Another jointer question.

[zach barnhart]

This has probably been gone over a million times, and I beg your pardon if it has. Looking at a couple of Jointers on CL, both on the lower-end. One is a Grizzly 6" w/some extra blades for 225.00. The other is a Harbor Freight 6" for 75.00. Both appear in similar (ie, good) condition. The question is, all things being equal, is the Grizzly likely to be suffinciently superior as to justify the extra cost? Or are we talking shades of grey in terms of quality between these two? My sense based on the usual Google/Sawmill Creek research is that they're both quite adequate.

Thanks!

[Dennis Lopeman]

Maybe a half a million!!! ;)

I think the consensus is that HF is good for tools that do NOT require precission (sp?)... like a screw driver or hammer is fine - but don't think I would trust a jointer from HF

I have no knowledge of Grizzly... but would be inclined to choose it over HF, as they do "specialize" in wood working equipment.

[Jerome Hanby]

If you got the grizzly and decided to move on to something else, I bet it would be easier to get you money out of it than the HF

[glenn bradley]

HF has diamonds in the rough. Power tools generally aren't one of them. Precision tools definitely aren't one of them. I would go Griz. Jointers do many things but have one primary job; make a surface flat. The quality of this surface will effect whatever else you do as you would use it as your reference surface. JMHO.

[Alan Schwabacher]

Grizzly is definitely a better brand, and makes several 6" jointers that currently sell from $365 to $795. Extra knives are useful. $225 is probably a reasonable price, but depending on which one it is, could be an excellent price. All the current Grizzly 6" jointers have closed bases and are likely substantially more solid than the HF.

But a jointer is a pretty simple machine. Owners of the HF have reported it perfectly acceptable. I've never seen the TV show, but David Marks is said to use an HF jointer. The fence is the only part mentioned as less convenient to set -- if you meant to frequently change the fence from 90 degrees, that would make the HF less attractive. But most set and leave the fence at 90 degrees. The motor may be of lesser quality. $75 is extremely cheap. If cash is tight and the jointer is in working shape, the HF could be a good choice for you.

[Steve Flavin001]

point it out. I BOUGHT a HF-TYPE joiner once, sold through a major retailer no less and found out the the precision is not all as simple as Al underestimates, with all due respect. The additional problem is the key issue of alignment of the in and particularly OUTfeed tables. The piece of junk I bought had "adjustments" that could never be accurately set for the outfeed table and I NEVER once got truly accurate edge joining - it was always at an angle so the two ends of the board, with each add'l pass, continuously varied further off.

GZ is quite good stuff - on a 1 to 10, I suppose +/- 8; HF needs no further def. than provided above.

[Mike Minto]

Zach, do you really need a jointer? I had a model from Ridgid that I used so seldom when I was doing furniture - at home - and since I picked up turning, moved it out of my shop. A table saw accurately set-up can do in place of a jointer, I believe. Just thought if you already had a TS, you might save your money. Mike

[zach barnhart]

Zach, do you really need a jointer? I had a model from Ridgid that I used so seldom when I was doing furniture - at home - and since I picked up turning, moved it out of my shop. A table saw accurately set-up can do in place of a jointer, I believe. Just thought if you already had a TS, you might save your money. Mike

Well, that's a really good question! The answer, I'm kind of embarrassed to say, is "I don't really know". I'm just getting into this stuff, primarily because I want build cabinets for the kitchen in the old 1906 house we recently bought. I have a nice Jet 10" TS, with an Incra Ultra TS Fence. I also have an old DeWalt MBC Radial Arm Saw that I just picked up to replace my old '70s Craftsman RAS. I guess the conventional wisdom is that if you don't know whether you need something or not, then you probably don't need it.

Anyway, the cabinets are probably going to be painted so I'll probably be using lots of MDF and/or cabinet-grade plywood. Not sure about the face-frames yet, but I figured I'd need a jointer to deal with those, to get them nice and square.

[glenn bradley]

Zach, do you really need a jointer? I had a model from Ridgid that I used so seldom when I was doing furniture - at home - and since I picked up turning, moved it out of my shop. A table saw accurately set-up can do in place of a jointer, I believe. Just thought if you already had a TS, you might save your money. Mike

If Zach has no need to face-joint he could get by with a TS. I've never found a board flat enough to not face-joint. If he took up turning it would solve the problem ;-)

[Lee Koepke]

If Zach has no need to face-joint he could get by with a TS. I've never found a board flat enough to not face-joint. If he took up turning it would solve the problem ;-)
face-jointing is my main reason to look for a jointer. i have been pretty (lucky) successful with a jig and glue line rip blade to get nice edges, but i have battled with faces. even the ones i get from better lumber yards that are 'S2S' need a little help after awhile ...

[Pat Germain]

I've never seen the TV show, but David Marks is said to use an HF jointer.

I've never visited David's shop, but the jointer he uses on the Woodworks TV show is most definitely not a HF model. It's a ginormous, old iron machine like most of his tools. This isn't to suggest a HF jointer is no good. I've never even seen one. Therefore, I can't comment.

I own a ShopFox 8" jointer, which is a Grizzly machine with different paint, and can personally attest it's a great machine.

[Brian Smith3]

As always it's important to decide on what you want to do. Personally I think a good jointer is essential for projects to turn out correctly. For me it's budgeted as the second most expensive tool in my shop (after the TS). Being able to properly and consistently dimension and face lumber is at the heart of most of my projects, though not the most glamourous.

Also how fastidious do you want to be? I go through a few steps in dimensioning lumber because I am not charging (or selling) my time, and I want things to come together as perfectly as I can (and I'm not nearly as good as the pros at properly dealing with mistakes). So for face frames I rough rip, face joint, plane to final face thickness, edge joint, rip to just OS finished width, then gang plane to finished thickness, cross cut to length. At this point I KNOW what the story is with my stock. Then again I know some guys that buy S2S rip to width, add in a little belt sanding, and call it good.

For cabinet face frames you might be able to get by with trying to go to the Borg and pick through the S4S lumber. Or you could do euro style cabinets. If it were me, I would buy the Grizz, install the new blades, use it for this project, and if I didn't see the need/vaue sell it for $175 or $150. It would be a $50-$75 rental fee for your entire duration of your project. I don't think the HF jointer would be consistently (some may be others aren't) sufficiently accurate to try and decide if a jointer in general was a worthwhile investment.

[Todd Bin]

This post is in response to the comments about David Marks' jointer. If you watch enough shows you will see that he has two. The huge 16" one and the smaller 6" one. He primarily uses the 6" one to edge join shop sawn veneer. I have no idea what brand it is but the blade guard and fence are shop made.