Jet JJP-10BTOS vs. Rikon 25-010H? The search for a decent 10" Jointer / Planer

[Kristopher Yates]

Hey everyone! This is my first post, though I've been reading for years & find this forum to be quite the wealth of knowledge!

I am currently on the hunt for my first jointer / planer combo machine. Why a combo, you ask? Well, I am a luthier, so I pretty much never need long jointer beds, but I do need the 10" width. Also, my shop is a very modest 86 sqft, so the combo is kind of a necessity. Over the past couple years, I've been sharing a shop space with a friend, equipped with a 12" Rojek Jointer / Planer & I must say, I didn't know how nice that thing was until I tried some lesser machines. Very precise, never even had to worry about snipe, equipped with a quiet helical head, etc.

Last week, I bought a Jet JJP-10BTOS from my local Woodcraft store & let me tell you, the thing felt like it was made by Fisher-Price. An absolute toy. Incomplete aluminum castings under the planer bed, cupped jointer fence, cupped infeed table, the cheapest plastic I've ever felt, the list goes on & on.

So, I just returned that thing today and ordered the Rikon for a few reasons-

It has a helical cutter head
It has what appears to be a real motor
It weighs about 70lbs more, despite being about the same size, so hopefully this is indicative of a more robust machine
The fence can be adjusted across the cutter head, so the same section of the blades aren't used every time when edge jointing

Unfortunately, all of the reviews on this machine seem to be specific to it's predecessor, which just has a 3-blade cutter head. The biggest gripe seems to be that the metal that the fence support is made from is cheap pot metal. Honestly, if it delivers in all other aspects and just falls short with that one bracket, I'll have a better one fabricated. It's been very surprising to find that these are really the only two options for a compact 10" Jointer / Planer. I saw that Grizzly used to make one, but it required 220v and weighed an additional couple hundred pounds. My workshop is just a shed in our back yard powered via extension cord, so 110 is necessary. On paper it seems like the Rikon is perfect, but the reviews are still pretty bad.

Does anyone have a recent experience with the Rikon? Or ideally, both units? Since I only have hands on experience with the Jet, my fingers are crossed that the Rikon will be a legitimate machine and not as much of a toy. Any other 110v 10" combo machines out there that I'm not aware of?

Thanks!

[John Lanciani]

Personally, I’d be looking for a well kept INCA 570 if I had your limitations. Anything new in that size is going to be full of compromises.

[Curt Harms]

That Rikon has been around for quite a few years though I've never used one though I did see one years ago. I have seen the Jet benchtop jointers and yeah, they're toys so the Rikon will likely be an upgrade. I do know that a Jet JJP-12 takes up a space 2' X 5'. The 120 volt is a problem, you don't have a convenient stove or dryer outlet, do you?

[Roberto Erb]

Do not know if you are still looking at the Rikon 25-010H. I just got one and have been using it for about a week, as you I only have 110 V where I do my woodworking hobby. I have a Dewalt 735 which I installed a Shelix cutter; for jointer I have a Ridgid 6 inch which I also upgraded with a Shelix cutter. They both worked OK but I was getting tired of gluing up boards bigger than 6 inches. Would love to get a Hammer one but they are all 220V and I am not paying $500 to $600 in shipping charges?!?!

Anyhow, the Rikon combination planner jointer was a surprise, I read the reviews and they were not great but the machine works fine, yes the fence is not the best but I leave it at 90 degrees and it works, did not have any problems with the tables being coplanar; I used a straight edge and a feeler gauge and no issues. I jointed a couple of hardwood boards and the joints are at 90 degrees I tested them with an engineer square. The planner works as good as the Dewalt but it is a lot quieter. There is snipe (which can be sanded) when you feed the board, the end does not have snipe. Chip extraction is not good.