Decisions, decisions... A 12" or 16" jointer?

[Craig Day]

I'm looking to upgrade my 6" jointer to a 12" or 16" jointer. I'm aware the wider, the better. Space in the shop for either size is not an issue. The only real issue I'm having is stomaching the cost of a 16" vs a 12". I've been trying to keep my eye open for used equipment, but 12s and 16s are harder to come by. I have a 20" planer to accompany this.

So my question to all of you is: how often do you really need 16"?

I could frequently use a jointer in the 8-12" range... I"m not sure I've come across something I've built where I absolutely needed a 16 (I'll hand plane stuff here and there as needed if it gets too wide for my tools). Of course as my tool capacity expands I tend to build bigger things. What sort of things is everyone building that make use of a 16" jointer?

And for reference, I much prefer buying rough stock and milling it. I live relatively close to a fabulous hardwood supplier where I can buy most of it rough and mill myself... much cheaper than buying their S2S or S4S stuff.

On a last note... I struggled for a bit with buying the 36" vs 52" rip fence on my sawstop. I ultimately went with 52". Of course I read all of the threads with people that rarely use more than 36" rip capacity... I'm extremely happy I went with the 52" rip fence. I have ripped beyond 36" so frequently that it surprises me. The last time was just a few days ago when cutting a 44" x 40" backer for a vanity mirror (christmas gift). This sort of experience has me thinking I'd be just as happy with a 16" jointer as I suddenly found more uses for it. But gosh.. the price... buy once, cry once?

[Matt Day]

From one Day to another....

I’m on my 3rd jointer, a Northfield 12LD that I restored. Bought it for $600 from a school auction. I can see a 16” jointer sometime in the future, but the 12” is fine for now. For bigger machines like these used is the way to go IMO. Cost of new is tough to stomach.

Personally I don’t use/can’t find wider lumber than 12”. If I need to joint something really wild it will likely be a slab and i’ll Make a slab flattening jig for the router.

Listing your location could help us find used ones in your area.

[David Kumm]

In the old jointer world, 16" is more common than 12" but also more desired so priced a little higher. The old Oliver 166 and Porter 300 had guards that could swing out of the way so you can joint boards wider than the bed by running them through twice. Not perfect but close enough to get through the planer on both sides. Any old jointer ( Northfield, Yates, Newman etc ) with a Surty guard will do the same thing. Condition of tables and motor are the big deals as most are direct drive. Take whatever is in the best condition. Flat tables are more important than size- although I have a 12" Oliver in storage because I prefer the 16" Porter. Dave

[Andrew Hughes]

I have a 12 inch Oliver that takes care of all of my builds. I don’t usually resaw anything over 10 inches so most of the time I keep my fence about 10 inches on the jointer for facing. I save the rest of the knives for edges.
Good luck on your quest.

[Mike Kees]

I just bought a 16'' Paoloni jointer. I was looking at a 12'' Cantek but the seller wanted 3500,found the Paoloni for 2400. Save 1100 and end up with more capacity,took about 1/2 second to make that decision. What I have found is that I skew wood at times with weird grain etc . I would of been happy with 12'' but am very glad I ended up with 16''. Mike.

[Patrick Kane]

I started with a 6" then went to an 8" and finally to a 12" in about 12-16 months. I think i had the DJ-20 for all of 3 months. At the time i had zero money to pay for tools an was building commissions to save up, so i dont regret the way i did things, but it was a PITA and inefficient use of energy and time. I dont think i would ever recommend someone buy a 8" machine. I dont know who came up with that capacity, but i dont think they ever woodworked a day in their life. I think the first or second board i put over the beds of the DJ-20 was 8.5" wide. Insert a flashback of me rolling my eyes for that moment. I ran that machine without a guard from day 2 until its last day in my shop. I think 12" is a very nice class of machine. They usually weigh around 1000lbs, so are stable. Bed length is 7-8' long, which covers most of your longest jointing needs. 80% of my lumber is 12" or under. Keep in mind though, even though the machine has 12" long knives or cutterhead, you cant really joint a true 12" wide rough cut board. I dont know you from Adam, but i think most people would be satisfied with a 12" machine of whatever make. I had a grizzly ultimate 12" for 3-4 years. 12" machines arent common, but you can usually get them in single phase, which may or may not be important to you.

After years of using the 12", i began to yearn for a 16". Maybe it was just my luck with my wholesaler, but i kept collecting 12.5-15" boards that i would use last of all, because they required no guard, hand planing etc. Call me whatever you want, but 12" of exposed cutterhead is slightly unsettling. Finding a 16" in single phase will be a challenge. Grizzly ultimate 16s pop up from time to time, and I think the powermatic might have had the option of a 5-7.5hp single phase. I know i missed out on one months ago for $2500 in the midwest with a 7.5hp single phase baldor. A local shop friend has a DJ-42, that i played around with for awhile. I feel like the 12 to 16 isnt as extreme as the 8 to 12, but still theres a considerable jump up. Yes, it is 4" of capacity, but man, theres just a lot more machine there. listen to Dave and Darcy and the others, because they have been around dozens of different makes and models, but i dont know if you can buy a poorly made 16" machine despite who's name is on the tag. They almost all have 96"+ bed lengths, significantly better designed rack and pinion fences, huge cutterheads, and are probably all the machine you would ever need. I have boards that are 18-20, and a few that are 22-24". Despite what people say, boards over 8" do actually exist and they arent that rare. I was intensely looking for a 16" months ago. I can tell you they are probably going to run you $3,000 for a decent condition 15-25 year old euro make. Even then, most sellers want closer to $4. I ended up buying some generic italian 19.75" machine. I cant imagine needing or wanting more machine than this. At some point, you cant use a wider machine. I am physically incapable of handling a 8-10' long 8/4 board that is wider than 18-20". I can pick up a bigger board, but i cannot effectively run it over a machine by myself.

Hopefully those opinions are helpful. I make a lot of counters, bars, and table tops. I mill about 3,000ish bdft a year as a hobbyist. My needs might vary if i only made chairs or small boxes, and cut my parts out of boards ahead of time. I can tell you given the option of jointing and gluing four 6" wide boards or two 12" wide boards to make a panel what choice i would make. Processing and working with wide material is awesome.

[Bill Space]

How old are you? If you are young(er) and can afford it, buy the most capacity you can. That is if you figure you will use the tool for a long time. My purchases seem to be lifetime purchases. Everything comes in and nothing leaves for some reason.

We can not predict the future, but we can be sure it is possible to do less on a bigger machine, but certainly cannot do more on a smaller machine. Not easily anyway.

I would buy the 16" jointer over the 12" if I were in a similar position and planned for it to be my last jointer. I went from a 6" to an 8", and now lust for a 12". My guess is if you get the 12" you will later lust for the 16"

That's the way life works for me anyway...

[Jim Becker]

No question...if you have the space and the funds, the larger unit is going to give you the most options long-term. I wish for 16"/410mm from time to time as my J/P is "only" 13.68"/350mm...

[Don Jarvie]

Keep an eye on the auction sites. I picked up my 16 inch Jointer there. Unfortunately I’m going to sell it soon. It’s too big for my shop and I’m doing more turning than flat work now.

[Tim M Tuttle]

I was at the Grizzly store in Springfield the other day and came across their 16" jointer. We had a moment.

[Jeff Heath]

With jointers, bigger is always better, condition being the same. I have always restored my own machines, and jointers are one of the easiest machines to restore, but I still kick myself daily for selling my 24" jointer. I haven't been able to find another 24"er, or 30"er, in 4 years, that wasn't priced out of this world.

Get the 16"er. A friend of mine is selling a restored 16" Newman jointer right now, and for relatively cheap money. It's listed on the Facebook page for "Fans of OWWM", and is at a steal of a price for what the machine is. Newman machines are just about as good as it gets. You can PM me for contact info if you're not already a member of that group. I do not know where you are geographically located, as that will certainly play in to the equation.

Flattening wide boards is a nice time saver, and capacity is everything. You'll start finding larger, wider stock if you have the capacity to handle it. I own my own sawmill, and have a shed full of wide slabs that are too big for my 16" jointer.

[David Kumm]

Also, if you have space and are moving towards larger machines, three phase is the way to go. Either suck it up and buy a rotary converter or plan on a vfd for certain machines. A jointer is a good candidate for a VFD as is a dust collector, saw, and planer ( assuming the table doesn't run on a second motor ). Dave

[Mike Cutler]

If you have the space,and can swing the $$$$, 16", definitely.
You might not work much with stock 16" wide, but the ability to skew an 8" to 10" board across the cutter head can come in handy.

I've never seen a post where someone commented that they bought to big of a jointer, or planer.

[Darcy Warner]

Get a 30" except now I still lost after a 36"

[Jim Andrew]

I really wanted to buy a 16" jointer, but settled for a 12" G0609 with a Byrd cutter head. It is really a nice jointer, and instead of flat jointing the really wide boards I rip them down the center, joint flat, then plane, and finally glue them back together.