Looking to Upgrade; Looking for advice on a Jointer

I'm hoping to upgrade a few things in the shop when we go back North. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do about a new saw and a new planer, but I could use some advice about a jointer.

I currentlly have a Ridgid 6 incher, which I want to replace with an 8 inch unit with a helical cutter head. Grizzly has a couple, Jet has one, and Powermatic has one. The Grizzly and Jet units seem to get decent reviews, but I haven't been able to find any reviews on the Powermatic. If anyone has an opinion about any of these (or comparable units) I'd appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Tony
 
Last edited:
I bought a used 8" Grizzly with Spiral cutterhead. It has seen very little use but I have been happy with it so far. I have used a 6" powermatic jointer ( regular knives) in a school setting and it worked fine too. I am sure Powermatic is better than Grizzly but just don't think the extra price translates into extra performance that would justify the extra price..
 
Last edited:
What Mohammad said I would be willing to bet you get better service from griz than most of the shops selling the other two as well.
That being said if I was looking to buy I prolly would go with the jet only because I have a local shop that treats me right.
 
I have an older PM 8". Standard 3 knife head. Bought it used, and it serves me well. That said, I think any of the brands you've mentioned will be more than adequate. If you have time to buy used, watching craigslist may save you some cash, otherwise I'd buy for value among those you've considered.
 
if i were to do it over i would look hard at the planer side first with a helical head, then to the jointer with same head second..i use both but can get by with a jointer with straight blades easier than the planer with straight blades.. and around here a little humor is expected, we all need to chill and relax..
 
Tony I have a grizzly 3HP motor and its a version without the parrelogram bed adjustment. Its still uses dovetail ways that either bed is cranked up and down on. Then there is the fence arrangement and design that i dont think is the greatest mechanical solution. Now i have had great service from Grizzly so nothing wrong there but in my view given this is not your first time around dont stop to just look at brands.

What we need to do in this discussion is get a little deeper into comparing the merits of each machine and its features then you have a path for ugrade and it will be brand independent.

I still find i cannot set my fence and trust it. So i end up haveing to check it for 90 degrees each time i use the jointer. On the face of it the mechanical design of my fence looks like it should work some would argue that it does i would argue that it does not because of its lack of ability to hold the setting. Consider this the bigger the board you muscle onto it and push up against this the more the leverage and weight. The clamping method of the fence needs to be able to keep its setting in the midst of this force being presented to it.

Then look at the discussion that there has been much of surrounding the issue of knives and setting of knives. If i were upgrading and spending new money i would want to go straight for a helix cutter head and one made by Byrd.

One really neat feature i was delighted came (well in fact played a part in my selection) was the built in mobile base. THis has proved to be invaluable given the weight of the aircraft carrier type beds on a long bed 8 inch jointer.

Another must have on these machines of which mine was not initially fitted with one, but i got Grizzly to spring for it and send it to me free of charge due to their stating it had it on their literature, a fact they have since corrected, is the inclusion of a magnetic started switch. Why? In the event you do something or the external forces do something which kills the power on you and your machine stops. A magnetic start up switch will drop out and when power is restored either by you resetting a circuit breaker or the untility company turning it back on, you will not return to a machine that is running which would be the case in some machines i have seen on the market. It was the case with mine but no longer. Sure you can retrofit like i did the switch but now i got a two stage on process before i get my machine turning besides the switch costs around $40 to $50 depending on its rating which has to match the motor power so you dont want this extra cost. This was one clever way the marketing types at Grizzly had differentiated two very similar machines. The price difference at the end was $50 between the two. I personally think they should not be allowed to sell a machine without this type of contactor especially one with running blades like a saw or jointer.

Then comes the issue of width. What is wide enough. We start out with 6 inch then upgrade to 12 yet our lunchbox planers are at 13" makes no sense to me. Then factor in the average board width at the lumber shop and the age of trees being cut and realistically who is actually expecting to get boards at realistic prices for hobby work at wider than 8 inches given the trees ages and the way the lumber is cut up. I think a few more experienced and professional members here have upgraded to multipurpose machines where they now have a jointer and thicknesser (planner) all in one. This makes most sense to me and if $$ is not the issue for a small shop floor space saved makes a lot of sense. Of course if one works with someone then one cannot run a line of say jointing and thicknessing together which one would be able to do if one had two seperate machines.

The other isssue you have to consider is power. Right now i dont have 220v in my shop. My jointer is 220v and a beast. So i made sure to buy my generator which is soon to power my shop and ensure it has a 220v output with sufficient current capacity to power the jointer. If you only have 110v in your shop then you need to consider this and it will play into the size and current consumption of the motor you are restricted to purchasing without an upgrade to your electrics.

THese points apply to all brands so again its not just brand to me thats important in the upgrade.

Of course budget is another factor that has not been discussed.

Then there is the question of how frequently do you need to joint wood in your situation and can one do that with a different tool. For example there are people that use a planner and a sled and get to joint 13 inch wide boards all with one machine.

Personally i think i would have liked a wide belt sander before a jointer if i had to go back and repeat my purchases. I can get lumber i buy jointed at the lumber yard pretty cheaply and then when i use it the issue is if one now makes up a wide board what do you do to flatten it. In my case take out the jointer plane and get some excercise but as a strategy it would have been far better for me to have purchased a wide belt sander and got my lumber jointed at the store. Then in the rare cases after that that i would need jointing achieve it with some other strategy , even a router or hand plane.

Then onto some fine details. I think you should also look into the guard. The one on my jointer sucks in my view. Its spring driven but the whole way it mounts and operates often has me wanting to take it off which i will never do but its far from optimal.

Other considerations are how long the beds are going to be on this new jointer and the space its going to take not only to store it but manover and operate it. No problem in a large long shop but hey few have ideal conditions like this in hobby shops.

And my final tip is no matter what cord came with your ultimate jointer, get rid of it. I changed mine out for a nice piece of flexible rubber cord with an upgrade to the wire gauge such that i dont have volt drop occur when this 3HP power motor runs and i made it long enough to cater for reaching my 220v receptacle and put a decent plug on the end.

When you recieve your new jointer make sure to also check on the flatness of the beds. Regardless of which brand i have seen many stories where one or other bed was returned. But i also think reasonableness has to apply given the price range of the machines we hobbiests purchase.

Best of luck hope this list helps get some more input for you to make a choice, the devil is in the details not the marketing hype or color. :D
 
I own a byrd helix head 6 inch powermatic.
Never had any problems, but you are right in getting an 8 inch. I should have listened to the people here and went with an 8 inch jointer from day one.

budget concerns-powermatic and jet are pricey.
My views on this is that its most likely a one time investment, a machine that can last you your entire woodworking career/lifetime.
 
Last edited:
Top