Product Question: Steel City or Grizzly Jointer?

[Todd Hoppe]

I am planning on buying a jointer. I'm considering two possibilities. Please let me know if you have any comments. I'd like your suggestions or input:

Option 1 - Steel City 6" Jointer. $699 + tax (6%), less a $100 rebate: http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/products_tools.cfm?section=2&category=7&tool=40600

- Advantages: Locally available; Appears very well built / sturdy; Better finish and perceived build quality than comparable-priced products by other brands / manufacturers at the dealer (Johnson's in Charlotte, MI); Integrated mobile base; Local dealer support.
- Disadvantages: 6" cutting width; Newly formed company

Option 2 - Grizzly 8" Jointer; $595 + shipping ($140 approx.): http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0586

- Advantages: 8" cutting width; Competitive pricing; Generally good reviews online; established manufacturer
- Disadvantages: More expensive overall (with shipping); No mobile base ($50-$75); HEAVY (good, except for moving it to - and out of eventually - the basement); Must be shipped.

[Joe Chritz]

700 seems high for a 6" jointer. Is the steel city supposed to be an 8" too?

I doubt you will have any regrets about a grizzly product. In my experience even if you do they take care of it very well.

I have the Ridgid 6" jointer which is a nice machine but I will be upgrading to an 8" at some point. Soon I hope.

Where are you in Michigan?

Joe

[Todd Hoppe]

No. It is a 6" Jointer (albeit with a long bed). It actually comes to 640, after tax and the rebate.

I'm in Lansing, and live in Portland.

[Matt Day]

8" w/o question.

[glenn bradley]

I'm in the process of saving to upgrade to an 8" after having my 6" only a couple years. I realized my mistake on saving a few hundred bucks by settling for the 6" within a couple months. Go 8", no question in my mind.

[Todd Hoppe]

So far, I'm leaning pretty strongly towards the 8" grizzly. Does anyone have specific experience with G0586 jointer?

Can I expect the fit and finish of this product to be good?

Thanks!

[John Hain]

No way should you be paying $700 for a 6" jointer. A bunch of us bought Delta X5 6" jointers about a year ago on Amazon for under $400 that included the mobile base. I find it hard to believe that the SteelCity jointer is any better than the X5, and it certainly isn't twice as good (considering the cost).

Always go with the largest you can afford when buying a jointer. The Grizzly units really are nice now-a-days. I really haven't seen a whole lot of negative comments from Grizzly owners concerning any of their products considering their price.

[John A. Williams]

Option #2!!!!!

[Ted Miller]

Trust me you will not regret going bigger, 8" or bigger. I am one of those fools who did all of them, 6, 8, then just got the 12". Why did I not go with the 12" right off the bat. Still kicking myself for that dumb mistake...

[Greg Cole]

Todd,
I've had a a G0586 for going on 2 years. I can't complain about anything to date other than I should have bought the Shelix for it when I bought it, or maybe held off for wider (but I am as impatient as anyone when it comes to I want it now....LOL). It arrived intact, no issues in assembly or set up and tables were flat, coplanar and all such important things, maybe I just got lucky.
I have had some difficulty with highly figured maple and curly birch, but that isn't the machines fault... with straight grained lumber it's absolutely fine. Honestly the highly figured lumber has forced me to some Neader ways, I am getting pretty good with my LN Scrub, #4 and I am amazed at what a simple cabinet scraper can do! Neander tools and skills are great ways to improve skills with talkied tools.
Anway...As many here will say, if you can afford wider DO IT. Or if you aren't in a big rush for buying, save for the bigger unit. You won't regret it. if you have a 12" planer, why not at least size your jointer to match....
not sure if I helped at all, but $0.02 for free.

[Ryan Myers]

I can't speak for the jointer because I have a reliant brand jointer. But speaking on behalf of the Grizzly... You can expect a great product. I just purchased a 1023SL cabinet saw about 6 weeks ago and I have been nothing but pleased with the overall of this unit. I add that I am very picky about the quality of my tools/equipment. This was my first major equipment purchase from them and I plan on buying a few other large ticket items. A possible upgrade to the 8" jointer.

[Virgil Smith]

Todd
I live in Portland too. I bought the SC 8" jointer from Johnson's and I am very happy. Cant speak about the SC 6" or the Grizzly products. One thing I can say about Steel City is that their customer service is good.

Sam Smith

PS if you wish to see my Jointer you are welcome to visit

[Jake Helmboldt]

Todd, do a search here for the Shop Fox W1741. Several (including me) have recently bought this. Shop Fox is essentially Grizzly's line available at retail dealers. As such you can go "kick the tires" and have a local dealer to rely on should you have any problems.

SF also has a 2yr warranty as opposed to Grizzly's 1 yr, and you can usually get the SF cheaper after you account for shipping. But, SF doesn't have as many choices. The SF W1741 is the same as the Grizz 0493 and both are clones of the Delta DJ20 with long beds and parallelogram adjustments. For that matter, look at the SC 8" and it is also a clone of these machines, but the Delta and SC are twice as much and have half the HP. The SF and Grizz also have magnetic switch which is a nice feature. I honestly think that for the money the SF can't be beat, and the price of the SC jointers is not reasonable in my opinion. The one plus is the longer warranty, but heck, you could replace the motor and still have less money in the SF/Grizz.

[Allen Bookout]

Trust me you will not regret going bigger, 8" or bigger. I am one of those fools who did all of them, 6, 8, then just got the 12". Why did I not go with the 12" right off the bat. Still kicking myself for that dumb mistake...

Best advise that I ever heard. I am one of those fools also. Had a 6, have an 8 and wishing for bigger. Kind of like throwing your money away on aircompressors that are to small.

[scott spencer]

Any reasonably good 8" jointer has a ton of advantage over a great 6" jointer IMO.... from my perspective it's an easy decision if you've got the room and the power requirements.

SC has a longer warranty, but one year on the Griz should give time for any defects to announce themselves.

[Todd Hoppe]

Thanks for all the follow up. I've now decided on an 8" model. One thing that helped me decide that was picking up 100BF of hard maple, almost none of which is less than 6".

I'll look into the Grizzly, the Shop Fox, and also a Yorkcraft model. I just don't have the room for anytihg bigger than an 8", and even if I did, I can't imagine trying to get something bigger down the stairs to the basement....

[Allen Bookout]

Good Decision!!!!!!!!!!!!!