Researching Jointer/Planer/Cabinet Saw - Powermatic ?

[Lewis Cobb]

Hi - I have been digging around the websites and reading reviews and forum comments for a month or so. Some time in the next few months I would like to equip my shop with a cabinet saw, 8" jointer, and 15" stationary planer, and would like to get units that are the last ones I will buy. I'm a hobbiest, but I prefer to spend money and buy quality.

Grizzly gets good reviews here, and I have studied their line-up in this area, but something is nagging at me that Powermatic would be a better machine - forgetting about the price difference which I realize is hefty in some cases.

The units I have looked at are the PM2000 (without the wood extension table), the 882HH 8" jointer, and the 15HH planer.

Can some of you that own one, two or three of these tools comment on the quality of them and if there are some cons that I should be aware of? I have read the comments on the underpowered nature of the 15HH but again, I am a hobbiest so light cuts are fine with me - time costs me nothing !

Thanks.

This will make for a serious gloat when the time comes and I pull the trigger.....:D

[Jim Becker]

All good stuff. I do suggest you consider one of the new breeds of jointer/planer combo machines as an alternative to the 8" jointer/15" planer in your list. I say this because I've found it really great to have the same capacity on the jointer as the planer so that one can flatten wider boards, gain some advantages of processing gnarly materials and also save shop space. I've rarely found the need for 15" on a planer, but always got frustrated with jointing until I went large with my own J/P.

[James Phillips]

I am biased, but if you really want Quality and do not mind paying for it buy a SawStop Cabinet Saw. You will not regret it.

[John Hedges]

If you've got the money that would be a fantastic setup. I have the Grizzly GO490 jointer, and after that I decided to get the PM2000 and 15HH when I upgraded my TS and planer. In retrospect I would have gotten the PM jointer you list if I knew then what I know now, not that the grizzly planer is bad, I have just not been that impressed with it like I have the TS and Planer. I love the PM2000 and the 15HH, both are top notch machines for any hobby shop. I would disagree with getting a combo Jointer/Planer unit unless your are really cramped for space. I work in a small space and would still never go that route because the changeover would drive me nuts. I really like having stationary units that are ready to go without reconfiguring anything, but that's me YMMV.

[Lewis Cobb]

Sounds like I am on the right path here. I have the combo machines on my mental list to check out but I am not that cramped for space in my shop (yet :) ) although I will have to move the planer in and out from the wall where I am planning on placing it.

John - seeing as you have a PM2000, I can ask you a question on the wheels that I was wondering about. The cabinet raises up on the wheels but not the extension table legs. I watched in the video on the powermatic site as the fellow cranked the wheels into action and then lifted up on the extention table end and wheeled the saw away. This made me cringe a little wondering if such actions would over time either a) weaken the table/saw connection or b) throw something out of alignment. Maybe the whole extention table ends up "hanging in the wind" when you raise the unit up on its wheels and you don't have to lift up on the table but the same concerns above are still present.

Having never seen one of these saws I have yet to "kick the tires" and get a sense of how flimsy/sturdy this saw/table connection is, but I would never attempt something like that with the Delta contractor saw and unifence with the melamine table I have in my shop at the present time. There's only flimsy little angle brackets holding that besides the unifence rail.

Thanks for the intial feedback fellows, I am sure I will have more questions as I dig into the specs so until then,

Lewis

[John Hedges]

Lewis, remember the extension table is supported by the front and rear fence rails, so it is real sturdy. I don't move mine much, in fact I used the built in casters to move it to it's permanent spot and haven't moved it since, but it moves very easily and there is plenty of support for the table (and my garage floor is anything but level and flat).

[David Weaver]

I am biased, but if you really want Quality and do not mind paying for it buy a SawStop Cabinet Saw. You will not regret it.

I would say the same thing, but I would make the comment end with a PM 66 instead of a PM 2000. It depends on your safety comfort level, though, I guess.

It's uncanny how little runout the PM 66 saws have, how accurate they are from the start, and how accurate they stay.

[Lewis Cobb]

Lewis, remember the extension table is supported by the front and rear fence rails, so it is real sturdy. I don't move mine much, in fact I used the built in casters to move it to it's permanent spot and haven't moved it since, but it moves very easily and there is plenty of support for the table (and my garage floor is anything but level and flat).


John -

This is comforting and welcome news. Again, having not seen one of these saws in real life yet, I may ask some dumb questions, but "if you don't ask you don't learn".

In my shop the saw will most likely sit in the same place for 90% of the time but I can envision a few situations where I will need to shift it around a foot or so.

Thanks,
Lewis