A 6-in. jointer is a good starter size for a workshop, so I chose 11 models to examine, all of which happened to be made in either Taiwan or the People’s Republic of China. The only significant differences among them were in the fence designs and the mechanisms by which you raise and lower the infeed and outfeed tables.

With a jointer, you want infeed and outfeed tables that are flat and coplanar to each other, meaning that the tables should run parallel from one end of the machine to the other.  To function properly, the surface of the outfeed table must be flush with the top arc of the knife cut and perfectly parallel to the full width of the knife cut as well as to the surface of the infeed table.

Among these machines, you can choose from four fence designs, my favorite of which is the rack-and-pinion, because adjustments are quick and easy to make, and you can move the fence in and out with one hand.

The Bridgewood came with a good step-by-step instruction manual, complete with decent photos of the actual machine that was delivered, which was not the case with all the machines I reviewed. The griding on the tables was extremely flat, but the fence was not as flat.

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JessEm Mite-R Excel II Miter Gauge

The gauge has a quick and easy method for fitting the guide bar precisely to your tablesaw’s miter slot. This means the gauge can be recalibrated if necessary for continued accuracy. The face of the protractor head can be adjusted square to the table and also square to the guide bar. This ensures accurate cuts, and it, too, can be readjusted if the need arises. The protractor head has stainless-steel knobs and fittings and high-contrast, easy-to-read white numbers and increments.

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Grizzly G0495X Industrial Helical Cutterhead 8-in. Jointer

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