I have a dilemma. A friend of mine gave me a Craftsman jointer to store, use, and possibly keep. Most likely keep. I doubt he will ever want it back and he said keep it if he never wants it back. I appreciate the ‘gift’ very much, it was his fathers, who passed away a few years ago. The dilemma is, I’ve been upgrading all my equipment, recently purchased a 14″ bandsaw, 5 HP cabinet saw w/router table, 16″ thickness planer, DC system, 16″ drill press. This Craftsman 6″ jointer tables are 33 1/2″ long (total), not much longer than a benchtop machine. I have large projects planned, and would prefer an 8″ jointer, which I can afford to buy. I don’t want to hurt my buddy’s feelings, should I try to live with the small jointer, or store it and buy what I want? If the Craftsman will get the job done, not an issue, but I don’t think it will. I’ve never had a jointer, so maybe I don’t appreciate what I’ve got. What do you all think? Am I splitting hairs? It would be nice to save the money….
Jeff
Replies
I guess it won't hurt if you give your buddy's jointer a try, but chances are that you'll probably need a bigger jointer for both the width and length. I don't think he would be too offended if you went bigger, especially if he were to see the two machines side-by-side. If your shop can support two jointers, why not set the Craftsman for a very light cut (1/64" or so) and use it for the final pass while reserving the bigger jointer for the heavy-duty work like face jointing and straightening long edges? Or, if you align the Craftsman's infeed table with the other jointer's outfeed table, you can create a two-stage jointer: two cuts with one pass.
It's free, it's not eating any grass (as my farmer friends say) and it's an OK machine.
Set it up, dedicate it to the work that best suits it, and if you need more, go buy more.
What's to lose?
2 is always better than 1 when it comes to workshop machines.
Malcolm
If it is the model with fence attached to outfeed table, you should check it out very carefully. I tried to buy one back in the '70s. Two samples that I took home had warped outfeed tables. "Planing" a board was impossible due to the warp. They were returned. The fence has two retention points, a pain to deal with also. It weighs over 100 pounds. Maybe it could serve as a weight for something, if it is warped. It is much too heavy for a doorstop.
If it isn't warped & the adjustments don't bother you, build a long table to support it. Roller supports can be mounted fore & aft of its bed to support very long work. I got by for ten years using a benchtop Delta in that way with good results. I now have an eight-incher which is nice, but, frankly, it is so long that it gets in the way. A slightly shorter 10- or 12-incher would be preferable for most work. And it is my heaviest machine. Fortunately, it has a built-in mobile base. My shop is not so large that I don't have to move a tool on occasion.
Hope to have helped you.
Cadiddlehopper
I couldn't handle it, I ordered a Grizzly G0490 8" jointer today. Will pick it up when my G1023 cabinet saw comes in on backorder. I could have made the old Sears jointer work except for one thing. The base is an open design, and no way to contain and collect the chips. Facing wider boards produces LOTS of wood chips and I have a DC system on all my other stationary machines. I couldn't handle having one machine making a mess of my shop every time I use it. With a jointer, it would be on every project. So that's that. Yeah, I know I could have boxed it in and put a DC port on it, but then there's those short in and out feed tables...I'll disassemble the old jointer, store it off for another day...
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