Combo Jointer/Planer

[Mike Wilkins]

Space, capacity and power is why I sold a Jet 6" jointer & Parks 12" planer in exchange for a 12" j/p combo. My shop is only 16 X 24 with an attached 16 by 16 shed/storage. I got the machine from Andreou Machinery in NJ, which is a clone of the Rojek machine, and a close clone of the Robland.
In addition to the above reasons, space saving is the primary benefit of a combo mahcine; smaller footprint to make room for more toys/tools. I think I would still have the same set-up even if I had twice the space. A combo makes you more organized in your milling operations, as switching back and forth invites mistakes, and dust collection is situated in one location, instead of additional hoses everywhere.
Folks who have them must love them; it is rare to find one listed for sale.
Good luck and watch those fingers.

[Michael Keating]

Hi John,

I personally have seperate jointer and planer. I am going to replace the 2 with one combo machine in the future, probably 2 years when we move and I get a dedicated shop and not a 2 car garage. The biggest selling point for me is the larger jointer (12-16 inches) and not having to move 2 machines around the shop to mill lumber.
The morticer may be a nice touch, but I am not going to base my decision on this feature.

Mike

[Aaron Beaver]

I got my combo because of space. I have a basement shop that also serves other purposes and I just couldn't take up the space of two machines. Having a combo took care of that for me.

[Jay Knepper]

I have a Hammer A3 31 (~12" jointer/thicknesser). It's tricked out with three bed extensions and a mortiser. I work mostly with rough, solid wood and spend more time running this machine than any other. Changeovers take a couple of minutes at most to complete, and it's surprising how much they can be minimized by thinking ahead.

For me the cost and space efficiency have been wonderful, and the quality of results has been excellent. If I made my living at woodworking I might have made another choice, but maybe not.

[John Renzetti]

hi, I have been using a jointer/planer in the shop since 1998. The present machine is a 20" Felder Format Dual 51.
As others have said the changeover on a j/p is not a big deal. About a minute or two. I find that the changeover time gives me time to think about what I am going to do next.
One nice thing about the j/p's is that they are compact and don't take up much room. I know on the Felder and Hammer machines you can add extension tables when needed, so that on a machine with an 80" table it can quickly become a 120" machine.
The best thing to do is to try one out. It doesn't matter what make, just see if you like and can adapt to the machine. I personally like the j/p combo. Others here have said the same thing. But you are not us, so your decision should be based on your preferences and work habits. This past Sunday I was up at my friend Tom Hummels house and shop to deliver my former IR compressor. Tom has a real nice MM FS35. Next to it was a Delta 6" jointer. I told Tom that he needed to get rid of that thing since it probably doesn't get used. He said he uses it still since it comes in handy when the j/p is set up for planing and he just needs to edge joint or face joint a small board. Now I wish I had the space that Tom has.
Anyway get some hands on experience and see how you like it.
As far as cutterheads go, the Tersa is the most well known. There's other insert heads that are used also. Felder has their system as well as the Tersa. Knapp uses the Leitz Wigo system. I like the Tersa on large 5-6" diameter cutterheads. Also like that you can install carbide$$ sections with HSS sections on the same cutterhead. They are all good for what they were designed to do. Northfield offers a choice of 6 different cutterheads on their machines. The problem is that a big Northfield planer or jointer is up in the Martin price range of over $20k.
take care,
John