Hobbyist planer jointer question

[Navin Rao]

I'm a newbie woodworking hobbyist. Lets just say I'm frustrated with the results from buying S4S at the end of projects. That has led me to thickness planer and jointers. I live in a townhouse and my “shop” is less than half of a small two car garage (I share my half of the garage with bicycles, etc). My subpanel is 2 ½ storeys up in a bedroom, so wiring for 220V is not currently on the table. With limited space, a hobbyist usage and 110V, I am struggling with some issues.
There is a 10” Jet jointer/planer combo, but I think it might be too underpowered and not being able to move the fence seems a problem.
http://woodworking.jettools.com/Prod...10&cat=2560693
Amazon.com: Jet JJP-10BTOS 10-Inch Jointer/...
My next choice, despite my space limitations, is to get a separate planer and jointer.
Planer – I’m trying to choose between the Makita 2012 and the dewalt 735. The main aspect of the Makita that I like is it seems to be quieter and have blades that need replacing less often.
If I go the separate jointer route, I think I am limited to the 6” Jet or Gris.
G0654 6" x 46" Jointer
Amazon.com: JET 708457K JJ-6CSX 6-Inch 1...
So … opinions/suggestions please.
1)Jointer/planer combo or go with separate machines?
2)If separate machines, Makita 2012 vs Dewalt 735 for the planer? Or as a hobbyist would the Dewalt 734 suffice?
3)Jet vs Griz 6” jointer? Any other jointer suggestions?
Opinions on machines factoring in my constraints and other aspects such as easy of changes knives later on, etc. would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

[Adam Wissman]

i have been extremely happy with my dw735 its a great planer. great surface quality, 2 speeds, but loud. havent tried any of the others though

[glenn bradley]

I have been very happy with my DW734 which is also a 3 knife machine, has a carriage lock, comes with infeed and outfeed tables attached but, lacks the two speeds. This would save you some cash. I dumped my 6" jointer when it became inadequate for what I was doing (about a month after I bought it, ouch!). I got along quite nicely for 18 months (while I saved for a larger jointer) using a planer sled. Given your space limitations, I would strongly suggest you add this to your formula.

P.s. spend the money you save on wood!

[Bill Huber]

First of all welcome to the Creek....

I am a newbie hobbyist also and have a very small shot, 12x16. I have a little jointer and a planer (Ridgid 4330) if I had to give up one the little jointer would be the one to go. I use it very little but I use the planer all the time.

I have found with a good blade in my table saw, set up correctly, I use it for my jointing and it has worked out very well.

[jack richington]

you can joint on a router table, or build a jig to joint with a handheld router..$ apparantly isn't an issue, but space? If it were me, I'd skip the jointer and do the previous suggestion..I have the Dewalt 2speed..it is noisy

[Craig McCormick]

I have the Jet you mentioned. While I feel it is just a hobbyist tool it does the job for me. I am going to make an auxillary fence that clamps down to solve the non movable fence problem.

cm

[Rob Young]

I've been quite pleased with the results I get from the Sunhill 12" planer and their 6" joiner.

That said, both are limited in the size of stock I can handle so there are some creative glue-ups and handplane work.

Both leave noticable machine marks in the wood but again, not unexpected and definately not show stoppers. A few minutes with a card scraper and the marks are gone.

No cutter head lock on the planer but I take such light cuts that it hasn't been a problem. Just means more noise for a longer timer. Get good hearing protection and understanding neighbors...

I use the planer more than the joiner because the joiner has such short beds it makes it an interesting experience to work with stock longer than 4'. I end up clamping small stacks of cut-offs to make temporary outfeed and infeed supports. Long term I need to invest in a better jointing plane (or make a better one, my first try works but has its own set of limitations).

The price is right on the Sunhill equipment.

[Steve Mellott]

I have the older Dewalt 733 planer (2 blades) and it meets all my needs. The blades in this unit are very easy to change and align. I think there may be some problem with the bolts holding the blades in either the 734 or 735, but have no first hand experience with either machine. (I think there may be a thread on this forum regarding this problem.) I also have a Grizzly 0586 jointer and am very happy with that machine. As previously noted, these machines are very loud. You will also need a dust/chip collector - without one you will have woodchips all over the place in a very short time. Good luck with your selection.

Steve

[Paul Ryan]

Personally, I wouldn't but the jet 10" combo unit. I feel there are too many draw backs, such as the fence not moving, the out feed table not moving, the aluminum tables and fence, and the direct drive motor.

If you go with a combo unit I would buy a big one, unfortunately I think all of those are 220v. So I would buy individual machines. I would never be with out a jointer. I had a jointer for 3 years before I bought a planer. I would sell my planer long before I would get rid of my jointer. Almost every board that goes through my table saw gets jointed 1st. Any boards that are to be edge glued get jointed. My table saw gives nice clean cuts, but the jointer is still better. I don't plain that much. My lumber supplier only charges .10 a foot to plan wood. The planer does come in handy, but I could do with out if. So if I were you I would seach craigs list. The dewalt planers seem good units, I have the newest ridgid model and it works very nice, I have heard good things about the delta units, grizzly sells a luch box planer too. There are a lot of good used jointers on craigslist as well. In my opinion if you can only buy 1 get the jointer.