6" jointer choice - may buy tonight!!

[Jeremy Gibson]

A question came up in the classified forum about low price jointers. Two came up on Amazon...so which is better, DeltaX5 at $400 after rebate or the Jet JJ-6CSXat $399 out the door? Both have free shipping now.

[Jeff Weight]

That's a tuff one. Delta offers a 5 year warranty while Jet is only 1. Personally I like the cranks on the Jet. Based on warranty alone, I'd buy the Delta. If the Delta is made in the USA, that would be icing on the cake. Not that I have anything against the import brands, I just prefer to keep US workers employed when all other things are equial.

I'm very interested to see what others have to say. Good luck with your purchase, I'm sure eitehr machine will serve you well for years.

[Jeremy Gibson]

Thanks for the input. Actually the Delta has a 5 year waranty and that is one big possitive.

[Jeff Weight]

Thanks for the input. Actually the Delta has a 5 year waranty and that is one big possitive.

I caught that just after posting.

[Jeff Heil]

I am partial to the Jet over the Delta. Both are imports, but delta's quality has seemed to slip a bit in recent years. Just my 2cents. You wouldn't go wrong with either one as a hobbist machine. Look at which knife system each uses and if they have enclosed bases. Jointers make lots of sawdust and if you don't have a dust collector now you will eventually want to think about dust collection.

[Jim Dunn]

Only the Delta X5 has the 5 year warranty. Ro--ler has or had one on sale that had a 1 year warranty for $399.00 and tax. Don't know if that sale is still good or not.

[Seth Poorman]

That's a tuff one. Delta offers a 5 year warranty while Jet is only 1. Personally I like the cranks on the Jet. Based on warranty alone, I'd buy the Delta. If the Delta is made in the USA, that would be icing on the cake. Not that I have anything against the import brands, I just prefer to keep US workers employed when all other things are equial.

I'm very interested to see what others have to say. Good luck with your purchase, I'm sure eitehr machine will serve you well for years.

At that price there is no way its made in USA !!!

[Steven Wilson]

I would choose the Jet. They did a real good job with that jointer. Of course if you can swing it go with an 8" - more mass, longer beds are a good thing. The 6" jointers are good but a bit unstable with larger stock.

[Hans Braul]

As I recall the Delta has a lever type bed height adjustment which I found imprecise. Not sure about the Jet, but maybe that's a factor

Hans

[Jeremy Gibson]

Well, I think both are great deals for a 6" jointer; however, my wife said "if I really wanted an 8" to wait and get one of those. Why upgrade later?" So I'm back to drooling over the 8" beasts and looking for a place to put one someday. Today it's the Shop Fox W1741 from The Utter Guys for $800 delivered to a depot.

Thanks for all the input!

[Mike Cutler]

Jeremy.

I have the Jet. It's a nice jointer. The fence can be a little finicky keeping it at exactly 90 degrees to the table, but it joints boards. Both are probably about equal.

I second the post about holding out for a bigger jointer. The 6" is a little on the small side. Especially in length of the beds.

[Lynn Sonier]

I have several Jet woodworking tools and like them all. I had one Delta product and didn't like it at all - ended up giving it away. Also, I have a Jet dealer about 10 miles away and they go out of their way to help me.

[Jeff Weight]

Jeremy, your wife is very wise. Can't wait to hear about your new 8" jointer when that day comes.

[Mike Heaney]

Now, as the recent purchaser of the JJ6CS (for the princely sum of $399 plus $5 shipping from the friendly folks at McQuade and Bannigan in Utica (who I found extremely helpful), I thought I would chime in on the jointer question.

As far as the Jet goes- its my first one, and I can only compare against the ope n stand Delta unit that I played with in a Woodcraft workshop a while back. I would make the following comments:-

1. The jet is extremely stable (I have it bolted onto two thicknesses of 1" ply that I glued and screwed together). The plies are 24" x 24" and sit on a Jet mobile stand). Its also easy to move around the basement (but it was tricky getting the base onto the stand on my own). My wife assisted in putting the bed on top of the base in the first place- a two person job for safety and tool longevity reasons.

2. I had to set up my blades twice- as I didn't do it right the first time and some kind folks on an earlier post of mine helped me realise the error of my ways). The second time was faster- took me about 30 minutes. The beds seem very true, and the cut quality so far (on hard maple, walnut and some aspen) has been fantastic- following earlier advice to make thin cuts- about 1/64th at a time. It seems a few extra passes takes little time and gives great quality.

3. The warranty- The manual I downloaded from the Jet site says the warranty is for 1 year unless otherwise stated. The 2006 Jet woodworking catalog states on p39 that the warranty is for 5 years, and reiterates this on page 120 where it says that all jointers have a 5 year warranty unless used for commercial, industrial or educational purposes, in which case the warranty reverts to 1 year. just to complete the confusion, the manual that came in the box with the jointer states that the machine has a 2 year warranty. I'm quite prepared to sue Jet if down the line they suggest anything other than a five year warranty as this was one of the selling points from McQuade and Bannigan when I picked this jointer over the Shop Fox equivalent.

That said, it seems like a well made machine that went together well and will receive relatively light use in my hobby shop, so I'm not expecting problems at this stage.

Now, I need to head off into my basement and finish my wife's new lapdesk- spending way too much time on this website and not enough time actually playing with wood!

hope this helps add to the debate!

Mike

[Terry Bigelow]

Jeremy, I've got the Shop Fox w1741 and I absolutely love it! I think you're right on to wait it out and go with the 8". 4 blades, 3 hp, 76" table sounds pretty nice right? I think it's a heck of a value, I was lucky enough to get it at the WW show here in ATL last august for $750.

[Steven DeMars]

I would stay away from anything with a lever adjustment. A hand crank will save you hours of frustration . . . I helped a friend "tune" his Delta X5 about a week ago. The lever adjustment/lock was like trying to flush trim with a sledge hammer . . .

[scott spencer]

They both look like great deals at $400. Last winter alot of people here bought the Delta on sale thru Amazon, and all that I read about seemed pretty happy with it.