Older Grizzly 1018 Jointer -- worth it?

[Michael Shoffner]

$300 seems low enough that you could easily recoup your investment if you decided to resell it, and pursue a new machine later. The downside is just the hassle, but that's life in the fast lane of tool acquisition!

My thoughts exactly Scott

[Michael Shoffner]

Ok, decided to take a leap of faith on the used one. I'll post an update once I get it. Thanks to all for the perspectives

[Chris Hachet]

Ok, decided to take a leap of faith on the used one. I'll post an update once I get it. Thanks to all for the perspectives

Excellent. I have found used equipment to be a good value.

[Adam Merritt]

Excellent. I have found used equipment to be a good value.

I need to find someone like you local then! I am about ready to list a DWE7480 table saw, DW735x planer, and router table with router combo for sale. Wife says I need to recoup some of my upgrade costs and free up room in the garage. :\

[Bill Dufour]

I believe you said you have a 6" jointer. When I got my 8' delta I found the knife setting jig for the 6" Taiwan jointer worked on the older Delta 8". Do spend a little time on polishing the heads of the jam bolts for the knives. I found that made it easier.
Since this is a used machine I would remove all the bolts and gibs and wire brush the threads inside and out, grind/polish the bolt heads. File the back of gibs smooth if the bolts have scarred them.
Do one slot at a time to maintain balance.
Bill D.
PS:" My mother's house is in a 10% sales tax rate area so $1300 jointer add $130 plus shipping to the catalog price.
At $300 you will make money if you decide to resell

[Matt Day]

Agreed. $300 is a very tempting price. Starting to think, that I should buy this and use the saved money to buy a helical head for my planer instead since thats the machine that is closest in line to the finished surface.

Exactly my thought. In fact I think I said that in your other thread!

Also remember how many decades craftsmen have gotten by with straight knives. Unless cash is overflowing your pockets and you just don't know what to do with it, get the used machine and save the dough.

[Mike Stalkfleet]

You can still get the Byrd head for the older grizzly jointers through Oella Saw and Tool
Byrd apparently makes different heads in batches, so you may have to wait quite a while for them to change their setup to make yours, I ordered one 7 weeks ago and still haven't received it.

[Chris Hachet]

You can still get the Byrd head for the older grizzly jointers through Oella Saw and Tool
Byrd apparently makes different heads in batches, so you may have to wait quite a while for them to change their setup to make yours, I ordered one 7 weeks ago and still haven't received it.

This is excellent to know as I will be in the market for an 8 inch Jointer at some point.

[Michael Shoffner]

Thanks again to all that chimed in with advice here. I've spent the week cleaning this jointer up. Turns out to be a 1989 model. There was quite a bit of rust on the cutterhead and tables, but they polished up nicely with some elbow grease. I fiddled with the fence adjustments too and now the fence is nice and flat. Tables were already flat. I've sent the knives off to be sharpened so I'll be making sawdust soon!
I was able to sell my Craftsman 6" jointer from Facebook in a matter of a few hours. So all said and done, I upgraded for $200!
IMG_0305.jpg IMG_0304.jpg IMG_0306.jpg

[Vinito Caleb]

That's cool. Looks like it's in fine shape.
I wish they'd have an 8" (or so) jointer deal on CL around here. You can take your pick of a dozen 6" any day of the week, which I did several weeks back, but I have yet to see a decent 8" for any price and I typically check two or three times a day for about three months now. There's been a nice 12" listed but at $6000 for a long time and that's about it.

I'm not sure how much luck you'd have getting dimension specs from Grizzly about their newer version spiral head, and of course I don't know if you have tools or experience measuring yours to compare. But if you could figure out whether one would fit and decided to bite the bullet I think you'd be very happy with it once it was fit up. Put it on your list to make friends with a local hobbyist machinist - it comes in handy sometimes.

[Michael Shoffner]

Yes, I've talked with Grizzly tech support a few times. Their helical heads only fit machines from 1992 or later that have double pulley motors. Mine is from 89 and only has a single pulley. However, Byrd Tooling makes one that will fit my machine for $460, so I may go that route eventually.
I never had any luck on Craigslist finding an 8" jointer either. I trolled their for 2 years with no luck. Search your region for used machinery dealers, put the word out on forums like this one, or better yet even more local. I got mine through a NCWoodworkers.net forum post. Also start watching the auction sites and you'll have much better luck. AuctionZip is a great site that will troll auctions in your area for certain keywords. Ironically after finding nothing for 2 year, I had 2 great 8" options after I had bought mine from online estate auctions in my area. Try playing with that. Good luck.

That's cool. Looks like it's in fine shape.
I wish they'd have an 8" (or so) jointer deal on CL around here. You can take your pick of a dozen 6" any day of the week, which I did several weeks back, but I have yet to see a decent 8" for any price and I typically check two or three times a day for about three months now. There's been a nice 12" listed but at $6000 for a long time and that's about it.

I'm not sure how much luck you'd have getting dimension specs from Grizzly about their newer version spiral head, and of course I don't know if you have tools or experience measuring yours to compare. But if you could figure out whether one would fit and decided to bite the bullet I think you'd be very happy with it once it was fit up. Put it on your list to make friends with a local hobbyist machinist - it comes in handy sometimes.

[Vinito Caleb]

Wow thanks for the leads. I'll start to check those other avenues out.
Too bad you're not closer. I could be the machining buddy that tweaks an inexpensive Grizzly cutterhead to fit your machine just fine, hehe.

[Michael Shoffner]

yeah....Kansas City is a long drive from Asheville!
Here are 2 national auction sites to start watching. Sometimes the area of sale is too far away to consider, but they consistently have new auctions
www.govdeals.com and irsauctions.com

Wow thanks for the leads. I'll start to check those other avenues out.
Too bad you're not closer. I could be the machining buddy that tweaks an inexpensive Grizzly cutterhead to fit your machine just fine, hehe.

[Keith Hankins]

Ok gang, still 8" jointer hunting here in NC. Ya'll wisely talked me out of the overpriced used Delta I found. I'm still considering a new Grizzly 8" jointer when they come back in stock. In the mean time, I've found a guy selling a Grizzly 1018 for $300. It only has a single belt on the motor, so best I can tell that means it was built prior to 1992 ( and also means adding a newer spiral head is not an option). Tables and fence all seem flat based on pics he has sent me and they show minor surface rust. I have not seen the unit in person. Its a 2hp motor wired for 220.
I have no experience from Griz machines that old. I'm perfectly happy with the more current Grizzly machinery I have.
So the big question? .....scoop this older 8" jointer up for $300 and attempt to clean her up, or spend $1300 on new with spiral head??

I've got the G0609 12: jointer with HSS knives. Had it since 206-7. No problems and never had an issue. A jointer to be honest is a pretty simple machine. I'd take a machinist strait edge and check the tables otherwise 300 i'd snare it in a heart beat.

I've considered putting the byrd head on mine, but never been able to justify.

Got a few griz mazhines and all good. I had the 1023TS (only sold to upgrade to sawstop), and had the horizontal boring machine I used for slot morticing but sold that to upgrade to floor model mortising machine. Also have the 17" BS. Its a good one too.

I run go buy that if its in decent shape.

[Matt Day]

Hey Keith - good advice, the jointer you suggested has been sitting in his shop for 2 weeks!