem :D

[JayStPeter]

If Jet/Delta/Grizzly/etc. start bringing machines like that into the US in that price range, I'll be there. I want a euro combo jointer/planer, but just can't afford the current offerings right now. After selling my current equipment, I could probably swing $1500. The current offerings (including shipping) push close to twice that.

Jay

[John Miliunas]

Yup, pretty cool and all that BUT, I see one glaring "problem", which would concern me: The jointer table length. While you have a 12" capacity, which is really cool, the table is only 55" long!:confused: Huh???? From what I've seen, this is not unusual for the "smaller" Euro style machines, I assume in going along with the whole space-saving concept. As much as I would totally love a 12" jointing capacity, I'm not sure I'd be willing to give up just under 2' of table length, as compared to my current unit.:) Or am I really missing something here??? Is the 55" really sufficient?:confused: :) :cool:

[Dave Richards]

John, the short table wouldn't be a problem for me. If I bought one of those I couldn't afford to buy boards longer than 2 feet anyway. :D

[John Miliunas]

John, the short table wouldn't be a problem for me. If I bought one of those I couldn't afford to buy boards longer than 2 feet anyway. :D

Hmmmmm...That would make for kind of a funny looking crib, wouldn't it?:D :cool:

[Dave Richards]

I figure I can just tape the surfaced boards together with duct tape. :D

[Cecil Arnold]

If you take away the VAT (15% I think) ir is only 1146 [ounds, unfortunately, I think the pound is about $1.86 which means in $$ it is roughly $2120. I still want one, short table and all, I figure I can make some extension tables for infeed/outfeed and still save a bundle over the Mini-max.

[Richard Wolf]

Dev must be working because he hasn't hijacked this tread yet.:D:D:D

[John Miliunas]

Dev must be working because he hasn't hijacked this tread yet.:D:D:D

ROFL..... :D :D :D Oh man, Richard. Was that "on time" or was that "ON TIME"???!!!! PURRRRRRRRFECT timing, my friend!:D Yeah, that or he's really slipping!:) :cool:

[Chris Barton]

The whole outfeed table question is a good one. And, now that I think of it you never see long euro jointer machines. Bigger seems to be better here in the states. Hmm, I wonder if size really does matter...

[John Miliunas]

The whole outfeed table question is a good one. And, now that I think of it you never see long euro jointer machines. Bigger seems to be better here in the states. Hmm, I wonder if size really does matter...

Not necessarily true, Chris. The larger Euro J/P machines also have longer beds. I could be wrong but, I think the shorter beds are generally relative to the more entry-level machines. Plus, if you note, there are many, many more combo-type machines offered in the Euro market. I'm sure there are many reasons but, one of them is due to space constraints in many areas, requiring WW's to maintain relatively small shops. Generally speaking, you want your in/out-feed tables to be a goodly proportion of the raw material you're processing. It tends to be more accurate and safer.:) :cool:

[Michael Perata]

I have a MiniMax J/P on my combo and it has short planer tables. I have never had a problem with the length and regularly mill 6 - 8' boards.

[Ian Barley]

Michael is fairly close in saying to ignore the exchange rate. Generally we pay about in pounds what you pay in dollars. VAT is 17.5%

Without wishing to post a 2500 word essay, the situation with Jet in the UK is quite interesting. Basically Axminster Power Tools is probably the biggest supplier of woodworking tools to serious hobbyists and small trader over here in the UK. A couple of times a few years ago I bought some "axminster" own brand items which turned up badged with the Jet logo. They also took on a white livery about the same time that Jet did. No big deal I thought. They are probably just sourcing in the same factories as Jet and get a keener deal if they take the same colour scheme. About two years ago some of the Axminster tools started to be sold as Jet branded and the address for Jet UK is basically nest door (so to speak) to the Axminster address. I suspect that Axminster have become a distributor for Jet and will eventually subsume all of their own brand products into Jet brand where there is an overlap.

The Jointer/Planer combo, which we call a Planer/Thicknesser is so common that most people over here would deny that it is a combination machine at all. This size of machine is fairly common in small trade and serious hobby shops. In big pro shops "production" J/P's have full size tables and huge capacities. Most of these allow the P part of the process to be done without the need to lift tables. I suspect that John's observation on the average size of a European shop viz an American one is correct. Basically I think the 12" width is designed in first and then the table length is made as short as they can get away with.

Chris - Size - Its not what you've got - its what you can do with it that counts - I hope!

[Charlie Plesums]

...you never see long euro jointer machines. Bigger seems to be better here in the states. Hmm, I wonder if size really does matter...
My European jointer planer has a 79 1/2 inch jointer table. I consider that pretty long.

Interesting observation... The planer has a steel feed roller, not a soft rubber one. The board is absolutely held in position, against a rock solid but relatively short planer table. The thickness is absolutely constant - no snipe or variance - as long as the first side is absolutely flat. Yes I have had snipe a couple times, but only when I said "oh, it's close enough" when using the jointer. I'm a slow learner.

[Russ Massery]

Looks like a minimax that Jim Becker has. I'm sure he could chime in on this one. Boy if the price comes in around 1500 I'l definitely will giving a good look. I sure could use the space.

[Bruce Page]

Bed length aside, has anyone noticed the undersized ribbing under the jointer tables. Maybe it’s just me, but I wonder if they’ll stay flat over the long haul.

[John Miliunas]

Yeah Charlie, on something that long, I would feel pretty safe and confident running material 10'+ on the jointer. That Jet is substantially shorter than that. I remember having a short table on my previous 6" jointer and I just didn't feel "right" about running anything much more than 6 or maybe 7' on it.

OTOH, if one does NOT plan on using it for lengthy material, that 12" jointer capacity is pretty killer on the Jet!:) I know I would've loved one like that for certain in my old shop, where space was a genuine constraint! :) :cool:

[Jack Easton]

Looks like a minimax that Jim Becker has. I'm sure he could chime in on this one. Boy if the price comes in around 1500 I'l definitely will giving a good look. I sure could use the space.

I thought that at first too, but it looks like it shares more DNA with the Hammers I have seen. Where the switch is located, how the motor bolts on, and especially the way the planer hood looks and operates. Hmmm... Now the Europeans can feel the heat of competing with cheap labor and different philosophical and political viewpoints. Grizzly introduced clones of Mini Max and Altendorf sliding saws last year. Maybe in five years we will see all those proud and great European companies setting up shop over there, like our once great manufacturers did. I think Altendorf is already there with their low end saw.

[JayStPeter]

Seems like most of the euro 310/12" j/p have the same shortish tables. Ideally, I like the MM 14", which has tables a bit longer than my 8" jointer. The larger j/p combos and even large jointers with 8' tables will just be too big for my shop.
Unfortunately, the cost for a longer table j/p combo is more than the rest of my machines combined. For now, I'm dreaming small and looking to add a 15" planer to replace my benchtop.
There were rumors around last year that Grizzly was working on a j/p combo machine. I'm not sure if that is true or if the rumor was actually referring to the new 10" jointer they recently showed. Maybe (hopefully) that new Jet is a preview of things to come from the cloners.

Jay

[Jim Becker]

I would love to see this kind of machine become more previlent in the north American marketplace, especially if the prices can be kept reasonable. They don't need to be as heavily built as the MM I own or similar, either...just good quality. I'm a believer that having a jointer with the same width capacity as you have for thicknessing is a very good thing...and the current marketplace, at least in the Americas, doesn't support that very well at all.

[Ian Barley]

Now the Europeans can feel the heat of competing with cheap labor and different philosophical and political viewpoints......

Jack - we already do. Most of the tools (and many other consumable goods) on sale in Europe are sourced from or competing with lower cost economies, whether they be China, Mexico or the old eastern european nations.

[Chris Barton]

Ian,

Thanks for catching the pun!