Rockwell 8" Jointer

[Gene O. Carpenter]

Hi,
I have a chance to buy an 8" Rockwell Direct Drive 4 knife, 50 " bed, 1 HP Jointer, and would like to know if any of you have one or have ever used one. Wouldn't a 1HP direct drive have a tendency to bog down? The beast appears to be about 26" wide and would take up a lot of room in an already crowded shop. Any idea what it would weigh and does $500 sound about right? I've seen a couple photo's and it doesn't look like it's in bad condition...Appreciate any and all advice! Thank you..
Gene

[Simon Dupay]

It sounds like a delta/crescent which is a very nice jointer ,the 1HP should not be a problem and $500 is not too bad of a price.

[Pete Bradley]

That's a good machine at a good price depending on condition. The motor delivers a real 1 HP which will blow the doors off today's fake 1 HP import motors. As with any machine, condition is everything. Check for cracks, breaks, and missing parts.

I wouldn't be surprised if this one is 3 phase as a lot of direct drive machines are. You'll need to decide whether to run it off a VFD (probably the best approach) or replace the motor with one of the same size.

PEte

[Gene O. Carpenter]

Pete & Simon,
Thanks for answering my cry for advice! I know about the older motors and their power compared to today's so called motors but never used a direct drive set up such as this and was doubtful of it sustaining enough RPM's to effectively slice the high spots..
The present owner said that it is 220 1Phz and has no breaks, cracks and all parts are there..
Guess I'll scrape some $$ together and take a ride!
Thanks again for your replies..

Gene

[Carroll Courtney]

After purchase, there needs to be pics posted.Are the pic police will come late at nite:D

[Gene O. Carpenter]

I sort of suspected that but I have to scrape the $$$ together 1st and I'd rather have the SMCPhotoCops picking on me than have my mug on Americas Most Wanted for bank robbery !
I must give this acquizition a little more thought! I already have a 25 year old Craftsman 6-1/8" that's in excellent shape, knives need sharpening and recently acquired a vintage Craftsman 6-1/8" either Walker T or King S..complete with original factory wooden cabinet/stand. This I plan on restoring if I can find the decals! Otherwise it will just be a rejuvenation.
I don't know where I will put that big 8" without getting rid of both these 6"'ers, my old WT 12" BS and the Craftsman Shaper..Plus I can just hear LOML moaning about me buying another piece of junk..
It requires more thought!

[Matt Day]

Get the 8", you won't be sorry. How many times have you had to rip down larger boards just to get them on your jointer?

[Gene O. Carpenter]

Just found an even better price on an 8" Jointer but it's a Tool Kraft ! He Say's it's all there and has no breaks or cracks and when I asked him the approx weight he said 150 LBS.
I remember Monkey Wards and Western Auto used to sell a line of machines that were constructed mostly of Aluminum and I never thought much of their construction.
Can anyone shed some light on Tool Kraft?
This one I could get without fear of appearing on Americas Most Wanted...:rolleyes:--:cool: Asking $125 :) but will cost about $40 in gas..:(