Advice on a Jointer

[Mike Skees]

I am considering buying a new jointer in a month or two. Some things I definitely want is 8 inch wide parrallelogram beds, mobile base, and dependability. A machine that does not require frequent adjusting (hate to fight with adjusting machines). I have narrowed my search to two machines, The Grizzly g0490 and the Steel City 8" industrial (model 40605 ). I have a Steel City 18 inch bandsaw that I am very happy with and it came ready to use out of the box ( just mounted the table and blade and started sawing). I have never owned a Grizzly machine, and have read somewhere that they are more suitable for someone who does not mind making adjustments periodically.
What ideas and insight can you guys give me on this? Thanks: Mike

[Mike Marcade]

I just got a G0490. It is a very nice unit for the money. Although I don't quite have it running yet, I'm sure I won't be dissapointed. Adjustments on it are straightforward and not too hard to do.

[keith ouellette]

I have the griz and was very happy with it until a few days ago. It started to vibrate more. I think the problem just has to do with the belt thought I am not very impressed by the way the motor is attached. If it is the belt then I will still like it. Even with the vibration it still cuts smooth. The fence is very flat. the out feed table is very flat. The in feed table seems to has a slight ( very slight) high spot. about 1000th or less.
For the money its great. All of the jointers in this price range have the motor mounted about the same way. It is one thing I would change about it. Make it a little heavier.

[Mike Marcade]

As far as vibration, I put a power-link belt on mine and made sure the pulleys are precisely aligned. Since it isn't running yet I can't say though. :o

[David Tiell]

If you are looking at the Griz G0490, consider the Shop Fox W1741. It's the same machine with different paint on it. From what I understand, Shop Fox is Grizzly's "commercial" brand that is sold in stores. You can get it for the same price as the G0490, but it has a two-year warranty versus 1 year for the Grizzly. I've had one for about 6 months and LOVE it.

[Mike Skees]

I have the griz and was very happy with it until a few days ago. It started to vibrate more. I think the problem just has to do with the belt thought I am not very impressed by the way the motor is attached. If it is the belt then I will still like it. Even with the vibration it still cuts smooth. The fence is very flat. the out feed table is very flat. The in feed table seems to has a slight ( very slight) high spot. about 1000th or less.
For the money its great. All of the jointers in this price range have the motor mounted about the same way. It is one thing I would change about it. Make it a little heavier.

Vibration could be a real concern. I remember reading that some have a problem with a noise from the belt on startup and shutdown. When you say a smooth cut, do you also mean a flat face resulting as well. I am having real trouble getting really flat surfaces with my present jointer.

[Mike Skees]

David: Does the Shop Fox also have parrallelogram beds? I really want that.

[David Tiell]

David: Does the Shop Fox also have parrallelogram beds? I really want that.
Mike,
Yes it does. Like I said, it's the same machine as the G0490 with different paint. Trust me, you will like either one, I just like the idea of the two vs one-year warranty.

Dave

[David Tiell]

Vibration could be a real concern. I remember reading that some have a problem with a noise from the belt on startup and shutdown. When you say a smooth cut, do you also mean a flat face resulting as well. I am having real trouble getting really flat surfaces with my present jointer.
The Shop Fox I have is great for flattening faces. I can lay a board down on the table of my jointer or tablesaw after flattening a face and it almost builds a suction to hold it to the table!

[keith ouellette]

Vibration could be a real concern. I remember reading that some have a problem with a noise from the belt on startup and shutdown. When you say a smooth cut, do you also mean a flat face resulting as well. I am having real trouble getting really flat surfaces with my present jointer.

Yes. it did take some fine tuning and practice but I can get the edge and and face flat. I do have a little trouble with long stock over 48" but it is slight and I think it has more to do with me than the machine.

[Chuck Burns]

Mike,

I don't know about either machine you mentioned but I concur with your decision to go with an 8" and parrallelogram beds. Be sure to get one with long beds. I purchased a PM PJ882 recently and love it. The previous jointers I've had were 6" open base Craftsman types with short beds. A heavy, smooth machine is a pleasure to use. My beds are 82" - until you've used long beds you won't know how nice they are. I processed some 10 and 12 ft cherry last night; what a differnce.

I'd probably go with the Steel City. I think they put more into their machines and they come closer to ready to go. I know my 882 came fully assembled. All we had to do was loosen a couple of bolts and raise the switch arm. No cardboard boxes or assembly. It all came on one 3 ft X 8ft pallet with a wooden box surrounding it lag bolted to the pallet. And it was designed such that it was easy to slide it off the pallet onto the floor.

[Mike Skees]

I really like the idea of it arriving ready to go. Had the same experience with my SC bandsaw, which I really like. Had thought about the PM PJ882, but it is $750 more than the SC and $930 more than the Griz. Is it "really" worth that much more than those 2?

[Mike Skees]

That sounds pretty good too. I have read some complaints about their customer service though. What has been your experience with their cs?

[keith ouellette]

Vibration could be a real concern. I remember reading that some have a problem with a noise from the belt on startup and shutdown. When you say a smooth cut, do you also mean a flat face resulting as well. I am having real trouble getting really flat surfaces with my present jointer.

Hope you get to see this. I looked at the pulley and belt on my grizzly jointer and now I don't think I had set it up right from the beginning. It always cut well after I adjusted the tables but i always thought there was a little to much vibration. My set screws had loosened and the motor pulley shifted so the belt wasn't straight. I went about aligning the pulleys in a different way and now it runs very smooth. I must have had the pulleys out of line from the start because it has never run this well. I recommend it more now than before.

[Mike Skees]

Keith: I am glad to hear that it was nothing major and an easy fix. I have been struggling lately with my Rigid 6" and cannot get anything adjusted correctly. Have always had trouble getting it to stay adjusted, whenever I was fortunate enough to get it nearly adjusted. Thanks for the follow up post.

[Dave Novak]

I'm not sold on paying extra for parallelogram beds. Sounds great in theory, but I honestly can't even remember the last time I adjusted the cutting depth on my new or former jointer. I set it up to shave off a hair and just leave it there.

[Chuck Burns]

Dave I used to do the same thing as far as setting it up to shave and leaving it there. One of the things I was unsure about on the 882 was the long lever to adjust infeed height. After filling up 5 drums on my Oneida today and can tell you that I really like it - alot. Some boards obviously needed a lot and it was easy to go to 1/16 or an even 1/8. Some needed very little and I went to less than 1/32 in an instant. I got a lot more done and quicker to boot. I like it much better than the handwheels.

[Chuck Burns]

I really like the idea of it arriving ready to go. Had the same experience with my SC bandsaw, which I really like. Had thought about the PM PJ882, but it is $750 more than the SC and $930 more than the Griz. Is it "really" worth that much more than those 2?

Eveytime I've gone cheap on tools over the years I've regretted it. I just can't do Grizzly; but then I can't buy Craftsman hand tools either. I hear good things about SC and the people behind it. I paid 1375 for my 882 two months ago. As I recall that was about the price of the SC. I like the 5 yr warranty on PM. I've got two PM service centers locally; about 5 miles away in opposite directions. As 600+ pound jointer is not moveable they both said they would send someone out if I needed warranty service. A call to PM confirmed that. The dealer I bought form in SLC (4 hrs away) said he would send a tech out if needed at no cost. So I ended up with a PM2700 shaper, 15HH and the PJ882 (and SS and 18" Jet BS from the same dealer) and am extremely happy with them all. I would do it again. The only thing I might maybe would do differntly is get the 20" planer instead of 15. But the 15 has done everything I've asked of it and the finish is great. I look at tools as a lifetime investment and am wiling to spend more up front for the sheer joy of working with quality tools. I'm even considering getting a Domino and starting down that slippery slope!

[Brent Grooms]

I looked at the SC 8in industrial at the Woodworking show a couple of weeks ago. For me, it came down to pricing. I see no major difference in between the SC and the Grizz G0490 other than paint. Warranty... well if there was new technology or something significantly different about it, that might have been a consideration but lets face it... both of these machines are copies of the DJ-20 that has been around for a long time.

Purchase pricing for these for me was...

SC $1049 after $100 mail-in rebate +tax
Grizz $869 shipped to my door + liftgate.

I also wanted a shelix head... whether I bought one or bought the machine with one already installed, it didnt matter. I picked up the Byrd head from Grizz for $349 and to get it for the SC from Holbren would cost $449. I picked up some spare inserts and a couple of other things and had it shipped to my door for approx $1300.00 If I went with the SC, it would be approx $1600.

The G0490 with the byrd head cost me less than the 2007 catalogue lists the G0490X and I didnt have to wait for it. Changing the head? Well I look at it as a way to learn about my machine... a rite of passage of sorts.

[Don Bullock]

With my very limited budget I went with the G0490. Other than having to put it together (still working on lining up the motor), I'm happy with it. Since it's my first jointer I can't compare it to others, but it does the job that i bought it for and in MHO that's what's important.

[Mike Skees]

Chuck: Every site I have looked at has the PM882 priced at $1,799. How did you find it at $1300? That price would be a real temptation. From what dealer did you buy, and will that price include shipping?

[Brad Bartley]

... but I honestly can't even remember the last time I adjusted the cutting depth on my new or former jointer. I set it up to shave off a hair and just leave it there.

I was wondering why you would change the depth too, but then I stumbled across this video on Popular Woodworking's website demonstrating a leg tapering technique using a jointer. I'm not sure if this would be easier than using a table saw or not, but it's worth a look.

http://fw_woodworking.permissiontv.com/index.html?showid=115402

[keith ouellette]

The benefit comes in when the tables are not in the same plane all the way across for one reason or the other. Then putting them back in plane is easy. T the in feed table can wear over time and then it is easy to readjust for it with the para. Or the tables could be out of line a little from the start and the para tables are easier to fine tune. Thats the way i see it anyway.


I'm not sold on paying extra for parallelogram beds. Sounds great in theory, but I honestly can't even remember the last time I adjusted the cutting depth on my new or former jointer. I set it up to shave off a hair and just leave it there.

[Kevin L. Pauba]

Thanks Brad. That is a pretty neat technique.

I would like to get an 8" jointer in the near future. The Griz has (naturally) crossed my eye but it lists a max depth of cut at 1/8". The taper video I looked at used a 3/8 cut. I can't imagine that the Griz 490X has such a shallow depth of cut.

Can anyone with a 490 care to comment if that's true?

[Mike Skees]

Keith: That is a big part of why I am looking for a new jointer in the first place. Having so much trouble getting my present machine in plane.

[Jim Andrew]

I bought the big brother Griz GO609 12", and it was delivered about a week ago. Wanted the Byrd cutter instead of the Chicom, so ordered it from Griz also. They didn't offer to install it. So I checked the jointer over, and cleaned it up and hooked up the power up and tried it out before attempting the cutterhead change. And it is great! No snipe at all. The tables were adjusted perfectly as far as I can tell with my 4' level. So then I read through the book completely, and no instructions on changing the cutterhead. So I emailed tech support, they said take the tables off so you can access the bolts in the bearing supports. They are inside. So took off the infeed table, then changing the cutterhead was easy. Putting the infeed table back was where I had trouble. A little tough to get the brackets back in on the front end. And after I did get it attached, had trouble getting the table to adjust. Found one of the shafts had slipped to the side just enough to catch on the inside of the jointer housing and would catch, then you couldn't raise the table. Finally figured out what was wrong, and wasn't real hard to fix it. Even though I could only touch it with one finger. Anyway, it is installed now and I could not be happier with it. Jim

[Lewis Cobb]

I bought the big brother Griz GO609 12", and it was delivered about a week ago. Wanted the Byrd cutter instead of the Chicom, so ordered it from Griz also. They didn't offer to install it. So I checked the jointer over, and cleaned it up and hooked up the power up and tried it out before attempting the cutterhead change. And it is great! No snipe at all. The tables were adjusted perfectly as far as I can tell with my 4' level. So then I read through the book completely, and no instructions on changing the cutterhead. So I emailed tech support, they said take the tables off so you can access the bolts in the bearing supports. They are inside. So took off the infeed table, then changing the cutterhead was easy. Putting the infeed table back was where I had trouble. A little tough to get the brackets back in on the front end. And after I did get it attached, had trouble getting the table to adjust. Found one of the shafts had slipped to the side just enough to catch on the inside of the jointer housing and would catch, then you couldn't raise the table. Finally figured out what was wrong, and wasn't real hard to fix it. Even though I could only touch it with one finger. Anyway, it is installed now and I could not be happier with it. Jim


Hey Jim - Any chance you can post a few pics of this monster?

[Chuck Burns]

Chuck: Every site I have looked at has the PM882 priced at $1,799. How did you find it at $1300? That price would be a real temptation. From what dealer did you buy, and will that price include shipping?

Mike,
From Timberline Tools in Salt Lake City. Call, don't try to buy on the web. Try to talk to Richard if you can but he's pretty busy and hard to get a hold off. I just bought a PM2700 shaper from Timberline for 2249 and everybody else was 2899. When I got the 882 I also got the 15HH for 1649 and the 3HP Jet 18" BS for 1050. To make it better there was no sales tax (I'm on CO not Utah) and no shipping. Can't beat that with a stick!