Jointer and Planer Purchase

[Dave Novak]

Ever have the itch to buy something that's so bad you can't work or sleep for thinking about and researching it? I've got it bad for a jointer and planer. The combo machines got me itching real hard, and i almost pulled the trigger on the Mimimax FS30, but researching these boards and my gut feeling tells me I might be happier in the long run with separate machines. Even though I've never owned a Grizzly product, I'm leaning right now in the direction of the G1033X and G0609x. I've read everything I can find and have found little to be concerned with (is 3hp enough for a 12" jointer?). I'm really no more than a weekend warrior when it comes to woodworking, but I really enjoy working with high quality, accurate machines. It's hard to beat Grizzly's prices, and I'm counting on general impressions I get from studying creeker comments that at this level I'll be happy with the Griz's. Am I missing something obvious?

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0609X

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G1033X

[Paul B. Cresti]

Dave,
I use to care but not anymore...;) but do note that most if not all of the European J/P's do offer a mortising attachment, for a slight fee of course. So you do have three machines in a very small footprint. I also am extremely happy with the Tersa knives...best thing since sliced bread. That being said grizzly does offer great value in their machines. I am sure you would be happy with their machines as well

[Jack Camillo]

Dave,
I'm in the same boat: looking real hard at the MiniMax and the Hammer j/p combos... and everything else separate. It's a tough call, an agonizing decision. I had a little help backing off, though. My wife hates it when I get that obsessed, and she basically nixed the whole idea. But it's creeping back, and I'll be watching your thread!
ps: I really like the idea of those tersa knives and I know that's all it's going to take is to rub my hands over a board coming out of the tersa knife planer...

[Bill Wyko]

Have you seen the jet 12" combo machine? it's a jointer on top and a planer underneath when you lift the top up. Plus it's only around 2k. great price for the features. I think the model is JJP-12 It's on jets website in the Jointers Top left corner.

[Jim Becker]

Dave, don't completely throw out the idea of a combo J/P until the final decision is at hand. If you are a single woodworker in the shop, in all honesty, you'll rarely want for separates, especially when they are "big" separates and space is dear. My work pattern tends to have the J/P setup as a jointer most of the time...I'll use that function most frequently and bounce between the saw and the jointer a lot. Thickness planing tends to be a "batch" process for me. But even when I forget something ;) on occasion and have to switch the machine around, it takes all of a minute and a half to do so, including cranking the planer table up or down. And the space I save means more room to work for assembly and to accommodate my other tools. I certainly wouldn't complain about having separates with the same capacities, but I'm not sure where I'd put them!

[Dave Novak]

space is really valuable to me too. I guess I'm concerned about the short bed on the combo's, but I've read enough people say it really isn't an issue that maybe I should let go. Another factor is that a cabinet I'm currently drawing pictures of would really benefit from a 13" planer. I could design around that need though, and the 250 days I'm not woodworking I'd really appreciate the added garage space. What to do. Maybe I should reevaluate the Griz vs. MM combo. It would be a lot easier if I could lay hands on these things.

[Rob Will]

Dave,
I vote for old iron..... If possible, get a jointer the same width as your planer.....and maybe even an aftermarket spiral cutterhead or two.

A few brands that come to mind:
Powermatic, Porter, Yates American, Oliver, Northfield

If not old iron, I still like stand-alone machines. If you are looking for new, check out the Powermatic 209HH factory equipped with a Byrd head.

Rob

[Seth Poorman]

Im sure the quality of the minimax is superior to Grizz !!!!!;)

[Allen Grimes]

Dave,
I use to care but not anymore...;) Haha, those were the days, but I feel the same way.

Dave, you do realize that those machines are monstrous right? As long as you have the place to put them though, I'd go with them considering you get more planer space, which can some in handy for planing large panels.

Its funny that a long time ago, this topic would have started a big fight, but fortunately times change. :)

EDIT: To add, both Jet and Grizzly have more affordable J/P combo packages that you might want to check out as well.

[Eddie Darby]

One thing to consider is that if you buy a J/P with a spiral head, then you will have a huge saving, over having to buy two separate machines with spiral heads. Then there is the space saving issue to consider also.

[Joe Mioux]

Dave,

I went through this same decision process earlier this year. MM had a sale and Griz wasn't available yet.

I went with the MM mostly because of the tersa knives. I was familiar with disposably knives from my Delta Lunch box 22-580 planer and I really liked that feature.

If you look close to the Griz version, you will see holes where I suspect a future mortising attachment may go. Looks like the same hole pattern as is on the FS30.

You are welcome to look at mine if you want to drive 100 miles south.

From pics posted here at smc, it appears the Griz fence and adjustment mechanism is much more substantial than mm.

Ironically, the short jointer table actually came in handy this past couple months. I was jointing some 10' plus 2 inch planks that were bowed. they were concave and all i did was run the end back and forth across knives until i started jointing more and more down the lenght of the board.

I don't know if this violates the physics of wood, but it worked really well.

hth
joe

btw, are you any relation to Allison?

p.s. Paul what are you using for equipment now?

[Jim Becker]

I guess I'm concerned about the short bed on the combo's, but I've read enough people say it really isn't an issue that maybe I should let go.

I was once concerned with that, too. But the reality is that a lot of the time, I'm not jointing long boards. I'll start with a skim plane so I can see what is in the wood, lay out components oversize with chalk, cut things down to manageable pieces and then flatten and dimension them.

In the rare case that I do (like last weekend when I needed some 93" long material for a very tall cabinet face frame) I just work carefully and use an auxiliary support to insure I don't "drop" the board near the end of the pass. It doesn't need to be perfect at height since I'm using pressure on the outfeed side at that point.

But if space isn't a problem, I'm with Rob...look for old iron first and then look at the new stuff.

[Dave Novak]

Thanks guys, it's really wonderful how so many knowledgable folks will chime in with usefull thoughts and opinions. Late last night I got out of bed and used rope to lay out the footprint including the bed on my garage floor. Unless LOML decides she doesn't need to park in the garage anymore, I simply have to get a combo. Just for kicks I investigated the 16" offerings from hammer and minimax and wow, the price just about doubles from the 12" version.

[Dan Lautner]

Dave, Minimax has recently replaced all three J/P with new models. These new machines all carry the Tecnomax name and have 78" length. Minimax USA has not updated their site but you can see all the machines on the scmi site. These are VERY NICE machines with a center mounted fence and long tables. I will be buying one very soon. Below is the new Tecnomax 12" with 78" tables.

Dan

[Jim Becker]

Just for kicks I investigated the 16" offerings from hammer and minimax and wow, the price just about doubles from the 12" version.

Yes, that's very true across the board...

[Stan Welborn]

I was in the same dilemma. I studied and went back and forth... I wasn't pushed for room, but the combo won out anyway. Just got it in the "mail" this morning. We'll see in a few months how I feel and then I'll know if I made the right decision.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2069/dsc03831anq1.jpg

[Paul B. Cresti]

I have had both separates (router jointing+12" lunch box planer, 6" jointer+12" lunchbox planer, 8" jointer+14" planer) and now a 16" j/p. If I had more room I would most definately have opted for a larger 14-16 " jointer plus a 20-24 planer. In hindsight I should have considered old iron (as long as I could have gotten a tersa head or some other kind of disposable knife system) as you can get the most value with these older machines. J/P's are nice as they do save lots of room and many of them do offer mortising attachments (like I mentioned before) but these machines are not necessarly the cheapest, new. Many companies are now offering copies (or new designs at a less expensive price point) so I believe some are more affordable than others. Alos do not to forget to check out other companies like Rojek, Robland...etc as they offer less expensive options to consider. You mentioned that you do this on a very limited basis...is spending loads of money worth it to you? Are you also buying a machine that you want to be cool looking? (we guys know this and understand this) Think about what you really need and what ever you do, do not buy on impulse...salesman live by the impulse buyers...

[Scot Ferraro]

Hi Dave,

I just went through this dilemma recently and opted for a Hammer A331 Jointer/Planer -- mine will not arrive until later this month, but for years I have used a 6 inch Jointer and 12 1/2 inch Lunchbox and while this set-up worked for a lot of things, I still found it a hassle to have to move everything around to use the different tools (and of course the 6 inch jointer was limiting). One of the things I liked about the Hammer is that you can buy accessory tables to make the jointer tables and/or planer tables longer if necessary. Each table is approximately 16 inches long so you can increase the working length of the jointer by 32 inches over its normal length for long boards. The planer table only accepts them on the outfeed side, but again it is a nice option that is important to me. I also liked the digital handwheel that is offered on the Hammer. I believe that other brands may have something similar although I am not sure if they do on comparable models to the Hammer.

Good luck with your decision making process!

Scot

[Dave Novak]

Dave, Minimax has recently replaced all three J/P with new models. These new machines all carry the Tecnomax name and have 78" length. Minimax USA has not updated their site but you can see all the machines on the scmi site. These are VERY NICE machines with a center mounted fence and long tables. I will be buying one very soon. Below is the new Tecnomax 12" with 78" tables.

Dan

I'm sorry, but what is the scmi site?

[Giardano Tedesco]

Dan,

I just checked out the SCM site you mentioned on the jointer-planers. It appears the new MiniMax jointer-planers are the "Elite Series". They still show the regular jointer-planers there too. The new Elite series look pretty nice and have some nice upgrades, but I wonder how much they will go up in price for these features? They do not look like cheap upgrades. I would clarify with MiniMax if they will carry both or only one style.

Giardano

[Dan Lautner]

Giardano, I spoke with MM last week and they have replaced the 14" and 16" with the Tecno elite. You can oly buy those models in the new elite version. The price of the 14" stayed the same but the table length increased. I will call to check on the 12" tecno machine and get the price. These new machines solve the problem of short tables which is why I have not pulled the trigger yet.

Dan