Which 8″ jointer should I get?
alanplanesaw
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
Am considering an 8″ Bridgewood jointer.
Any recommendations on it or another manufacturer?
Alan — planesaw
Replies
Don't be so quick to discount a used/not abused 8" jointer such as a (green) Model 60 Powermatic or Rockwell Delta.
If you're willing to do some searching you can score a nice machine for the same price as a new "off shore" model.
Otherwise, I've read many a positive comment here, and at other similar forums, that tout the quality of product and after sale customer service that has been experienced with some of the imported machines.
WoodButcher
Alan
I wouldn't hesitate to go Bridgewood, Sunhill or the new Grizzly on the 8". I have a Sunhill 6" and excellent. It would be just a matter of finding the best deal on those. Truck freight will come into play on the price. If you get out of state you also avoid local state sales tax.
Good Luck...
sarge..jt
SARGE : IM in the market for a new 8 inch jointer my self & have narrowed it down to the Grizzly, Bridgewood or a Delta..as you stated shipping plays a big part in the scheme of things.. IM planning some field trips to check out the jointers in queston..soon going to Wilke & Grizz to see there models..I like the Deltas but are really costly.. oh ya a new cabinet saw will soon also join the shop as well its between the Grizz & the Delta Uni-saw..But me thinks I see a Uni in the Picture..
Happy woodworking.. ToolDoc
Ahhhh, Tooldoc, all that overtime's paying off, eh?? Ever think about treating yourself to a European saw?
Hope you're still doing well. Happy shopping. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Dear First Lady of the Forest: Yes Jamie I made a bundle in over time this long & snowy winter put in many long days & nights maning the snow removal equipment Now springs here & its time to spend it on new woodworking equipment..<G>.. No I really dont find the european saws to my taste I have my eyes on the Lovely & Sexy Delta Uni-saw, it was a toss up between the Delta, Grizzly G1023 or a powerMatic 66.. But being the old Delta Club member that I am,me thinks I will get the Uni. But I am leaning towards the new Grizzly G0500 8 inch jointer..
Springs here soo open up those musty shops & fire up the woodworking equipment..
ToolDoc
Bet you could get an autographed (or lip-printed, LOL!) Delta Girl poster with that new Unisaw!!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
DOC
When you look at the 8" Griz, give me a shout. I have spoken to a local that got one, but have not actually seen it. The new one for $795, I think. Curious to see what your thoughts are.
I ran into the local at the WoodWorking shows a few weeks back. He had nothing but praise, I just didn't know him. The price is right on this, hopefully the quality is also. What I have found when shopping 6" jointers, is all are very comparable in quality and function. And I mean all the way: Delta, General, Jet, Bridgewood, Sunhill and Yorkcraft. Some have longer tables ( General-Sunhill ), some have hand operated wheels as I like and others levers. Different colors, but they all look like about the same chassis to me. The biggest difference was the pricing.
Good Luck....
sarge..jt
SARGE: Yup I will let you know what I think about the Grizzly G0500 as soon as I make a trip up to Muncy & its going to be verry soon..LOL.. the 8 inch Grizz with hand wheels & 4 blade cutterhead & 2 hp motor plus a 75 inch table looks like it might be a winner for only $795.00..
ToolDoc
DOC
It looks on paper to be more than a winner. If it checks as I've heard it will, it's a definite, bonafide bargain. Let me know as I got a few other feelers out on that one.
Open up the shop and fire up the tools. Down here the shop runs 12 months a year. Not sure why, but me thinks that why my wives relatives from Pa. visit so often. I wouldn't dare put in a pool. They might homestead. ha..ha..
Go spend some of that moldy money, Doc...<G>
sarge..jt
Doc -
I bought the Delta DJ20 for the most part because I have a local tool store with excellent face-to-face customer support, they gave me a pretty good deal (I'll look up the price if you're interested). I'm a pretty firm believer in buying local (not necessarily local mfr. but local dealer).
Not being a professional woodworker by any stretch of the imagination nor having never worked with any other jointer, I can't give you any testimonial with regard to how well the Delta performs vs. any other brand. I do know that it was pretty well dialed in out of the box but I still have about 1/64" difference in out of square between the infeed table and fence and outfeed table and fence. Meaning that if I square up the fence with the outfeed table, I can see a sliver of light between the blade of the square and fence when checking the infeed table. I don't have any really accurate tools nor straight edge to check the two tables against each other. Perhaps that's a point that should be discussed here in talking about picking jointers: how to assess this attribute without an expensive machinist's straightedge. Is there any way to really check this with the kind of tools we ordinarily have on hand?
...........
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Dennis: The Delta D20 is a heck of a good jointer but verry pricey, I have looked at them built like a Battle ship hell I could land fighter jets on that table but not sure I want to spend that kind of bucks cause IM blowing a wad on a Uni <G>
ToolDoc
Well Here is what you guys have been waiting for,I made the trip to both Wilke & Grizzy to check out the Bridgewood BW-8J8 8" Jointer VS the Grizzly G0500 8" Jointer well I AM going with the New Grizzly as a matter of fact I have one on order.. The reasons I like the Grizz is as follows:Bigger table 75" compared to 66" on the Bridgewood ,Motor 2HP on the Grizz..11/2 on the Bridgewood but the Bridgewood did have a American made motor..,Grizz spins at 5500 RPM bridgewood is 4500 RPM.. at lastly the price the Grizzly sells for $795.00 the Bridgewood goes for $895.00..thats a $100.00 for less table & HP.. they both look alot a like may even be made in the same factory..Now all I have to do is get the Uni-saw & i will be all set..
ToolDoc
Doc
Kind of expected that. Good luck with the purchase and let us know how she preforms when you get her in and set up. Several people in this area are interested, but are waiting for user-friendly feed-back.
Back to the chores...
sarge..jt
SARGE: Old Buddy will do as soon as it comes into Grizzly i will make a bee line up there loader up & head for home & get her set up & run a few BD FT thru it this will be the true test...
ToolDoc
PS headin out to a dealer this coming week to check on a Uni for my stable of tools..haha
Alan,
I've had the Bridgewood 8" for 4 or 5 years. It does everything a jointer is supposed to do. I've had absolutely no problems. I've been through several blade sharpenings, face jointed and edge jointed miles of luber of all sorts. It was a very good buy in my opinion.
Mike
Thanks for the word on the Bridgewood. Tooldoc's comments on the Grizzly 8" jointer make me wonder about it. Would love to have the extra length of the table, and at about $100 cheaper. But, Wilke is about 30 minutes away and Grizzly is 2 hours away. Would spend the $100 (almost) in cost of travel and time. But the longer bed could make the difference -- if -- the quality and dependability is the same.
Alan -- planesaw
Alan: I am going to make a trip to both Wilke & Grizzly this week to check out there 8 inch jointer I have looked at both on there web sites & its killing me to see em both in person I cant wait no more.. soo stay tuned & I will keep all informed..<G>...
ToolDoc
Tooldoc,
I have spent a little bit of time on the Grizzly website and I have about decided to hold off on getting a Bridgewood until -- like you -- I see the Grizzly and get to talk to the folks there. For $100 less, it has a two horse motor, instead of one and a half, plus almost 10 inches longer on the table. Both have 4 knives, except the Grizzly motor does 1,000 rpm more.
The Bridgewood fence stops at 45 degree both ways. The Grizzly doesn't say both ways. That's another question to ask them. Any idea on this?
Any idea as to what the motor quality is of each?
Alan -- planesaw
Alan,
whatever you get you will like.. I think the jointer seems to be one of the most reliable pieces of equipment out there.
I bought a Grizzly Jointer about a year and half ago. I'm not certain but I'm willing to bet mine has seen 20,000 bd.ft. everything up to a twenty foot long white oak 6x12 has been on it at one time or other..
In that time I broke one fan (drive) belt (of three, so I was able to keep working without making the ten minute drive that I replaced in a couple of minutes from my local Auto parts store.
Yes my fence leans both ways,, don't know how much, seems plenty.
I haven't touched my motor so I don't know about quality.. just 20,000 bd.ft. or so of hardwood hasn't caused me a moments trouble..
I do know that if the blades are sharp it is much quieter than a router when cutting so I use it for a lot of things most would use a router for.. maybe if I figure all of the sides of everything I've done with it the bd. feet would be a lot higher... wish I had a milage meter on it to tell for sure.
Frenchy,
Good testimonial for Grizzly. Three belts? What size jointer do you have? Looking at the 8" -- it has 2 belts.
Alan -- planesaw
8 inch Grizzley. I'm certain it has three belts.. (I was too cheap to replace all three of them, so one new and two original)
Alan: i guess frenchy took care of that queston..lol
I called Grizzly in Muncy (Williamsport) this afternoon. Turns out they are out of the G0500 (8" jointer) until sometime in May.
I like the 75" table and a few other features, so I think I am going to hold off before I decide between Bridgewood or Grizzly.
Alan -- planesaw
Alan,
I don't know if you have checked out the Powermatic yet, but I was really impressed with their table adjustment. It has the trditional lever for coarse adjustment, and then a fine adjustment by turning the lever handle. I thought this was really cool as I have troauble sometimes dialing in the adjustment on my Delta.
TDF
Alan: wilke has there jointers on back order also seems there has been problems since the Big Dock strike.. Go figure just when we want tools there on a slow boat from China..LOL
ToolDoc
Are you referring to the Seattle "strike?" That wasn't a strike, it was a lock-out by management. Was quite awhile ago, too. Is there one on the East Coast now?
PS: This time of year, and at Christmas, there are consistent shortages in many of the popular tools. If they are back-ordered until May, now is the time to put in an order so you get something out of the next shipment.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 4/22/2003 4:03:15 PM ET by forestgirl
Jamie: Localy a lot of suppliers are still blaming your local lock out on shortages here..LOL.. Grizzly has a major History on never having enough of anything that sells good in stock for what ever reason.. guess were on the wrong coast here..<G>..Going up to there Candy store soon..if there new 8 incher impresses me I will order one.. if not theres always Delta..is that soo bad?? Hey if I buy the Uni & D20 at the same time might even get a better deal?? maybe even get to take the Delta Girls to the shop for a visit..hehe
ToolDoc
It's easy, as a dealer, to put blame on someone, or a situation, far far away. I'm pretty sure that at this point there are no lingering effects from the lock-out. The back-log at the port was pretty well cleaned up by January if I remember correctly.
I suspect that one way Grizzly keeps their costs down is by keep the inventory flow under control, which means the customer may have to wait a bit if there's a demand surge above supply. I know that when my business ordering gets ahead of sales the way it did during Feb. and March, it's a real killer, throws everything into disarray (and makes me real grumpy!).
I'm gonna guess here that you'll find their jointer to be closer in quality to the 1023 than to the disappointing bandsaw you've worked with. Let us know!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie: Your darned tootened I will let you know what i think of the Grizzs & Wilkes jointers..
Take Care.. ToolDoc
Funny,
I've never had to wait any longer than it took them to ship things to me.. (grizzley) but maybe that's why I like em'. They prefer to deal with wierd french wacko's and I get preferential treatment..
Frenchy:LOL, they said they should be in soon..
ToolDoc
Tooldoc,
Wilke now has them in stock. Came in last week. I have one reserved, but am tempted to wait until Grizzly has theirs back in stock. Yesterday, Grizzly told me it will be some time in May.
Is the extra table length of 9 inches worth the wait, and the 2 hour (one-way) trip-- Grizzly -- versus getting the Bridgewood now and not having to wait?
Wish I new what the quality of construction comparison between the two would be.
Alan -- planesaw
Alan: Good queston,I am making a trip to both Wilke & Grizz want to see first hand if there is a major diffrence in the quality of both,sure seems like a lot of Hoopla over Grizzly lately,but I might add I dont just jump on the band Wagon cause of hear say I like to look & feel before I buy if it meets my standards I will buy if not I might just spend the extra bucks & get a Delta D 20 althou there have been complaints of distorted fences & tables with them also.. what ever I get it gets uncrated before I plunk down the Cash...To be truthfull IM a little sceptical of the Grizzlys,we bought a Grizz metal cutting bandsaw at work & to say I was disapointed would be putting it mildly..but on the other hand our G1023 table saw is a true Gem mind you not a Uni but a nice saw..
Guess time will tell.. ToolDoc
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