Advice for ease of working in a small shop in regards to a table top jointer.

[Cassius Nielsen]

Hi, so I recently moved and actually have storage and a 1 car garage to set up a shop. The problem is a car will be parked in the garage when I am not using it. With this in mind I have been setting up the shop to streamline and make everything as easy as possible for set up/breakdown and also while working. Currently have outfeed for table saw, router station and miter saw station in the garage. I'm at the point where I am wondering if I should buy a bench top jointer to ease in getting wood prepped for use. Currently I have just been using a table saw jig/router table for edge jointing and I just got a Dewalt planer so face jointing is an option with a sled. Hand planes are also an option but honestly, i'd rather spend my time assembling rather than planing. I have been specifically looking at a grizzly g0893 6" bench top jointer as it seems to be slightly more powerful and with a truer to design helical style head than most of the other options. I have also considered a rikon/wahuda 8", they all come in at around $500. Would a bench top jointer actually expedite the woodworking procedure or would I just run into a different set of limitations/frustrations? A floor model wont work for me between the space constraints and the cost. Most of my projects would be on the smaller side, picture frames are my main thing but I do have some table tops (hard wood) and book cases (plywood) coming up for myself to expand and learn. Lengths of picture frame pieces range from 12" to 60" usually, I have not done anything wider than 3-4". I use a decent amount of reclaimed wood from house renovations, plenty of old pine just gets tossed in the dumpster. I also have a decent wood yard in the area for when I want specialty species. Attached are some pictures to give you an idea what I am working with, still a WIP but looking 100x better than a month ago. Im summary, I am willing to pay for a decent bench top jointer, but will it actually streamline things for me? I have never used a jointer so I'm flying pretty blind here.
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Thank you,

Cassius.

[David Publicover]

Hi Cassius,
I have a single car garage workshop but have never had a car in it. You are obviously more organized than me.
I used a 6” Craftsman bench top jointer for about 10 years and was able to do many projects with it. Sure, it had its limitations but it got the job done. I had mine on a mobile base because it was a bear to lift even though I was in much better shape than now. I bought mine used for a fraction of your budget which helped.
I felt the benchtop jointer had more compromises in practice than my benchtop planer. Why not try using a sled on your planer for awhile and see how that works? You can hang the sled on the wall when not in use.
Best regards,
David

[Julio Vargas]

Hi, so I recently moved and actually have storage and a 1 car garage to set up a shop. The problem is a car will be parked in the garage when I am not using it. With this in mind I have been setting up the shop to streamline and make everything as easy as possible for set up/breakdown and also while working. Currently have outfeed for table saw, router station and miter saw station in the garage. I'm at the point where I am wondering if I should buy a bench top jointer to ease in getting wood prepped for use. Currently I have just been using a table saw jig/router table for edge jointing and I just got a Dewalt planer so face jointing is an option with a sled. Hand planes are also an option but honestly, i'd rather spend my time assembling rather than planing. I have been specifically looking at a grizzly g0893 6" bench top jointer as it seems to be slightly more powerful and with a truer to design helical style head than most of the other options. I have also considered a rikon/wahuda 8", they all come in at around $500. Would a bench top jointer actually expedite the woodworking procedure or would I just run into a different set of limitations/frustrations? A floor model wont work for me between the space constraints and the cost. Most of my projects would be on the smaller side, picture frames are my main thing but I do have some table tops (hard wood) and book cases (plywood) coming up for myself to expand and learn. Lengths of picture frame pieces range from 12" to 60" usually, I have not done anything wider than 3-4". I use a decent amount of reclaimed wood from house renovations, plenty of old pine just gets tossed in the dumpster. I also have a decent wood yard in the area for when I want specialty species. Attached are some pictures to give you an idea what I am working with, still a WIP but looking 100x better than a month ago. Im summary, I am willing to pay for a decent bench top jointer, but will it actually streamline things for me? I have never used a jointer so I'm flying pretty blind here.
IMG_0115.jpgIMG_0114.jpgIMG_0116.jpgIMG_0117.jpg

Thank you,

Cassius.

I used a Dewalt 735 planer with a sled to flatten boards for a while before I got my jointer. I had a 6" jointer but I sold it after I used it once. May have just been my particular jointer (6" porter cable benchtop), my technique, or the fact that I had higher expectations than its capabilities. It was not worth the time and effort to me to try and make it work.

I can tell you that with a planer sled, a hot glue gun, some shims, and rollers on the outfeed side, I face jointed 7' boards on the dewalt to dead flat. It took a little longer but it was super effective. I used that same sled to edge joint the boards on my table saw. The only reason I got a stand alone jointer was that I found a craigslist deal I couldn't pass up. If I had a small shop and space was a premium I would not own a jointer. PM me if you want specifics on the sled. It is a very simple design you can start with and then decide if you want to get the jointer.

[Cassius Nielsen]

Thank you guys for the input. I am going to start with the Dewalt planer for now with a sled for now.