Powermatic PJ882, 8″ jointer, worth it?
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Please help me decide…
I’m thinking about buying the Powermatic PJ882 or the 60B 8″ jointer.
The 882 weighs as much as a medium size elephant, now that’s heavy!
Is the PJ882 that much better!? Can anyone tell me why it’s better or not, please?
Aside from the fact the 882 has a longer table, is it worth the money and having to park my wife’s car outside?!
Thanks, Gary
(in California)
Replies
"Is the PJ882 that much better!? Can anyone tell me why it's better or not, please?" That much better than what, Gary? Than a 6" jointer? You bet! Than an 8" jointer with a shorter bed? Yep, that extra length would come in handy.
What other model(s) are you considering?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Hi again Forestgirl,Sorry, let me clarify.
There's two 8" Powermatic jointers, PJ882 Parallelogram and the 60B.
The 882 is a monster, longer bed about 6" longer than the 60B.
So, my question is, why is the big 882 better? American Woodworker magazine says it's great, editor's choice! Or is it overkill, since I'm not doing heavy duty production work?Thanks, Gary
Most WWers here seem to lust after the long-bed 8" jointers. I don't think it's so much that it's more of a production tool as it is that when you need a longer bed, you need a longer bed, if ya know what I mean. Looking at the Amazone description (WMH's web site is terrible!) it looks like there's a 10" difference in bed length. That's quite a bit.
One thing for (almost) sure, if you get that one, you'll be set for life in the jointer department (unless you decide to upgrade to a 12" hah hah!). There are other 8" long-bed jointers out there for a lower price, but I'm under fire for mentioning the G-word. Maybe Frenchy'll come along and give a testimonial. Pssst! It's "Grizzly" tee-heeforestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
W.D.: I've had the Delta DJ20 (8'' long bed)for a couple of years now and I like it but what does the Knots crew think about it in comparsion to the P.M.? KDM
The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791
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Edited 8/16/2005 10:06 pm ET by dukeone
Wow, 8" long bed?! What'd they do with the rest of the cast iron?
Just kidding, I know you meant "wide." forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
F.G.: Yes I meant it is 8'' wide and I think it is "long bed" but now I'm not sure if it is. What length would be considered ''long'' in a 8'' jointer? KDMKenneth Duke Masters
The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791
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"Yes I meant it is 8'' wide...." Whew! I was afraid they delivered you a lemon and you never called customer service! (Inside joke) The DJ20 only comes in one bed length, 76-1/2" The long-bed Powermatic is 82" long.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
WD,
I had the same question about the 8"powermatic jointers. Besides the longer bed length, the parallelogram design is supposed to be superior (easier) for adjusting the table alignment. I own a Jet 6" jointer, which will be for sale as soon as I get the $1500 for the Powermatic PJ882. It's only about $300 more for twice as much cast iron. I think it weighs in at around 850#, about 475# for the 60B. Definitely the last jointer you will need unless you step up to a 12" like forestgirl said. It will be the first piece of powermatic equipment I will be buying. Good luck, and let us know what you decide to go with and how you like it.
Lee Hingle
"...parallelogram design is supposed to be superior (easier) for adjusting the table alignment." Am I remembering right that the parallelogram design is also less likely to "wear down" than the dovetail-ways design?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Forestgirl and all my other supporters out there, thank you.Well, I was sort of hoping all of you were going to talk me out of the more expensive, massive Orca PJ882 jointer. Key words, "sort of".
1) It's more expensive (I guess I can save up my pennies and brown bag it)
2) I only have a two car garage (lots of kids stuff; bikes, toys, etc.)
3) How am I going to get this whale home?! Does it come in five separate boxes?!
Probably three: mobile base, lower body and motor, and the one ton iron bed. Yikes, my back hurts already. Oh, do they even have a mobile base for it?Yes, with the PJ882 I will be set for generations to come. Time to get my seven year old daughter into woodworking, haa-haa.Forestgirl, I had a Grizzly bandsaw and it was fine, so don't let them pick on you.Cheers, Gary
Woodworking IS my therapy
Well, as long as you said the G-word out loud, I'll carry on the conversation. If you're thinking maybe you don't really need an 80+" bed, or might be willing to trade the extra length for a spiral cutterhead, take a look here. My impression is that their jointers, especially the bigger ones, are better than their bandsaws. Do a search here, you'll find some 1st-hand reports.
Spiral cutterhead......yummmmmm.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Had to rent a lift to get the bed up on the base of my DJ20!Kenneth Duke Masters
The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791
NRA Endowment Member
LEAA Life Member
CRPA Member
Ken,
What has become of that Big old bandsaw that you were re-building? You know, the one that you only showed us the pulley of, several times at several hundred pixels?
Not me guy, I have 2 year old Laguna 18 and it will be here forever, probably. KDMKenneth Duke Masters
The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791
NRA Endowment Member
LEAA Life Member
CRPA Member
Apologies Ken, it was Dan Kornfeld, aka Jackiechan , that I am confusing you with.
Philip,
The 26" Crescent Bandsaw that I'm restoring is still sitting in my garage waiting for me to have at it. It's been a very busy summer in my shop, which has left me no time to start the restoration. To add to this, I recently picked up a 1920 L. Power & Company 16" jointer that only needs a good cleaning, and a thorough tune up to bring it back into service. It does have the original two blade square cutter head that I am replacing before anything turns under power - the blades had a tendency to fly off! So at this point, the jointer will get my attention first - when I can find the time.
Here are some photos of the 16" jointer - at a civilized resolution. The tables are off the machine and sitting just out of camera shot on a palate. They are too heavy to move alone, and I'll need a engine hoist to lift them back onto the machine. There's even a shot of the Crescent bandsaw, which you can see is almost entirely dismantled (all parts are accounted for). Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
Hi Dan,
That looks like stuff well worth restoring-is there room to fit one of those special blocks?
Strangely enough there is a Crescent bandsaw in a shed near here. The owner is 'married' to it, but doesn't keep it well.White metal bearings are as sound as they were when originally poured.
Btw-I call that a surfacer, because that is it's main function <g> Philip Marcou
Edited 8/19/2005 1:34 am ET by philip
"That looks like stuff well worth restoring-is their room to fit one of those special blocks?"
Philip,
There's more than enough room on the 16" jointer - actually,there's so much that I will have to have journals custom machined to fit. Originally this jointer was powered by a flat belt drive connected to a central belt system. You can see the belt pulley on the end of the journal on the outside of the shaft bearing. I'm going to drive the machine via a three belt sheave (link belts) and a 5 hp motor. So the journal will not only have to be machined to fit the length and the bearings, it will also have to be milled to handle a new sheave and woodruff key.
The jointer has Babbitt (white metal) bearings and I plan to re-pour them with a tin-type Babbitt material which is able to handle the greatest shaft speed.
Grizzly can actually fabricate a standard 4 blade round cutter head to my specifications, but I'll be having Byrd Tools build a Shelix head instead (see photo below).
View Image
Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
Edited 8/19/2005 2:00 am ET by jackiechan
Jackie, yes that's what I had in mind. You should run it at the maximum revs they specify, and with that in mind why don't you look into using those flatvery thin woven plastic* type belts that you find on indusrial pin routers etc? Or a poly vee, but then you need the suitable pulleys-expensive.
That Dominion machine I posted in 25111-20 uses that type of belt to drive the cutter block at 11600rpm. Those belts are almost unbreakable and run very smoothly. When I got that machine said belt was there looking old-but it lasted another 10years-Only just been replaced recently. I would have thought that link belts are not for very high speeds?
* I cannot remember the correct name!Philip Marcou
"I would have thought that link belts are not for very high speeds?"
Philip,
The Fenner Link Belts are made to handle the same (or better) horsepower and speed of a comparable rubber and nylon reinforced V-belt. I currently run them on a Jet 5 hp cabinet saw, drill press, band saw, and a jointer. I use these machines all day / every day, and the belts give me the performance and durability that I demand - I would fully recommend them.
I'm with you, I want the jointer cutter head spinning at the maximum appropriate speed without going super nova!
Dan Kornfeld, Owner/President - Odyssey Wood Design, Inc.
Dan,
Linkbelts if you want to go with vee belts and pulleys, but the ultimate is that thin flat belt found on industrial stuff -definitely superior to any vee belt. I wish I had it on all my machines. SCM use it for those big routers. I think it is not more widely used because of expense, but for efficiency and smooth running it is hard to beat.Philip Marcou
Dan, that's fantastic! and huge! Congrats.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I used a come-along hung from the (braced) rafters for my Grizzly 0500. Yep, they are heavy, and I feel a lot safer with controlled lift/descent that a couple of strong SIL's - LOL!
10-4 on the human powered lift, we tried a couple of times, it fell on its side once from only 6'' or so and I said thats it! Rental lift was about $40 or $50 but possibly messing up that beautiful cast iron surface by dropping it again- no way!! KDMKenneth Duke Masters
The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791
NRA Endowment Member
LEAA Life Member
CRPA Member
HOLY SMOKE!
I hope nothing is cracked. It is amazing how easy it is to cause damage to heavy cast iron stuff when it is not properly handled.
I levered my thicknesser/surfacer combination,packaged in a crate, off where it had been put on top of two pallets. Thought it would slide down nicely, but because of being top heavy it accelerated and flipped . Had to have cast iron professional welding and machining done-but all is now well.It weighs plus 1000 lbs.
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