Which one first - a jointer or a planer?

[Matt King]

I've read and pondered and studied and thought..... I still don't have the 'right' answer!

Let's say I can spend between 500 and 700 bucks - should I get a Grizzly 8" jointer or get a Ridgid 6" jointer and planer or get a 'nice' (Dewalt/Delta 3 blade) lunchbox planer with accessories or put the money towards a 15" 'real' cabinet style planer... ~sigh~ DECISIONS, DECISIONS!


Any input is MOST appreciated!

Take care,

Matt

[Chris Padilla]

Matt,

Having same bed-sized jointer and planer is always really very nice but the jointer of the size of a planer always costs 2-3x more than the planer. That is why, I think, you see a lot more people with a planer first...you can get a decently wide one for a decent cost. Also, planers tend to take up less room than a jointer. Planers are easier to use than a jointer...it doesn't take much skill to jam a piece of wood into a planer!

With some thought, you can use a planer much like a jointer! I would go with a nice planer first and save up for a jointer later if you feel you need one still. I went a long time without a jointer and just a planer.

In the end, it depends on your needs and what you plan to do.

[Jim W. White]

Matt,

You're likely to get as many different answers as there will be replies for this question. It really comes down to your immediate needs and your long term objectives.

First the obvious factors which always factor into these decisions:

a.) you usually DO get what you pay for.
b.) if you stay in any hobby long enough your going to want to upgrade your existing equipment. The more elementary your starting equipment base is; the quicker this upgrade will be necessary to facilitate bigger and larger scale projects.

Having said all this, if your goal is getting into woodworking as a hobbiest and you don't plan on turning professional anytime soon than I would argue that a 6" jointer and a lunchbox planer can take you pretty far down the road and easily fit into your current budget.

I have a lunchbox planer (Delta 12.5"). Would I like a 15" stationary machine?! You bet!! ...but I'm getting along fine without one.

I have a 6" Ridgid jointer. Do I wish it was an 8" with a longer infeed/outfeed table?! Absolutely!! ...but I'm getting along fine with the jointer I have.

The fact of the matter is that these two tools are both very enabling. As soon as you have both of them; you'll ask yourself why you didn't buy them sooner. **The pair allow you to process the wood to fit the project and not change the project to fit the wood.** They will also advance the professional fit and finish of your work immensely. My opinion is your budget can get you going NOW with very little compromise. If I were spending the money (I love spending other people's money ) I would get a refurbed Dewalt 735 planer from Amazon and the 6" jointer from Ridgid and start making some serious saw dust; BUT I am confident others will tell you to purchase differently and ALL the input will be valuable and equally valid depending ON YOUR NEEDS.

Have fun!

Jim in Idaho

[James Mudler]

Matt,

Having said all this, if your goal is getting into woodworking as a hobbiest and you don't plan on turning professional anytime soon than I would argue that a 6" jointer and a lunchbox planer can take you pretty far down the road and easily fit into your current budget.

Totally agree, and if you are doing cabinets and small furniture projects 6" jointer will be fine. Now for table tops and large panels 8" jointer is really needed.

[Jeff Fritzson]

The 'right answer' is really the one that is right for you. I can only tell you how I have been going about it. I am now back into this hobby after being away for 25 years or so. I forgot how much I do enjoy it.

I was not sure if I would take to it again but that was kind of stupid on my part. The planer I have is the Delta 22-580 that I got for a great price ($239 brand new). This was just in the last 4 months so I was glad I got the price many people did last year during a clearance. This planer has been great. I am now looking at an 8" jointer.

Everyone I have spoken with has said save up and get the 8" jointer over the 6" jointer. For me that seems to be the right decision.

With 5-7 hundred to spend, you already laid out your choices nicely. 1 - 15" planer (almost), 1 - 8" jointer or 2 smaller machines. Only one other choice that you haven't mentioned is looking for good used machines. It takes more time and patience but sometimes you can help some one out while helping yourself as well.

Just another voice to add to the ones already in your head. I know you have them because I go through this everytime I need (really want) another machine.

Enjoy the decision process and be happy with what you choose.

Regards,
Jeff

[Ken Weaver]

Jeff has a good point, a lot depends on what you want to do. As a hobbiest, I have both the Ridgid 6" jointer and the 13" planer. Have always been able to do the projects I've worked on. They are excellent machines at good prices. On the other hand, were I trying to become a fulltime production shop, I might rethink it.

[Dev Emch]

Matt...

The jointer is a boring machine. It joints flat faces. Whooopppiieee!

But having said that, it is also one of the more important machines. Jointers produce accuracy! And this accuracy follows through your entire project. You will find that many other operations just go much easier when you have jointed your stock in the beginning.

Second, planers are "flawed" machines. They copy the bottom surface onto the top surface. So if the bottom surface is jointed, the output is dead flat and parallel. If not, your have a potatoe chip on your hands! So a planer is really nice *IF* your stock is already jointed on your reference face and reference edge.

So I would say that your choice should be the jointer first and you should get as large a jointer as you can afford! Cleary, many who are just starting out will have to buy a stick jointer. But if you can upgrade from say a 6 inch to an 8 inch jointer from the get go, DO IT.

Best of Luck...

[Dale Thompson]

Matt,
As a hobbiest with a PM 66 and a WW II blade, I haven't used my jointer/planer in a LONG time. What's the advantage? In fact, I've been looking at it recently as an occupier of space that I could use for other tools. If your projects are in the area of a hobby, I would suggest that your money would be much better spent on a thickness planer than on a jointer. I've got the 12" Ryobi unit which is fine but I really drool over the newer DeWalt unit and the 2-speed Delta machine.

As soon as I pay off the milk bill for my babies, I may give them a second look!

Dale T.

[Ray Bersch]

Matt,

As everyone has said, it depends on what you want to do. But I have gone through the same thing as you over the past few months. My use will be strickly hobby and I was unsure of which machines would meet my needs so I shopped the used market extensively. I have acquired a 6" jointer and a 12" bread box planner that I am absolutely pleased with and at far less of an investment than I expected. Actually, money was not the real issue, rather I felt I should not go out and buy top of the line new stuff until I knew more about the machines and how they fit into my hobby. I am confident that I will gain more skills with these machines and if I determine that I need more of a machine, I can sell these for what I paid or very little less.

The most important thing to me was the experience I gained just through the shopping process - I know exactly what the machines can do and what benefits I gave up - time will tell which of those added benefits (features) I will want in the future.

Oh, by the way, to answer your question, I felt both were necessary.

Good luck.

Ray

[scott spencer]

There's always valid argument on both sides of this discussion. I'd pick planer first, b/c there are tricks to flattening a board with the planer. It's difficult to get both faces parallel if you plane to final thickness on a jointer.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I'd go for a good 6" jointer, and a good lunchbox planer. I've had a reconditioned DeWalt planer for several years, and I use it pretty hard. I'd like to have a 12" jointer, but realistically, the 6" JET does what I need it to do 98% of the time...and when I really NEED a longer bed, or a bit more width, I know where's there's one I can 'borrow'.

Eventually, I'll buy an 8 or 12" for myself, and probably the 20" Grizzly planer...but I'll do so because I 'want to', not because I 'need to'.

KC

[John Dingman]

I've read and pondered and studied and thought..... I still don't have the 'right' answer!

Let's say I can spend between 500 and 700 bucks - should I get a Grizzly 8" jointer or get a Ridgid 6" jointer and planer or get a 'nice' (Dewalt/Delta 3 blade) lunchbox planer with accessories or put the money towards a 15" 'real' cabinet style planer... ~sigh~ DECISIONS, DECISIONS!


Any input is MOST appreciated!

Take care,

Matt

Matt,

I had to make the same decision on a slightly smaller budget and I went with a used Delta 6" Jointer, and a Ridgid 13" planer. Both served me well for a couple of years. I have recently sold the Delta Jointer and upgraded to the Grizzly 8". The planer will be upgraded in a couple of years or so. The Ridgid is a very nice planer for the money, it has done everything I have needed to do with it.

hth,
John

[Matt King]

Hey y'all - sorry for not responding to all of these very good points before now.

I just now went to Amazon to order the refurb Dewalt 735 and THEY'RE OUT OF THEM!!! So much for that idea!

Well, I still need a planer (and I can sneak a jointer in also - I'll get to that in a sec ) so what's the news on the 22-580? I've heard several people say that they like them, but also heard about some feeding problems. How about the Ridgid TP1300LS? I think the $50 Amazon promo is still valid, so that's a plus to the Delta, along with the 2 speeds. The Ridgid does have the Lifetime Warranty thing going for it. Any other suggestions at the mid $300 price point?

Now, to the jointer. I've decided that I'll go ahead and get a 6" jointer and lunchbox planer for now, while my shop is in the garage. Once I get my workshop building up and going (half machine shop/half woodworking) then I'll seriously persue at 15-20" stationary planer and at least an 8" jointer, if not an old 12-16" workhorse. All that being said, where do I spend the $400 on a jointer? The Craftsman "Professional" 21706, the Ridgid JP0610, or the Delta JT-360 on Amazon? Again, any other suggestions at the mid $300 price point?

The Craftsman seems pretty well made from looking at it in the store, and is an enclosed design, the Ridgid has the "Lifetime Warranty" deal going, and the Delta has the $50 Amazon promo, so there's positives all the way around.

What say you, oh learned ones? I'll hopefully be ordering/picking up both of these tools by the end of the week!

Thanks, y'all,

Matt

[Matt King]

Ooopsie - disregard the Shopmaster from Amazon... It's a marketplace vendor selling it, and I'm just not coming off $120 to ship the thing! That narrows it to the Craftsman and Ridgid, I guess, since the shipping dings the Sunhill as well. That is, unless y'all have some other alternatives in that mid $300 price area.

I guess it's pretty obvious where my budget has ended up, eh?

Alrighty, back to y'all!

Thanks again,

Matt

[scott spencer]

Those two machines work so well in tandem that I'd encourage to get both even if it means living with a 6" jointer for a while.....I've been managing fine with one for 4 years. $700 will buy you a decent planer with a cutterhead lock and a good 6" jointer.

No doubt an 8" jointer is nice, but not if it means no planer. When you get a board wider than 8" you can always put it on a planer sled to flatten a face.