where can I find a good 12'' jointer that's an older model still usa made?

[Travis Conner]

https://www.amazon.com/37-361-12-Inch-Horsepower-230-Volt-Jointer/dp/B00002238N

I'm assuming this one is probably still made in USA with a usa made motor and not the cheap Chinese stuff of today. I can't find anything bigger than 6'' or 8'' looking on facebook marketplace.

[Dave Sabo]

https://www.amazon.com/37-361-12-Inch-Horsepower-230-Volt-Jointer/dp/B00002238N

I'm assuming this one is probably still made in USA with a usa made motor and not the cheap Chinese stuff of today. I can't find anything bigger than 6'' or 8'' looking on facebook marketplace.

Why are you assuming that ? Delta hasn't made much here for a decade. Heck , they aren't even the same company.

You'll be better off looking on the used market for an American made 12" jointer. And the consumer classifieds aren't the place. Woodweb, Redmond &Sons, and places that deal in old iron or commercial woodworking equipment are.

[Travis Conner]

That's what i'm talking about is looking for one that's used.

[Travis Conner]

My delta unisaw made in 2003 is made in usa. The motor is a marathon motor

[Ray Newman]

Amazon customer questions and answers section claims it was made in Taiwan.

The Delta on-line catalogue only shows a bench top 6" jointer.

Try a "want to buy" at:

http://www.owwm.org/index.php?sid=43a71b725456cae3ddef9806f2294a70

http://vintagemachinery.org/

[Dave Sabo]

2003 is well over a decade ago.

Delta's big jointers were made in Brazil by Invicta for the later part of the 20th century. Until the end was on the horizon when some were fabed in Taiwan.

ex- factory is another good site for big gear.

[Richard Coers]

Nope, Delta never made a 12" jointer in the USA

[Andrew Seemann]

You are going to need to go pretty far back to find an all-USA made 12 inch jointer that isn't a Northfield. Even if your Unisaw was "Made in USA", it was made with Chinese castings. Somewhere in the 1990s, Pentair moved their smokestack work for Delta to Taiwan/China for their USA made products.

Possibly a 1990s Powermatic would/could be all American. Keep in mind that there is also a good chance you will also be going back to vintages where parts aren't commonly available for them, especially Delta. Stanley/Black and Decker literally trashed the used parts for older Delta models when they owned Delta.

Also, and somewhat sadly, the Chinese and Taiwanese stuff these days is actually quite well made, particularly in that class of tool.

There is an old Northfield 12" pattern maker's jointer (3 phase) for $5,700 on the Mpls Craigslist. Weigh is given at around 2,000 lb. It does have a power fielder.

[Jared Sankovich]

I regularly see lots of american made jointers for sale used within a reasonable drive. A pair of 16" jointers went for 1k each last week. There is a 16" newman almost identical to the one I have that is for sale in NJ iirc, its been for sale for awhile

$5700 for a 12" northfield seems high. There is a 24" in Vermont for $7800 right now.

[David Kumm]

While bargains can be had, a good shape, flat table old US jointer, Oliver, Northfield, Yates, etc and plug and play ready will go in the 2500-3500 range plus a vfd for about 400. Depends on where you are located. Dave

[Andrew Seemann]

I regularly see lots of american made jointers for sale used within a reasonable drive. A pair of 16" jointers went for 1k each last week. There is a 16" newman almost identical to the one I have that is for sale in NJ iirc, its been for sale for awhile

$5700 for a 12" northfield seems high. There is a 24" in Vermont for $7800 right now.

Used jointers larger than 6" are pretty rare around here. And most of the sixes are those old gawd-awful Craftsmans with the non-adjustable outfeed. 8" jointers disappear in days off Craigslist, and for prices not very competitive with new. I've been causally looking for an decent 8" for a number of years and almost never see anything worth buying over new.

The Northfield has been listed for a while, so other folks may think it is high also. There also might not be a lot of demand locally for a one-ton, 3 phase jointer, no matter how good it is.

The OP didn't say where he was from. If he is in a used tool desert like I'm in, he could be waiting a long time for that reasonably priced used 12" jointer to be locally avallable.

[Paul Haus]

Check over at OWWM.org. There are folks there that seem to enjoy the chase and rebuilding old machines more than using them or are continually upgrading width of machines, once done they sell them. There's also a wealth of knowledgeable people there if you need info on a machine. 12" isn't that large over there, 24"+ is more than normal for many of them.
Good luck

[Scott Bernstein]

Yeah...I'd bet you'd have to go back pretty far to get something that is *really* made in the USA/Canada, rather than just assembled here. Nowadays most machines are not even assembled here. I have an Austrian jointer-planer combo machine. It is probably just assembled there from Chinese/Taiwanese parts.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I happened to find my early ‘40s era Oliver 166bd (12”) less than 100 miles from home on Craigslist and paid $1250 for it, though that isn’t typical of machinery often available in my area. I continuously look at both regional and national classifieds for industrial grade equipment and have driven long distances as well for worse deals.

It was in excellent running condition when I bought it and just had to buy a $350 VFD to run it in my shop. Just for some context, my Oliver sat on Craigslist for a couple months at $2500 until I offered half that and amazingly my offer was excepted. The machine was owned by a local school that had “upgraded” to a newer machine and needed to move the Oliver along. You never know sometimes. I had probably casually been looking far and wide for a similar jointer for sale at that kind of price for a couple of years.

Don’t expect this stuff to just fall in your lap for a deal and it really pays to read up and educate yourself as your seeing machines for sale about their strengths and weaknesses.

I also wouldn’t expect to find a single phase machine in this class and to be prepared to deal with 3 phase if needed.

[Jamie Buxton]

Travis, you should fill in your SMC profile, so your location shows in the upper right corner of your posts. Finding old machines is mostly a matter of being near to where one shows up, so if we don't know where you are we can't help. Or if you don't want to fill in your profile, at least publish your location in the body of a post like this one.

For instance, in my area a few month ago there was a craigslist offer of a great old 12" made-in-USA jointer for $1200 or so.