Contemplating an 8" jointer

Dave Black

Member
Messages
638
Location
Central PA
I have a decent older 6" delta rockwell jointer that I've been using for a few years now but I keep running into trouble when I try to join longer boards, so I was thinking it may be time to upgrade. I have been on the lookout for a decent used jointer, mainly a powermatic 60 but Im not having much luck unless I want to take a multiple day trip to get one. Then I was thinking maybe I should look at new ones. Grizzly isn't too far from me and it is getting close to Christmas, a post Christmas trip to grizzly sounds appealing. One of the reasons I was thinking I should look at new is to avoid warped, worn or drooping tables(especially site unseen on the internet), a parallelogram jointer would all but eliminate any issues now and in the future. Thoughts? I would like to stay under $1000 for new. I see some good looking models but I will wait till some others weigh in, I'm not dead set on grizzly either but from what I saw most others are in a whole nother price range.
 
I enjoy the long beds on the Grizzly G0490X but, if length is the problem and not width, you can save some money. Buy or build some better-quality work supports. Even really large jointers are still only so long. If you are jointing things in excess of six feet regularly, work supports will help more than a new machine. It is all about supporting your work through the entire path. Not that I'm one to talk someone out of a new tool :rolleyes:. As to budget, I would be very hard pressed to go back to a knifed machine. There is plenty of data covering the lower cost of ownership despite the higher initial cost.
 
I was looking at the 490 and 490x. I think there is only $25 difference in buying the helix head later. Seems like it may be a good to wait or get the 490 and the upgrade helix and end up with a spare standard knife head in case something would happen. :huh:
 
i dont see you wanting the straight knife head back in once it was out dave,, if you havnt used a helix head you wont understand till you have..

I know, I think too much sometimes. I looked at grizzly's site and it would be $50 more to upgrade later, but that is to a byrd shelix head.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Shelix-Cutterhead-8-G0490-/H8803

Does the G0490x come with a byrd head? It didn't look like it in the pics.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/8-Jointer-w-Spiral-Cutterhead/G0490X

I see another helix head, it didn't say what brand, but It looks like what the G0490x has in it.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/8-Spiral-Cutterhead-for-G0490/T10126

Aren't byrd heads supposed to be the best, if so its interesting that the other helix heads are $25 more.
 
I was looking at the 490 and 490x. I think there is only $25 difference in buying the helix head later. Seems like it may be a good to wait or get the 490 and the upgrade helix and end up with a spare standard knife head in case something would happen. :huh:

i dont see you wanting the straight knife head back in once it was out dave,, if you havnt used a helix head you wont understand till you have..

I agree, the move back to a knifed machine would be a tough sell to me. I see . . . a light boat-anchor or heavy door-stop in your future.
 
dave i believe bryd had the idea first and others have copied it since,, as for which is better i cant say, i dont have one yet but will one day but i have used them and seen the quality of cut they give, also the noise is lower and the power consumption to make the cut is less on the motor. also changing out a insert cutter when you get a nick in one spot is better then changing the whole knife..
 
We'll have to see how much cash santa brings, I would like to go straight for the helix head, but as always Im on a budget. Is there any other jointers I should look at or is the G0490x the bee's knees.
 
I know, I think too much sometimes. I looked at grizzly's site and it would be $50 more to upgrade later, but that is to a byrd shelix head.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Shelix-Cutterhead-8-G0490-/H8803

Does your $50 include everything involved; bearings, etc.? Other threads here have folks doing it without problems.

Does the G0490x come with a byrd head? It didn't look like it in the pics.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/8-Jointer-w-Spiral-Cutterhead/G0490X

The G0490X is not a Byrd head, it is Grizzly's offering. The Byrd combines the helix with a shear profile. I got to try both at a gentleman's shop while I was going through the same anxiety you are; couldn't tell any difference. I also got to try a 2HP and 3HP machine; this also didn't show any practical difference in use other than what you might expect from an extra pony.

I see another helix head, it didn't say what brand, but It looks like what the G0490x has in it.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/8-Spiral-Cutterhead-for-G0490/T10126

I don't know if that is the head or not but, it takes the same replacement inserts so, I would say it is. Here's mine after being used several times a week since 2008:

G0490X Head.jpg

Aren't byrd heads supposed to be the best, if so its interesting that the other helix heads are $25 more.

Like many things, once you reach a certain level of quality, the differences become more personal than actual. The Griz head is German made, Byrd's are made here. After months of anguish I ordered the G0490X so that I had the head factory installed with a warranty. This has worked out very well but, you have to go with what you will be happy with.
 
Have you had to adjust your tables for parallelism and such or have they held their settings well?

Mine showed up so frighteningly well aligned that I kept re-checking things to see what I had missed :rolleyes:. This was almost anti-climactic as one of the items on my short list of 'gotta haves' when jointer shopping was parallelogram beds. The alignment process on P-beds is very straight forward. It is just a sequence of steps and I deal well with things that provide a specific outcome for a specific set of actions :). I have never had to re-adjust and just used the jointer last night with the usual great results.

Whether P-bed or DT-way, once aligned any decent machine will hold its settings. I have had less-than-decent machines; don't go there :bang:. Its the little things that you think you can live with that become bothersome later on. I have learned that going the extra distance from the gate beats going back or working with remorse. An extra amount of money or effort now will seem like nothing when averaged out over the next 10 years. Whereas 'settling' or falling short will yield a constant reminder that you "shoulda-coulda-woulda".
 
IMG_0719.jpgWell here it is, helical head and all. It went together fine except for the pint of grease that covered practically surface of the machine. There was, no exaggeration, more than a cup and a half of grease on the beds. I cleaned the head as best that I can and when I turned the power on it threw grease all over the infeed table, so more cleaning... I did notice that the fence is cupped along the whole length, I will be calling grizzly for a replacement fence on monday. The other thing I noticed was the out feed table adjustment lever wants to rotate on the offset bushing or whatever thats called ( the thing that is angled so the level is angled toward the front for easy reach.) Its not that bad but I need to find out how to tighten it.
 
congrats dave,, keep us up on the replacment fence.. so far griz has done well with its customers..

Thats what I have heard, we'll see how how they live up to it. I assume that they will ship me a new one, as I don't want to make a return trip there for something like this. (I picked it up at the store) Its even ironic because I had heard some reports of a warped or cupped fences and I took a straight edge to check it when I picked it up, but there was quite a line at the warehouse and I didn't want to hold up the line so I didn't take the time.
 
talked to grizzly monday, they are sending a new fence and having the factory check it for flat before shipping, no questions asked, well not technically because they asked several, but no hassles.
 
good deal dave, you would think that it would be much cheaper to do a better job of quality control than have bad parts get threw and be reshipped. not everyone is gonna take the chance on a maybe good machine or maybe good customer service..
 
Well the replacement arrived today, I brought it inside ( from the 6˚ temps outside) and checked it for flat. Not flat, I decided to wait and check it again when it warmed up, still cupped a few hours later, cupped at least 6 thousandths, not as bad as the original fence but still not acceptable, and this was after the warehouse was supposedly going to check it before shipping. Either there was no checking or they were using twinkies as a straight edge. The rest of the jointer is perfectly flat as far as I can tell. My guess as to why the fences are cupped is that they are getting them too hot during grinding which warps them then when they cool they warp back and go out of flat, thats my theory and I could be wrong. I called grizzly and talked to someone who is going to call me back tomorrow and let me know how they are going to proceed. I called right as they were ready to quit for the day is what he said, so we'll see.
 
Last edited:
Whether they checked it or not, to say they would and then fail is a big black eye. I had the wrong wings sent to me, not Grizzly, another company. I was told that they would double check the replacement before shipping . . . you guessed it, wrong again. Third time was the charm but, that took any profit out of that sale for those folks ;-(
 
Top