Does anyone have opinions / experience with some of the with the higher end 8″ jointers? FWW teased that they would review them is a future article, but that hasn’t made it to print yet.
The expected differences are higher power motor, better design/construction/parts, and better adjustment capability. I’m just wondering what the specific differences are and if there were any preferences.
Most of my experiences are with older machines. I’ve used a 12″ Oliver (the old Oliver, not the company that recently bought the name), a 12″ powermatic, and an 8″ powermatic (poss #60) (no levers, just handwheels). All of these were old machines. Unfortunately, I do not have the space or funding for a 12″ machine.
Thanks,
— Blue
Replies
With 8"jointers I think the main difference is parallelagram and dovetail ways. THere are other considerations, like type of cutter head, magnetic switch and its location, length of the table, and fence adjust system. Really what it boils down to is what you are willing to spend. There are 1300 dollar 8" jointers and there are 500 dollar 8" jointers. They all do the same job. After you pass 1000 dollars you start to overlap the 10" jointers so those tend to not sell (or resell) as well.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Thanks for the response. For a simplified comparison, I'm assuming that the cutterhead is a standard cutter head. No spiral or carbide. Usually those variations can be added as upgrades. The mag switch, however, is worth the money. I'd even add an emergency kill switch at floor level. I've used table saws with that feature added and it is very convienent to have.
In that case Grizzly has a couple of models that have long beds, and mag switches. One even has a 4 knife cutter head. They have recieved great reviews in FWW and other mags. There are also a lot of happy owners on this site.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Just for ducks take a look at the Northfield website they make a "medium duty" and a "heavy duty" jointer. I think the medium duty version weighs in at about 1200 pounds anyway I have heard that they are in the same leage as an Oliver. I have used the 12" Olivers and they are nice machines. On a lighter note (pun intended) my dad has a Delta DJ 20 and likes it a lot.
Good luck
Troy
In my opinion, there are many factors that make some jointers better than others. I have a HD Northfield jointer, and I think it's the cats meow for many reasons. I'll just throw out one of them, and hope others will share what they think adds to a fine machine.
Typically, you are looking at machines that have either lever bed adjusters, or wheel adjusters. It is much more difficult to "fine tune" your outfeed table with a lever adjuster than it is to do so with a hand wheel. This is very important every time you change the knives after sharpening.
Fine one with a wheel adjuster.
Jeff
You can adjust a lever jointer just as accurately as a handwheel jointer so I don't consder that a deal breaker on a jointer. I've used both types over 35 years and also tune up and rebuild machinery so I admit having a bit more practice than most with jointers.
I agree. I like the hand wheel on the outfeed side, but I prefer the lever on the infeed side. I like the quick adjustment it offers.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Hey All: What is the difference between Delta's regular 8" jointer and their 8" precision jointer? Is it worth the extra $'s? Duke Masters"... Buy the best and only cry once.........
The precision jointer is the DJ20 which has parallelogram tables which is better as it allows four point adjustement. The other jointer is called the professional model which is misleading from a marketing standpoint and uses the older style dovetailed table ways. The parallelogram is found on the more expensive European jointers. The fit and finish is better on the DJ20. You can also buy a Grizzly,Yorkcraft and a few others with the parallogram tables.
The differences between a parallelogram jointer and a standard jointer are going to be virtually meaningless for a hobby woodworker. The big advantage to the higher end machines is, as someone pointed out, the length of the infeed table and/or if they have them the upscale cutter heads.
Thanks all for the advice: How does the DJ20 stack up as a "hobby" machine? It seems fine to me but my experience is limited. KDM
"... Buy the best and only cry once.........
Edited 11/28/2006 5:48 pm by dukeone
I've never heard anything bad about them. If it was my checkbook I'd look for a used DJ20, which I've seen around here for $750-1000, or buy a new Grizzly for about the same.
I speak "not" as a professional. I recently got the PM PJ882 - levers both sides. I like the lever on the infeed, but it seems a little precarious to get the outfeed table just right.
Ahhhh, seeeeee! I prefer the hand wheel when I set the knives to the outfeed table. I guess it's what I'm used to, and I haven't been working on machines, other than my own, so your experience sets the bar at a much higher level. I just change the knives once a month.
Jeff
I recognize your long experience with machines but I contrast what you say with Jon White who is the shop manager at FWW.
"This fine-tuning is easiest if the outfeed table has a handwheel for height adjustments. It’s almost impossible if the table has a lever for height adjustments."
I remembered this statement as I just read it in FWW's latest issue over the weekend. Check out the entire discussion in the Q&A section of the magazine or here on the web site.
ETG
For most of us, a handwheel is definately easier to micro-adjust, because of the screw drive offering it provides. For a guy like Rick, who's been rebuilding and repairing these machines professionally for eons, it probably equates to 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other for him. The guy I bought my 12" industrial jointer from maintains the same opinion as Rick for himself, as he has even more experience with industrial equipment (in years!). But, he recommended the hand wheel for me, as the learning curve is much, much easier to deal with. I have had both, and prefer the hand wheel.
My guess would be that John White could probably tune either just as easily, but his recommendations probably are directed towards users, and not rebuilders.
Jeff
Edited 11/28/2006 4:14 pm ET by JeffHeath
All the lever type jointers I've worked on have a stop limiting screw on the outfeed table so you can move it and bring it back up to a fixed point. 100 % repeatability and the ability to bring it to within thousandths. I don't think the naysayers of levers have really dealt with the outfeed table of a lever jointer. With my indicator gauge I could still adjust the table easily. It's certainly not impossible by any means.I spent many years adjusting and repairing machines in factories and custom shops. I also spent 8 years as a tech for a dealer and would go to schools and cabinet shops working on SCMI, Delta, Powematic, Minimax, Adwood, Paolini and more.
Edited 11/28/2006 7:08 pm ET by RickL
While I respect Jon's opinion I don't always agree with his answers. In the Q & A you refer to his method and description could be better. The picture of the gap in the joint is from having the outfeed table a few thousandths higher than the cutting circle. Typically I drop the outfeed table down below the cutting circle and you will get snipe at the tail end of the board. You then adjust the table up slowly until the snipe is gone and you should have a perfect mating of the two boards. If you raise the table a bit too high you will get the gap as shown in the picture. If you raise the table even more the board will hit against the edge of the outfeed table. Then you drop the outfeed table down again and start the process over. It takes a few times for a beginner to work out the bugs.
I really have no thought or position on lever vs handwheel - just remembered the Q&A. Your explanation is very good - I have FWW from day one and there have been some excellent articles on "tuning" machines through the years.
I just recently purchased a Grizzly G0593 (8" with carbide spiral cutterhead) My previous jointer was a old Craftsman 6" open stand which I now plan on using for a boat anchor. I am very happy so far with the Grizzly.
Surprised that no one mentioned bed length. I purchased the long bed (84"?) Powermatic 8" and would hate to have to use a shorter bed again. Although initially very skeptical, I'm also glad I purchased the Esta Disposablade setup for it, as the time savings for blade change is significant in my experience.
I find the ease of changing knives on the tersa cutterhead is a great feature. You don't have to adjust the height of the knoves at all. Just pop the old knife and pop in the new one or flip it over and use the other side.
I think you can find this cutterhead with the minimax line, though I have another brand of jointer.
Tersa is featured on many European machines. You can get a tersa head for most any machine but pricey. The Esta is a simple option that will retrofit on most all standard heads and give the quick change over like the tersa. Tersa is a seperate company with no direct connection to Minimax or the parent company of SCMI.
I don't know whether it fits the high-end designation, but I have a PM60B.
The lever on the infeed side makes gross corrections in cut depth, then, by twisting the lever handle, fine adjustments result. I find it pretty easy to bring the table flush to a straight-edge.
The long tables make jointing pretty easy. I faced 100 BF of 6" to 8" hard maple, and the jointer seemed to handle the maple without problem.
When I adjust the fence, I always lift the fence slightly as it seems to drag across the tables otherwise. But the fence always checks square after adjustment.
Chip collection is good.
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