Keep my 6" jointer? Or not?

[Mark Gibney]

I just got a used 16" jointer that works great. I have a Craftsman 6" jointer that I used for years. Do I keep it to use, or is it a waste of space?

I woodwork for a living and I rent a workshop so I have room, but if I kept everything that might be useful some day I'd be snowed under.

Are there any uses for the 6" jointer, or should the 16" be able to do it all? I don't make jewelry boxes or anything small. Tables, cabinet face frames, chairs - that's the size of thing I make. Whadduya think?

[Bryan Lisowski]

I wish I had this problem! If you are doing face frames and similar width pieces on the 16", then I would sell or donate to a woodworking club or a school.

[Mike Cutler]

If the 16" is up and running, than the 6" is redundant. Personally, I'd free up the space and get rid of the 6".

[David Linnabary]

I just came into a similar situation when I found a 12" jointer, so far I've kept my vintage 6" Delta. So far I've mostly run my edge work through the smaller jointer thinking that I'd keep the blades on the larger more crispy sharp for flat work which tends to be more critical. The smaller unit is light enough I can move it around pretty easily so it's not really a space issue. Also I thought I'd keep it around for a bit till I'm more sure about my larger jointer, there may be some things I want to do restoration wise or possibly upgrade the cutter head. So I'll keep the smaller for a while longer and see how it goes, it may get traded off someday.

David

[Prashun Patel]

It's not like you can set the machines up with different bits or blades like routers or saws. I can't think of anything the 6" could do that the 16" couldn't.

If you're doing a lot of really rough boards, then maybe you could keep the 6" as a beater jointer just to save your blades on the 16"?

If it were me, I'd sell it.

[Julie Moriarty]

I had a Crapsman 6" jointer and I gave it away. It was a pain to keep the tables in line. But if yours is working and you have the space, why not keep it and use it for smaller pieces? How many times will you use just a small portion of the 16" knives to joint? You could use the 6" instead and wear out those knives for the small work. They are probably easier to sharpen and cheaper to replace.

[Charles Taylor]

I'm in a similar boat, having acquired a 12" jointer and already having a 6". The 6" doesn't have any capabilities that the larger one doesn't. In my shop there isn't room for two, so that's that. Even though you have room for both in yours, the space taken by the smaller one may be put to better use in some other way.

[Mark Gibney]

Thanks you all for your opinions. The 6" jointer will soon be leaving the compound.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Besides the obvious solution that you need to give it to me because I don't own one......

If the following are true:

• You have the space (do not know who these people are that have extra space, but, perhaps you are that one person)
• The knives for the 6" jointer are not overly expensive (as in less than your larger jointer)
• You run a lot of material that is narrow

Then you may have be able to save money on jointer knives by keeping this one around for appropriate use. If that means you save $5 a year, probably not worth it.

[Judson Green]

Only reason I'd keep it is if your shop is so large that walking over to the 16" from say a table saw takes too much time. Sometimes its nice to re-joint a edge after being sawn. Or maybe you have a few employees and don't want em waiting for a machine to free up.

[Dave Cav]

I have a 12" Invicta. It replaced an 8" Grizzly, which was a nice jointer with an insert head. If I had room I would get a good 6" jointer for edge work only, and use the 12" for face work, which I find I do a bunch of now that I have the capacity.

[Peter Quinn]

Most of the craftsman jointers I've seen, wouldn't be in a big hurry to keep, guess it depends on the model. I kept a 6" general in my basement shop way too long after acquiring an 8", it never got any use, wound up selling it cheap. I've worked in a shop with two 12" and a 20" jointer that still kept an 8" around for fitting doors and trimming edges, always kept razor sharp knives on it, shop I'm in now keeps an 8" spiral head for fitting doors and has two 12" jointers for heavier work. So while the multi jointer concept can work, it sort of depends on the jointer in question. Sounds like you've made your decision, if you bump into something else in the future, an extra 8" long bed can be handy if space is available, if it's a one man shop the utility is much diminished.

[lowell holmes]

If it's an old jointer, it probably is a good one.