Looking for jointer/planer combo machine

[Joshua Bass]

I obsessed over these machines for the past month, watching every video and reading every review I could find on them. I ended up going with the Hammer A3-41 16" with spiral head. I came very close to splurging on the Felder model, but it was about 4k more and I couldn't justify that as a hobbyist just for it to be a little nicer with digital/powered height adjustment.

I just got it this week but wont have power in the shop for another 2 weeks. The height gauge is relatively cheap and probably better than trying to retrofit something else onto it. The minimax was also on my short list, but Hammer won on price. Make sure to ask them if they are still on sale, because the discount was huge.

[John Sincerbeaux]

There is no right answer to your question. It really depends on the
way you work. I never depend on machines to create super accuracy or a final finish. I do that with hand tools, therefore my demands for a machine would be different than someone else. If you are machine dependent then you're gonna want, of dare I say "need" a higher quality machine. Hand tools, planes etc., are quite liberating in that way.

Ron

Ron,
Do you have any machines?
Just curious... what skills do find you are superior to a machine in terms of "accuracy and finish" ?

[Len Rosenberg]

Couple of years ago went through the same process and ended up with a Minimax FS41 Elite. Fantastic machine, 4 knife tersa head, trouble free. Only regret is not getting the Elite S with motorized lift....

[Albert Lee]

If you know you are going to be in this field for a long long time and money is not an issue... Hofmann has the combo you want...

[Vinito Caleb]

OK so NOW I run across an 8" jointer deal.
I have a line on a Grizzly 8" with spiral head for $700 and I can pick up a 20" Grizzly planer with spiral head for a couple grand new (better if I run across a CL deal). I know these aren't as nice as the Hammer, but they'd match the quality of my other few machines and probably work fine for me... I think. This would cost a little more than $2K less than the hammer.

I'm tempted but I haven't pulled the trigger or even decided for sure yet. Got a couple days to mull it over. Separate machines might be nice (my shop isn't tiny, just isn't large and both are on wheels too) so it's just a matter of whether 8" jointer will be too narrow. Honestly for the projects in my immediate future (next two years or so) it's all going to be under 8" wide and I could make a jointer sled for the planer if I wanted to build a rare table top or something.

Bloody hell. I guess if I already knew what I was doing, my current project queue would have been checked off years ago. These Grizzly machines are much nicer than the cheap crap I've seen guys make decent pieces with before, so in my head I'm kinda thinking I'd probably be pretty comfortable working with it compared to what I've tried to use before (band aids & bubble gum).

Hmmmm.

[John TenEyck]

Nice (and large) equipment makes the job easier, but they don't replace the person using them. Many pro shops are based around an 8" jointer and 15 or 20" planer. If you can buy used machines for a good price you can resell them for about what you paid when something better or more desirable comes along.

John

[Prashun Patel]

"so it's just a matter of whether 8" jointer will be too narrow."

8" jointer is not too narrow for MANY people. In fact, I could do quite well with the 6" jointer I had. A wider jointer just makes some things a little easier. Each person has their own truth on this, but for me, I almost always cut wide stock into narrower strips for structural or aesthetic reasons.

On the contrary, having separates can also make things more convenient. Switchover on the Hammer is as easy as it gets, but it's still a hassle, and requires resetting the table height on the planer. Therefore, you will have to plan out your milling operations more carefully with a combo. This is probably the key reason to upgrade the height gauge on this machine. I've learned to work around it.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I had an 8" jointer and upgraded to the Hammer A3-31.

Yes you can use a planer sled, however if you're a hobby user like me, time is critical.

I don't have a lot of shop time so fooling around with a planer sled, or any other "make do" bodges takes precious shop time away.

Go for the 12" combo.....................Rod.

[Jim Becker]

...so it's just a matter of whether 8" jointer will be too narrow.

See, that's the thing...for me, I wouldn't be happy with an 8" jointer because I flatten material quite often that's wider than that. There have even been times when the 350mm of width I do have isn't adequate and that's when I sorta wish I went with a 16" (410mm) machine. My personal preference is for jointing/flattening width to be equal to thicknessing width.

[scott vroom]

I've got an 8" jointer and wish it were 12". I've got a 15" planer and the only times I wish it were bigger are when I make wide desk tops from 4 boards: I first glue up 2 boards and run them through the planer, then a second set of boards same thing. I then do a single final glue up of the 2 halves and only have to deal with flattening a single seam by hand. If I'm making a 28" wide desk top the 15" planer is barely big enough for this method. A 16" planer would allow me to make a 30" wide panel with a little wiggle room, again using my method of gluing up and thicknessing 2 halves, then doing a final glue up of the halves.

[Curt Harms]

For me the question of jointer width came down to having access to inexpensive rough sawn stock. I had a 6" jointer/13" benchtop planer like many. There are a lot of sources for good inexpensive hardwoods in this area so I wanted the ability to flatten rough stock that is often wider than 8" but not usually wider than 11". I'm a little space limited so went with a Jet JJP-12 non-helical. The helical wasn't available when I bought mine. It does what I want, create flat square boards. If space were not an issue I may have gone with old iron separates but 12" jointers are usually not cheap, old arn or not.

[Erik Loza]

Almost 15 years of selling Euro jointer/planers and never once did I have a customer complain about "too much" face width capability. On the other hand...

Erik

[Chris Fournier]

I worked for years with an 8" jointer and a 16" planer, both Taiwanese. Man I did a lot of work with those machines. I then bought a Minimax jointer planer combo that was 12" wide. The additional capacity of the jointer was liberating but more impressive was the quality of the machine, and the pleasure I had just turning it on and using it. I was sold on European. I now have a Minimax CU 410 Elite S with 16" of jointer and planer. Love it! But! For household furniture, panel doors and your average projects the 12" piece really was just fine. The size, my perception of energy consumption, etc made it comfortable. My current 410 is a beast by one man shop standards. It's advantages are that it is built like a tank for big pieces - four post planer bed for example. Looong jointer tables - 12 foot lumber? Let's go! It is however more machine than is needed to build residential furniture. I could move and load the 12" machine with ease. Used my little minivan to bring it home back in the day. I like that freedom, not that I need it... Now my machine can be moved around my shop no problem as it is so well designed for this but a change of venue means a tilt and load and a forklift. Whaaaa! Everything has it's pros and cons.

Listening to your story I'd say that buying an 8" jointer would be a mistake. Move up to a 12" machine at the least, or most given my explanation.

Good luck!

[Vinito Caleb]

Well I decided to go against the advices for going with a 12" instead agreeing with the few who said that 8" jointer would probably suit most of my needs. Today I picked up the 8" Grizzly. It's not bad. Has an insert helical cutterhead (Grizzly style). A couple trial cuts show it does a nice job. The odd thing about this machine is there are short 5" extensions bolted on to make the table total 75" length total. Just seems like if you're going to go through the trouble of designing it to accept extensions, you'd make them longer than 5" I guess. Seems like as a manufacturer you'd just either make the table casting 5" longer or make the extensions more significant, but whatever.

So now I guess I'm in the market for a decent planer. I have a cheap lunchbox but I'll be stepping up to something better within the next few months - at least 15" but probably more likely to look at 20" I'm thinking. I really like these helical cutterheads so that is a must for me. I guess I'll just follow craigslist but if anybody has suggestions on better avenues to find a good used deal near Kansas City I'd welcome the advice.

Sorry I won't be gloating about a new Hammer purchase. I'm sure I would have liked it but it was looking more expensive than I was comfortable with.

[John TenEyck]

Good deal Vinito. You won't suffer much with the narrower width and using it will allow you to assess how much you really "need" a wider one. Many folks never go bigger.

Not trying to burst your bubble, but you are unlikely to find a killer deal on a used planer with a helical head. However, you will find great deals on straight knife planers from folks trading up to a helical head. Take advantage. And if you can get one at a really good price you'll have enough to buy a drum sander which will take care of any tearout you get from the straight knives. If you have any desire to cut shop sawn veneer a drum sander will make the job so much easier. Just sayin'.

John