I recently took delivery of an 8″ long bed jointer. The millwork on the beds is less finished than I expected it to be, it’s not particularly smooth. It has a textured finish in the shape of diamond pattern, the depth of which varies from heavy to light. The appearance suggests to me that perhaps the last pass was not completed. I am dissapointed, a sense of I did not get what I expected or paid for. I did some test jointing and experienced more resistance than normal pushing the board through, even after tune up and waxing. Can any one tell me what this is about. I’ve never seen a cast iron surface left quite this rough.
Thanks in advance for any much appreciated feedback.
Edited 7/6/2003 8:45:16 AM ET by Doc.
Replies
The worst finish surfacing I have seen so far has been from Delta.
I cannot imagine using a jointer with a textured surface. Will look forward to posts from the pros to find out what this is all about!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Can I ask what you paid for it? Typically, you get what you pay for, so if you paid well below market for an 8", the quality will be lower too. Ero, if you didn't get what you paid for, time to call the seller and register your dissatisfaction as well as your intention to get you money's worth.
The jointer is a model 480 Canadian made General. With shipping I paid $1975.00. The vendor has been very helpful with past purchases and I want to make sure I am not being too picky or overly judgemental about the mfg's quality control.
Doc
If it's the regular General and not the General International, I know you paid top dollar. I looked at the General's when I was shopping morticers and jointers. We have a distributor about 45 minutes from me.
I found the 6" jointer to be excellent. I did not look closely at the 8". Their moticer and TS expecially was top notch. The TS is combat ready and one of the sturdiest and best built I've seen. If you paid what I think you paid an are not satisfied with the machining, I would return it for one that is machined properly. If all the 8" are that way, the newest Griz 8" is a bargain at a great cost.
Good Luck...
sarge..jt
Yes this jointer is the Canadian made 8" long bed. This is a new production model for them with a 74" bed, I suppose to compete with other mfg's that are also introducing longer beds. I have access to an older 8" General [model 480] and upon my inspection I find the fit and finish to be significantly superior to my current one. I also have the General 350 millennium edition TS and am satisfied with it. I have had it in mind to purchase additional equipment from General but now I'm hesitant.
Edited 7/6/2003 4:11:27 PM ET by Doc.
Doc
I would be to, if that is the case. The General line from Canada has been top-notch from what I observe. The General International is made elsewhere and is not really that bad. Like the previous poster stated, you get what you pay for. In this case, you may not have.
Most are made over there anymore, but that means cheap labor which should relate to lower prices. I feel it shouldn't mean a drop-off in quality along with the cheaper labor. The company should maintain quality control over the foreign product.
I suppose it would always be wise to look the horse in the mouth before you purchase it. Buyer Beware!! Every tool company has their hits and misses. That usually means hits are tools disigned to meet the needs of a WW. Misses are a tool that doesn't meet those needs. It should not mean that the quality of machining is intentionally lowered to compete in the market. That's my opinion, but not necessarily the opinion of some of the current manufacturers as the market is very competetive.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I hope this ends up a story-book ending. I am curious to see what they can and will offer to do.
sarge..jt
Sarge, no one has addressed the presence of a textured top. Have you ever seen this before? My curious mind wants to know, 'cause up 'til now I never even considered the possibility of anything other than a satin smooth bed on a jointer.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie
I have never seen or heard of a textured top on a jointer, TS, BS or any kind of tool. I won't rule out the possibly that it could be intentional. For what, I don't know! I do know I will call Redmond & Son (local Atlanta Gerneral Dist.) an see if they are receiving any that way or have been advised by General of a change. I met these guys at the Atlanta WW Show and they are great people. Canadians by origin.
I can't imagine it is intentional. If I was shopping a DP the first thing I do is wiggle the chuck spindle. If it has excessive play I walk away. I don't care if everything else is perfect. If I see a jointer with a textured top, my first thought would be why. It would be a bear to get wax out of the dimples if the texture is tight grain. Seems texture would create excessive drag and friction to me.
Guess the bottom line is, "I don't have a clue" an that's an under-statement. But I am curious. Maybe it's some new stealth technique that comes complete with a modern technological answer. Or maybe it's just a drop in quality to try to save the ship. Time an people asking these kind of questions will tell.
Evening...will follow this one closely..
sarge..jt
Doc -
I, too, was impressed with the finish on the tops of the General cabinet saws I looked at a recent WW show. I'm surprised to hear they left what you describe as a far less than smooth face. Like ForestGirl said, I can't imagine anyting but a perfectly smooth, air craft carrier-like surface for something like a long bed jointer.
With respect to the Delta machining, my 8" jointer is practically polished, while my Unisaw as large machine 'swirl' marks, albeit they're practically microscopic in depth.
If you're not happy with the machine, by all means, take it back. That's too much money for a too narrow bench taking up needed space in the shop!
...........
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
If you're really offended by the finish, send it back! That's a lot of money to pay for something if you're not satisfied.
Otherwise, check the tables for flatness and look for twist. If there are no dips and the tables don't twist AND you can adjust them parallel to each other and the axis of the cutterhead, you can always lap the top down a bit with a flat pieces of hardwood and some silicon carbide sandpaper. But, that's a lot of money to pay unless there really is intended to be some kind of texture!
I think General needs to do a better job at quality control. I'm not really that picky, I know that nothing is perfect. I bought a General 650 tablesaw in January, that had a problem with the arbor having more than .003" of run out at the flange. General sent a new arbor with bearings pressed on, it also had about .003" of run out. I took it back to the vendor and they worked on it. I brought it home and the bearings had a lot of noise and there was a tight spot, when I rotated the arbor by hand. I took it back to the vendor and General replaced the saw with a new one. The new one has a arbor bracket that heels out to the left as the bade is lowered. I set it up with a Table Saw Aligner JR and a Forrest WWII blade. I marked the blade in one spot on the body and rotated the blade, to use the mark as a reference point. I got it to within .001" of parallel at full blade height, when I lower the blade it heels to the left. At about an inch of blade height, the front reading is .012" and the rear is at .020". The blade stays parallel at full height at both 90 and 45 Degrees. I took the saw back to the vendor and they checked the saw out and verified that the saw heels out of alignment. They did some test cuts and told me it cut fine, making me feel like I'm an idiot for bringing it back to them. I emailed General and they haven't wrote back yet and I've got a really nice shop ornament in the mean time. I bought the General because they have a good reputation and I have their 6" jointer #1180. I haven't had a problem with the jointer in the ten years I owned it. I don't know if I will buy another General product again after two table saws having problems. I know I'm not buying from the vendor again and I had spent over $8500 with them.
"I emailed General and they haven't wrote back yet." Jay, I have yet to hear of a successful troubleshooting session via email! If you got a defective machine, call the manufacturer. This is not a situation to leave to email. Also, IMHO, the vendor is not the problem, unless they assembled and inspected the machine prior to your picking it up.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I will call General this week. I wish they had a toll free number, I hate having to pay to be placed on hold at long distance. I had the vendor check it out, they are the middle man in the purchase and I had hoped they would help more. They had helped with the first saw. When I took the saw back , they couldn't figure out what the problem is with the saw and told me it cut fine, it cut fine because I had a Wood Worker II in the saw. I usually use CMT or Freud, they cut great on my old contractor saw, but not the General. Forrest has a tight tooth clearance to the blade body helping it make smoother cuts. Well, I was at the vendor for 4 hours while they tinkered with it. They are a major woodworking machine vendor in Columbus, OH and I live an hour and half drive away. It is getting to be a real pain to load the saw in my truck and drive back and forth. I looked at the saw, it seems like the pivot on the arbor bracket is out of wack and causes the blade to heel out. The saw is great other than the heeling of the blade, I had looked at Delta and Powermatic before I made my purchase and decided on General. General seemed to have the best quality in fit and finish. I will see what General can do for me.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled