Jointer questions

[Nathan Hoffman]

I am setting up my workshop and have received a lot of good advice from you kind folks here at SMC. So far I have purchased a new Hitachi mv12 router and a used Rockwell cabinet saw and Delta planer. These last 2 I purchased from fellow Creeker Rob Russell and I'll publish a real gloat later with pics - I'd like to get some response because the saw has about 6 1/2 feet of cast iron on top.
My question is about jointers, which , along with a DC of some sort, will complete the shop for now. I don't have much in the budget so I've been looking at the grizzly 6" jointers, and trying to find something used. Ijust got a flyer in the mail about Sears offering their 6 1/8" jointer for $345. Anyone have history with this unit? Any other opinions about jointers? I know I can count on you!

[Tony Sade]

Nathan-I know squat about Craftsman jointers (or any other kind of Sears stuff) but I do know that, on every forum I visit, the small Grizzly jointers get almost universally positive reviews, whether handwheel or lever versions. I'm sure you'll get advice about saving for that 8" model, because that's what you're gonna move up to eventually so why not get it now, but if a 6 inch is all you can afford, then I don't think you can go wrong with a Grizzly model.

Tony
(happy owner of a bunch of green stuff-cabinet saw, 8" jointer, comb. sander, oscillating sander, and band saw)

[G.C. Wagner]

Nathan,
I agree with Tony on the 6 inch Grizzly jointer. I have a friend that has one and loves it. I recently got the 8 inch Grizzly and I'm pretty impressed with it.

Gerry

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nathan, I have the 6 1/18" Craftsman jointer. Living in a small town in Central Idaho until recently I had to drive a considerable distance to look tools other than Craftsman. I've had it for a couple of years with no problems. I would, however, select a jointer with a longer tables if I had to do it over again. When I joint long material it's possible to get snipe if you're not very careful about applying pressure while using it. Other than that, it's been a good too.

[Kent Cori]

Nathan,

I've had the Griz G1182HW 6" jointer for about a year and am very pleased with it. I really don't have room (garage workshop that still needs to house two cars at night) for a larger one. If I had, I would have opted for the 8" version.

That said, the Griz has done everything that I have asked of it. Set up was easy and is basically a one man job. I did have my son help me raise the upper assembly onto the stand but that was it for help. The base on this one comes in four pieces that require about a billion sheet metal screws to assemble. However, a drill and screw driver bit makes this step go pretty quick. For $100 more you can get the same jointer with a prefabricated base but that is the only substantive difference between the two versions that I can see. I decided to save the money and spend an extra 30 minutes assembling the stand. Once assembled, you'll never need to mess with it again anyway.

Adjusting the various settings was straight forward and only took a few minutes with a metal straight edge and the included hex wrenches. One thing I learned was to keep the outfeed table about 0.003" lower than the top of the cutter blade. This gives an nice flat result on the board. Otherwise, you'll get a crown in the middle with the two ends slightly narrower.

I have the jointer on the mini-Shop Fox mobile base that Griz advertises on the same page in their catalog. It works just fine for moving the jointer around although beware that the whole assembly is a little top heavy so be careful when moving it to avoid any tipping. DAMHIKT

If you want a really nice 6" jointer, any of the Griz's will meet your needs and expectations.

[John Preston]

If you plan on doing very much woodworking, spring for the 8".

I've got a 6, and as soon as I started face jointing rough stock, I figured out I made a mistake.

If you don't plan on doing lots of big projects, or using the jointer to face joint a large amount of stock, a six inch will work great. If you're working with long stock, you'll want some way to support the ends of the boards, I edge joint 12 ft boards on my 6 inch jointer, I just have roller beds on either side of the machine.

A DC is also very important. At first I didn't think so, but it's no fun woodworking if you can't breathe in the shop.

[Nathan Hoffman]

Thanks for all the input so far. I do plan to do a lot of woodworking in the future, but I don't forsee a huge need for face jointing wide boards. I would be interested, though, in setting up some rollers to effectively add bed length to a 6" jointer. Right now the Z series Grizzly is on sale for $380 with shipping, which seems like a good deal.