16" J/P Combo or 20"

[Prashun Patel]

Only you can answer that. For me, 12” JP is fine. In fact, the older I get, the less I make wife, heavy things.

Ask yourself how many tables you will realistically make if you are not a pro.

[derek labian]

Only you can answer that. For me, 12” JP is fine. In fact, the older I get, the less I make wife, heavy things.

Ask yourself how many tables you will realistically make if you are not a pro.

I know what I'm using now, but I'm looking for the benefit of others who find themselves needing 20" planers and why so I can better judge if its likely I will need it in the future

[derek labian]

Here's a thread on SMC I didn't find originally discussing the same topic.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....0-vs-15-planer

and

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....t-for-Opinions

and

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....laner-15-vs-20

I think my error was searching for 16", all the threads are 15" vs 20"

[derek labian]

Good advice in this thread and the 3 historical ones I've found. I decided to measure a bunch of common things I would make to see if the extra 4" would make much difference. It turns out it doesn't really. Everything I measured was either less than 16" and more than 20", but also less than 32" or more than 40". So that sweet spot of 16"-20" and 32" to 40" I didn't find a single item. I guess that decision is made for me. Thanks for all the feedback.

[Mark e Kessler]

I had a 24" SCM planer when I had my business when I closed it I sold it and kept my scm FS350 which I had for about 25yrs which was about 13.5", initially - well for years I missed that 24" scm then a few years back I replaced the FS350 with a 16" j/p I can tell you now i would not go back to a 12" j/p and don't really find myself wanting a 20". when I get more space I will probably get a larger standalone planer but mostly because j/p's are lacking some features like a pressure bar for instance and switch over sucks and I have a power table.... I build medium to small size furniture and some cabinetry...

[Jim Becker]

While there have been a number of times I have wished for the slightly larger 410mm (16") J/P over the 250mm (13.6") version I have, even with my love of wide material there haven't been many situations where more than 410mm would have been helpful and justify the extra cost to own. If I really need to do something with wider dimensions, I have access for a small fee, to a super-wide dual drum sander (up to 62" I believe) as well as a Logosol router based flattening system at a local lumber supplier. I have had them do slabs, for example, or surface glued up table and island type tops. So yea...if that extra 4" isn't going to help all that much, go with the 410mm unit and don't look back.

[Brian Holcombe]

Had I the space I would take a 20 or 24” J/P or 30” stand alone with a 24” finish planer and a 36” roughing planer.

[derek labian]

While there have been a number of times I have wished for the slightly larger 410mm (16") J/P over the 250mm (13.6") version I have, even with my love of wide material there haven't been many situations where more than 410mm would have been helpful and justify the extra cost to own. If I really need to do something with wider dimensions, I have access for a small fee, to a super-wide dual drum sander (up to 62" I believe) as well as a Logosol router based flattening system at a local lumber supplier. I have had them do slabs, for example, or surface glued up table and island type tops. So yea...if that extra 4" isn't going to help all that much, go with the 410mm unit and don't look back.

Thanks Jim!

[Prashun Patel]

I’m not trying to convince you one way or the other, but the guys who value the wide planers appear to me to be super hobbyists or pros. For the rest - which I suspect are many on this forum, a large jointer and planer may be a once a year nice-to-have. That has been the case with me. Ymmv.

There are very few times I have even found single rough boards wider than 14” and any glued up panels are very often wider than 16 or 20”. But this is a hobbyist talking - not a production shop.

[Rod Wolfy]

I had a 12" j/p. It worked well; however, I kept wanting bigger. I got a 19-38 drum sander. It's nice, but it burns hardwoods with ease if I try to go over about 1/32" per pass.

I got a Hammer 3-41 a couple months ago. I love the extra 4". I would love a 20" j/p, but I'm not willing to spend another $4k for the few times I'd use it. If I had a project that actually needed another 4" of jointer space, I'd go find a commercial shop and rent it for an hour or just figure out a work around (for the $4k, you could easily buy a 24" planer).

[Holmes Anderson]

Like you, I am currently using an 8" jointer and 20" planer and previously considered JP combo machines as an alternative to save floor space and increase jointing capacity. I haven't often used the full 20" width of the planer but could use more than 8" of jointing capacity. A few things convinced me not to go with a JP combo. One thing is that JP combo machines are more complex than dedicated machines so you will have to buy a relatively expensive machine like a Hammer or SCM to minimize problems. Those machines are heavy and will be difficult to move into a shop without a forklift or pallet jack through a loading dock or garage door, none of which I have. Another thing is the switchover time, which is something like 45 seconds at a minimum for the SCM. Those things may not be significant drawbacks for you.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have a 12 inch j/p and have only once wanted a wider jointer.

I glue up large pieces and do the finishing with a scraping plane, normally don’t need more than a few strokes to get a decent glue up, it’s amazing how sensitive your fingertips can be for glue alignment…..Rod.

[Alan Lightstone]

I switched from a 16" combo J/P to separates - a 16" jointer and 20" planer. It's been extremely rare that the planer wasn't wide enough, and also pretty uncommon that the 16" jointer wasn't wide enough.

What I regret buying was only a 24" wide belt sander. I wish I had purchased a 37" one. Truly have needed that far more than a wider planer, and certainly a wider jointer. FWIW.

[derek labian]

I switched from a 16" combo J/P to separates - a 16" jointer and 20" planer. It's been extremely rare that the planer wasn't wide enough, and also pretty uncommon that the 16" jointer wasn't wide enough.

What I regret buying was only a 24" wide belt sander. I wish I had purchased a 37" one. Truly have needed that far more than a wider planer, and certainly a wider jointer. FWIW.

Good advice. If I only had the space for a wide-belt... but I can't really move, and the biggest shop I could build is 15'x35'.

[Warren Lake]

im neither for or against combo machines. I have them and they work fine. It took 9 seconds to change the jointer into a planer. Even if it took a minute every time at the end of a 100 hour job it doesnt even register.

Tables can come off at least on mine and reduce it to a much lighter and smaller machine to move.

All the old guys had stroke sanders in their shops, no mystery there that's what they had when they apprenticed. They knew what they could do on them and that they didn't cost much or take big power.