I hand plane one side flat, then run through the power planer flat side down and keep planing and flipping until desired thickness is reached. Before my current method, I had 6” and 8” jointers and much preferred my 8” Grizzly.
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I hand plane one side flat, then run through the power planer flat side down and keep planing and flipping until desired thickness is reached. Before my current method, I had 6” and 8” jointers and much preferred my 8” Grizzly.
Last edited by Jason White; 04-18-2023 at 6:25 PM.
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I realized most drawers I make are 8" tall or less. So I got a 8" delta jointer. No reason you can not cut off the end of the tables to make it fit. It should not warp form the stress?
BilL D
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Have you upgraded yet?Originally Posted by Christopher Charles
Member
Having just been through what you are going through, I'll give you a hobbyist perspective on getting a $5K machine to replace my cutech (~$500) and Ridgid.
When I had the cheap tools it always seemed a hassle. I had it set up to be something I brought out, set up, used at the start of a project, then put away. I never brought them out in the middle of a project.
Now that I have a stand alone jointer/planer, it may be my most used tool. Yesterday, I had a piece of wood that needed a little planing or sanding, nothing super special, just needed to get some rough edges off. I looked at my sanders and hand planes, turned on the planer, sent it through, moved on. Now, to be fair, I have a dedicated space for the larger machine so I don't put it away. But still, I'd never turn to a cheap Ridgid planer to quickly smooth out a board. I'm doing it all the time with my Hammer.
I needed a strip of wood that was less than a half inch thick. I grabbed some scrap, spent 30 seconds setting up the Hammer, couple of passes, done. Not sure it's actually faster than ripping something on the table saw, but it sure seems to be my go to tool often. Prior to the Hammer, even if I had the Ridgid set up, I'd never consider doing that.
Not sure if other people feel the same or I'm just looking for excuses to use it, but it sure is useful.
[OP]
Member
Thank you for all the replies! It sounds like the most people prefer a European combination jointer-planer, with second place going to an 8" jointer. I'm still digesting all of the good information that everyone provided, but it looks like one of these two options should work well.
Member
When I decided to upgrade from my 6" jointer, I initially contemplated an 8" machine, like a Grizzly. There is a huge jump in practicality from 6" to 8". With an 8" jointer most projects are doable since 8" is pretty wide and I didn't think many of my projects would use boards wider than 8". What got me into Euro-style combo machines was how efficiently they use space. In the footprint of one machine , you get two machines, which meant I could get rid of my seperate planer machine. That took up quite a bit of bench space that I now have back. I then realized that although most of my project boards are 8" or less, a lot of the rough lumber I obtain was wider than that. So the 12 or 16" jointer machines allow you a lot more options in terms of milling the rough lumber, since you can get really wide boards to run through the milling process...without having to rip them down first. Also nice to joint and plane entire pieces, like cutting boards. Good luck!
SB
Member
I think you'll find that today's price is A LOT cheaper when adjusted for inflation.
Contributor
Respectfully I've never understood this argument. I mean I understand the point, but the cost of LIVING isn't adjusted similarly, so saying that really doesn't solve any real monetary problem or make the pocket book any thicker. Let's be real, they're expensive LOL!
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Lol-indeed still expense…so no upgrade yet!
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
--Yogi Berra
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If you are interested in the Hammer machines, then you should sign up to get their news letters. They have showroom floor model sales periodically throughout the year. I've seen the combo machines on sale for upwards of 30%. So, if not in a hurry, and you're quick, you stand a good chance of snagging one.
Personally, if I was going with one of the combo machines, I'd lean towards the MinMax. I like that it has a longer jointer bed.
Contributor
My vote goes for restoring a vintage Northfield 24" jointer a la David Marks. Its only 2200 bls, and 10 hp.
Clearly, this is A. a joke, and B. my dream. lol
Moderator
It's actually a wonderful thing for anyone that has the space, has the minimum skills to do the restoration and an actually find a candidate that's worthy of the effort. Old iron is truly something amazing sometimes!
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Member
No need to joke. 12-16" machines are relatively inexpensive even in good/ready to work condition.
24" not so much, but still.
Contributor
Sure would be nice to have a wider jointer, but in the meantime ...
When I have to face joint something wider that 6", I set my PM54 to take a light cut (~1/64), remove the pork chop, and run the board first with one edge against the fence, then with the other. The board ends up with a slight ridge but is flat end-to-end. I then run it through the planer & end up flipping the board over to remove the ridge.
This contradicts my sig: this doesn't work well with highly figured wood (since you are jointing against the grain in one pass), and you probably lose a little bit more in thickness than you would if starting with a wider jointer. But for occasional use, it's do-able.
-- Jim
Use the right tool for the job.
Member
If you end up going with option #4 & being the Hammer A3-41 or A3-31, I highly recommend that it was "built" before all the covid shit. I am saying this from experience. I got a new 1 in early 2022 that was built in 2021 & both beds were concave in both directions. Side to side & end to end. needless to say there no way of aligning them to create a straight edge. Along with that the settings you had 1 day to the next would change & is likely from moving it from 1 location to another. Needless to say it took about many texts, emails, calls, a 2 hr skype, roughly 9 months & $1,200.00 in instruments/gauges I had to purchase to test, measure & document for them to finally pack it up & ship it back, "at their request" with full refund. Well except fort the instruments I purchased.
I also found during all the measuring, checking & endless adjusting to try get it aligned that there is way too many moving parts on the combo units to be able to get them properly set & stay set. Especially if they are being moved around due to lack of room, as with my case. My next purchase will be 2 separate units.
During all of this I did more checking & ran across more problems with the same units with the same problems. They were also ones purchased after we were well into the covid shit show. Quality control on the casting & machining of the tables seemed to really go down.
However I have to say that Felder/Hammer did come clean on it after I sent it back for them to check for themselves.
Best of luck to you.
Last edited by Dwayne Johre; 05-03-2023 at 6:40 PM. Reason: additional info.
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