Opinion on "second hand" jointer...

[John Pollman]

I was just browsing the Marketplace and ran across a Ridgid 6-1/8" jointer new in the box. It said $1. (contact me for price) I have a 4" bench top that works fine, but I was curious so I asked. These go for $800 new at HD. He came back with $500. The thing about it is that the box looks a little beaten up and it's been stored on its end. That can't be good! I should probably run and not walk away, but I feel like offering him $300 and see what he says. I mentioned the box condition and storage issue to him already. I'm gonna sleep on it.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

People generally seem to like them, main complaints are that sometimes the chip chute can clog up a bit and they might be a bit tippy so it'd be good to mount it on something to stabilize it a bit.

The stock knives are reportedly not great, some random on reddit recommend replacing them with a HSS third party knife set and said they were happy enough after that.

I don't think I'd do $500 with the unknowns... If you reckon you'd be happy at 6" $300 might be an ok deal as long as it doesn't look actually damaged. I'd check to make sure it hadn't been dropped / has a broken casting or anything before doing the final handshake.

 

[John Bartley]

I own one .... and have for about fifteen years +/-.

I bought mine for about $500cdn plus taxes, new, from a Home Depot that was having a clearance sale. I set it up well when I got it and made sure the tables were properly co-planar and that the blades were properly levelled. I own a sawmill, so I don't buy much wood. My jointer gets to see almost every stick of wood I use (hobby playing only), and after fifteen years, hundreds (maybe thousands - time flies eh?) of feet thru it it still works reasonably well with the original blades (I just bought replacements). I have sharpened the blades (on my BusyBee/Grizzly style grinder) at least once, maybe a couple of times as I recall, and I have used both it and my Ridgid 13" planer (bought at the same time) for everything from jointing and planing clean wood .... to stripping paint off old boards (with good dust collection attached and me upwind wearing a 3M respirator filtered mask).

I can only say GOOD things about my 6" Ridgid jointer.

 

[Chuck Ellis]

Can't say anything abut the jointer from Ridgid, but my first lathe was from Ridgid and I loved it until the center tube started to rust in the humidity in Houston... still liked the lathe just not the rust... a regular dose of naval jelly kept most of it at bay. Rigid makes pretty good tools.

I agree with Ryan... $500 for an unknown set of factors might be a little too much.

My jointer is a PowertecPro BJ600....6" jointer.... it's a bench top and has worked very good for me, except now the drive belt has slipped off the motor shaft and there's not enough room under the jointer to get my hands in there to put the belt back on... frustrating, I need that jointer.

 

[John Pollman]

Thanks, guys. At this point, I'm gonna pass. Back in December, I spent $7K on an electric stair lift to get down to the shop, and last week, $16,500 for an automatic generator for the house. I'd better cool it for a bit.
I can make do with my 4" benchtop model for a while. When I do upgrade to a floor model, I'm gonna get one that can accept a helical cutter head. I installed one in my Dewalt 735 planer and I'm a believer in helical heads. They are sweet!

 

[Paul Douglass]

I had one of the Ridgid ones. It was good, well good enough for me, I am not pro. I got rid of it because it scared me to use it and I noticed I would find other ways to get the job done just to avoid having to use it.