jointers

[jeff oldham]

i have been going back and forth trying my best to decide on a jointer,,,i would actually perfer to have a floor model and the 8 inch type,,but needless to say price is way up there,,if you compare it to the 6 inch version,,,its a big difference,,other than the 8 inch benchtop top models,,,and needless to say all i have read the fence is garbage on the benchtop models,,what is your opinion on this subject,,,can anyone tell me what they have and some reasoning to which one i should buy,,thank you

[Stan Calow]

Jeff, I think its all about what you're going to be making. Big furniture needs a big jointer. I have a 6" bench top Delta, and its enough for me because I mostly do small projects now. Yeah the fence is not that great but it can be manageable. If I needed to joint something longer, I'll use my jointer plane.

[Bill Dufour]

I figured out that most of my drawers that I make are 8" tall or less. But much was more than 6". For me the 8" is as large as I need. I bought ex school three phase model and switched out the motor. I left the heaters in and have not overloaded it yet.
Bill D

[John TenEyck]

As wide as you can fit into your shop and can afford. I try to find old machines owned by hobby woodworkers. They have been a great value for me. I have always paid less than half the price of a comparable new machine. There often are some real bargains in jointers as people sell their old, straight knife ones for a shiny new one with a segmented head.

John

[Justin Rapp]

I have a Laguna 6". I started with a benchtop, it was returned after the first use and purchased a 6"delta. Upgraded to the Laguna with helical head and love it, but should have gone for an 8".

[Jim Becker]

The bottom line comes down to "what do you want to do?" with the machine. If your need is primarily just for edges, a smaller machine is fine. If you want to be able to flatten wider lumber before thicknessing, then that changes the solution accordingly. So it's all about the kinds of projects you want to do and the nature of the material you want to mill.

[Charles Coolidge]

Just in the 8" parallelogram jointers there is a wide variance in quality, mass/rigidity and how beefy the parallelogram components are. Even the helical cutterheads are different. At least two different 4 row 36 insert cutterheads that are different. Then a 5 row 40 insert and a 6 row 54 insert. That's all just in the 8" parallelogram class of machines. Long story short I stepped up to a PJ882-HH. Massive, some features from the larger 12" models, came perfectly adjusted from the factory.

pj05.jpg

[Ron Selzer]

Money versus aggravation ratio. Along with space available.
Started with a 4" on a homemade stand with a washing machine motor, about $80 back in early 80's. Did interior door jambs on it among other things. Money was tight, raising kids in our first house which was gutted and slowly put back together. Bought a 6" Jet floor model in 87. Worked all summer 80+ hours a week to buy this, a 12" WoodMaster planer and a contractor's table saw, still have it, will end up at daughter's house. Got a Shop Fox 8" segmented head 2 years ago, real nice to use. Bought a USED Minimax 12" combo machine last year, got a new old stock motor and a mortiser attachment for it last month. Need to put it all together once my wrist heals enough to handle it all. I am certain I will like the wider bed and miss the length of the bed.
Each jointer has had pluses and minuses, the 4" would knock down and travel to a job site easily. Had to use extension tables for anything over 4'. 6" stayed in shop and had an extension table on outfeed side all the time and one on infeed for material over 6'. 8" have no plans for an extension table at this time. Combo 12" has not been used and no plans for extensions except when surfacing lumber, then will use roller stands.
Comes down to how much money to aggravation ratio you can stand. More money less aggravation, less money more aggravation. Space in shop also comes into play. Started out with 2 cd floor of a barn 16x30, now have part of basement in a ranch house, gradually growing from 1/4 to almost all of the basement as kids moved out. So can have more tools now. After house was paid for money for tools became more available. Out of space for now in the basement unless I take it all over.
Ron

[Matt Day]

Buy,,,,an,,,,,8”,,,,floor,,,,standing,,,,jointer,, ,,used,,,,,preferably,,,,as,,,,they’re,,,,cheaper, ,,,if,,,you,,,can,,,find,,,one,,,

[Ron Selzer]

Nice looking jointer Charles. Enjoy it. Something about those long tables really gets to me.
I would have bought one in 2020, however when I went to the Woodcraft store in Columbus Ohio no one would talk to me. Waited about 20 minutes and saw other people get waited on, no one would talk to me. Went home and bought the Shop Fox online. Not the first time that has happened in that store. Like my Shop Fox and don't regret buying it.
Ron

[Ron Selzer]

Buy,,,,an,,,,,8”,,,,floor,,,,standing,,,,jointer,, ,,used,,,,,preferably,,,,as,,,,they’re,,,,cheaper, ,,,if,,,you,,,can,,,find,,,one,,,

Good luck finding one, hunted hard in 2019 and 2020, ended up buying a new Shop Fox
Ron

[Billy Stray]

I just sold a powermatic 54A 6" that I used for many years. as far as 6" jointers go I loved it
If I had more space I probably would have kept it just for edging.
I replaced it with a used 12"dj30 , I just needed the extra width..
BTW I sold the powermatic for $750
Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I had waited and sold it now for a few hundred more

[Charles Coolidge]

Nice looking jointer Charles. Enjoy it. Something about those long tables really gets to me.
I would have bought one in 2020, however when I went to the Woodcraft store in Columbus Ohio no one would talk to me. Waited about 20 minutes and saw other people get waited on, no one would talk to me. Went home and bought the Shop Fox online. Not the first time that has happened in that store. Like my Shop Fox and don't regret buying it.
Ron

Had the same recent experience at our local Woodcraft. I'm standing at the counter ready to check out, a younger 20 something is a few feet away picking his navel ignoring me. I purchased my PJ882-HH at our local Woodcrafters (not to be confused with Woodcraft) it was on display. I arrived with my 48 inch precision Starrett straight edge to inspect it. Well now lets just see if this thing is worth $4k plus. The sales guys were sweating it. lol

[Rick Fisher]

If I was looking for a jointer in that size I would buy used. I would also go with the widest machine I could find and afford. I have a 20" Jointer, I had a 6" Delta, 12" Griggio, and upgraded to a 20" SCMI .. Having said tall of that, I would insist on either Tersa or Helical no a jointer, for no other reason than blade changes on the old machines suck.

[Alex Zeller]

If you have the shop space and the budget get the 8" floor model. In the summer of 2020 I found a used PJ882-hh with the base for $2k that was in great shape. At the time I thought I was paying top dollar for a used machine but decided I wanted it. Price almost never goes down. Now that the price of a new one has gone up about $1500 it looks like a great deal. Until I pulled the trigger I kept waffling on what I should get. The sooner you get what you really want the sooner you can enjoy it.