Which 6" long bed jointer - longer bed vs parallelogram

[Randy Klein]

Grizzly - G0604 - Parallelogram, 56" bed
Steel City - 40615 - Dovetail, 68" bed

I haven't found too many reviews on these 2 6" jointers. They seem to be very comparable in features, power, and price (when shipping and/or tax is included).

The Grizzly would have to be shipped, but I can pick up the Steel City local (kind of local).

So, what's the better trade-off:
parallelogram and shorter bed
dovetail and longer bedAnd before anyone suggests it, I understand that a wider jointer is better and I would love to have an 8", 12", 16" ,etc., but please lets limit this to the 6" world.

Well, since it'll happen anyways, I've also been looking at the Delta 37-380, an 8" jointer. But so far, I've only found that on Amazon.com and it would be about $400 more than the 6" jointers above.

As for 8" jointers, the Delta 37-380 is really the only I can use due to power requirements (110 V). It seems that all the other 8" (DJ 20's excluded) can operate at 110V but need a 25+ Amp circuit, which is not what I have, nor will it be easy to upgrade to that.

As for upgrading to 220V. I'm not sure if I can get the wife to release the funds for that.

I have the money now, to get either 6", but an extra $400 for the Delta is going to take awhile (4-6 months).

Well, this became alot longer than I ancticipated. So to summarize the talking points:

Dovetail/longer bed vs parallelogram/shorter bed
Wait longer to get 110V compatible 8" jointer or get 6"
Beg and grovel for 220V upgrade to garage and then start my research all over again on 8".

[Nancy Laird]

Randy, I can't speak to the Grizzly you are considering, but LOML and I bought a 6" Steel City wedge bed at the end of last year, and we are thrilled with it. We could have probably gotten the 8", as we have 220 in the shop, but we don't do very much face jointing and the 6" was sufficient for our needs. It came out of the box ready to roll, with just a little adjustment for the fence to be perpendicular to the bed. It's a honey, and I can't recommend it enough. IMHO, you'd be very okay getting the SC unit with the 5-year warranty.

Nancy

[Randy Klein]

I really got to ask, What does "LOML" mean?

[Nancy Laird]

Love of My Life!! (In your case, it's your wife [I hope:rolleyes: ]). Go here http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=27040 for all the acronyms we use on here.

Nancy

[Jim Becker]

Randy, I'm not sure what the long bed is going to give you unless you routinely "need" to joint long stock. It's generally best to joint (face or edges) after rough sizing anyway. If you can work that way, you have a lot more options and likely lower costs since the long-bed versions do get a premium.

And just so I can be a pain...:D...still think about that 8 incher. Used saves you money and any of the 1.5hp units will work just fine on 120v 20 amp circuits.

[Randy Klein]

Nancy, yes it's a wife...

Jim,
Most of the 1.5hp units I have seen, when you dig into the manuals, indicate it needs to be protected with a 25+ Amp CB and have the wiring to match. The Grizzly G0586 is a good example. As well as the Yorkcraft CJ8.

Maybe I can take light cuts and hope I don't spike above the 20 Amp breaker. Has anyone tried that tactic?

I have looked for used, but nothing in my area so far.

As for a long bed, I'm not entirely sure what my routine needs are going to be, so better be safe than sorry, I guess.

[Bruce Page]

I don’t often change the depth of cut on my 6” jointer but many a time I have wished for longer beds.

[Tim Wagner]

I just looked and the one you are looking at is the same price as this 8" 110v jointer.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0586

[Steve Prill]

I bought a Delta X5 6" jointer with a 47" bed about 18 months ago. I definitely wish I had bought a jointer with a longer bed for making large furniture. I was afraid the longer bed would just get in the way in the shop. Turns out, a long bed would have fit fine. Steve

[Randy Klein]

Tim,

Unfortunately, the Grizzly G0586's manual requires a 30 Amp circuit and breaker at 110V. Standard household wiring, I believe, is rated for 20 Amps.

[Hunter Wallace]

Hi Randy!

You know, I can see your quandry about the machines,
but it seems to me that the limiting factor for you is the
110v wiring. Unless you are really REALLY unable to run
a new wire & or you absolutly have no available room in
your breaker I worry you'll short-change yourself focusing
on the wiring. A $10 diy wiring book makes it real clear and
easy to do something like adding/wiring a new breaker.
It may seem imposing or expensive but I assure you, with
a little homework I think you'll convince yourself that the
wiring is a really minor hurdle...now, which 8" was it you
REALLY wanted?!?!?!?!

[glenn bradley]

The urge to say the 8" G0586 is only $70 more is almost uncontrollable. I know that there would be electrical considerations that add cost so I'll shush. I plan to go with the parallelogram beds on the 8" I'm planning for after much research and personal preferences were all gone through.

On a 6" though (or any planer) longer is better. Having a 6" I urge you to look at something I didn't when I shopped; how easy is it to tip the jointer? If you can get your hands on one before purchase, simulate jointing a long board by leaning on the end of the out feed table. It's good to know how much effort it takes to tip it before you're jointing that $80 board. A shop made base and out feed supports could solve this if its a problem depending on your space availability.

DT ways v.s. P-beds have been discussed on several threads here. I would do a search. Lotsa good stuff. In direct response to your list, here's what I've decided to do although this may not be right for you at all:

Dovetail/longer bed vs parallelogram/shorter bed
Wait longer to get 110V compatible 8" jointer or get 6"
Beg and grovel for 220V upgrade to garage and then start my research all over again on 8".
I'll be going P-beds for the no shimming adjustability although I probably won't put enough miles on it to wear any DT ways. Just bearing in mind that raising and lowering isn't that big of a deal, staying co-planer is.
I did the 'pit stop' at 6", regret it financially, going 8".
Currently scrimping and saving for power set up, jointer to follow. Unless something really interesting happens in the jointer market in the next few months I'm going Griz G0490; done looking.

[Justin McCurdy]

I bought the steel city 6" longbed. I got rid of a Jet that had a shorter bed. I can say that the longer bed will come in handy. From what I can tell, most people keep their jointers set at 1/32 removal. Given that, why worry about the parallelogram bed if you are not going to use that feature? The only thing that I changed on my jointer was the v-belt to a link belt. For some reason the belt they ship with causes a lot of vibration.

[Paul Johnstone]

Randy,

I like parrallelogram beds, but that's a 12" difference in bed length, which is huge.. I think I'd go with the steel city and deal with the dovetail adjustment.

[Jeff Heil]

I have the 6" PM long bed 54A jointer and have been very pleased with it. It's fence is solid and the long bed is really handy. I upgraded from a shorter planer and the difference and accuracy improvement is noticable.

That said, if I did it over again I would have went with an 8". With figured boards to be able to angle more when face jointing would be nice.

[Randy Klein]

Maybe I can take light cuts and hope I don't spike above the 20 Amp breaker. Has anyone tried that tactic?

I went off and did some research. I contacted Curt at Yorkcraft, who provided some top notch customer service by the way. He was very responsive and went above and beyond what the norm.

We figured out that taking light cuts would more than likely not trip the breaker. However, the start-up (which usually involves pull a lot of current) probably would trip it.

So, in my original post, I posited about upgrading to 220, in order to use the more powerful motors. And that is what I decided to do.

Funny thing is, I can upgrade my electrical and buy a 220 8", like the Yorkcraft CJ8 or Grizzly, and it will still be less than the Delta 37-380. That still bewilders me.