Jointers: What size do you have

[Mike Heidrick]

12" Delta DJ-30

It is my last one.

[Deck Reagan]

I have the Jet 6" long bed. I love it. It fits great into my limited shop area and does everything I need it to as a HOBBY woodworker. I would for sure buy again.

deck

[Daniel Winsor]

I can't remember the issue, but there was an article in Fine Woodworking within the past year or so that gave some tips on doubling the capacity of your jointer.

Basically you cut the widest rabbet you can with your jointer about 1/8" deep. If you have to make several passes to cut the rabbet deep enough then you may have to make spacer to place over your infeed table on the jointer. The spacer is 1/4" thick and the same width as your infeed table. Cut it about 2" longer than the infeed so you can attach a stop block on the bottom that will keep the spacer from sliding into the jointer cutterhead as you make another pass for your rabbet. This spacer raises your work up high enough that you can run it through your jointer flat on the existing rabbet cut.

Then you use a flat piece of plywood that is at least an inch longer on both ends of your board and is at least the width of the rabbet. Put this plywood face to the flat rabbet face and then run through a planer with the plywood down, taking light cuts until you've got a full width flat face. Then flip the board over, remove the plywood and run through the planer again and you've got a flat board. Then joint one edge and rip like normal for 4 square.

I have a Jet 6" jointer and I'll play around with this technique once I find a planer

Dan

[guy knight]

went from 8 to 12 and yes bigger is better

[Steve Clardy]

I used a 6" by 40" bed jointer for 20 years.
I only edge joint boards usually, never flatten.
Last summer I picked up a griz 8" long bed jointer.
Bed length really helps out when doing longer boards for tables and such.

[Scott T Smith]

I had a 16" Grizzy spiral cutterhead until last year (shop fire), and replaced it with a 16" combination machine (also Grizzly - German mfg).

The bed length was nice on the original one, but the combo machine is nice because it requires less room (and produces and excellent, snipe free finish).

I also have a 25" Oliver combo machine.

[Darius Ferlas]

After a few deals on used machines fell through, I ended up with a brand new 6" jointer by King Canada. The model I got (KC-70FX) has a 55 1/2" long bed and a 5" tall fence. I am very happy with it and, as a weekend wood warrior, I can't see myself needing a wider jointer, unless perhaps, I quit my day job and go pro. In that case I will get a 10 feet wide jointer.

I get my lumber form various sources and out of the 400 bdf of walnut and cherry I bought recently only one board was wider then 12". The warping was too significant for face jointing even if I had a 16" jointer, so I ended up ripping it and gluing it back together to avoid too much of the thickness loss.

All the other boards I buy are between 7 and 8" wide. With some twisting, knots and such I decided to standardize on 5 3/4" wide boards for all my glue ups. I have enough ideas of what to do with the narrow strips too. For those rare occasions when I'm tempted to face joint wider boards (mostly as a result of so-an-so glue up) I use my 13" planer and a sled.

Again, I'm a hobbyist so my angle may be different than others' in this thread. If I had to make a living as a woodworker then I might see things differently and I would possibly pull the US out of this recession by buying 16" jointers, 54" sanders and such

[Rod Sheridan]

Hammer A3-31..........310mm about 12 inches...........Rod

[Lucas Moore]

Thanks for all the replies. My local craigslist has a powermatic 8" for sale. Now I just have to hide it in the garage from my wife!

[Roger Barlow]

16" Delta/Invicta and 8" Delta, 8" is for edge jointing, 16 for face

[Chuck Saunders]

16 in Grizzly, got it at the tent sale for $100. $600 later it is up and running.

[Rob Calkins]

Lucas,
I was in the same boat a few years ago...6" vs 8" Every one said get the biggest you can afford. I found an American made Powermatic 60 8" on craigs list for $400, how could I pass that up? I have never looked back. The Powermatic is a great machine.
Rob

[Irwin Fletcher]

I'm strictly a hobby woodworker, and I have an 8" Grizzly. In the course of a year's time, there are numerous occasions where it isn't large enough. I wish I had the money and room for a 12".

No question, go with as large as you have the $$ and room for. You won't regret it.

[JohnMorgan of Lititz]

Thanks for all the replies. My local craigslist has a powermatic 8" for sale. Now I just have to hide it in the garage from my wife!

It's good PM uses a very "blend-in", subtle color so she won't see it --- errr wait...