Anyone have this Jointer?

[Stephen Clem]

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0612

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this Jointer before I buy it.

Also, as long as the board you are jointing is less than 6" wide...after you edge joint, what's the difference between face jointing it and running it through a thickness planer? If there is no real difference, I would be tempted to go with an 8 or 12" jointer and use it as a planer as well. This is probably a dumb question, but I can't see the difference between face jointing a board and running it through a planer. Need some enlightenment.

[Paul Douglass]

I'm not good at explaining but here is my attempt. A planer will smooth the surface of the board and you can plane it to the thickness you desire, but if the board is warped, it will not plain out the warp. You can get rid of the warp, if not to severe, on a jointer. There are ways to flatten a board with a planer using home made jigs but it is a little more difficult.

Now be patient and someone will explain this better or correctly if I am wrong.

In my opinion (after rereading your post) there is no difference, I use my jointer to "plane" to thickness all the time. I prefer to use it.

And disreguard my first paragraph...

[David Gunn]

I don't have this jointer, but I do have Craftsman's little jointer that is very similar. For not a lot more money you can get a bigger, better jointer. I like my little Craftsman, but I can't joint long boards. If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten a bigger floor model.

[Alex Berkovsky]

If there is no real difference, I would be tempted to go with an 8 or 12" jointer and use it as a planer as well.

If you go this route, your sides will not be parallel to each other. If money is an issue, you can get a planer first and build yourself a planer sled to joint wider boards. You then flip the board over and thickness plane it.

[glenn bradley]

I have a small Delta from which this would be a small step up based on mass. Mine does a nice job as long as I don't try to exceed it's ability. I have done 6" wide 36" long boards but that is about the limit on controllable length.

As to jointers and planers; jointers create a flat surface, planers will thickness to the reference surface. That is, if my board is warped and uneven in thickness, my planer will yield a warped board of a consistent thickness. If I joint one surface flat, my planer will yield a flat board of consistent thickness by referencing that (now flat) surface.

Jointers flatten, planers thickness.

That said I do have a planer-bed jig that "face joints" boards for me that exceed my jointer's width.

[Ray Moser]

Because of the pressure rollers in a planer any cup or twist in the board is flattened out and when the board exits the rollers the defect returns. A jointer will knock off the high spots of the defect areas. Once one side is flat, then the planer will create a parallel side and uniform thickness.

[Brian Dormer]

That particular Jointer is OEM'd by Palmgren and sold by Griz and Craftsman (at least). Although, the Griz seems to be "next years" model. The front is flat and it looks like you can take the whole front panel off (probably a good thing).

I have the Craftsman version and I've seen posts about it. Its a good little jointer up to about 4 or 5 feet of stock. Beyond that, the tables aren't really long enough - although for an occasional 6 or 7 foot piece, you can "go long", use an outfeed roller and cut off the inevitable snipe.

It's REALLY easy to align as the 2 knives have jack screws. The only odd thing is the non-adjustable outfeed table.

The manual is pretty light on "how to" for adjustments (like if you have a crooked infeed table) - but support is good and if you look at the diagrams, you can see where all the screws are to adjust things.

If you are in the market for a ~ $200 Jointer - you probably can't do much better.

Oh - one caveat - it's HEAVY - close to 100 lbs!

[CPeter James]

Unless you are really at your limit, save your money and go for something bigger. I am on my 4th jointer an 8" DJ20 and it will have to do but 12" would be nicer.

This Grizzly would be a good step up
http://www.grizzly.com/products/G0452

CPeter