Replies

1. 
   nikkiwood | Apr 23, 2005 02:21am | #1

   Lots of places will make knives for custom shapes. As a rule of thumb, I think you should probably plan to spend somewhere in the vicinity of $100 per profile.

   From what I undersand, most of these places will run it off with nothing more than a FAX of the profile you want.

   I am kicking tires on this sort of machine myself. And I am curious how you came to the Jet -- as compared to the others in the market: Williams-Hussey, RBI, and Woodmaster. Any advice, thoughts?

   "I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
   -- Bertrand Russell

1. 
   ndege | Apr 23, 2005 05:29pm | #2

   Well, I've looked at some others, too. I've read good reviews here and my dealer has had happy customers with it. The Jet looks about the cheapest, but I was also looking at the Grizzly. I have a Jet TS and I'm really happy with it. Any idea about how easy/difficult it is to change the blades on these planers?The dealer here said something about corrugated blades. (The Jet's are not.) Apparently a local knife maker can work with the corrugated blades, but not sure about the smooth ones.

1. 
   nikkiwood | Apr 23, 2005 07:44pm | #3

   The three I mentioned (RBI, Woodmaster, W-H) all come from small companies that are intensely customer service oriented. I think it would be prudent to call all three, and pose your generic questions to each. I know Woodmaster will tell you who has bought the machine in your area. All those listed have agreed to accept phone calls from potential customers, which I think is a great way to gather feedback from relatively unbiased people who have actualy used the machine. Maybe the other companies do likewise. I agree that Jet is putting out some nice machines; I have seen the planer/molder you're talking about in a showroom, but have not tried it. Personally, I am not enamoured with Grizzly products, although a lot of people around here sing their praises. At the moment, I favor the Williams-Hussey -- but mainly because that seems to be the machine of choice among serious renovators at Breaktime; and -- it is the only model that has the capability of turning out curved moldings (e.g. for arched windows, etc.) Also, it seems relatively compact -- and would be easier to schlepp to a job site should the need arise. As far as the corrugated blades are concerned, the last time I looked into these machines (about 5 years ago), I seem to remember they were touted as having more strength than the regular flat blades. I would be interested to know what you find in your search for answers."I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
   -- Bertrand Russell