Buying used 6” Jointer & 12” planers

[Adam Chin]

Hi, I’m new here. In the last few years I’ve been learning Guitar building, finished my first Electric Bass a few months ago. My current workflow inculudes making laminate necks (approx 1” square, 36” long strips of maple and others). Also starting to mill up fingerboards 3.5” wise 1/4” thick fingerboards.

I’m looking around at used planers and jointers, and some new ones, but on a budget

On the used side anything I need to watch out for?

I’m also limited in size. Everything I have thats bigger is on platforms.

Thanks for any feedback

[Michelle Rich]

the best deal I know of in a new planer and jointer is the cutech line. They are portable and solve your space issue. They also have carbide heads.

[Nick Decker]

I'll echo what Michelle says about Cutech, especially for benchtop planers. Good stuff, although I don't see many of them on the used market.

[Adam Chin]

Thanks Michelle!

I actually checked out their site a few days ago.
I can probably afford their 6” Jointer. Maybe get a used thickness planer (given my budget). Kind of don’t know which is more important to get new. Too bad I don’t have more $.

Thanks again

[Adam Chin]

Thanks Nick. It probably speaks to how good they are.

[Nick Decker]

Adam, concerning which is more important, that's hard to say because they kind of work in tandem. If it were me, I'd go for the planer first, with carbide cutters, then try to pick up a used 6" jointer off Craigslist.

I bought the Cutech 6" jointer mainly because of space considerations. It's small and light and sits on a shelf under my bench. Jointing a 36" board is doable, but much more than that gets kinda squirrely. It's a small tool for small projects.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Unless I knew the seller, I would avoid a used bench top planer. They are old and usually worn out. You can't get parts for Deltas, two of which I own. If budget allows, look at the Dewalt 13" planer. Right now, it seems that most have upgraded from 6" jointers, so the market isn't there for buying a used one. Of course, you market may be different.

[Adam Chin]

Hey Nick,

That makes sense and since my only way to thickness anything is with a router/mortising bit and a few fixtures. It’s precise but takes a while.

I’ll keep an eye out on the cutech site for a sale.
Happen to know if their budget unit ok or not worth it?

Thanks,
Adam

[Adam Chin]

Yeah, it’s probably hit or miss on the used front.
I saw a Porter Cable 6” Jointer on Facebook market place for 200 then it dropped down to 175 and someone picked it up. I like the idea of knowing the actual depth of cut from a dial it’s most likely a “fancy” not so needed feature. Also noticed that those PC’s are actually discontinued.

[Nick Decker]

Don't know about their budget unit, I have the top line one. Again, carbide cutters are highly recommended. The lock for the cutter head is something else I think is important.

[Nick Decker]

Keep in mind that you can use a sled for face jointing on a planer. I do that whenever I have to with wider boards.

[Adam Chin]

Pretty cool.. Thanks for the tip! I'll have a look on the web for pictures of sleds for planers .

[Adam Chin]

Update

I ended up buying a new DeWalt DW734, and I'm a happy camper.

The Carriage Head lock definitely addresses snipe! I'm not 100% sure about the Table Extension adjustment recommendations where the tips of the tables need to be flush with the table.
I'll experiment. In fact, I saw a video and one Luthier friend of mine that suggested building a longer straight table that rests on top of the planer table for better results.
This would be minus using the carriage head lock of course. More to experiment with

This is a nice machine, and I'm glad I got it. If I had the $, I would have pulled the trigger on the Cutech Labor day bundle sale going on right now, but that has a budget planer and a nice jointer.
That jointer is still on my list (maybe next year).

Anyway, thanks everyone for your feedback

Cheers!

[Todd Bender]

You can pick up a dust collector from Harbor Freight to go with your new planer for a couple hundred. I bought one years ago and really got my money's worth out of it.

[Adam Chin]

Thanks Todd. I use a shop vac currently but I could probably use something better like these at HF.