What 8" jointer would you get and why?

[Dave Sabo]

Have you considered one of Grizzly’s lines ?

How’s the used market in your area ? It’s not listed in your profile.

Laguna has a nice offering , though you have to deal with Laguna.

Have you considered a combo like a Hammer A3-31 ? More money but more/better machine that anything mentioned so far.

[Greg Parrish]

I started out with a 6” Powermatic with helix cutter. Nice machine but not wide enough and would sometimes move due to lack of weight. I sold it to upgrade.

next machine was a hammer 12” jointer planer with segmented cutter. This was a really great machine but honestly I got tired of converting back and forth between functions. I sold this a few years back with the rest of my shop.

today as I’ve inched back into woodworking I’ve had to keep everything mobile in my space. I also decided to limit costs where I could. I shopped Facebook marketplace and found a great condition jet 8” jointer for sale for a good price. So far I only had to add some plywood into the mobile base and a dust collection connection to the side. Otherwise for less than 1/2 new it was a good find I think.

Be sure to check your used market. I drove around 100 miles to get this one.

[glenn bradley]

Any of the 8" machines that are basically clones of the old Delta DJ-20 should be fine. Jointers are simple machines that just require that the design be well implemented (like drill presses). My Grizzly G0490X clone has served me well for over a decade without a hiccup. A heavier, fancier base is fine but does not effect the operation of the machine itself. Good luck on the quest and I will agree that although J/P combos (no matter how nice) are great space savers the short beds and changeover would wear on me unless I had to go that way to make things fit.

[Keith Outten]

I own a Grizzly 8" by 72" jointer that is over 20 years old that has served me well. I'm not sure if Grizzly still has a price point advantage, if so you would be wise to put a Grizzly jointer on your list of machines to evaluate.

[Jim Becker]

While I prefer a wider arrangement as comes with a J/P combo, I'll echo what Glenn just mentioned...pick something that's available as there really isn't anything innovative about most 8" jointers. Pre-owned is the most cost effective if you can find something. Otherwise, focus on actual availability and price rather than paint color and name. (unless you prefer a particular color, of course...I'm actually anal like that! LOL )

[Warren Lake]

Hey Mel,

You have to agree you have been stating that as long as ive been reading you here. Hence my past statement there is a guy that has spent time on machines and understands wood.

[Mel Fulks]

Warren , sometimes when in a long line at at the grocery store …I start explaining proper use of woodworking machinery . That makes a lot
of people leave . Yes , I hate to see so many with lack of interest . But on balance ,it sure speeds up the line !

[jeff oldham]

i bought the g0814x from grizzly,,its a 6 inch jointer and the reason i bought it is for the v style cutter head and space,,,with that being said after i got it the vibration and noise was terrible,,,i called grizzly and they walked me thru everything to try to get the vibration out which did not work,,so they sent me a new machine out and told me to send the old one back,,,plus paid for the return shipping,,,all i did was switch out the jointer itself,,,and i could not be happier,,,no vibration,,i even did the nickle test and it never fell plus the noise level went down so much,,my dust collection is louder than the jointer,,,im not a big fan of ordering machinery on line but grizzly customer service is great,,it changed my attitude in that respect,,,,,i will say this and i told the grizzly rep about it,,,the cover over where you change the belt is 90 percent of where the noise was coming from,,i put some stick on rubber between the cover and housing and it cut the noise level almost out,,

[Bill Dufour]

V style cutter head?
Bill D

[Alden Peterson]

Just ordered a Powermatic 60HH (off Amazon, of all places, fulfilled by Acme but I get 5% cash back and free shipping via Amazon prime card).

Excited for it to come!

Now I have to figure out how to get a mobile base for it that doesn't suck...

[Randy Heinemann]

I have owned a Jet 8" HH jointer for about 7 years and it was possibly the best purchase I ever made. It was less expensive than the Powermatic version. The only real difference between Powermatic and Jet at the time seemed to be that the helical heads on the Powermatic had more cutters and maybe a little better fit and finish. However, the Jet does a great job and, over the 5-year warranty period I got great support from JPW. I never regretted not buying the Powermatic.