Buying used 6” Jointer & 12” planers

[Adam Chin]

Hi, I’m new here. In the last few years I’ve been learning Guitar building, finished my first Electric Bass a few months ago. My current workflow inculudes making laminate necks (approx 1” square, 36” long strips of maple and others). Also starting to mill up fingerboards 3.5” wise 1/4” thick fingerboards.

I’m looking around at used planers and jointers, and some new ones, but on a budget :)

On the used side anything I need to watch out for?

I’m also limited in size. Everything I have thats bigger is on platforms.

Thanks for any feedback :)

[Michelle Rich]

the best deal I know of in a new planer and jointer is the cutech line. They are portable and solve your space issue. They also have carbide heads.

[Nick Decker]

I'll echo what Michelle says about Cutech, especially for benchtop planers. Good stuff, although I don't see many of them on the used market.

[Adam Chin]

Thanks Michelle!

I actually checked out their site a few days ago.
I can probably afford their 6” Jointer. Maybe get a used thickness planer (given my budget). Kind of don’t know which is more important to get new. Too bad I don’t have more $.

Thanks again :)

[Adam Chin]

Thanks Nick. It probably speaks to how good they are.

[Nick Decker]

Adam, concerning which is more important, that's hard to say because they kind of work in tandem. If it were me, I'd go for the planer first, with carbide cutters, then try to pick up a used 6" jointer off Craigslist.

I bought the Cutech 6" jointer mainly because of space considerations. It's small and light and sits on a shelf under my bench. Jointing a 36" board is doable, but much more than that gets kinda squirrely. It's a small tool for small projects.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Unless I knew the seller, I would avoid a used bench top planer. They are old and usually worn out. You can't get parts for Deltas, two of which I own. If budget allows, look at the Dewalt 13" planer. Right now, it seems that most have upgraded from 6" jointers, so the market isn't there for buying a used one. Of course, you market may be different.

[Adam Chin]

Hey Nick,

That makes sense and since my only way to thickness anything is with a router/mortising bit and a few fixtures. It’s precise but takes a while.

I’ll keep an eye out on the cutech site for a sale.
Happen to know if their budget unit ok or not worth it?

Thanks,
Adam

[Adam Chin]

Yeah, it’s probably hit or miss on the used front.
I saw a Porter Cable 6” Jointer on Facebook market place for 200 then it dropped down to 175 and someone picked it up. I like the idea of knowing the actual depth of cut from a dial it’s most likely a “fancy” not so needed feature. Also noticed that those PC’s are actually discontinued.

[Nick Decker]

Don't know about their budget unit, I have the top line one. Again, carbide cutters are highly recommended. The lock for the cutter head is something else I think is important.

[Nick Decker]

Keep in mind that you can use a sled for face jointing on a planer. I do that whenever I have to with wider boards.

[Adam Chin]

Pretty cool.. Thanks for the tip! I'll have a look on the web for pictures of sleds for planers :).

[Adam Chin]

Update

I ended up buying a new DeWalt DW734, and I'm a happy camper.

The Carriage Head lock definitely addresses snipe! I'm not 100% sure about the Table Extension adjustment recommendations where the tips of the tables need to be flush with the table.
I'll experiment. In fact, I saw a video and one Luthier friend of mine that suggested building a longer straight table that rests on top of the planer table for better results.
This would be minus using the carriage head lock of course. More to experiment with :)

This is a nice machine, and I'm glad I got it. If I had the $, I would have pulled the trigger on the Cutech Labor day bundle sale going on right now, but that has a budget planer and a nice jointer.
That jointer is still on my list (maybe next year).

Anyway, thanks everyone for your feedback :)

Cheers!

[Todd Bender]

You can pick up a dust collector from Harbor Freight to go with your new planer for a couple hundred. I bought one years ago and really got my money's worth out of it.

[Adam Chin]

Thanks Todd. I use a shop vac currently but I could probably use something better like these at HF.

[Bill Dufour]

Where does the op live, USA? I have a 6" jointer I would like to sell.
Bill D

[Adam Chin]

I live in Jacksonville FL.

Actually, I went a few days with the DW734 and was finding that chips were getting stuck in the chip
extract chute. And the. Dropping down onto rollers and leaving impressions on my boards.

I replaced the unit to Lowe’s for another. Opened it up and saw that the foam seal on the tool tray fell out.
The glue that holds it on deteriorated. I called tech support and they said probably due to it sitting in stock
may Lowe’s for an extended period caused it.

Long story... I ended up just ordering a Cutech 40600H-CT. Looking forward to spiral cutter heads.

[Nick Decker]

Congrats on the Cutech, Adam. I think you'll like it.

Be advised, though, it doesn't have a true "spiral head" like what you'd see on a Byrd head. The cutters hit the wood at a straight angle, as opposed to slicing at an angle. What this means is that you will see some tearout on figured wood where the grain changes direction. Not as bad as long straight knives, but it's still a factor at times.

It's not as loud as the Dewalts, but you'll still need ear muffs.

You'll probably see some "wayward" chips left on the table after a cut. Dust collection is pretty good, depending on what you're using, but not 100%. Just blow them away before doing the next cut, or you may see them getting impressed into the wood.

[Adam Chin]

Thanks Nick!

I should have it by Friday. Ultimately, I’m glad I got this one.
its just a step down from their “pro” model.

From what I’m seeing, it’ll be more efficient in terms of adjusting for
a nicked blade. Also, if I feel the need, I can upgrade to carbide tips.

Their sale today was the planer plus a stand for 499+shipping (no tax).

It certainly appears to have much better dust collection than the 734.

Ive got a 16 gallon 6.0 peak Hp shop vac which should suffice.

Looking forward to getting back to making bass guitar necks...

[Nick Decker]

I think you'll like it, and will be surprised how quickly 16 gallons of chips accumulate. Good luck to you!

[Adam Chin]

I think you'll like it, and will be surprised how quickly 16 gallons of chips accumulate. Good luck to you!

Hey Nick,

I believe my planer drama is over.

I received the Cutech 40600H-CT today, and I got it set up and cut snipe free
on my first pass at leveling the extension tables.

One minor issue was the dust port had a crack in it, but a quick call to Mike in tech support resolved that.
He said he’d ship me a new one tomorrow, and to email him if any other parts needed to be replaced tonight so he could have it all set for tomorrow.
Very accommodating!

I have to say the quality of this planer is hands down better than the two DW734’s I returned.

That cutter is great even though it’s not hellical.

All in all it feels like a very precise tool. The extension tables are shorter and it doesn’t have a locking
mechanism for the four posts either.

Anyway, thanks for your feedback/advise!

Adam

[Nick Decker]

Sounds good, Adam. Agree about Mike, he's always been responsive and honest with me. I had some questions before buying and he helped a lot.

[Robert Hazelwood]

When you had the 734, did you have the dust chute attached to the planer but without a DC hooked up? That would create problems since the chips have nowhere to go. A shopvac might not move enough CFM to solve the issue, it needs a fair amount of air movement. But if you can get enough CFM the dust collection on the DW734 is excellent, I get practically 100% collection with a 2 hp cyclone- it's the best tool in my shop as far as chip collection goes.

Before I had the DC I ran it with the dust chute removed, let it spray chips everywhere then cleaned up afterwards. Not exactly fun, but I had no issues with any chips getting caught back in the planer and leaving marks.

The Cutech seems like a nice machine, hope you enjoy it.

[Adam Chin]

When you had the 734, did you have the dust chute attached to the planer but without a DC hooked up? That would create problems since the chips have nowhere to go. A shopvac might not move enough CFM to solve the issue, it needs a fair amount of air movement. But if you can get enough CFM the dust collection on the DW734 is excellent, I get practically 100% collection with a 2 hp cyclone- it's the best tool in my shop as far as chip collection goes.

Before I had the DC I ran it with the dust chute removed, let it spray chips everywhere then cleaned up afterwards. Not exactly fun, but I had no issues with any chips getting caught back in the planer and leaving marks.

The Cutech seems like a nice machine, hope you enjoy it.

Hi Robert,

Theres a possibility that the shop vac was under powered. I did notice that some chips tended to collect on
the left side when I was cleaning/inspecting. It’s kind of late to know since I’ve returned them.
They both seemed not brand new or as the service person said at DeWalt, could have been old stock that sat
at Lowe’s (why some of the foam fell apart from the dust chute/tool tray).

It was a nice tool even though I had issues with it.

The Cutech on the other hand seemed brand spankin new.
So far I really like the spiral cutter head. I took my time and got the tables levelled
and haven’t seen any snipe yet. I haven’t done a lot with it yet because I needed to get a mobile
platform built. I’ll do more in the next few days though.

Thanks for your feedback :)
Adam