Jet JJP-12, From Buyers Remorse to Happy Camper

Hey Folks,

Just wanted to follow up on a post I made a few weeks back. I invested in a JJP-12 and had some issues with the accuracy of the machine after it was moved to my basement. Granted, I did have to remove the tables to get it in there, but frankly it stunk on ice when I carefully reassembled it. So, I looked to the knowledge and generosity of the woodworking community and was not let down.

John Coloccia, by sheer coincidence, posted a very comprehensive process for tuning my exact machine just days after I realized that I was unhappy with mine. I sent him a PM and he responded in short order offering to help. I followed his process with my brand new dial indicator and straight edge, neither of which I had a clue how to use. I thought I had it pretty close, but after some tests I'd created the dreaded convex joint (I had no idea that was as bad as it was, until someone told me).

Enter John. We spoke on the phone a couple of times and me being in over my head I offered to pay him to travel to my place and tune the machine - a roughly 6 hour round trip, just driving. He agreed, but said he would not accept payment. Instead, he said, if you feel so inclined I have twin girls, get them a small gift and I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Talk about selfless! John came and conquered the machine, joints and faces were never so true. We chatted, but mostly stared at a dial indicator for ALMOST 8 HOURS! What a lesson in patience and process. He even helped me with my technique on how to joint a board. (yeah, if you know how it's easy, if you don't there are some subtleties that take years to understand - John showed me the secrets in just a few short lessons).

All in all I am now happy with my machine, privileged to have met someone like John and a lot smarter on what .001 actually means. :-)

Thanks John!

- Paul

What an outstanding example of selflessness.

Yup. John's one of the Good Guys. His advice here has helped me more than once.

Excellent tale and example of helping others. Kudos to you both.

What a great story. Generous Creeker!!!

Great story and a happy ending. Awesome.

Red

This is what makes me like this forum so much. Generosity, patience and a willingness to share what you've learned. Thanks for a great story!

My JJP-12H was very close to being optimized right out of the shipping crate. I am just happy you got the help you needed. Praise to John Coloccia!

Did you have trouble with the table surfaces being excessively rough? I spent a long time with sandpaper and then paste wax in order to make the machine usable. When I first tried to use it, it felt like pushing the work piece across a big fixed sheet of sand paper. For that reason, I would caution anyone about buying one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Art Mann

My JJP-12H was very close to being optimized right out of the shipping crate. I am just happy you got the help you needed. Praise to John Coloccia!

Did you have trouble with the table surfaces being excessively rough? I spent a long time with sandpaper and then paste wax in order to make the machine usable. When I first tried to use it, it felt like pushing the work piece across a big fixed sheet of sand paper. For that reason, I would caution anyone about buying one.

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I can't speak for this particular machine but I found to get a cast iron top smooth so a gecko would walk away frustrated is to work the surface with an old RO sander or similar and after a pass with sandpaper set the sander on top of a wad of steel wool, work it one more time and then smear paste wax on to the surface and work it once more with steel wool under RO sander. The whole process shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes.

You didn't see how rough the surface was. Ten minutes wouldn't have done the job, even with power tools. It takes a while to smooth that kind of surface. The design is such that I couldn't use a ROS on the planer surface. I doubt if steel wool would have done much of anything other than shred the pad. The point is this was a brand new machine with no rust or corrosion. It was drop shipped from the distribution center in this condition. I would have returned the machine except I didn't discover the flaw until I installed it 6 weeks later due to circumstances beyond my control. It works very well now but I wouldn't buy another one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Lankers

I can't speak for this particular machine but I found to get a cast iron top smooth so a gecko would walk away frustrated is to work the surface with an old RO sander or similar and after a pass with sandpaper set the sander on top of a wad of steel wool, work it one more time and then smear paste wax on to the surface and work it once more with steel wool under RO sander. The whole process shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes.

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It was a pleasure meeting Paul. He's a gentleman, has a beautiful family with a daughter about the same age as my twins, and we had fun setting it up. :) They made some minor improvements on the newer machines. The front cover that causes so many problems on mine fits a little bit better (this could just be luck). Unfortunately, he has some additional problems with the motor not reliably starting, I'd guess due to overheating issues that others have complained about on the newer machines (my old one NEVER gives me a problem). We left the back panel off for the remainder of the day and that seemed to help.

The top surface is a little rough. There are burrs left on the "corrugated" surface, for lack of a better term. I personally use Bostik Top Cote (I believe it's Glide Cote now), and I left a little 1/4 full can with Paul. They say it's better than wax. They're right. I've been using it for a long time and it works very well. When the boards get REALLY flat, the surface treatment does help with the suction effect, but personally I'd rather have smooth tables.

Anyhow, as Art says, I wouldn't buy another one. I think a used Hammer is a far superior machine for about the same price. If you can spend just a little more, I think you can get the 10" new, or for a bit past that the 12" new. This is definitely a case where it pays to buy quality, cry once and then enjoy your machine for years to come.