Need Advice on a Jointer

[Mark Grotenhuis]

I'm looking for advice on buying a new jointer. I've been searching craigslist with no luck. I have a powermatic planer and a powermatic table saw and love them both so I'm leaning toward a powermatic jointer. My question is which one? There's the 6" 54HH with a helical head cutter, which I like ... but I wonder if I should go with an 8" Any advice?

[Michael Donahue]

I'm looking for advice on buying a new jointer. I've been searching craigslist with no luck. I have a powermatic planer and a powermatic table saw and love them both so I'm leaning toward a powermatic jointer. My question is which one? There's the 6" 54HH with a helical head cutter, which I like ... but I wonder if I should go with an 8" Any advice?

You'll wish you had and 8" once you sink a bunch of cash into a 6" model. Trust me! :D I've been in a few situations where I could have used the extra width on my 6" jointer.

[Peter Quinn]

If possible, go 8". Its not just 2 more inches, its a whole new weight class in terms of stability and power as well. Often more bed length too. If its in the budget, I'd do it. In fact i did do it, though I bought a good used 8" rather than new.

[Mike Heidrick]

I bought a DJ30 12". It is my last jointer. If you have the room and the $ go for a 12". The G0609 Grizzly and W1744 Shop Fox are great machines in the 12" class as well.

[Mark Grotenhuis]

a 12" jointer just seems huge. I don't think I need that. I am willing to spend up to $1500. If I get the 8" powermatic it will be with regular blades, not a helical head. I cant justify the extra cost.

[terry hansen]

I understand the "love" of powermatic - I own their 2000 TS and love it, a 64a before that. If you can't find a used one .....That said i'd urge you to look at the grizzly 8inch with a helical head. I have it with a regular head and love it (put a link belt on it), long bed, easy to adjust fence and beds (although I just leave mine set at 1/64 and do multiple passes), built in casters, included cord that sucks. I believe the cost for value on their jointers is really good & I really did want a lovely gold one before I decided the $$$ wasn't worth it. I think if you do some searches here you can get a whole bunch of info to help you decide.

[glenn bradley]

a 12" jointer just seems huge. I don't think I need that. I am willing to spend up to $1500. If I get the 8" powermatic it will be with regular blades, not a helical head. I cant justify the extra cost.

Save $300 and get a Grizzly G0490X. Do a search here and almost anywhere else on G0490 or G0490X and you will find many satisfied customers. You can always paint it yellow and use the extra money for wood ;-)

[Peter Quinn]

a 12" jointer just seems huge. I don't think I need that. I am willing to spend up to $1500. If I get the 8" powermatic it will be with regular blades, not a helical head. I cant justify the extra cost.

A 12" jointer is merely large. A 24" is huge. I use a 12" every day at work, often for work less than 6" width. That added mass makes for one smooth machine, and you can skew boards with tough grain for reduced tear out with ease. There is no wasted capacity on a 12". It is quite a pleasure to operate. I am not suggesting that every wood worker needs a 12" jointer by any means as it is a considerable outlay financially and certainly has a larger foot print, but it is pretty much the defacto minimum size for professional work with good reason. If someone offered me one at a price I could afford I would make room for it!

[John Thompson]

Agree with those that state is doesn't have to be a PM and I love the older PM 66. Agree with those that say get an 8" if you can afford it. I sold my 6" which I could have gotten by on to get the 8". Just be sure you have the space as it is longer in most cases.

The 12" is great as it really doesn't take up much more space than an 8" but..... it does weight a ton more. I just set up machines for Steel City and they have guys that walk TS.. DP's.. etc. off a pallet by themselves. We left the 12" jointer on the pallet to keep from having to lift it back on when tearing down at IWF on Saturday.

So... if you have to go mobile and want a 12"... be sure you get an extremely large and heavily built mobile base IMO. Or just purchase an old surplus military Tank Hauler as it weights a ton.

Good luck...

Sarge..

[C Scott McDonald]

Going to have to go with the crowd here. I bought a 54HH and absolutely love it to death. That said as my confidence on projects has moved up I have basically outgrown it all ready. Bigger projects means bigger boards and being able to face joint them flat is a huge advantage. I won't sell it because it is a very nice jointer and great for edge jointing. If I had it to do over again I would have gone with an 8" for sure.

Short story is if you buy a 54HH you will love it. But really consider an 8" before you buy it even if it means buying one with straight knives then getting an HH for it later.

Good luck,
Scott

[Don Bullock]

After reading many posts on the same subject last year I bought an 8" jointer. It was rather ironic that the first board I used it on was a special piece of Oregon Myrtlewood that I had had for many years. It would have been too long to edge joint well on a 6" machine and I didn't want to cut it before I got it edged and planed so that I could decide what to make out of it. If you can afford an 8" and can figure out a place for it you won't be disappointed.

[Rick Fisher]

I would look at the Grizzly 490 with the heilical head. The website says $1225 ish.. delivered.

The Helical head is an upgrade you wont regret.

[Dave Lehnert]

What is this used for Home Shop or business? Nothing wrong with a Powermatic for home but way overkill. They are made to run day in and day out in a production environment. You could save some green buy going with Jet or Grizzly or the like and have a lifetime tool. But if you like, Go for the gold and be happy.

Good Luck.

[Mark Grotenhuis]

Well it's going to be used for both home and business. I'm a builder who is in my shop probably 3 days a week. I figure I can use one of those shop built planer sleds to join large boards up to 15" (the width of my planer). I still think I will go with an 8" jointer for simplicity. I just got a lot of free cherry all in 8" widths. It's why I suddenly need a jointer :)

[Frank Drew]

Mark,

I think you'd be happier with the wider jointer; any jointer is better than no jointer but the extra capacity (and overall more machine, as Peter points out) will come in handy.

You can face joint boards up to almost 16" on an 8" jointer by revolving the board every other cut so that you're cutting roughly half the width each cut; it won't be finish grade pretty but will be quite flat enough to serve as a reference face (placed down) to go through your planer.

[glenn bradley]

Take jud dinsmore's (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=90557) off his hands. What a bargain.

[Dave Stuve]

I just got a lot of free cherry all in 8" widths. It's why I suddenly need a jointer :)

Go ahead and gloat - you know you want to.... (Pictures required, of course.)

Dave

[Mark Grotenhuis]

Ok so I think I'm going to get the grizzly G0490X 8" Jointer w/ Spiral Cutterhead. Do you guys think this is the right decision? Paying $1196 for the grizzly compared to $2289 for the 8" powermatic PJ-882HH seems like a no brainer. I watched the fine woodworking review on 8" jointers and while none of the model numbers are the same anymore, the grizzly was best overall pick. Any thoughts? I just cant seem to decide for sure. Anyone have either of these jointers?

[glenn bradley]

Ok so I think I'm going to get the grizzly G0490X 8" Jointer w/ Spiral Cutter head. Do you guys think this is the right decision? Paying $1196 for the grizzly compared to $2289 for the 8" pneumatic PJ-882HH seems like a no brainer. I watched the fine woodworking review on 8" jointers and while none of the model numbers are the same anymore, the grizzly was best overall pick. Any thoughts? I just cant seem to decide for sure. Anyone have either of these jointers?

I've had the G0490X for awhile now and am very glad I went for the spiral head. The p-beds are a breeze to adjust with the levers (another concern I had that proved to be no problem).

There have been discussions on the assembly and I took everyone's advice on all "tweaks". Seal the dust chute before assembly, add a link belt and raise the belt guard just a bit with washers. Do a search here and you'll find a lot of tips but they all really boil down to those three items. My post (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=84153)covers all but the guard fix but I could post a snapshot if you like.

My original fence had a couple casting blemishes which I could have ignored but didn't. Grizzly sent me a new fence right away. They emailed and called twice over the course of the 3 days it took to get here just to keep me advised of the status and let me know it was coming . Great CS.