The wait (new jointer)

[alex grams]

Pulled the trigger on the GO490 jointer.. now to just sit and wait for delivery. The worst part is that it is already in town (Thursday), but not scheduled for delivery until next Monday.

Wiring and circuit is already hooked up and waiting to go, now to just wait.... and wait... and check the shipping tracking to see if they change the scheduled delivery time/date to this Friday so I have it for the weekend.

If i keep clicking refresh on the tracking page, do you think they will notice on the other end and get a hint? :D

[Jim Becker]

It's a plot when they have it in-hand but make you wait past the weekend! oy! Congratulations...'hope to see pictures soon! ;)

[alex grams]

SWMBO is going to give me the evil eye when she sees this. She knew it was coming, but somehow my tools always end up being smaller in her imagination than what they really are. (k, bad choice of wording, but non intentional innuendo)

[J. Z. Guest]

Congrats Alex. It should serve you well for many years. (once your back heals, hehehe)

One of the main hurdles to my woodworking was not having a jointer & planer. I don't know if you had one before and are upgrading, or if this is the first.

[alex grams]

first jointer. My philosophy is that if i am going to buy a machine, i want to buy one that will be able to do what i need it to do, nothing i have to replace in a year. (while an expensive philosophy, it is the one I abide by when it comes to tools/machinery and such).

I have a planer, but that can only do so much.

[Don Bullock]

Congratulations Alex on your G0490. It's a good machine. I'm enjoying using mine.


first jointer. My philosophy is that if i am going to buy a machine, i want to buy one that will be able to do what i need it to do, nothing i have to replace in a year. (while an expensive philosophy, it is the one I abide by when it comes to tools/machinery and such).

That's exactly what I did. You'll find the G0490 to be an excellent first and last jointer.


SWMBO is going to give me the evil eye when she sees this. She knew it was coming, but somehow my tools always end up being smaller in her imagination than what they really are. (k, bad choice of wording, but non intentional innuendo)

You are right about that. SWMBO at my place immediately said, "Where are you going to put that THING." After she realized that it was here and plopped in the spot where her car goes in the garage she figured out where it was going. Actually she's been very understanding and offered to keep her car out of the garage so that I could set up my tools without having to move everything when I needed to use one. Good luck.;):D

[Greg Cole]

Hi Alex,
Congrats on the new purchase. I am sure you will like it, I have the same machine alebit without the "p-gram" beds in the G0586. Seem to remember you have the same BS as I do as well.
My only beef will remain in that I should have gone bigger (opposite of your LOYL's imagination, 8" bed seemed big at the time of buying it). 8" width is good size for most projects and stock but seems as I wind up with nice stock in the 10" + width range..... ah well thats what some of those Neander tools are for I guess. Can't say as this will be my last jointer, but it'll do for a good while.
If you have access to a truck, make arrangements to go pick it up and save the update button on the tracking page. LOL
It's pretty heavy, but I managed to assemble mine with a helping set of hands from across the street.

Cheers.

Greg

[alex grams]

I knew they would tell i was clicking on their website for item tracking. Just got a call and am scheduled to have it delivered from 1-5pm this Friday (tomorrow). Now i can get it before the weekend, and have an afternoon from work to get it set up!

[Don Bullock]

I knew they would tell i was clicking on their website for item tracking. Just got a call and am scheduled to have it delivered from 1-5pm this Friday (tomorrow). Now i can get it before the weekend, and have an afternoon from work to get it set up!

Great!!! You'll need some extra help getting the jointer up onto the base.;)

[dustin sellinger]

Yeah, watch out for that top it's bolted to the shipping crate in 2 places. And unbolting mine caused it to roll out of the box :eek:. It might have been better to have it on some crates and then unbolt it and lift it out.:o

[glenn bradley]

Planning on the same one, maybe with the spiral; the jury is still out on that. My electrical is not ready so I am totally jealous. Congrats. I'm sure you've read all the tips here about the dust chute fix, belt slap and all that jazz, eh? All easily fixable/improvable and I have yet to read a post by anyone with that jointer being unhappy.

Keep clicking, maybe the elves will have it all set up in the shop by the time you wake up ;-)

[matt dumney]

Nice machine...congrats!

I've been eyeing the G0656 but the shipping kills me.

[John Keeton]

Alex

Great jointer! I really like mine and the only complaint that I have is the small amount of vibration that I get from the belt (I think?!?). Plan to replace it with a cogged belt soon. Several posts suggest that really helps. I second the thoughts on assembly. That bed is heavy and hard to handle. I used a friend and a shop crane to assemble mine. We could have lifted it on, but at my age, the mind is much stronger than the back. I think I can, I think I can -- but sometimes I can't!!

[Dave McGeehan]

Alex,

After assembling, check both tables for proper adjustments. Mine were off quite a bit and needed all the eccentrics adjusted.

Dave

[alex grams]

I anticipate it taking a chunk out of my weekend to get things aligned. Getting a neighbor to help me fit the top will be on the list also.

Does anyone have a link to a supplier of replacement belts (link belts?). I've read numerous posts on people replacing it, but didnt see any links for where to buy it.

Glenn, in regards to the spiral head, I thought about the GO490X, but will see how the stock blades run, and then maybe at a later date I can replace the stock with a spiral head. I would rather save the money and invest it in a dado/mortiser/better DC at the moment.

[Don Bullock]

I anticipate it taking a chunk out of my weekend to get things aligned. Getting a neighbor to help me fit the top will be on the list also.....

I think my total set up time was under three hours. As for getting "a" neighbor make that at least two neighbors unless both of you are exceptionally strong. One other important caution is that with all that gunk that they put on the jointer to keep it from rusting the jointer is very slippery. I got as much off that I could. Even then the jointer almost slipped of the top of the stand as we were trying to attach it.

[Daniel Parker]

If its in town at the terminal go pick it up and skip the wait.Most terminals are glad to clear their dock. Uhaul open bed only $10

[alex grams]

it is scheduled for delivery today, and the lift gate only costs 30$ more, so i am happy for them to deliver it and unload it into my garage. I dont have enough strong backed people i know that i could ask to help me even if i did want to go pick it up :(

[Greg Cole]

Alex,
I've been on the fence about the standard cutter versus shelix....
Honestly if you can skew your stock & lightly dampen difficult grained woods like curly maple etc... you'll be fine.
I bought a set of extra blades when I bought my G0586. I keep telling myself I can't upgrade to the shelix til I at least use the extra blades. 2 years later, I still haven't used the spares! I have honed the ones that came with the machine, but that's it.
IIRC, I got the link belts for mine from Lee Valley, but they are sold all over. Just make sure you get the proper width belt as the "standard" link belt is 1/2", but the jointer uses 3/8" belts. So I wound up buying new pullies instead of sending back the 1/2" belt and re-ordering the correct size. No vibes, no slap etc...;)
If you don't have a real straight edge, now's the time. Also a dial indicator with a ball tip is essential. Couple hours of fiddling with knife height, coplanarity etc is VERY MUCH WORTH IT!!! Take the springs out from under the knives too, makes setting height much easier & take the stock blade height jig & hang it on the wall & use the indicator. DAMKHIT.

Cheers.
Greg

[alex grams]

UGH.

So Friday afternoon I find out they loaded the jointer on the wrong truck. So it is somewhere in Houston, but they don't know where exactly. Hopefully some time today I will find out what is going on.

Greg, what straight edge would you recommend? The ones I can find cost an arm and a leg :(

Also, thanks for the info on the belt, what did a new one cost for you? I didn't see a 3/8" one on the Leevalley website, just 1/2".

[John Keeton]

Alex

Can't speak with any authority on this as I haven't made the change yet. But several posts suggest the cogged belt as opposed to the link belt. It is cheaper and apparently runs smoother. I'm just repeating the suggestions of others - the link belt may be fine. I am away from home right now, but have the cogged belt bookmarked from McMaster Carr but believe it was this one http://www.mcmaster.com/itm/find.ASP?tab=find&context=psrchDtlLink&fasttrack=False&searchstring=6054K129

Good luck with actually getting possession of the jointer - it's such a letdown when shipping gets screwed up!

[alex grams]

Thanks for the info John.

In regards to the delivery, they got it back in Friday from the wrong trailer, then proceeded to load it on ANOTHER wrong trailer for Monday. So once again it is riding around somewhere (they don't know exactly where at the moment) and they will contact me when they find it.

This is just getting ridiculous now...

I feel like a kid pouting when he doesn't get a toy :(