8" Jointer and 15" Planer -Delta or General?

[Eric McMillan]

H.R.

I have the DJ20 and run it on 110v. It can be wired either way, and I'll change to 220v if and when I get a new shop built. Till then, 110v works just fine.

[Rich Konopka]

Frank:

I have the DJ20 and it is an excellent machine. The model X5 is rebadged with a 5 year warranty. The motor and stand are now made in China for the X5. Where the generation prior were built in the US. This was explained to me by the local Delta rep. I was fortunate to get in on a good deal back in May where Tools Plus was clearing out the old for $1099usd. I got the last one. ( Belated Gloat ) They now only carry the X5's for 1669. Yee-ouch a $300 usd increase.

There are a few of the older generation DJ20's. Here's what they look like at Coastal Tool The only downfall is that they don't ship these big boy's like Amazonian or others.

[Ed Moehlenpah]

the plate on my dj20 is marked 220v, and doesn't mention 110v at all. I've seen some plates (on other machines marked 110/220 to indicate both), but not mine. Does that mean it could potentially run on 110v? Not that I'd want to, but just curious.
Ed

[Bruce Gray]

I have the DJ-20 X5 version, and am real happy with it. I really like the parallelogram table design. I have noticed that Amazon still lists the DJ-20 as well as the X5 version, with a $350 (US) price difference. I can't see any real difference in the machines. ...and that free mobile base is certainly not worth the extra money.

Powermatic has a new jointer with a parallelogram design, that looks similar to the DJ-20, but has some added features. A fine-adjust on the in-feed table looks attractive to me. Price is about the same as a DJ-20.

[Eric McMillan]

the plate on my dj20 is marked 220v, and doesn't mention 110v at all. I've seen some plates (on other machines marked 110/220 to indicate both), but not mine. Does that mean it could potentially run on 110v? Not that I'd want to, but just curious.
Ed

I just went out and checked mine. The plate on the jointer says 230v 8.5A, but the manual says that it can run 220v or 115v single phase. I know I don't have 220v in the garage/shop, so mine's running 115v just fine.

[Frank Pellow]

The Delta X5 37-365X is the same as the Delta DJ-20 and it is a good machine.

Delta is good about supporting their tools for many years.

General makes good tools.

There is no feedback at all about planers and no feedback about the specific GI jointer that I am considering. Once again, I solicit information and opinions.

[Greg Ladd]

Frank,
I cannot comment on the General International jointer. I have a DJ-20 that has served me well and I would not consider any other 8" jointer except possible the General 480. As far as the planer goes, it appears that the GI 30-125, is very close to the Jet JWP 15cs that I have. I really can't complain about it, although I do wish I had cast iron infeed/outfeed tables rather than the rollers.

I am not sure of the differences between the GI 30-125 that I am taking about and the GI 30-115 that you had asked about. The GI 30-125 is significantly heavier, 111 lbs more, which is always better in opinion except when you have to move it!

Hope this didn't confuse the issue more.
Greg

[Greg Ladd]

Frank,

I forgot to mention that I have the General 350 cabinet saw, which is an awesome machine. I certainly would recommend the Canadian-made General line. I simply have no reference on the International line from General.

Greg

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks for the information Greg and, in that I see these are your first two postings, welcome to Saw Mill Creek.

I am also in the market for a cabinet table saw and, right now, ther General 350-T50 is at the top of my list. I just wish that it had a riving knife.

[JayStPeter]

There is no feedback at all about planers and no feedback about the specific GI jointer that I am considering. Once again, I solicit information and opinions.

Frank,
I was considering that GI jointer. As I mentioned before, it uses the same Geetech castings as the Grizzly, Jet, etc. It uses the 3 knife cutterhead. The big difference between it and the others is the table extenders. It uses the same ones that the Craftsman ?Pro? 8" (also a Geetech) uses. That is rollers that extend out from the table ends instead of cast iron extensions. That allows it to have a smaller footprint, but still give you the option of using them for long material. I played with the Craftsman version at Sears and they seemed pretty nice. Before I found a used Grizzly, I was pretty much sold on the Wilke version since it came with the 4-knife cuttehead and US motor for not much more than the 3-knife Taiwan motor Grizzly version (I know that doesn't help you much in Canada, but for anyone else reading w/any interest). Personally, I find the length of the standard bed to be fine and didn't want the longer bed versions available. The idea of the deployable extensions seemed good to me.
If I were you, I'd investigate what motor comes on the GI. If it is an Asian motor, I'd seriously look at the Busy Bee or King? you mentioned earlier. If they are cheaper, they are probably the same machine without the extending rollers.

As for the planers, the Delta has been the standard for years. It got a new model number and a different base for it's "X" badging (and probably a production facility further east than the old versions). As for the GI, again it looks similar to the ones that Grizzly, Wilke, Jet, etc. sell. Grizzly has two versions of it's 15" planer, one made in Taiwan, one in China. There is also a motor on the bottom planer made in Taiwan (where the handwheel moves the table relative to the fixed cutterhead instead of the cutterhead relative to the table). Most "generic" 15" planers are one of these. And, the GI line (not General, but GI) is all generic. I've come to the conclusion that the Tiawaneese ones are preferable (but a little more pricey). I like the motor on top versions so you could build your own extension tables if desired and they wouldn't have to move when you adjust cutting depth. Again, you'll probably find the same machine badged Busy Bee/Cantech/King? up there. I'm a little less knowledgeable of vendor specific mods on these, but my feeling is that there aren't many other than motor, switch, base.

Hope I've helped some.

Jay

[John Weber]

Frank,

I have a DJ-20 and a Powermatic 15" imported planer. The DJ-20 is in a class by itself and a joy to use. If you can swing it that's the way I would go. Second choice for a jointer would be the 10" Oliver by Sunhill Imports. All cast iron a really beautiful machine.

As for planers most of the machines use the same castings, you need to look at features and quality (there are differences among the companies). The Delta uses a movable head so the table height stays the same. This can be an advantage if you plan a long in feed and out feed tables. The negatives seem to be motor on top (can be in the way when changing knives), and 2hp vs 3hp. I'm not sure how much these matter, Delta is a great company with outstanding service and their 15" planer is proven and a solid performer. I choose the older Powermatic 15", because I liked the safety switch in the base, built in casters, three roller feed tables, and all the features I wanted with good Powermatic support and service. The General and Jet would be much the same. You can't really go wrong with any of these. I would stay away from the cheap 15" planers from York Craft and Grizzly (although Grizzly also sells a decent 15" planer priced in line with the Delta/Jet/General/Powermatic). If you had an extra $1.5k General makes a beautiful 14" planer in Canada. It has both a chip breaker and pressure bar and can be fine tuned to give an excellent surface. At around $2500 it's built like the old Powermatic model 100, plenty of cast iron and heavy duty.

If I had the money I would go with an Oliver 10" jointer and the General 14" planer, otherwise I would go for a Delta DJ20 and Delta 15" planer.

John

[Allen Grimes]

Frank, I just got a GI 50-260. I still haven't got it up and running so I cant comment on GI quality yet. It is built like a tank though, just about everything is cast iron. But one thing is for sure, the instruction manual is garbage. Being my first table saw it took me forever to figure out where things were supposed to go. But still, just looking at the thing sitting in my shop gives me a warm happy feeling inside.


Now for my completely unreliable advise: Skip the planer for now and get a 12" jointer.

[CPeter James]

I traded an older Delta 8" jointer for a very slightly used DJ-20. I really like the 76" table and the massive cutterhesd. The lever adjustment is the cat's meow, easy to change and easy to get back to a standard cut. I normally set mine to 1/32 and rip my boards accordingly. If I need to flatten something that is really out, I take a much larger cut and then go back to my standard. The change only takes seconds. Delta has on their web site detailed instructions on adjusting the tables on this jointer (if you should ever have to).

CPeter

[Frank Pellow]

Frank, I just got a GI 50-260. I still haven't got it up and running so I cant comment on GI quality yet. It is built like a tank though, just about everything is cast iron. But one thing is for sure, the instruction manual is garbage. Being my first table saw it took me forever to figure out where things were supposed to go. But still, just looking at the thing sitting in my shop gives me a warm happy feeling inside.

Now for my completely unreliable advise: Skip the planer for now and get a 12" jointer.

Hi Allen, I remember your introductory thread where you setled for this saw rather than the General 650 and I remeber Shelley Bolster warning in that thread that "The manual is the pits". Right now the Genreal 350 is at the top of my list when I purchase a table saw (I have been looking at adds to see if I can find a used one).

Re your large jointer advice, really do want both a jointer and planner (or combination machine that I can afford).

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,
...
If you had an extra $1.5k General makes a beautiful 14" planer in Canada. It has both a chip breaker and pressure bar and can be fine tuned to give an excellent surface. At around $2500 it's built like the old Powermatic model 100, plenty of cast iron and heavy duty.

I got a quote on the General 14" planner (model 130) and the price is more than double the price of the Delta X5 DJ-20.

If I had the money I would go with an Oliver 10" jointer and the General 14" planer, otherwise I would go for a Delta DJ20 and Delta 15" planer.

Its looking more and more like I will end up with your alternate choices, that is the Delta DJ20 and Delta 15" planer.