Jointer Opinions wanted

[Chris M Cook]

I'm in the market for a jointer and am really struggling. I have a garage workshop so space is limited. I don't currently have 220V access so I am considering a few different 6" jointers. I am considering the Ridgid JP6010, the Grizzly GO814, GO814X, GO452Z as well as the Jet JJ-6HHDX and JJ-6CSDX. Obviously the price-point of the Ridgid is very appealing, but I also want a quality machine that is going to last, without having to take out a 2nd mortgage. :eek:
I've searched high and low in my area for a decent used one, but for what people are asking and considering the shape and age of what I'm finding, I think I would be better off buying new.
I'm not a huge fan of the straight knife models, but instead of replacing that with a helical head, I might be better off putting the helical head in my planer. :confused:
I would appreciate any thoughts, opinions, experiences. Thanks!

[Marc Fenneuff]

I’m a fan of old iron but you have to be willing to refurbish parts, deal with motor / power compatibility, etc. It also requires patience and luck. Buy new if you want to just start making chips.

I’m refurbishing a 1977 Delta/Rockwell 8” jointer right now and I’ll be in for about $900 before going to a shelix head. I’ll have worked on it part-time for 4-6 weeks before it’s ready to use. But I also could have just bought a belt, put new knives in and got to work.

[Thomas McCurnin]

A small 120v 6" Jointer may only have about 20" before the blade and another 18" or so after the blade. Setting Jointer knives, making the two sides co-planar, and practicing technique are all challenges. My jointer goes unused except for rough straightening projects. I use my lumber supplier or a Stanley No. 7.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I have a little 6x36 Craftsman jointer that I got for $50 on Craigslist several years ago and it has been worth every penny. I use it to joint one surface (the face of the neck) flat on each banjo or guitar I build, and occasionally I use it when I'm making a small tabletop or the like and need to make a straight edge on some boards. Buying a new 6" jointer would be a bit more money than the machine would be worth for my uses, but yours may be different.

[Marc Fenneuff]

I'll add that I built a router table fence a couple years ago with a "jointing face" (another woodstore.net plan) that I have used a couple times. But this year I also started learning how to hone plane irons and use hand planes, like Tom mentioned above. There are several ways you can scratch this itch.

[Ben Helmich]

Get the longest bed that you can, unless you only make little stuff. If buying new, you might reconsider an 8”. FAS comes in 6-8” widths. It would be easier for me if it was an 8”. Mine is not very long. 40 something inches. It’s a jet 6”. I don’t like it much. But it was cheap and I’m blessed to be able to have a jointer at all.

[Chris M Cook]

I don't have access to 220V for an 8" planer. Most of the tables for the ones I'm looking at are between 55-57". An 8" would also pose a problem in terms of room.

[Andrew Hughes]

Woodworking as a hobby is expensive. There just no way around it.

[Chris M Cook]

Truth! My wife says I'm the president of the "Adopt a tool program: Giving tools a good home."

[Lisa Starr]

Are you sure you want a jointer? I've done without for 15 or more years and am just now awaiting delivery on a 12" model. It is time consuming, but the process of "jointing" with other tools is doable.
My method is:
1. Cut 1 edge straight with track saw or circular saw and straight edge.
2. Plane 1 face flat with planer sled.
3. Plane 2nd face.
4. Rip 2nd edge on Table Saw.

Not trying to discourage you from purchasing a jointer, but just letting you know you it is possible to do without when it makes sense.

[Scott Bernstein]

I had a Grizzly 6" 120V jointer with parallelogram tables and helical head. It worked as advertised...and as a new woodworker, I found that size machine approachable and not intimidating. The 6" was just fine for edge jointing, but I really wanted to face joint wider pieces than the machine could handle. So I quickly outgrew it. I would use various alternative techniques for face jointing wider pieces, such as router sled, planer sleds, hand planes, etc... All these worked, sort of, but took a lot of time and effort. And the result was OK but far from perfect. I eventually sold the Grizzly and upgraded to a very large Euro-style combo machine. For the amount of capacity in the machine (16") it takes up little shop space and works amazing. They are unfortunately mucho expensive, but still cheaper than separate machines. My advice is to first experiment with some of these other techniques, to see if they work for you. If you've tried hand planes and don't get satisfactory results, for example, then it might be worth it to get the 6" jointer. But I think you might invest in the small jointer and quickly find that the capacity is very limiting. Consider waiting a few more months to save for a larger machine (an 8") and upgrade your electrical situation to handle 220v. If you have enough room for a floor standing 6" jointer I bet you can fit an 8". Two more inches of capacity doesn't sound like much, but I think for most projects those extra two inches of capacity make all the difference.

[Alex Zeller]

It's a shame that so many brands feel the need to over power 8" jointers. My powermatic 8" with a Byrd head is only 2hp. I've yet to need more. When it comes to 6" you often see 1hp motors in them. That tells me that it would be possible to build an 8" with a 120v 1.75hp motor. Of the Grizzly's I would go with the G0452Z unless you like to set knives. My plan was to go with a straight knife model since it's rare that the jointer is the last step before hand sanding but ended up with a slightly used machine that came with the Byrd head and a mobile base.

I've never seen the Jet so I can't comment on the quick set knife system. I'm sure you've heard all the arguments for a helical head, it's quieter, it's easy to change carbide inserts, it also works better with hard to plane wood. If money is a little tight I think I would be looking at the JJ-6CSDX or the G0452Z. I would probably go with the Jet simply because of the longer tables.

For years I didn't have a jointer but once I got one I found that I had been finding ways around not having one were suddenly gone along with the extra time it would take me. My shop is small so I roll things around as needed. Often I will not roll my jointer near the large dust collector. Instead I'll use a small 1hp portable one. It seams to handle the jointer just fine and unless I'm dealing with a lot o wood the small bag doesn't fill up that fast.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

While it's not the popular position here, I contend that a 6" jointer is just fine for 99% of what most of us do. Think about it, making furniture? It's edge jointing, and the stock is rough cut to length before jointing so you don't need really long tables. Buy S3S lumber and let them do a really good job surface jointing with their super expensive machines, you just worry about sanding or hand planing.

The least used tool in my shop is a planer, and I've been doing this extensively for a long time. If I'm not processing rough lumber, I don't need a face jointer. The reason I don't process rough lumber is primarily the cost. I have a nice 16" jointer planer, but the time it takes to mill my own has never costed me less (even figuring no machine cost) than buying it processed S3S from my lumber supplier. They use a Weinig machine that does a superb job, far better than what my little Felder can do. I also have to handle less chips. I just focus on edge jointing accurately, and a 6" machine will do that fine. I personally have a little DJ-15 that has longer tables than most 6" machines. It's a nice little jointer and I recommend it. Don't waste your $ on a helical edge jointer, it's completely unnecessary.

[Myles Moran]

I'd agree with Lisa's assessment. Unless you're rough cutting a lot of pieces before milling, the majority of graded lumber will be between 6" and 8" wide. 6" is a usual minimum to make grade (or so I'm told, I'm not an expert on grading at all) and 8" and wider will generally have an upcharge in purchase price at the sawmill. That really sells the sweet spot of 8" jointers, and in the time I've had mine I've only bought one single board that was too wide (and I rough cut it to width before milling it). Most of the rest of what I have run through mine wouldn't fit on a 6", but I also could be working with very different material or a very different work flow than you have.

[Scott Bernstein]

As I hobby person, I tend to buy lumber far in advance of any project. Sometimes I'll pick up some wood that just looks good and not for any project in particular. I store it stickered in the basement until I use it, which may be days or years. Before I had a large jointer, I bought my wood pre-surfaced as Steve R described. I found that after a few weeks in storage the wood was no longer flat, and had to plane it and/or joint it anyway. This took time and sometimes required more loss of final thickness that I would have wanted. So...now I mill all my own lumber and buy only rough-cut stock. I do the milling just before I actually use it. This works out better for me.

I think Steve's workflow is much more efficient if you are a business, moving large amounts of lumber quickly, or if you are a hobbiest and purchase surfaced stock to be used promptly.

[Alex Zeller]

One thing to remember is not every lumber yard or mill has a great machine. Around here I haven't found too many mills that sell to the public which leaves a shop that buys everything rough cut. The quality can vary by a lot. I actually like milling my own wood. It's usually pretty repetitive and you see a big difference between the before an after. I like it when I see results. It's kind of like putting primer on a car. Suddenly the car is one color and the lines appear. You know that there's a lot more work ahead but you can really see the wood for the first time.

When it comes to making money things change. Suddenly even small stuff, like having to move tools around because your shop isn't big enough, eats up time. And everyone knows time is money to a business.

[Patrick Kane]

Chris,

My first jointer was a used Ridgid with the orange base. Completely satisfactory machine for about a year before i upgraded to a DJ-20, and then a 12" grizzly, and then a 20" griggio. Depending on what you make, the machine will be enough for all you want to do, or severely limiting at times. For example, i could have made my maloof rocker last year with the ridgid and been just as happy as my 20" machine. A jointer is about the least critical/demanding tool for building that chair. However, i would have been in a bad spot making a 12.5-13' sapele dining table a month ago with the ridgid. Those were long, wide, and heavy 8/4 boards. It would have forced me to rip my 10-13" boards in half and rejoin them. Definitely doable, but not ideal.

Once you have an indicator setup, setting knives is no problem. Especially on a 6" machine. I havent done it in a few years and i think it would take me 8-10 minutes to set 3 knives to within .001 on a 6" machine.

[Myk Rian]

I restored and used a 4", 6", and two 8" jointers. If you have the room, get an 8".
My shop is also in the garage. 1/2 of a 2 car. I kept my last one, a vintage 8" Rockwell, 2' from the door, with the table saw at the back of it. A machine cover over it.
A 10' flex DC hose connected to whichever machine I was using worked very well.

[Ryan Rice]

If space is a big concern to you, as it is for me, read on....

Wiring for 220v is easy, to remove the intimidation aspect of it, have an electrician friend ( or friend of friend) consult with you on site and tell you exactly what to do. Or just pay someone to do it and be their helper to reduce the price.


I just got a used 12” Hammer jointer/planer yesterday.
My garage space is only 1+, so about 300sqft.
The Hammer combo seems to take up WAY less space than the 8” grizzly jointer I had. The jointer table is only 55” long, and very compact. Yet, I can easily/quickly put on 16” extensions to both ends if I need to work with huge boards for a certain project, then take them right back off.
I used a 6” table top jointer (32” bed) for years. For anything not tiny, it was quite a hassle. For jointing long boards....forget about it.

As for My portable heavy-ass planer, it no longer has to be lifted out from under my work bench and back breakingly placed on top.

The Combo Units are heavy, but really easy to move if they are mounted on 4 swivel casters.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

As I hobby person, I tend to buy lumber far in advance of any project. Sometimes I'll pick up some wood that just looks good and not for any project in particular. I store it stickered in the basement until I use it, which may be days or years. Before I had a large jointer, I bought my wood pre-surfaced as Steve R described. I found that after a few weeks in storage the wood was no longer flat, and had to plane it and/or joint it anyway. This took time and sometimes required more loss of final thickness that I would have wanted. So...now I mill all my own lumber and buy only rough-cut stock. I do the milling just before I actually use it. This works out better for me.

I think Steve's workflow is much more efficient if you are a business, moving large amounts of lumber quickly, or if you are a hobbiest and purchase surfaced stock to be used promptly.

Scott, they way I use lumber is partially like you said, pretty much as it comes off the truck. I usually order in 100bf increments or to whatever price break makes sense for stocking, so there is always some extra in stock. It varies how long that inventory sticks around, I have some quarter sawn white oak thats been following me around for 10 years now, maple and walnut rotates yearly or so, and some poplar, red oak and alder that rotates out in a few months. Things I have found that mitigate it moving in my shop are keeping it on stickers off the floor, but nice and flat, and storing it someplace where the humidity doesn't change much. The quasi high desert climate where I live makes the relative humidity low, with a few seasonal spikes, so just keeping it covered in plastic if we're getting a week of rain makes a big difference.

There are some boards that just take off in weird directions though no matter how you store them. I have a "stack/twisted pile" of this stuff that gets cut into small components or just tossed. I figure I don't want to be trusting a board that moved badly in a piece of work because odds are pretty good that it will do it again even if I remill it.

BTW, nothing against you guys milling your own stock but I always try to throw in my alternative so new guys realize there are options that don't require as much machinery cost. Most of us start with limited tools and if someone had convinced me that I couldn't do woodworking without spending way more than my megar tool budget allowed to produce something nice, I may have just not tried. I don't ever want to discourage someone from trying this sport out.

[Rod Wolfy]

Chris, lots of great advice here!

If you have a panel in your garage, it would be easy to add a 220v outlet or three. I did so, cutting out about 6" of sheet rock on my first woodworking garage (about 20 years ago). In my current shop, I stole the power from the 220v line that was for the hot water tank, as mine ran on Natural gas (until I paid an electrician to run a line about 100' around my house from where the panel was at). If you get very far into WW, you'll likely need 220v. I went from 110v bandsaw, jointer, planer, to needing 220v for a table saw.

I've had a 6" jointer. It got used a little, but I quickly outgrew it. I then got a 12" J/P combo machine, which took up not much more space. If I were new to WW, I would purchase S4S at the local home hardware store or use a portable planer with a sled to make the one side flat, until you decide you need to upgrade. I've upgraded many times now, and it's a much more expensive way to build a shop!

When I went to use hardwoods beyond the home hardware store (walnut, cherry, nice maple), I found that the best ones were usually around 7" to 8" and they wouldn't fit on my 6" jointer anyways. Combo tools actually save space; however, I would not get a benchtop Jet or whatever 10" J/P, as they are not very accurate.

[Andrew Hughes]

It’s 240 volts. 120 + 120 = 240
I agree if your going to have a hobby workshop get some 240 breakers nearby.

[Doug Dawson]

It’s 240 volts. 120 + 120 = 240
I agree if your going to have a hobby workshop get some 240 breakers nearby.

Top requirement of having some serious woodworking machinery going, have some 240v circuits on tap. IMO no way around it. Just find a way to set that up, no matter what it takes.

[Ryan Rice]

It’s 240 volts. 120 + 120 =240 .



True, but its often referred to as 220 or 230. To add confusion, the 240v plugs will say directly on then “250v”.
I wonder what Voltage terms the electricians prefer to use? I would think 120/240. Not sure though.


I resisted the 240v wiring thing for a while. Then I got a welder (dual voltage 120/240) , and put in a big old 50amp 240 circuit....Very Shortly followed by a 3hp table saw, then a 3hp 17” band saw, then a 3hp cyclone dust collector.

While there is some added effort and cost.
The 240v power makes a HUGE difference. Plus it’s awesome to NOT constantly trip your 120v 15-20 amp breakers.

[Ryan Lee]

I have a 6" powermatic jointer and have been very happy with it...that being said, I have wished for the 8" many many times. I always seem to get lumber that is 6.5" or 7" and have to rip a part off or spilt the piece and mill separately. I will upgrade at some point to a 8 or 12"

[Lewis Mills]

Chris,
I got the Ridgid jointer in spring 2020 when it was on sale, partly based on the May Wood magazine review of 6" jointers (which you should probably take a look at because they review 2 of the Grizzlies and one of the Jets that you're considering in addition to the Ridgid). I've been very happy with it. I haven't put hundreds of hours on it, but I've run some pretty dense and occasionally twisty burr oak through it with good results.

[roger wiegand]

Woodworking as a hobby is expensive. There just no way around it.

Compared to golf, bass boats, or sailboats? I don''t think so.

[Andrew Hughes]

Compared to golf, bass boats, or sailboats? I don''t think so.

Compared to bird watching,Karaoke or Wikipedia editor it is.
You can have the last word if you want.:)

[Mark Salomon]

I have used a 6in. Jet long bed jointer with a helical head for many years. Sure, there are times I wish I had room for a wider bed but this is fine for most of my work in my garage workshop. I do recommend the helical head, it makes a big difference.

[Mike Kees]

The way I see this from my experience. I would buy an 8" or a 12" jointer /planer combo first . It will save you upgrades later. I started with a six inch and regretted it after about one month. Next was a 8" old Delta. Huge difference, made life so much easier with the longer/wider beds. Now I have a 16" Italian machine ,I was looking for a 12" but this one was 1000 cheaper and a better machine as well. I am glad I skipped one step to end up with my machine for life. I work in my shop for a living, if I did not the 8" Delta would still be there.

[Chris M Cook]

I really appreciate all the feedback. I pulled the trigger and recently received my new 8" parallelogram jointer. I can already say that I'm happy with the decision, because my 1st round of lumber was 7.5" wide. I rewired a 240V breaker that used to run a hot tub and installed a Armorlite drop cord. Jointer and power problems resolved.
Thank you, everyone!

[Ron Selzer]

I really appreciate all the feedback. I pulled the trigger and recently received my new 8" parallelogram jointer. I can already say that I'm happy with the decision, because my 1st round of lumber was 7.5" wide. I rewired a 240V breaker that used to run a hot tub and installed a Armorlite drop cord. Jointer and power problems resolved.
Thank you, everyone!


Chris, which one did you buy and why?
Ron

[Chris M Cook]

I first bought a really cheap, used 6". After using it a couple times I knew a 6" wouldn't be big enough for some of the projects I have planned.
I bought the Shop Fox W1859. It typically costs more than it's Grizzly counterpart, and has a better warranty, but I found one cheaper, in stock and with free shipping. I like the parallelogram design and the tables are nice and long.