8" jointer upgrade - recommendations

[Nick Mazzino]

Hi all,

I am looking to upgrade my 6" jointer that never seems to stay true has seen better days. It is an older Delta. I am looking to get an 8". Budget is 1500$ or less. Does anyone have any recommendations? I was looking at the G0855. I currently have the G0453Z (15" planer with spiral cutter head) and have been extremely happy with it.

I have been looking for a used 8" one for around a year now and none ever seem to pop up around me.

Thanks all,
Nick

[lee cox]

What model is your Delta jointer?

[Robert Hazelwood]

I bought a G0857 a few months ago and shipped it came in right at your budget. Main difference from the 855 you linked is parallelogram table mechanism instead of dovetail ways. Not a big deal as long as the factory table alignment is good, but if you need to tweak things, I found it very easy to do on the 857- a simple process of turning some nuts. I think with dovetail ways it would be a more difficult process involving a lot of shimming and trial and error.

I am happy with the build quality and table/fence flatness (all within 0.003). Cut quality is good with 4-knife cutterhead, though it is loud (like an air raid siren with the DC on). Mobile base is lacking- all wheels are fixed so you have to bump scoot the machine to make a turn. The 855 mobile base appears to be the same.

I, too, was looking for a used jointer but ran out of patience after 6 months or so of nothing but overpriced junk.

[Carl Beckett]

Might be far for you, but some people like these Inca machines

https://columbus.craigslist.org/tls/d/centerburg-inca-10-jointer-planer/6871044000.html

But looking at CL in your area indeed slim pickings. Too bad this is so far (although pricey):

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/tls/d/hummelstown-delta-dj-20-jointer/6838047988.html

I had a grizzly 8" jointer for many years and no problems at all (my guess it was the 0656). Sold it for $450 which was all I could get for it at the time. Looking at the website I see they have all increased in price by a lot.

[Randall J Cox]

I bought a very nicely taken care of used Powermatic 60 8" jointer about 4 years ago and love it. Replaced the head bearings, motor bearings and had the blades sharpened locally. A quantum leap over my old used 6" Sears jointer. Paid $700 for it... Know that's at the high end, but it looked like new, and I could tell it had been properly taken care of by the "quality" of the guy's shop. Know not everybody is into used stuff, but its a viable option. Randy

[Tim M Tuttle]

I got a Steelex ST1011 about a year and a half ago and I really like it. It was $1350 shipped but it's probably more now with the tariffs and price increases. It's a clone of the Grizzly G0490x. Not sure if it has the same backorder issues as the Grizzly. Parallelogram and spiral cutterhead.

[Andrew More]

It's a clone of the Grizzly G0490x. Not sure if it has the same backorder issues as the Grizzly. Parallelogram and spiral cutterhead.
It's not a clone of the G0490X, the cutter head is skewed, while the G0490X is parallel with the mouth.