Older style craftsmen jointers

[Chris Sonego]

Due to not having a table saw for a while, I’m back in hunting cheap tools mode. Down here in SW FL there’s not a lot of used stuff on Craigslist. What does come up are the older Craftsman jointers. I know nothing about how they’re built compared to current types on dovetail ways.

I pretty much have no budget (spent it on table saw) so I have to old and cheap. Years ago, I had a Jet 6” that I was satisfied with. I’d love 8”, but probably won’t find one, and can live with 6”.

Back to my question, are the older craftsman serviceable to where they work well? Or do I want to skip that design all together?

[Jim Mackell]

They will run forever. So long as the beds are flat, co-planar and not pitted and the knives are adjusted properly, it will do an admirable job.

[Andrew Hughes]

If your thinking about the craftsman jointer with a fixed out feed table I recommend you pass. I had one until the internet was born and showed me the error of my ways.
I see them all over Craig’s list on the west coast.
Good Luck

[Jim Becker]

What Jim said. As long as you can tune the machine so it's properly aligned and has sharp knives, you'll be fine for edge work and face jointing narrower boards. Jointers are not complicated tools so it comes down to mechanical basics.

[Kevin Jenness]

Stay away from that design. The fixed outfeed table means you have to set the knives dead nuts to work properly. It is much easier to dial in with an adjustable outfeed.

[Mark Gibney]

I had that exact machine for many years and it worked very well. If I had enough room I'd have kept it.
I got an 8" jointer and the extra width is great, yes, but the 6" did a lot of work for me too.

[Bradley Gray]

I have one I have used for over 40 years. I also have a 16" for face joining but the6" gets more use.

[Curt Harms]

If your thinking about the craftsman jointer with a fixed out feed table I recommend you pass. I had one until the internet was born and showed me the error of my ways.
I see them all over Craig’s list on the west coast.
Good Luck

What Andrew said. The fixed outfeed table would be a non-starter for me. I'm not familiar with vintage Craftsman machines, there may be old Craftsman jointers that have adjustable outfeed tables.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I had a Rockwell that had the fixed outfeed table and it did a lot of work for me for 10 or more years. I sold it this summer after buying a 6" Jet with longer tables, but I was happy with the old one too. It's not hard to set the knives to the outfeed table, it just takes a little while of fidgeting around.

[Ron Selzer]

check it out really well, if okay then go with it
for changing blades get a magnetic blade holder 2 pc set that rests on the outfeed table and holds the bade in the correct position. fast easy and accurate
you are not setting up a 2k+ machine
Ron

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[Jon Grider]

I used an old Cman 6" with fixed outfeed table for a couple of decades. Knife adjustments were a one hour pain, but once dialed in, it worked very well. If you're on a budget, might be a great option imo.

[Ronald Blue]

What Kevin said but it worked for me in the time I had it. I set the blades with a dial indicator and all was good. They must have sold a million of them because they come up for sale frequently. I think there is 500,000 for sale at this moment. :D

[Richard Coers]

Co-planer? The most popular jointer on social media sales sites is the fixed out feed table 6" version. That is a miserable machine for setting blades. I had one, avoid it!

[Ralph Okonieski]

I had one for 25 years or so. It cut well and accurately but lack of good dust collection was a big issue with it. I had difficulty changing the blades with it. Not really the machine’s fault, mostly user error. Overall, it served me well for a lot time until I upgraded to a wider, high quality combo machine.

[Tom Bender]

Find a few videos on setting the knives. This is the cure for the previous complaints.

[Ole Anderson]

I have the 6" Craftsman King Seeley version going on 35 years now. Has served me admirably, pitted beds and all. Setting knives is no big deal once you learn how using the drag-a-straightedge 3/16" method. I did upgrade the motor a bit years ago and had to build a custom dust collection shroud. Would I take a brand new 8" jointer? You bet.

[Thomas Wilson]

I had a Craftsman 6” Jointer with fixed outfeed table for more than 30 years. I learned to sharpen and set the blades. Standard sliding block measurement technique has already been mentioned. It works well but is slow. I can tell you my techniques if you buy one and have problems. I am a slow-moving, meticulous sort of woodworker. I like to get things adjusted accurately. Others may be less patient. Also, I was a hobbyist and had limited funds. Nonetheless, I and friends who used my shop built a lot of furniture using it mainly for edge jointing.

If you can afford something with longer beds, wider cutting head or better dust collection by all means get it. These are obvious weaknesses of this model. The jointing function is a pretty simple machine and this one can do it. Just be sure the beds are flat, all the parts are there (spares are basically not available), and the motor runs. I sold 2 of these in the early 2000’s for $100-125 each. One was my father’s, the other was mine. Both were in perfect working condition.

[Zachary Hoyt]

The one I had was listed on Craigslist for $50 and about 5 miles from me. I bought it, used it for 10 years or more, and sold it for $100 this summer, after I bought the Jet. In that time I put in one set of knives, so I didn't use it hard, but it was used on every instrument I built, except for fiddles and mandolins.

[Dave Sabo]

What Andrew said. The fixed outfeed table would be a non-starter for me. I'm not familiar with vintage Craftsman machines, there may be old Craftsman jointers that have adjustable outfeed tables.


lots of adjustable bed craftsman jointers out there.

there are a lot of guys out there that are ignorant to the fact that many of the “fixed table “ craftsman jointer are actually adjustable by three screws from underneath. Some have an adjustable cutterhead in addition. Even with a fixed table design - I wouldn’t necessarily pass on a low priced example if the table and cutterhead are already properly adjusted.

for certain , a modern designed jointer is easier to dial in if need be. But that doesn’t automatically make the older ones boat anchors. A cheap enough 6” jointer that is already properly set up is a great tool.