What 8" jointer would you get and why?

[Bill Dufour]

This jointer was made in Sweden. Maybe the op lives there?
Bill D.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....Jointer-Planer

https://www.ejca.se/

[Alden Peterson]

This jointer was made in Sweden. Maybe the op lives there?
Bill D.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....Jointer-Planer

https://www.ejca.se/

Nope, I live in Minnesota

If there's anything I'm getting from this thread and all the amazing advice it's that essentially no one has been upset with their 8" plus jointer. And that it seems I might as well pick one I like the colors on since I'll have to look at it a long time

[Andrew Hughes]

Nope, I live in Minnesota

If there's anything I'm getting from this thread and all the amazing advice it's that essentially no one has been upset with their 8" plus jointer. And that it seems I might as well pick one I like the colors on since I'll have to look at it a long time

Whats better then a 8 inch jointer 3 all wrapped up in one.
only in America bigger the better

[Alden Peterson]

Well. I can safely say I do not need a 24" jointer

I probably would enjoy a 12" one but honestly for 99% of what I do/will do an 8" one will be fine.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Not sure where in MN but these are from Minneapolis Craigslist and all look could be worth considering. You can buy a ~$250-300 VFD and easily convert any 3 phase jointer on this list to run on a single phase 220v outlet and have cutterhead braking which is a nice feature if the motor happens to be direct drive. This was about 5 minutes of searching on CL, which is nearly dead these days.

12” Northfield - $2750
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/h...520541434.html

8” Delta - $750
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/h...520511749.html

16” Crescent - $4k - maybe single phase
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/h...513932253.html

12” crescent - no price listed
https://stcloud.craigslist.org/tls/d...508951475.html

[Alex Zeller]

I had no plans on getting an insert head if I purchased new. But when you buy used you get what the seller is offering. I have yet to see any scallops. I assume my PM has a Byrd head but maybe they started making their own head recently? I do know that the argument that jointing is too early in the process to worry about it is flawed. I often do the edge of a board on my jointer (and then parallel it up the other end on the table saw) and go straight to glue up. Any imperfection would show up. I own no tools with straight knives and I doubt I would in the future. I get some people don't like them but I'm converted. If scalloping is a problem then look at some of the Grizzly products. Some of their insert heads don't have the inserts at an angle so that should eliminate any chance of scalloping.

[Jared Sankovich]

I jointer is a hand fed machine. A planer isn’t so that’s a big difference. Inserts take more pressure to keep the wood in the cut unless your cutting depth is tiny or the boards are thick and stiff.
Carbide dulls carbide will Nick. Inserts will get nasty pitch build from fat wood. I have insert head in my planer so I’m not saying they don’t do as advertised. I prefer sharp t1 steel in my jointer it leaves me with a far better surface with the ordinary common woods I use.
Anyone can see clearly what surface on this Alder is superior

That's been my experience with insert carbide. Any "soft" density woods tear (not tear out) allong the softer early wood with carbide. Poplar can be especially bad. On hard brittle woods like sapele inserts are fantastic.

[Bill Dufour]

An 8" jointer is easy enough to move onto a trailer if you know what you are doing. I bet a 12" or bigger is a lot more work and thought not to snap off the tables. The sunbelt rental drop deck trailer is nice for stuff like this. I think it is about $50 a day. I am in the process of moving my 8" delta onto a mobile base using a engine crane.
Bill D

https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equip...e-trailer-10k/

[Warren Lake]

an 8" jointer is a lightweight at under 500 lbs. The Poitras is still a lightweight at over 600 lbs but at least the base wont be flapping in the wind. Soon as i added the SCM never used the general after. It works but no comparison using a machine with weight. You hear it instantly when you turn it on even before you run a board over it.

[Holmes Anderson]

OP, why are you "probably" wanting a parallelogram jointer? Have you had a bad experience with wedge bed jointers?

[James Cheever]

I know this is not a 8" jointer, but I'd recommend you spend a bit more and get a 16".

That's what I did. I got a Hammer A3-41A (not the combo). It is a great jointer.

[Ronald Blue]

That's been my experience with insert carbide. Any "soft" density woods tear (not tear out) allong the softer early wood with carbide. Poplar can be especially bad. On hard brittle woods like sapele inserts are fantastic.

I have to believe it's related to the insert. I have ran everything from pine/fir and cedar to walnut, hickory, oak, and ash and have had no tear out issues. I have the Grizzly version helical head on my Jet jointer. Soft or hard wood it doesn't matter. The inserts are razor sharp and you have to treat them as such just as if it were a freshly sharpened high speed steel straight blade. Maybe you should try different inserts. I know it makes a huge difference in carbide CNC router bits. Some are just far better than others.

[Alden Peterson]

OP, why are you "probably" wanting a parallelogram jointer? Have you had a bad experience with wedge bed jointers?

Honestly I don't have a good answer for this.

I've not owned a jointer before but expect I will not own another one after this. Maybe I just get a cheaper dovetail one and call it good?

[Alex Zeller]

Honestly I don't have a good answer for this.

I've not owned a jointer before but expect I will not own another one after this. Maybe I just get a cheaper dovetail one and call it good?

A parallelogram jointer is easier to set up and adjust when the dovetail wears. If you are looking for a long bed jointer the parallelogram jointers have the option for longer tables.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

This has been my experience and I’m still learning…

I originally had a 6” Grizzly long bed dovetail slide jointer with a straight blade cutter. It worked well for many years (well prior to carbide insert cutter-heads). The dovetail slides were a pain to get parallel with shims and such. But once setup it worked very well. The long bed is essential and is my first take-away.

I came across a Delta DJ20 8” long bed jointer with parallelogram table adjustment. This was a definite upgrade and I bought it close to what I sold my 6” Grizzly. The longer bed and the ease of bed adjustment along with the wider width are definitely worthwhile features to me. Setup is a breeze.

I recently bought a 15” 3hp Grizzly planer with the carbide cutter head. The spiral cutter head really has no tear out. This replaces my Dewalt 13” straight blade planer which was also very capable for a hobbyist like me. But this planer is a giant upgrade once again. The cutter head convinced me to replace my jointer cutter head with a helical carbide insert version. I’m installing it this weekend so I don’t have functional experience on the jointer but my expectations are high.

Tear out was always something I had to work around with my previous tools. I’ve made a lot of nice things with my previous tools so these upgrades are not have to haves but definitely worth it in my opinion.

My opinion is at least an 8” wide parallelogram long bed jointer with a carbide cutter head. Finding quality used equipment saves a lot of money if that is an issue and it is doable with some patience. In this category there aren’t a lot of variations on the design so I’m not sure how much brand matters in this category. My Delta DJ20 is over 25 years old and is the same tool you buy new today and has zero issues.