rigid jointer - 3/4 limitation

[Richard Kagen]

I have listen carefully to you folks and your recommendations that one really needs a planner AND a jointer. I have settled on the Rigid 13" planner based on reviews, price and features. While waiting for it to go on sale I have started looking around and started to look at the Rigid 6 1/4 jointer. The review ding it for having a minimum thickness for face planning is a hair or two under 3/4. This seems like a problem to me if one is trying to take the cup out of 3/4 stock, but is this a real world limitation in the opinion of those who actually have worked with jointers in your own shop.

Sawmill Creek is great for a guy like me with few other sources of good information.

Thanks for the help.

[Guy Germaine]

I'm not quite sure where the 3/4" measurement comes in. I have the Rigid jointer and I've faced material in the 1/4" to 1/2" range with it without a problem. Maybe they're talking about the depth of the rabbet you can cut with it? I don't do any rabbeting on mine, so I don't know about that part.

[Brian Hale]

I'm confused. (no surprise there) How can a jointer have a minimum face jointing thickness? I can see a planer having a minimum thickness (1/8 - 3/16) for safety reasons but a jointer can face plane a board of any reasonable thickness. I've done boards < 3/8" thick with a full size pushblock.

Brian :)

[James Carmichael]

I suspect that is for liability reasons.

I have this jointer and have faced as thin as 1/4". It doesn't work much differently than every other 6" jointer.

[Darl Bundren]

I have both the Ridgid jointer and planer. I think both are good tools at a fair price. I don't remember seeing that limitation deal on the jointer, but if I want a board thinner than that I usually joint one face flat and then plane it down to the thickness I want. I really like the set stops for planing thickness on the Ridgid jointer, too. Good luck with your shopping. I bet you'd like either of these machines.

[Doug Shepard]

I dont have that jointer, but is it possible that there's a 3/4" gap between the fence and the beds? Maybe the issue is that thinner boards would slip under the fence? Other than that I can't think what the issue would be for face jointing boards of any thickness.

[Richard Kagen]

from http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/rgdjntrrvu.html


The only design feature I am less enthused about is the ¾" minimum material thickness as stated in the instruction manual. The safety guard is cut with this minimum thickness in mind, allowing material under ¾"-thick to pass beneath it rather than make contact to push it aside as it is moved across the cutter. A ¾"-thick board can be planed once, maybe twice with very light cuts but will then be undersize according to the Ridgid JP06101 instructions.
This minimum thickness is only a problem when planning boards and has no impact on the more frequent jointing operations.
Whether this design specification would be an issue in your shop depends solely on the material you use. I suspect for many woodworkers, this will not be an insurmountable problem.

[glenn bradley]

From the manual:


• When jointing or rabbeting:
- Never joint or bevel workpieces less than 3/4 inch
wide or 1/4 inch thick.

3/4" WIDE, eh? ;-)

[John Horrigan]

I have this jointer. Page 22 of the manual says,
"Never plane wood that is thinner than 3/4 in. It is apt to split or shatter and thus has a greater tendency to kickback. Wood thinner than 3/4 in. will slide under the cutter guard and could be trapped".

I have run into this limitation, especially when I buy 3/4" thick stock and have to square it up. The guard catches and releases - more of a safety hazard than anything else. I tend to use the hand guards (provided) when doing this stuff anyway and their handles move the cutter guard out of the way most of the time.

FWIW
-John

[david hirschhorn]

I have both the Ridgid jointer and planer. I think both are good tools at a fair price. I don't remember seeing that limitation deal on the jointer, but if I want a board thinner than that I usually joint one face flat and then plane it down to the thickness I want. I really like the set stops for planing thickness on the Ridgid jointer, too. Good luck with your shopping. I bet you'd like either of these machines.

I've got the ridgid jointer and planer too and agree with the quote above. Both very good machines that I've gotten alot out of.

[James Carmichael]

Ditto what John said. If you're much under 3/4", the stock slips under the guard anyway, and you can grab it on the outfeed side (with the push blocks).

I guess you could glue something to the front edge of the guard, or remove it and cut a bit off of the pivot arm to make it sit lower, I'd have to look. But it's pretty much of a non-issue for me.

[Mike Parzych]

I have one but my shop is a distance away so I can't actually check mine. Seems as though I remember some pcs. slipping under the guard but it's more annoyance than a real hazard. Of course I have a REAL embedded precaution about never getting my hands/fingers near a cutting implement.

You can pull the guard off if necessary. It does however have an un-removable pin that prevents you from jointing anything wider than about 7". Other have talked about jointing half of wider stock with theirs, so they must not have that type of pin.

I own several major Rigid tool and am very happy with them all. Of course there are more epensive and probably better tools, but for their price range they've always rated at the top.

There are some 4 post planers though in the same price range, and sometimes I wonder if one of them would have been better.

[Tim Malyszko]

I was working with my Ridgid jointer last night with 11/16" thick material with no issues whatsoever, but if I go a bit thinner, I do run into problems with the guard, which I temporarly remove or jerry rig open just for the few seconds I need to use it.

As far as the Ridgid planer goes, I waited and waited and waited and waited for it to go on sale and it never did, so I finally purchased it. It's listed at $379 on-line, but all the HD stores around St. Louis, MO sell it for $349. So far, I've been very happy with it. The only adjustments needed were to align the infeed and outfeed tables. I still get a little bit of snipe, but nothing a little sandpaper and elbow grease won't remove. It seems as long as I am there at the outfeed table to hold up the board as it comes out, the snipe almost completely disappears.

I ended up comparing the Ridgid with the Delta 22-580, the Dewalt DW735 and a Jet Planer (can't remember model number), and it seemed I was getting the most for my money with the Ridgid. The DW735 was my favorite planer, but having to spend an additional $50 for the infeed/outfeed tables and then purchase or build a stand for it made it look less attractive when I could get all of that with the Ridgid for $200 less than the Dewalt Planer alone.

Good luck with your planer purchase and I hope it goes on sale soon, but even at $349, you are getting a lot of tool for your $$$.