Inca 570 10" J/P w/ Tersa Head or 1950's Powermatic 60 8" w/ Shelix

[Bryan Caruso]

I currently have a 1980's Inca 570 10" Tersa head jointer/planer combination machine. It's a phenomenally accurate and compact machine but it's on the small side with 44" anodized aluminum tables and switching between the two modes, while still very fast to do, can be a PIA.
I have an opportunity to purchase a 1950's Powermatic 60 8" jointer for a very fair price. In general I have an affinity for vintage iron (almost all my tools are vintage machines I've restored). The PM60 has 65" cast iron tables with a 3 blade cutter that I would likely upgrade to Bryd Shelix cutterhead along with new bearings/belts.

I can purchase the PM60+Shelix head+Dewalt DW735X 13" Planer for approximately the same price I could sell my 570 for.

Which would you choose? I'm having a helluva a time choosing and have to make the decision in the next 2 days.


EDIT:
- I'm a hobbyist making small to mid-size furniture pieces. I'll be making a bed frame and large outdoor table later this year though. I haven't necessarily had issues with the size/capacity of the Inca but I do like the solid, bulletproof build of the PM and it's longer tables/fence.

-Space isn't necessarily an issue. I like the compact size of the Inca but I do have room for a larger machine. The floor print of the PM60 is 1,024in^2 (16"x64"w) and the Inca is 1,408in^2 (32"x44"w)

[Geoff Crimmins]

I own a Powermatic 50 jointer and used to own an Inca bandsaw (the larger three-wheeled one.) A friend owns a Powermatic 60 jointer and a DeWalt 735 planer. I'm very impressed with the Powermatic jointers, and the DeWalt planer is a great lunchbox planer. I was never impressed with Inca bandsaw, finding it to be kind of lightweight and hard to adjust, and prone to problems. If it were my choice to make I would choose the the PM 60 and DeWalt 735 unless space was really an issue. I would put the Shelix head in the planer rather than the jointer, though. For the cost of the DeWalt planer and a Shelix head you may be able to find a used Grizzly 15" planer with a helical head.

--Geoff

[Andrew Hughes]

It wouldn't consider that a upgrade.Swapping heads.
Bryd heads belong strictly in a planer.
Thats how I roll.

[John TenEyck]

As long as you aren't going to miss the extra 2-1/4" of jointing capacity it makes sense. For me, it didn't. I had an Inca for over 25 years. I often wished the tables were longer, but I never really had any trouble face or edge jointing some pretty long stock - over 8'. I bought a 12" Foley/Belsaw planer/molder and used it as my planer and the Inca as the jointer for several years. It was nice not having to switch from one function to the other and the 5 HP motor on the Foley was a real treat. But I never thought about getting a narrower jointer. Now I have a 14" MiniMax J/P and it's a big step up in both width and table length, and sometimes wonder how I got along with the 10-1/4" Inca. Switching back and forth is certainly not as convenient as having two separate machines, but being able to face joint single board, full width door panels more than makes up for it.

If your needs don't require face jointing wide stock, go for it. Otherwise, I'd buy the lunchbox planer and use the Inca as your jointer.

John

[ken carroll]

I have the Inca also and run it strictly as a jointer, I use a Dewalt planer for planing tasks, this works out well for me.

[Matthew Hills]

Sounds like you'd be getting a good deal on the used jointer.
If you dont' need to sell the inca immediately, maybe get the jointer and see how your work flow evolves.

From what you've been building, how much would you miss the extra capacity on the jointer?
I see a lot of boards in the 7-9" range.
Rails/stiles all get cut out and can be processed on a 6" jointer, but if you're making tops or panels, then you may miss the width.
(I've got a 6" right now, and would consider 10"/12" combos, but probably not an 8". I currently deal with wide boards with hand plane to get initial flat face)

And if you've truly got the owwm bug, I'm expecting you to keep your eyes peeled for a PM100 or similar, and not stick with a lunchbox.

Matt

[John TenEyck]

It wouldn't consider that a upgrade.Swapping heads.
Bryd heads belong strictly in a planer.
Thats how I roll.

Curious, why do you say a segmented head does not below in a jointer?

John

[Andrew Hughes]

After discussing this on L J I have come to realize that a Bryd head would do better at facing reclaimed woods.Or really difficult exocits.
I have found that sharp T1 knives set very very close in height take hardly any pressure to face or edge boards.And the surface left on edges are superior.For me this is most important.
I had a 8 inch Oliver with a Bryd head and a 3 inch cutting circle and went thru 2 sets of inserts.So I now compare that machine to a 12 inch Oliver with a 5 inch cutting circle.Maybe it's not a fair comparison??
My planer has a Bryd head so I'm not completely against it.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I had one of those Incas. Great for small stuff. But every once on a while I'd have a 4' board that weighed more than 5lbs. Inca couldn't handle it.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Curious, why do you say a segmented head does not below in a jointer?

John

I would say a segmented head has much less value in a jointer than a planer..

When processing rough lumber the jointer is used to flatten a face, then it's off to the planer to make the two faces parellel. The planer will finish the long grain faces of both sides of the board, so basically the planer just reprocessed the long grain face flatten by the jointer. So if you had a segmented head only in the jointer, the planer just 'erased' the work done by the segmented head jointer.

Saying all this another way, the jointer doesn't create a finished surface for long grain, it the planer's job.

[Bryan Caruso]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think what I might do is pickup the Powermatic 60 and just keep it with the stock knives and setup my Inca as my "dedicated planer" for awhile and see what I think.

I agree with what's being said about the Shelix heads on a jointer completely. In fact, when I sold my 6" jointer and the guy mentioned buying a Shelix for it I told him to hold off and buy it on his planer instead.

Thing is, I've been really spoiled with having razor sharp blades that require no adjustment or sharpening on my Inca because of the Tersa head. The Shelix is more of a convenience thing than anything else. I never liked having to remove the HSS blades on my 6" jointer, hone them sharp and then reinstall. With the segmented cutter it'll be quieter, I don't have to deal with adjustments and they'll stay sharp for a very long time.

That said, I ran across a recommendation in the Powermatic manual for sharpening. They're saying to lower the outfeed table .003" and run the machine while passing an Arkansas stone over it to sharpen the blades, and they recommend this weekly. Has anyone tried this? If it's effective I would forego the Shelix completely and just use HSS and hone them with this method.

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[Andrew Hughes]

Jointing the knives is something I do only as last resort.For instance I was running some very knotty white pine and my Resaw was very close to a final thickness.So didn't want to risk and big chunk popping out around the knots.So I joint the knives with the head running.
With all the knives cutting equally everything was great.
After that project I ran some hickory and the cut was still great but it really wasn't a pleasant experience.It takes more feed pressure.And there will be more knife edge to grind back to sharp.
So there's still no free lunch.

[John TenEyck]

Something is wrong with that Mike. I ran stuff that weighed well over 50 lbs over and through my Inca w/o any more problem than manhandling the mass of the wood.

John

[John TenEyck]

Thanks Andrew and Robert.

John

[Bryan Caruso]

Something is wrong with that Mike. I ran stuff that weighed well over 50 lbs over and through my Inca w/o any more problem than manhandling the mass of the wood.

John

Agreed. I've jointed so pretty heavy/sizable pieces with the Inca with perfect results. I built these floating shelves a few months ago and each piece weighs 15 pounds. I've jointed 30 pound glue ups and never even thought about it.