16 Inch Single Phase Jointer

[Thane Duncan]

ANYBODY HAVE A STRONG OPINION ON WHICH 16 INCH JOINTER to purchase WHICH IS SINGLE PHASE? Obviously an old Oliver and other direct drive units might be refitted to single phase. I am sure others with a 20 inch planer have faced this problem before. I have an 8 inch Model 60 PM but can't surface larger boards. Give me some sage advice. My concern is that altered three phase units may be underpowered. How do the retrofitted (changed to single phase) Porters and Olivers fair. Surely someone has faced this problem before. Which new models have you bought and used and like.

TD:confused:

[Rick Lizek]

My old 16" direct drive Oliver worked fine on a rotary converter. It makes no sense to try to replace the motor on a direct drive. Far too costly. A VFD will give full power and the most bang for the dollar. Even a static on a direct drive will be sufficient as an industrial machine is over powered for the hobbyist. I've run stroke sanders and such with static converters and never lacked power. With the VFD pricing today it is just a bit more than a static and gives full power. For $200 you can get a decent VFD form places like wwwfactorymation.com
With the options available it's not even a worthwhile option to replace a direct drive motor. I strongly discourage this idea based on many years of dealing with the 3 phase isssue. While a 16" single phase jointer would have a higher value, a motor modified 16" direct drive would have a lesser value in my opinion and experience. Don't discount the older babbitt jointers if it has a modern style round head. The Crescent 12" and 16" jointers are some of the best machines made and are simple to keep up and adjust. The smaller pedestal base is easier to move than the double pedestal Oliver base. The slightest relocation of the Oliver requires tedious realigning of the machine. The Crescent has the same easy to adjust inclines on the table ways but the single pedestal base allows it to be moved without realigning the whole base. I've been rebuilding jointers and such for 25 years and have run across pretty much every scenario from 440 volt three phase conversions to regrinding tables.

[Paul B. Cresti]

Since you mentioned a 20" planer I would say consider also a European jointer/planer combo. They can be had in single and of course 3 phase. I switched from a PM 60 (the real USA one) and a General model 130 14" planer to a 16" J/P close to four years ago and have never looked back. By selling both machines I was able to help my new purchase. No matter what machine you get 3 phase is not big deal. I run my whole shop of a Kay rotary phase converter with no problem.

[Jim Becker]

I agree not to avoid 3-phase if you can find a nice "old iron" machine that meets your needs. If not, there are some nice single phase units available, both from the Euro manufacturers as well as from others, such as Grizzly. My ~14" (350mm) J/P has a 4.8hp motor (single phase) and doesn't blink when I'm surfacing something wide. (I only take light cuts anyway...)