Shopping for 8" Jointer

[David Tiell]

Like Benjamin, I checked the feedback here and decided to go with the Shop Fox 1741, which I actually just finished ordering about 15 minutes ago. While I would love to have a DJ-20, Steel City, or Powermatic, for what I do, the Shop Fox will last me a lifetime, so i didn't see the need to spend the extra cash on the big name jointers.

[JayStPeter]

It's been a while, but I recall the PM60B not doing well in some magazine tests. I don't think it is worth the extra bucks.
Personally, I think the cheaper the better. I don't know of a bad 8" jointer that's currently for sale. There just isn't much to a jointer. The 6" size is different, but all the 8"ers are beefy enough to work well for a hobbiest for a good long time.
Look for deals based on specs, not brand. Consider HP, cutterhead (3/4 knife or some kind of quick change), and fence design. Mine has the minimal specs in all categories and works fine. But, you may be willing to pay more for one feature or another.
Usually I advocate going for the best tool you can afford. But, I just don't find that necessary for this particular tool. The only thing I would (did) pay extra for is a carbide insert cutterhead. But you can add that to pretty much any of them later.

[brian lanning]

I've read a couple of descriptions of paralellogram beds, but I'm still not grasping the concept. I'll have to do more research.

Hi Pat. Another vote from me for grizzly. I have the G0490 which is a clone of the delta dj-20. The main differences are that for the grizzly, the switch is on a post rather than on the base, and the griz has a 3hp chinese motor whereas the delta has a 1.5hp (still american?) motor. I believe the delta is main in taiwan now if that matters.

The traditional jointer design involves dovetailed ways which are sort of rails for the bed to ride in. This is basically a slope that the bed sits on. The hand wheel or level moves the bed up hill or down hill to decress or increase depth of cut. The downside is that this can be hard to adjust since it involves shims. People do it all the time though.

The parallelogram bed is more like four cams in each corner of the bed. When you move the lever or turn the wheel, the cams turn in unison raising or lowering the bed. The advantage is that they're supposed to be a lot easier to adjust. I haven't done it yet though. Mine was dead flat and parallel out of the box.

Grizzly has great customer service. The down side is that if there's a problem, you may have to ship the machine back. Many people have reported shipping damage as well. My two machines arrived to the chicago area unharmed.

brian

[Greg Cole]

I am a happy Grizz owner, 8" model G0586. No issues with the machine, none at all. Most imports in this price range are about the same, I went with Grizz b/c I can drive to Springfield MO in a couple hours.
I would seriously look into getting one delivered with the shelix head if you do anything with figured stock. I bought spare knives with mine that I have yet to use or I'd have a shelix waiting for the knives to wear or get abused....
I almost kick my own a_ _ for not getting a bigger one but that was just a push to tool up on a few good Neander tools.

Cheers & happy shopping.

Greg

[Kim Spence]

I agree with Greg here, take a look at a machine with the carbide "shelix" cutterhead. I have the Grizzly G0593, same as Greg's G0586 with addition of Grizzly's brand of carbide cutterhead. I love this machine. I'm not sure if there is a Shop Fox equivalent that includes the carbide head.

The G0593 is on sale now for $1068 delivered to your door.

[Aaron Hamilton]

Pat,
Since you are leaning the Shop Fox direction. Here's some more info that may be helpful.

I picked up the W1741 for $799 delivered from a local dealer. That's about $90 cheaper than Amazon and you don't pay shipping. I've heard you can get it even closer to $700 at some dealers.

A couple of reasons I chose the W1741 - and I think they are worth the extra $100 moving from the basic 8" jointer.

1. P-beds : I've had to adjust the tables and clean gibbways on an old style jointer - not fun. Apparently P-beds make this process much easier and hold their adjustment better.
2. Built in heavy duty mobile base: The mobile base is a BREEZE to use and when you are dealing with a 500lb+ piece of machinery, it is a nice feature to just stomp that lever and roll it.
3. Service : I've heard great things about the Grizzly cust svc. You can even look around and find posts on the creek from the owner of Grizzly tools. Then, couple that with the fact that my local hardware supplier (who I really like) is my point of contact. I think it's a great combination.
4. Reviews - if you read the reviews online and on the creek - it gets great reviews. I would only pick it over a Grizz for the finish. I think it has a great look and fits in well with my Jet collection.

Hope this helps!

[Pat Germain]

After reading all your comments, I was all hyped up to get the Shop Fox W1741. I called my local dealer in Denver. He was hesitant at first, then said he could order it no problem. He quoted me a price of $949. Has this tool gone up that much recently, or is my local Shop Fox dealer just jacking up the price more than most other places?

Now I'm back to square one.

The Grizzly web page suggests they're having a sale on the G0586. It's $738.25 with shipping. Perhaps that would be a good option.

[David Tiell]

After reading all your comments, I was all hyped up to get the Shop Fox W1741. I called my local dealer in Denver. He was hesitant at first, then said he could order it no problem. He quoted me a price of $949. Has this tool gone up that much recently, or is my local Shop Fox dealer just jacking up the price more than most other places?

Now I'm back to square one.

The Grizzly web page suggests they're having a sale on the G0586. It's $738.25 with shipping. Perhaps that would be a good option.

I ordered my 1741 today from machinerydistributors.com for $889 with free shipping. That seems to be about the cheapest I could find it. Every dealer I talked to said that the manufacturer set a price they couldn't sell below without losing their distribution rights. So to get competetive, most are offering free shipping with that set price.

[ryan smythe]

hey pat have a look at this one
http://machinerydistributors.com/w1741.htm

[Pat Germain]

Many thanks, guys. I didn't find that web site when searching for Shop Fox dealers. I guess the price has gone up. Machinery Distributors has the best price I've seen.

[Benjamin Dahl]

I bought mine from Bibb tool and they have a price that is now 886.66 with freight shipping included. that is more than I paid but still less than your local dealer.
Ben

[Steve Jensen]

Grizzly has joiners on sale right now, you might check out http://www.grizzly.com/products/cate...spx?key=450000

[Tom Maple]

Pat,
The "retail" prices on Shop Fox can vary a great deal in the same area. I had one dealer in my area tell me he could order the 1741 8" jointer for $1100. Another dealer was having a spring promotion and got it for me for $750. This was just a month ago. I haven't even opened the crates yet, but I couldn't pass up the good price. Another tool dealer sells them for $799 in Cleveland.
Keep looking, it should be worth it for this machine.

[Aaron Hamilton]

Pat,
David and Ryan beat me to it - machinerydistributors.com was going to be my 2nd source if I couldn't find a dealer. Your local dealer is jacking up the price or their freight-in charge is much higher than here in Dallas, which would make sense.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Pat, have you checked w/ Shop Fox to see if there is another dealer in the Denver area or nearby? That price seems bogus, but some have reported big price jumps. I paid $832 out the door a couple months ago and I've seen a lot of guys here get it for far less than that recently. I think $800 is (was?) retail on the thing; I think he just wants to move what he has in stock. Tell him he has to do better and if he doesn't, then walk. SF and Grizzly are the same company, so Grizz is always an option and I would deal direct before going through Amazon. You can also find the SF online for less than $800, but dealing with unknown dealers is always caveat emptor.

This very subject has been talked about a lot. Use the search function for 1741 or w1741 or take a look at my comments in this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=53576

I think the notion that PM will be more durable is bunk. They are all made in Asia now, many in the same factories. With PM you are paying a premium for the name these days.

As for the Steel City; no way would I buy that. Made in Asia (like Grizz, ShopFox, Jet, PM, etc), less HP, no mag switch, 3-cutter head (vs. 4) and about 40% more money. The SC, the Grizz, and the SF are all clones of the Delta DJ20 (at least one model of that is now Asian made too). They are virtually identical machines. The only thing you get from the SC is a 5 yr warranty vs. 2 yr from SF (and 1 yr from Grizz). Less features=more $?