8" Powermatic Jointer Questions

[Rob Calkins]

I am going to look at a used 8" jointer tonight. It is wired for 220 and the seller does not have 220 at his house....so I am not going to be able to run it. It is supposed to have a new Balder motor in it. What should I look for? He only wants $400 for it, so it is a good deal, but with out running it I am a little leary. Thanks, Rob

[Stewart Crick]

Rob,

If he has a dryer he has a 220 ckt; I ran my first jointer with an extension cord I made that ran from my dryer outlet. You'd have to make up the extension cord; so I guess it depends on how bad you want to run it before buying.

HTH

Stu

[Joe Mioux]

If it has a new Baldor motor, just open it up and rewire it for 110v.

There is usually a schematic diagram for 110 and 220 wiring right on the cover of the motor or the plate that comes off for the wires.

Joe

[glenn bradley]

Unless he will offer an unconditional return, I would be careful. Jointers are very simple in basic concept but therefor, very basic problems make them very basically hurt. If he's a good guy, this shouldn't be a problem. The better option would be to take a pigtail, rewire the motor for 110 temporarily (wiring diagram under the terminal cover or on the motor housing). You may not be able to put a load on it as it might trip his breaker. You can at least check for vibration or other 'under power' problems. Table flatness and other functions can be checked without power. Take a good straight edge and other setup tools you may have.

[Roy Wall]

Rob,

Could be this is a PM Model 60?. These older machines generally had 3 phase motors.......so since you say it has a new Baldor.....I'm assuming it's a newer single phase 2-3 hp that it more common nowadays. As Joe has said, it can be rewired pretty quick to 110v.

TO check the bearings on the cutterhead - be sure to UNPLUG the machine, loosen the belt, then spin the cutterhead. It should be smooth. Any soft grinding sound and you'll need to replace those. I'd factor this in before I'd pay the full price.....

[Gary Benson]

How did it look? I was curious as I saw in on Denver's CL as well.

[Steven Wilson]

What HP motor is on the jointer? If it's a typical PM then it had a 1.5HP motor that could be wired 110 or 220, or a 2HP (IIRC) 3phase motor which you won't run on single phase power. Check to be sure before you buy. In any case $400 isn't bad for a good PM60.