I looked at the four jointer/planer combinations that are moderately priced and readily available. All four combo machines delivered excellent results in my tests. Using maple, white oak, and cherry, I face-jointed and edge-jointed long, wide boards without difficulty, and planed boards with no snipe. These combo machines don’t sacrifice performance, and they don’t command a steep premium.

The Rojek’s MSP 310M model uses a 12-in.-wide cutter head, with a 49-1/2 in. long jointer bed. It is a slightly smaller, simpler version of the Rojek MSP 315. The jointer beds are fixed, not pivoting, a design that makes it harder to set the cutterhead knives properly. Controls, cutterhead, and fence are essentially the same on both machines.

Changing from jointer to planer means raising or lowering the planer bed and moving the dust hood. When planing, the hood covers the cutterhead and a bolt holds it to the fence. When jointing, the hood rests on the planer bed, which you raise to press the hood in place. The changeover is fussy and takes a little over a minute.

The dust-collection setup trades simplicity for effectiveness. Plenty of large shavings miss the hood, littering the planer bed and surrounding nooks and crannies. Cleaning out the mess quickly becomes tiresome. The other machines have better systems.

Because the jointer bed doesn’t swing out of the way, the overhanging outfeed end intrudes when you’re feeding stock into the planer. It’s an annoyance, but not a hazard. The 310 has a jointer bed that’s barely 50 in. long. Extensions, a $190 option, also fit the 315. This is a slightly smaller, simpler version of the Rojek MSP 315. The jointer beds are fixed, not pivoting, a design that makes it harder to set the cutterhead knives properly. Controls, cutterhead, and fence are essentially the same on both machines.

Photo: David Heim

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