Looking for experienced opinion on jointer choice by 7/31/2023

[Ronald Blue]

Curious - Grizzly offers "spiral cutterhead". Is this equivalent in function/quality of cut to the Byrd Shelix? Seems it must be less costly given the total price of the jointer.

I put a 6" Grizzly spiral head on a 6" Jet jointer a couple years ago. It came out of their scratch and dent room. ZERO issues with it and it has worked flawlessly. Interestingly enough I picked up a Delta DJ-20 and bought a Byrd head for it from Grizzly and you can find the kudo's to them in another thread. The large bearing step on the Byrd was .020 oversize. Grizzly made it right and the head is now installed. It's safe to say that you absolutely can't tell the difference between the finish of the Grizzly head and the Byrd Shelix. I know it was a fluke the Byrd head had issues but the point is those who think that you are guaranteed better results if you pay more are sadly mistaken.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Gratzi, Ronald

[Michael Burnside]

I have the helical head version of the PJ882 (PJ882HH) and I love it. I did a lot of research and that's where I ended up. It has milled a lot of board feet and still cuts smooth and is dead level. Very well built machine and was ready to go right out of the box. The PJ882 is made of the same bones, so based on personal experience, I'd choose the PJ882. Some of the others mentioned seem good too, I just cannot speak to them with direct experience.

[Alex Zeller]

I'm a fan of the used market but I'm not a fan of waiting and hoping to find something that fits my needs. It's a balance. I was about to give up and buy a new straight blade Grizzly 8" Taiwanese parallelogram jointer when I found a used PJ882HH with the mobile base for sale not too far away. It was right in the middle of the pandemic so people weren't travelling much. That allowed me to get it. Had it been a year earlier or later and I think it would have been gone before I could have made the trip to pick it up.

What I have learned is 2HP is more than enough for an 8" jointer. I've never lacked power. Both the tables and fence are very flat. I have plenty of Grizzly tools but I feel they aren't machined to the same level as the Powermatic. For example my 1033X planer has a .003 bow across the 20" infeed table. Not enough to impact anything I do but the powermatic is so flat I can't slide a .002 feeler gauge when I put a straight edge over the length of the tables.

If buying new you have the option to reject or return it. Buying from a local store, like Rockler, makes it even easier. Grizzly will work with you to fix anything they sell but you need to do the work. I believe Powermatic will send someone out to do the work.

I've tried to buy used more than once only to drive most of the way to see something before getting a text saying "sorry, I just sold it". If it's a great deal it'll sell quickly. If it isn't then is it worth driving far to buy it?

[Warren Lake]

sam just see your post now its both to dampen and does add weight but its mostly to dampen. My general bandsaw had a ring drone all the time so lined both the covers in some amount of weight maybe 15 lbs cant remember split between the two it went quiet. The base I couild have done but was going to weld one then ended up putting it up with it. the general jointer the base just flaps in the wind. Turn on the SCM after and you dont want to go back to the general even though it works fine.