Parallelogram Jointer vs Dovetail ways? Which to choose??

Hi everyone! I sold my 6" Jointer a while ago and have regretted it ever since. Now it's time to replace it; so I'm gonna take the opportunity to upgrade to an 8 inch machine this time. I'm torn between a Jointer with Parallelogram tables or the standard style tables that run on dovetailed ways. My old machine had the dovetailed way tables. What are the advantages/disadvantages to the Parallelogram tables? Is it really any better for cut quality? I really don't have any experience with those type of tables. I am also considering a spiral cutterhead this time. To save on money, would it be wise to go with an 8" jointer with dovetail way tables that has the spiral cutter over a Parallelogram with a 4 knife cutterhead? I'd love some honest advice and opinions from some experienced owners/users. Much appreciated!! Thanks again!

I like my Grizzly 8" parallelogram jointer very much. It's so easy to change the depth of cut and then change it back. I couldn't afford a spiral cutter head so I can't comment there except to say that I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they didn't like theirs. Without direct knowledge, I would guess a dovetail spiral cutter head would trump a parallelogram straight knife cutter head jointer.

But I have the ability to sharpen my own knives and I will also say that a sharp well tuned G0490 is a very serious machine. A 3 3/16" 4 knife cutter head is nothing to sneeze at, especially when the knives are razor sharp.

I'd look hard at parallelogram with new. The old wedgebed jointers had tables that bolted to the wedges so they could be leveled. New have a wedge cast with the table so you need to shim the wedges if not co planar. Sprial is nice but generally you don't use a jointer for a final finish except maybe the edge so flat parallel tables are way more important. Dave

Delta DJ-20 w/ straight knives here. Love the parallelogram over the dovetail. Very quick to change and adjust. As for knives, have seriously considered the Byrd helical, but with cost not a factor, other questions arises that's a different story, especially with the jointer. The helical are awesome on my planer.

I've never seen a need for spending the extra money for one. What's so hard about adjusting the depth of cut on a wedge bed? It's not something you need to do very often anyway.
But as it goes, it's your money.

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Originally Posted by Myk Rian

I've never seen a need for spending the extra money for one. What's so hard about adjusting the depth of cut on a wedge bed? It's not something you need to do very often anyway.
But as it goes, it's your money.

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Kinda what I was thinking.

John

Anyone who has had to align DT-way tables would never want to go through that again ;-) This was #1 on my list of must-haves when I went shopping. Other must-haves were:
Tall fence - I use the jointer for much more that 90* edge jointing.
Long beds - Work supports are great but, I'd rather not use them on a 42" piece of stock to maintain my feed path.
Mobility - A jointer can mostly be used where it is but, mine was destined to stand in front of my lumber rack wall and I needed easy occasional access.
Insert cutterhead - I use a lot of figured material and also didn't want the fuss and expense of HSS knives.

And there is the plus of the tables staying a consistent distance from the cutters regardless of depth. Of course, your mileage may vary.

I've got an ancient Delta 6" jointer of 1950 vintage. My default setting is 1/32" bite, and multiple passes to get where I need to go, so table adjust methodology is less relevant to me than sharp knives. I am one of the rare guys who do use it for an occasional edge rabbet, so knife ends have a sharpened 10 degree back bevel and produce a nicely formed joint and is about the only time I really crank down for a deep cut. I don't think Euro machines are allowed to have this feature anymore, having been deemed "too dangerous" by the safety nannies.

I had an old straight-knives six-inch Jointer sold it and bought a grizzly go656x it has served me well ,I leave mine at 1/16 ,was true right out of the box I do like the wheels for setting the elevation. Which ever Jointer you get would definitely go with the spiral cutter, are you looking at the grizzly

I'd pondered the same question before deciding to purchase a used (but well cared for) 8" Grizzly G0593 DT bed jointer with a spiral cutter.

Having a parallelogram bed seems a nice feature if you expect to have to make adjustments repeatedly over time just to ensure that your beds remain coplaner. But from the vast majority of what I'd read (a lot of it here on this forum), there doesn't appear to be much of a need for making frequent adjustments once the beds are initially set--be it with shims or cam adjustments. And, unless you're doing a lot of production work (at or near commercial levels), frequently changing the positions of your infeed and outfeed beds, or are subjecting the jointer to a lot of physical movement/vibration (from shipping/transport, for example), the settling or drift expected over time should be negligible--at least for the home hobbiest.

Also...the jury still seems to be out on the topic of spiral heads vs straight blades. I opted to go with the spiral head for the following reasons: quieter, less liklihood of tearout, and a much simpler process for getting a new sharp edge. I haven't done enough (I haven't actually done any) work with it yet to be able to notice the ridges/ripples that I've read can be left behind from spiral/helical heads. But I've seen enough evidence of experienced craftspeople using spiral heads that I don't believe it's all that serious of an issue or difficult to correct.

Mike has a very good point I don't think I've ever had a problem with the Dovetail ways on my old jointer

Well I bought my 12 Griz about 8 years ago and researched and the powers that be said that the big diff is with parallogram was adjustable on the 4 corners so if you were off just a hair front to back, you could adjust not have to shim like you would with dovetail ways. Other benefit was as the infeed table was lowered the distance from from head to table remained constant as opposed to the dovetail version that the distance would increase as the table was lowered.

I've not had to adjust my table so the first benefit I've never had to use. The second is nice, but I'm not sure it's a total deal breaker to me. I had the choice with my budget of getting a 12" with dovetail ways and inserts .vs. 12" with parallogram tables and HSS blades. I opted for the HSS and have never looked back and don't regret the choice.

I do feel though that if I'd gone the other way, I would have been equally satisfied. Good luck on your choice.

I voted parallelogram but I only did because I wanted to see the poll results.

Powermatic PJ-882 Parallelogram jointer here. I bought it new w straight knives about 2005. I had a Byrd head put on it last year. Loving it.

PHM

Parallelogram would be a nice feature I suppose, but all the wedge bed jointers I've owned never have been out of alignment to the point I had to shim up the beds.

In comparing two jointers, if the prices were the same, I'm sure I'd go with the parallelogram. If the wedge bed style costs less, I'd have no problem buying another one.