OMG Another "which jointer to buy ?"

[lou Brava]

Alright, I apologize in advance for this post ! After 6-10 months of shopping used & missing out on 1 decent used 8" jointer. I'm buying new & the thing I'm struggling with is a Jet or Grizz. ? The Jet is JWJ HH dovetail I can get it all in (+all day drive) for 2K which includes 450 for gas & mobile base. The Grizz G0490X all in for 2.3K that's delivered. I like the Jet for it's cutter head and price. I like the Grizz for it's parallelogram design. Common sense tells me both will do an excellent job. The jointer will be replacing (finally !) my TS straight line jig & planar sled.
I've read a lot about cutter head types & Jet gets the nod, but the dovetail vs the Grizz, Grizz gets the nod. Aside from machine performance noise & mobility are a concern, and Jet would probably be better due to an aftermarket mobile base. I think read too much about dovetail style "adjustment nightmares" that are making me waver on the Jet. Correct me if I'm wrong but the only time you ever need to adjust an outfeed table is if it goes out of alignment.
Since the jointer will be used in my (hobby) shop by me only with light use once it's set I would think I'd never need to mess with it. Any opinion comments will be appreciated.
Thanks

[Robert Hayward]

I would go with the helical head over parallelogram. Back when I was looking at jointers I also thought I needed parallelogram. Not sure why, just thought I needed that. Ended up finding a dovetail 10" Oliver with a Byrd head for just a little over my self imposed budget for a new 8" straight knife parallelogram Grizzly. Yes, I had to drive 500 miles round trip to get it but it was a fun drive going after a new toy.

Not having to mess with sharpening and setting straight knives is a joy to say the least. The Oliver came out of a yacht cabinet shop and I used the machine with the carbide cutters in the original Byrd position for a couple years in my hobby shop. One day bored with nothing else to do I rotated the cutters. Was a waste of time as the machine cut no different with a fresh edge than it did with the well used edges. I came from a 4" straight knife Delta Homecraft jointer that I lost sleep over going to have to change knives. Very tedious for me getting all the knives set correctly.

I set the outfeed table once when I first got the Oliver and have not touched it since. Infeed yes as I wanted to remove less or more stock. Dovetail jointer tables have been around for a long time for a good reason, they work.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have had the G0490X for several years. It has the spiral cutter heads not blades. I have been happy with it and it has the parallelogram beds. It works well!

[Richard Coers]

Doesn't the ShopFox brand from Grizzly have a longer warranty? I know Jet's warranty is longer than Griz. If that makes a difference to you. I've been woodworking for 51 years, and have gotten along just fine with straight blades. Same for the generation before me, and the generation.......... You get my point.

[lou Brava]

Thanks for help, I'm not real concerned with warranty length & I also had it my head that a parallelogram was a better choice but after hearing conformation that adjust outfeed table once and that's all it would ever need puts that to rest. So maybe the Jet HH is a better option than the Grizz spiral type cutter. With that said I'm leaning toward the Jet, probably pull the trigger on one or the other this coming up Monday.
Thanks again

[Jim Becker]

I would go with the helical head over parallelogram.

Same for me. I'ver never adjusted the depth of cut on the jointer function on my jointer/thicknesser since I bought in in about 2005, so considering I'd likely behave the same with a stand-alone jointer, the dovetail vs Parallelogram design is not material to me as long as the tool is properly aligned. But that's me. Some folks do frequently adjust their jointer depth of cut so they might prefer how one design moves over the other. In that case, I'd likely make the opposite choice since the cut off a jointer isn't a finishing process...it's just for flattening/straightening...and the material will be further processed on both sides beyond jointing it flat.

Bottom line...make the choice based on how you anticipate you will actually be using the machine.

[Robert Hayward]

I've been woodworking for 51 years, and have gotten along just fine with straight blades. Same for the generation before me, and the generation...

Horses were the main mode of transportation for a lot of generations also. Not many using a horse as the main method these days.

I realize some people are comfortable and skilled at setting straight knives. My guess is most hobby type woodworkers are more comfortable rotating a carbide cutter. Carbide insert heads are in demand for a reason.

[Michael Burnside]

I am the opposite of Jim and Robert. I’d go parallelogram and upgrade the head at a later date. The precision and adjustment that locks the in/out feed of the parallelogram design is great. If you don’t change depth much then maybe it doesn’t matter, but I do occasionally. Easy to upgrade the head but not the fundamental design.

I would say long term HH is great, which my jointer also has.

[Ron Selzer]

I started with a straight knife jointer in 1982, never had a major problem setting the knives, adjusting the tables. Yes it took longer in the beginning than it did as I learned more about how to do that. Now have a Shop Fox 8" insert head Parallelogram jointer and a MiniMax 12" combo with straight knives. I enjoy the cut the insert head gives along with lower noise when using. I recommend insert heads when you can afford one and like the rest of the machine.
I had a bad experience with Jet back in 1988 and made them take a table saw back due to poor quality, so I do not buy Jet ever.


adding. I have bought a used Jet Jointer after the fiasco with the table saw, however I was able to look it over, check it and run wood thru it. I will not buy any Jet tool on faith, I need to see it and check it over first. I bought a Delta table saw and after unpacking it, I was very happy with it. Not 100% perfect, however it was of the quality I expected. I have bought from Grizzly numerous times and each time, the tools were as or better than advertised and expected.
Ron

[Warren Lake]

mennonites use horses around here or close by. have straight on my jointers and planers and been fine over 40 years on them Id like Tersa for the planer but at 7k for the head alone ill just change knives and hone them for now.

[lou Brava]

I am the opposite of Jim and Robert. I’d go parallelogram and upgrade the head at a later date. The precision and adjustment that locks the in/out feed of the parallelogram design is great. If you don’t change depth much then maybe it doesn’t matter, but I do occasionally. Easy to upgrade the head but not the fundamental design.

I would say long term HH is great, which my jointer also has.

Jim/Michael, Maybe I'm not understanding the depth adjustment on the dovetail style. I was understanding that once the tables are aligned/coplanar that you just leave the outfeed table alone, and the depth adjustment happens by moving only the infeed table. I would think that would be a very quick & simple operation, do you need to move both tables when adjusting the depth ?
The Grizz. does come with a "spiral" cutter head with 40 4 edge carbide inserts, the Jet has a true helical type head with 40 inserts. I think the head on the Jet is better design (but probably not by a lot), a bit quieter and with a good mobile base it will easier to move around. The Grizz has a built in base that gets mixed reviews.

[Robert Hayward]

You have the adjustment procedure correct for a helical head. The cutting edge on a carbide insert on a helical head remains the same distance from the center of the head. I know the cutters wear but that is most likely measured in the low hundred thousandths range. With the cutters staying at the same height the outfeed table does not need to be moved to compensate for a different diameter head.

With straight knives the diameter of the head changes each time you sharpen the knives or even remove and reinstall. Thus a need to adjust the outfeed table to compensate.

This is true for a dovetail machine or a parallelogram machine. It is the type of cutter head that makes the difference.

[Warren Lake]

if you want to do a spring joint and many do the outfeed moves. I can a whole job 10k whatever knives dont change, How many jobs can a hobby guy do?

[Michael Burnside]

Jim/Michael, Maybe I'm not understanding the depth adjustment on the dovetail style. I was understanding that once the tables are aligned/coplanar that you just leave the outfeed table alone, and the depth adjustment happens by moving only the infeed table. I would think that would be a very quick & simple operation, do you need to move both tables when adjusting the depth ?
The Grizz. does come with a "spiral" cutter head with 40 4 edge carbide inserts, the Jet has a true helical type head with 40 inserts. I think the head on the Jet is better design (but probably not by a lot), a bit quieter and with a good mobile base it will easier to move around. The Grizz has a built in base that gets mixed reviews.

Outfeed is left alone once adjusted properly with respect to the cutter. Parallelogram will give consistent distance between head and wings regardless of depth. May sound insignificant but this let’s you bite more material cleanly and safely while also offering more fine tune adjustments (at least on many parallelogram jointers)

[Warren Lake]

"With straight knives the diameter of the head changes each time you sharpen the knives or even remove and reinstall. Thus a need to adjust the outfeed table to compensate"

You mean the cutting circle not the cutter head

My cutting circle does not change with fresh knives, its set the same every time set up with a dial, knife tips to .050 above the cutter head. Another reason to set up the same cutting circle every time is feed rolls and pressure stuff is all dialed in. (at least on the planer)