Jet JJP-12 Review

[Eddie Darby]

Ran across this review on the Jet Jointer/Planer and thought it might be of some help to people.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/jetjjp12rvu.html

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for posting this, Eddie.

And I LOVE this quote from the article:


"Some will infer that the 55"-long tables are too short for accurate jointing. That kind of forum-spawned logic has little to do with reality and nothing to do with the capabilities of the JET JJP-12 Jointer-Planer. If your jointing technique is reasonably correct, the JET JJP-12 Jointer-Planer is capable of making straight edges on material well over 110"-long. If your technique is lacking, jointer tables reaching into the neighbor's bathroom will not help."Spot on!

[Eddie Darby]

Or as Tony Little would say, "It's technique, technique!!":-)

[Paul B. Cresti]

It looks like a real nice machine. I have owned many Jet machines over the years and they have never disppointed me. If this machine along with the Grizzly works well....look out European Manufs these j/p's will sell very well. I have a 16" j/p and by "certain peoples's standards" the table are short at 68"...but I have never ever had a problem with boards at 8ft+ In theory my planer beds are extremely short also but do not ask my how I get no snipe if I do not allow the board spring up and down. The only thing missing on these new guys is the horizontal mortising attachment and a Tersa Head.

[Brad Evans]

Looks nice! Didn't see a price - how much???

Brad

[Eddie Darby]

At the wood-show they said $1,999.99 U.S. which has to be why there's no Tersa head, mortiser or wheel base. I am sure that the after-market people will have fun with this machine, as well as the Grizzly machine.

[Brad Sperr]

I've always wondered...are people with tool review websites able to get these tools free or at a significant discount, or do they have to pay out of their own pocket and recoup the costs with ads, etc.?

[Eddie Darby]

I know that in certain cases the tools are just on loan to the reviewer, and then they are off to the next review.
If you gave out free products, it wouldn't take long for everyone to become a reviewer. :D
It would also be hard to remain objective as a reviewer if you were influenced by the Freebies.

[Brad Sperr]

I know that in certain cases the tools are just on loan to the reviewer, and then they are off to the next review.
If you gave out free products, it wouldn't take long for everyone to become a reviewer. :D
It would also be hard to remain objective as a reviewer if you were influenced by the Freebies.

You're right, I would start up a website in a heartbeat if I could get freebies

[Eddie Darby]

I just went to the section at the NewWoodWorker.com to see if they will be doing the Grizzly Jointer/Planer, and I noticed that they don't have listed any Grizzly machines at all.
Would be nice to see a Grizzly review.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/index.html

I also went to the Jet web-page and really like what they did to show-off the machine. Some web-page designers could take notes. Just found it a bit skimpy on Spec Numbers, but everything else was great.

[Eddie Darby]

Maybe a good place for the used Demo machines to go would be into the Draw here at SMC !:rolleyes:

Do you think that more than 3% would then contribute? Probably even RadioHead would pay something. :D

[Michael Lutz]

The question I have on the unit is can you seperate the base from the tables to move it down stairs into a basement shop? Looks good other wise.

Mike

[Gary Venable]

I have been seriously looking at this and the Grizzly J/P. I really like the ease of changing from a jointer to a planner on this machine over the Grizzly having to remove it's fence. The Grizzly also has a bigger foot print because of the way the fence mounts. On the other hand the Grizzly has a spiral cutterhead and the blade guard I like. Why is nothing easy.

[Gary Keedwell]

I have been seriously looking at this and the Grizzly J/P. I really like the ease of changing from a jointer to a planner on this machine over the Grizzly having to remove it's fence. The Grizzly also has a bigger foot print because of the way the fence mounts. On the other hand the Grizzly has a spiral cutterhead and the blade guard I like. Why is nothing easy.
I would go with the Grizzly because it has the carbide cutting head. When I move from here and set-up my retirement shop....all my tools will have the carbide heads.:p
Gary

[Eddie Darby]

If they put it together in the factory once, then you can do it twice. I doubt that there are special tools needed. Just in case though, don't be the first one to buy it on your street.

I already see that the cost of this unit is coming down from $19,999.99 initial price.
I also see that the Grizzly sells for about $300 more with their spiral head, and the Byrd Shelix sells for around $675 , so I would think that if the one machine had enough features over the other, then a Shelix addition might be worth the $375 extra expence.
Plus or minus, yes or no maybe so?

[Jim Becker]

The question I have on the unit is can you seperate the base from the tables to move it down stairs into a basement shop?

Probably, but that could really result in a major effort to re-assemble and re-align the tables. In general, these machines don't get disassembled. Your best bet is extra help for the job...and it's totally worth it, IMHO.

[Dan Lautner]

Is the ability to add a mortise chuck and the quick change knives worth the extra 1400 for the hammer? What do you think Paul?

Dan

[Jim Becker]

Is the ability to add a mortise chuck and the quick change knives worth the extra 1400 for the hammer?

For me, the Tersa knives on my J/P are the kicker. Simple to deal with unfortunate nicks and changing them takes all of a minute or so including being sure not to slice off a few fingers during the operation. (They are darn sharp!) Once the machine is setup and aligned, there is pretty much never a need to readjust no matter how many times a day you want to change the knives. Being able to select different formulations is also handy for some folks that work in different species. So Tersa or the Hammer type quick change knife system is a very nice feature, IMHO...one I'd cheerfully pay for...and did.

The mortiser has been less of an issue for me simply because the particular machine I own has the mortise setup on the back and my shop space is not conducive to that. Otherwise, I'd probably have it on my machine. At the time I bought, it was only a $600 upgrade which isn't all that far off one of the higher-end square chisel mortisers. (floor standing)

That all said, these new machines from Jet, Grizzly and likely others, fit into a great spot in the market from a price point vs functionality standpoint. And there is no question I'd recommend they be considered when one of the more full featured machines is out of the question.

[Paul B. Cresti]

Is the ability to add a mortise chuck and the quick change knives worth the extra 1400 for the hammer? What do you think Paul?

Dan

Dan,
In my opinion the quick change knives are extremely important. Now keep in mind I have had the ole' staight knife and gibs setup on both my old jointer and planer so I got use to the set up. Did I enjoy doing it? no not really but you get use to it. Now with the Tersa I can change knives so efortlessly that I tend to keep sharper knives on my machine. The Tersa knives are extremely sharp! I found out the hard way.

The mortising attachments are nice and can further provide a space saving in that you get three machine in one foot print. These attachments are pricey though and they will require you to create some auxillary modfications to them to truely use them well. I created another top (to increase the surface area), provided more clamping area and added a nice fence and indexing system.

Does all this make you a better woodworker? no it does not. All it does is drain your wallet :rolleyes: but the tools are nice to use and work well. One could do mortising many other ways (festool, mortising machine, drill press, router, chisels) .... so there is no correct answer, just choices. I am glad that I did get a j/p config though because the space savings for me has been invaluable.